January 7 Click on verses for Full Scripture

previous - - - - - - - - - - next

Today's Pathway: First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. Romans 1:8-12

Yesterday we saw two characteristics of the Roman church members that are true of all believers: they are beloved and they are called to be holy. Now Paul begins to deal with characteristics that are not necessarily true of all believers, but should be. The first one pertains to the Romans. Paul says that the entire world knew about their faith. Simply put, the testimony that these Christians had was so great that people throughout the world were familiar with it. This could mean that they had a testimony of saving faith, but it probably means that they had a testimony of living faith. Rome was undoubtedly a difficult place for Christians to live at the time when Paul wrote, which was approximately 57 AD. We know that the Emperor Claudius had expelled all the Jews from Rome around 52 AD (Acts 18:2), and the debauched Emperor Nero came to the throne in 54 AD. It was only a few years after Paul's letter was written that Nero blamed the Christians for The Great Fire of Rome, and had them burned, crucified, and thrown to wild animals. But in spite of whatever trials the Roman believers were facing, they maintained a reputation of faith in God and faithfulness to Him.

The other characteristics in this passage belong to Paul. First, he was thankful for the Romans believers, specifically because of their great faith. As Christians, we may be thankful for our daily provisions, but how often do we thank God for the faithfulness of other believers? How often do we even think about it? Paul was grateful to God that the Romans' faith was so great that the whole world had heard about it. Second, Paul prayed for these fellow Christians. Do we pray for others, or mostly for ourselves? Do we pray for those who are standing strong in the faith and beg God to keep their testimonies bright? Paul did this "without ceasing". Third, Paul desired to have fellowship with these brothers in Christ. Tomorrow we will see the reasons that he gives for wanting to see them, but for now let's ask this question: do I desire to spend time with other believers?

Paul seems to have a great relationship with the church in Rome. He is thankful for them, he prays for them, and he wants to fellowship with them. How does our relationship with our own church, let alone with other churches, compare with that?

Pastor Mark J Montgomery