Encouraging Others with the Gospel of Christ.

Verses 8-9... Paul thanks God for the faith of these Roman believers, as it is encouraging others throughout the world. Paul is continually talking about their faith, as he travels; in fact, he is writing this letter from Corinth, while on his third missionary journey.

Verses 10-12... It would seem Paul also brings these believers before the Lord in prayer, desiring to be able to go to them.

Paul deeply wants to strengthen the Christians in Rome, face to face, heart to heart to heart; and in so doing, he himself will be strengthened and encouraged.

All believers have the very same faith, Jesus Christ the Lord: crucified, resurrected, coming again!

Verses 13-15... If it had been up to Paul, he would have come sooner, but he isn’t a free agent, he works for God.

Paul’s desire is to share in the harvest among them, as the NASB says (v. 13), “that I may obtain some fruit among you,” just as I have among the other Gentiles.

Fruit is the harvest of the plant or crop. The Bible speaks of spiritual fruit in several ways:

It speaks of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” These are attitudes that are characteristic of the life of a Christian.

Spiritual fruit can also mean new converts to Christ or spiritual growth in the life of a believer (Romans 6:22), “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefits you reap [fruit] leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”

Paul is desiring for there to be new converts among the Romans and for those who have already trusted in Christ to grow and mature in their faith to serve God.

Paul says (v. 14) that he is under compulsion to both civilized and to the uncultured, to the wise and to the simple, for the Holy Spirit drives Paul to preach the gospel to all who will listen (1Corinthians 9:16), “Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”

Paul is anxious to proclaim the gospel of Christ in Rome, just as he has already proclaimed it throughout Asia, the Mediterranean, and Greece.

Verses 16-17... The reason Paul is so excited and compelled to proclaim the gospel in Rome, is because he is sold out for the gospel, never ashamed as Christ’s representative, nothing can deter him except for God Himself (see 2Corinthians 11:24-27).

The gospel is the power [Gk. dunamus = dynamite] of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek (Romans 3:10-12, 23; 6:23; 5:8; 8:1; 10:9-10, 13; Acts 2:21, 36-41).

Salvation came first to the Jews, in Acts 2, 120 of Jesus’ followers were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim the mighty works of God in a variety of dialects, at least 15 (Acts 2:8-11).

Those who were there, Jew and Gentile alike, heard God’s message in their own language, and this included Greeks and Arabs.

The gospel, which is received by faith, reveals the righteousness of God, that we might live for Christ.

Ephesians 2:8-10, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Faith in God isn’t just a one time thing, it is a way of life (v. 17), from “first to last,” the “righteous will live by faith,” for we are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26).

Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Christianity is not a part-time, once in awhile, or used to be relationship, it is an eternal one (Romans 11:29), “the gifts and the calling of God are
irrevocable” [defined as, “not able to be changed, reversed, or recovered, but final; i.e., salvation can’t be lost, stolen, or returned.

Hebrews 3:12-14, “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.”

Paul is very excited about proclaiming the gospel, because everyone who hears it and believes, is changed forever, having gone from darkness to light, death to life, from eternity in hell to eternity in heaven.

May God compel each and every one of us to boldly, yet humbly, proclaim the life-giving gospel of Jesus Christ, with the same passion and purpose that is reflected in the words of Paul (v. 16), “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.”