Being more familiar with the believers in Rome, Paul wrote more in the epistle addressed to them than in any other of the churches he visited. Since he was confident in their relationship with Christ, he was able to speak without hesitation to them. Knowing the depth of their relationship with God and with each other, he reminded them that they belong to God.
Romans 15:14 AMP Personally I am satisfied about you, my brethren, that you yourselves are rich in goodness, amply filled with all [spiritual] knowledge and competent to admonish and counsel and instruct one another also.
It is encouraging to hear “you are rich in goodness and filled with spiritual knowledge.”
These believers not only knew what was right before God, they knew they belonged to God. They also had each other’s best interest in mind and were able to encourage each other to do right. Having this knowledge about them, he reminded them that they were partakers together of God’s grace. Therefore, they should live in complete harmony with each other as followers of Christ Jesus. When he spoke about the unity and fellowship of God’s people, he was confident the Holy Spirit was already working in them and they were “amply filled with all [spiritual] knowledge and competent” to minister to one another. The sense of belonging to God causes believers to overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:15 NIV84 I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me
Romans 15:16 NIV84 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
- The church in Corinth was filled with worldly infants, ( 1 Corinthians 3:1).
- The Hebrews were slow to learn and needed constant help and instruction about the basic truths of God’s word. Paul told them you need milk, and not solid food because they were still infants, (Hebrews 5:11-13).
Paul was confident in the Roman believer’s relationship with God and esteemed them highly because they were “rich in goodness and filled with spiritual knowledge.” He was certain that they were able to instruct one another.
It is important for us to have this boldness in our relationship with God.
We belong to God and are partakers together of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to know and have confidence that we have received this grace and that God is working in us to make us holy by the power of the Holy Spirit. We should do everything that we can to maintain this fellowship and unity with one another and with God so that we all are an acceptable offering to God. As he was considering the Roman believers and was reminding them of what God had done in them, Paul began boasting in the things God had accomplished through his ministry.
Romans 15:17-18 ESV In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed,
Romans 15:19 ESV by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;
We all need to be reminded of the Holy Spirit’s power and miraculous signs and wonders that have worked in us to bring us to Christ. Most of us have come up under the power of God’s Spirit and we have witnessed His mighty work among us. Paul was considering what he had personally witnessed among believers. His testimony was not only about how God used him, it also included the supernatural power of God’s Spirit that had worked among them. It is important for us to have those times when we review the many wonderful things God has done among us and in our personal lives.
Paul was convinced by the Holy Spirit of the spiritual maturity of the Roman believers.
This was not just something Paul could see, people throughout the world spoke of their faith, Romans 1:8. Their spiritual maturity had become a fragrant sacrifice of worship that was pure and pleasing to God.
We should consider the effect our lives have on other believers and on God.
Just like them, your faith should be known by others. This sounds like a bold statement. Is it possible for our lives to have an effect on others and on God?
2 Corinthians 2:15 NKJV For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God and this fragrance is perceived by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.
Paul was boldly writing about their spiritual condition.
The Holy Spirit intimately knows everything that is in us. He knows our frame and our behavior. He knows our past, present and future. He knows our strengths and weaknesses. He knows our faith and our spiritual worship.
You need to hear that you belong to God.
When the Holy Spirit assesses our spiritual strengths and weaknesses, He has perfect knowledge of who, where, and how we are. The Holy Spirit knows that our goodness did not come from our own heart or activities. He knows where we came from. Remember what we were told in Romans 3.
Romans 3:10-12 NKJV As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”
Since all of our righteousness is as a filthy rag, how can we bring the fragrance of Christ from what was once considered to be a “filthy rag?” Something supernatural must occur if we are going to do that and become a sweet smelling fragrance of Christ to God and to the world.
Paul was confident that the Holy Spirit had made this change in them.
Do you see that God has done a great work in you? He is continually producing the fragrance of Christ in us.
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
God the Holy Spirit is continually doing this work in us. Have you ever walked out into a peach orchard? You cannot only see the peaches on the trees, you can smell the sweet aroma. You do not have or bear your old nature for Christ has set you free from the entanglement of your old life. You are a living testimony of what God has done in you. You belong to God. Paul was convinced of this by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. When Christ set us free, we were made totally free.
There are two types of goodness.
First, there is the moral goodness of man apart from Christ. Second, there is the moral goodness that is a result of the redemption of Jesus Christ. God totally rejects the moral goodness of man apart from Christ.
Ephesians 2:9 NLT Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
We cannot do works that are acceptable to God. We always fall short when we put our trust in ourselves and our own works. The works of the flesh may satisfy our human egos, but God does not look at the outward appearance of things.
2 Timothy 2:19 NIV84 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
Do you belong to Jesus?
The Lord knows those who are His. Consider that God knows the truth about you.
There are two sides to this knowledge.
First, the Lord knows those who are His.
God knows His children and sees the blood of Christ and the effect it has on us. God sees the name of Christ on us and in us and He recognizes the impact of this redemption.
Revelation 3:12 NKJV He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
Second, we know.
Everyone who confesses the name of Christ knows they are His. We must be filled with that knowledge.
Do you know? The Greek word for “know” (γινώσκω — ginosko) means:
- To feel or perceive – Mark 5:29; Luke 8:46 – when she touched His garment, both the woman and Jesus knew she was healed.
- To observe – Mark 8:17; Mark 12:12 – the Jews knew Jesus spoke against them.
- To learn, discover – Mark 5:43 – After raising the little girl from the dead, Jesus said, “Don’t let anyone know what happened.”
- To make certain – Mark 6:38; John 4:53 – The disciples found out how many loaves and fishes they could bring to Jesus.
- The father found out and was certain that his son was healed when Jesus said, “Your son lives.”
- To be aware of – Matthew 24:50 – Jesus warned that He would come in an hour they did not know or were aware.
- To perceive, discern, recognize – Luke 7:39; Galatians 3:7; John 4:1; John 5:6 – They said, Jesus would know what kind of woman had touched Him.
- Jesus knew the man at the pool had been in that condition a long time.
- To be acquainted with – Matthew 25:24; Romans 2:18 – The laborer knew the man who gave him the talent.
- To comprehend – Luke 18:34; John 3:10 – They did not know or comprehend what was being spoken.
- To be expert in – Matthew 16:3 – They expertly know the face of the sky, but could not discern the times.
- To be familiar with – Romans 7:7 – The Law made me know or be familiar with sin.
- To decide or resolve – Luke 16:4 – The unjust steward knew what to do.
Do you see how broad this word “know” is?
We can know with certainty that we have a right relationship with God.
Our knowledge is a result of God’s supernatural work. Paul said, “I watched the power of the Holy Spirit supernaturally and miraculously transform your lives.” Christ in us produces a depth of knowledge and power that enables us to live triumphantly.
We can never understand this glorious position we have apart from Christ.
Christ in us is the hope of glory. Christ in us is the revealing of all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge. As Christ fills our being, we are filled with His knowledge. This is what God desires for each of us. God will fill your mind with the knowledge of the truth. This is why God has given us this Word and His Spirit.
God wants every believer to know.
The purpose for our knowing is that Christ may be the center of our lives. We should take note of these eternal realities. Since we have been miraculously raised to new life with Christ, we should change our thinking and set our mind on the things of God.
God has made a change in you.
1 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
If you have a hunger for the things of God, it is because you belong to Him, and He has made a change in you.
1 John 5:19 NLT We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.
1 John 5:20 NLT And we know that the Son of God has come, and He has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and He is eternal life.
You must know that you belong to God.
Colossians 3:12-17 NASB95 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
