Title: The Praise of the Roman Church
Commentary on Romans 103
Praise of the Roman Church
Romans 15:14
1. He was full of goodness in himself.
What the Roman Church praised is that they were full of goodness. Their fullness of goodness refers to the fruit they bear in their faith life.
(1) There are two kinds of Christian fruit. One is the fruit of the Spirit and the other is the fruit of the flesh. Although these two are similar in terms of fruit, there is a huge difference in the value of being recognized before God. The fruit that the Romans said they bore means the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Even if a person is full of moral goodness and has a lot of human love, if it comes from the mind of the flesh, not the Spirit, such work is a fruit that cannot glorify God. No matter how wonderful and wonderful the fruits of the flesh appear, they cannot please God, cannot receive heavenly rewards, and cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Although we are bearing the fruit of the flesh, we must not mistakenly think that it is the fruit of the Spirit.
(2) Good fruits must always appear in the name of the Lord. Good fruit must always be accompanied by a clear sense of purpose. The sense of purpose is the earnest desire to glorify God through this work. The Lord made this very clear when He spoke of the reward for a bowl of cold water. “If anyone gives you a cup of water, saying you belong to Christ, I tell you the truth, he will by no means lose his reward” (Mark 9:41). In these verses, for the sake of the name of the Lord, in the name of the Lord, for the sake of the name of the Lord, for the purpose of pleasing the Lord, to the glory of the Lord must be followed.
(3) In order to bear good fruit, death must first follow. The Lord said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it cannot bear much fruit.” This means that unless the fleshly man dies, it cannot bear much fruit. In the grain of wheat lies infinite life that can bear many fruits. But the husk called the grain of wheat prevents that life from coming out. Bury this shell in the ground and rot. The life of God is hidden within us. In that life, there is the power to bear much fruit with the infinite power of God. But that vitality cannot come out because of the shell of our body.
In order for this life to come out of our body, our body must die. So what does this saying that the body dies? Regarding this, Paul said: “If you live according to the flesh, you will surely die; but if you kill the life of the body by the Spirit, you will live. Anyone who is led by the Spirit of God is a son of God” (Romans 8:13).
Even those who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit will experience a fierce battle between the two of us in our lives as long as we live on this earth in the flesh. It is to fulfill our outward man, the lust of the flesh. But our inner man longs for spiritual things. In the fight between these two people, we usually lose the person of the spirit, the inner person, by the person of the flesh, who is the person next to us. However, no matter how intensely our fleshly desires work for us, we must kill these thoughts with the Holy Spirit and bear good fruits through our obedience to God's Word.
2. Full of all knowledge.
Next, Paul praised the Roman church, saying, “All knowledge is full.” The knowledge we are talking about here refers to the word of truth in which they are spiritually armed. For Christians, children are like farmers hoarding food in the barns at harvest time. For Christians, poor knowledge leads to spiritual poverty and starvation, as in the case of a farmer who lacks food in his barns.
(1) For Christians, knowledge is important because it sets us free. It is knowledge that sets us free from sin. He said, “The truth sets you free” (John 8:32). A person without knowledge cannot have certainty in his salvation. The reason that many people who rejoiced that they received grace and rejoiced that they received a gift fall easily is not because they lack other things, but because they lack the knowledge of the truth.
(2) The Lord said that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will guide you into the truth. The most important role of the Holy Spirit is to guide us into the truth. The faith that clearly possesses the assurance of salvation through the word, the sure hope through the word, and the promises of God through the word becomes a strong foundation of faith that does not stumble even in tribulation, temptation, or need.
3. As a church that exhorts each other
Paul praised the Roman Church as a church that exhorts one another. They said that this counsel came from their knowledge. A person without knowledge cannot counsel others. Because the exhortation of Christians is the exhortation of the Word. In the book of Colossians, Paul said, “Teach one another and exhort one another in the rich wisdom of the word of Christ” (Colossians 3:16). Christians should always have in their hearts a wealth of knowledge that can solve any problem with the word. Only then will you be able to receive exhortation from the word yourself and others will be able to exhort each other.
We are using the word each other here, and we should receive this same counsel from each other. All believers should have a humble attitude to listen to each other's counsel. The difference between a fool and a wise person is to hear this exhortation. “A fool considers his ways right, but a wise man listens to counsel” (Proverbs 13:15).
Conclusion: At some point, I went to a family member's home. However, the persimmon trees planted in the front yard of the house were full of delicious persimmons that were really lusciously open. The persimmon tree not only pleases the owner of the house, but also gets praise when guests are treated. So is our case. Jesus said: “I am the true vine, and my Father is a farmer. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, the Father removes it, and every branch that bears fruit he purifies so that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1,2)