November 3, 2002
Romans 1:14-16
What is your attitude toward the ministry God has given you? Is it the same as the Apostle Paul’s? Let’s take a look at Paul’s attitude and find there a lesson for us all. In the passage before us Paul declares a three-fold attitude toward His ministry.
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the
wise and to the foolish. Romans 1:14
1. Paul is obligated to his ministry. He has an obligation to all classes of people, whether they be wise or foolish. You see, people aren’t lost because of what side of the tracks they were born on or their education or lack of it, people are lost because they are without Jesus Christ. We are all sinners, whether we live in a shanty or a palace.
Francis Shaffeur took the Gospel to the “up and outer” – to people who wouldn’t think of going into a rescue mission. Some of our church folk take that same Gospel to the “down and outers” in the Long Beach Rescue Mission.
We preach the same Gospel to the educated and to those who have little or none. We have the same obligation as the Apostle Paul. Then he says:
Thus, for my part, I am eager to preach the Gospel to you also who are
in Rome. v. 15
2. Paul is eager in his ministry. Paul was an eager beaver when it came to preaching Jesus Christ. Why? Because he knew what he had been saved from. He lists his human merits in Philippians 3:4 ff. Read the list for yourself. Pretty impressive, isn’t it? Yet in verse 7 he considers those things as nothing – as loss – when it comes to knowing Christ. Paul called himself the chief of sinners. That is why he was eager to preach. He goes on to say:
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the
Greek. v. 16
3. Paul is not ashamed of his ministry. Preaching the simple Gospel to people brings hatred sometimes. But it assures eternal life to those who receive it by faith. Paul wasn’t ashamed because the Gospel is the power of God to everyone who believes – no matter who they are because God’s righteousness is revealed in it.
What a motivation to ministry!
•I am under obligation. •I am eager. •I am not ashamed.
I trust this is our motivation as well as Paul’s. If not, pray about it. I know I shall examine my heart. God bless.-**
In Christ’s love,
Pastor Charles