January 8 Click on verses for Full Scripture

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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. Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. Romans 1:8-13

Yesterday we began looking at some characteristics of Paul that are revealed in this passage. We saw that he was thankful for the testimony of the Roman believers, and that he prayed for them. Then we mentioned that he had a desire to fellowship with them. Incidentally, there is no evidence that Paul had ever been to Rome when he writes this epistle. In verse 13 he states that he had planned to go in the past on numerous occasions, but had always been unable to do so. He knows a number of people there (Rom. 16:3-15), but there are many that he does not know. Therefore, it appears that he wants to fellowship with the church as a whole not simply because of some long-standing friendships, but because he wants to spend time with God's people.

In verses 11-12 Paul gives two specific reasons why he wants to spend time with them. First, he says that he wants to give them "some spiritual gift". This can not refer to the gift of salvation, for the church membership was already saved. It can't refer to the spiritual gifts listed in Romans 12:6-8 or I Corinthians 12 because those gifts are given by the Holy Spirit. He means that he wants to give them some spiritual guidance that will help them to become "established". To be "established" means " to set fast, to turn resolutely in a certain direction, to strengthen". Paul wants to see these believers become even stronger in the Lord, and he is willing to travel a great distance and use the ministry and abilities that God has given him to help them grow.

In verse 12 he gives a second reason: he wants to be "comforted together" with them. In other words, not only does Paul want to be an encouragement to the Romans, he wants them to be an encouragement to him. The word "comfort" carries both the ideas of "consolation" and "exhortation". We need to remember that Comfort and Encouragement are two-way streets. While all of us want to be comforted, we need to realize that others need us to comfort them, and thus we must minister to each other. Notice that Paul plans to accomplish this by their "mutual faith". He doesn't say that they will comfort each other through telling stories and hanging out. He says that the thing that will encourage both parties is faith. We always need to remember that what both we and others need in a time of crisis is the truth of Scripture and the encouragement of fellow believers to trust the Lord for what is needed. Paul knew this, and was willing to do whatever was required to make it happen.

Pastor Mark J Montgomery