Very Boldly by Way of Reminder

“I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:14-16 ESV)

Now, this was all in a letter which Paul wrote to the beloved of God in Rome, although there were parts of it which took a much different tone than this, and those words were addressed to those who were not following the Lord Jesus with their lives. But these words were obviously expressed to those who were following Jesus with their lives, but even there Paul was having to correct them in some areas, which is what he meant when he said that on some points he wrote to them very boldly by way of reminder as to where they were going wrong and as to how they needed to make that right.

Now, from the beginning of this letter he commended the Christians for their faith in the Lord Jesus. But then he moved from that to talking about how there were those among them, or in the same city, who by their ungodliness and unrighteousness were suppressing the truth about God which God had revealed to them via his created works. And they were worshiping the created and not the Creator, and they were engaged in sexual immorality and all sorts of evils, plus they were acting hypocritically towards others. So Paul told them they would all be judged according to their works.

Then, for several chapters, he spoke on the issue of law and grace and he explained that they were not under the Old Covenant liturgical and ceremonial laws nor were they required any longer to circumcise all males, but they were now under the law of grace. But he made clear that grace was not free license to keep on in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, and if they obeyed sin, and not obedience to God, that for them it would end in death, not in life eternal. So, they still had to obey God and his commandments under the New Covenant, and they still had to forsake sin.

And then Paul spent chapters 9-11 talking mainly about his fellow Jews who had not yet believed in Jesus Christ and who had not yet surrendered their hearts and lives to the Lord to follow him in obedience to his commands. And he corrected some faulty thinking about the Gentile Christians with regard to where the Jewish people stood before God. For all who rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah, were cut out of Israel. They were cut out of a relationship with God. And the believing Gentiles were grafted into Israel, the Israel of God and are now heirs to the promise God made with Abraham.

And then in chapter 12 were instructions in what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ and how we are to live if our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine faith which is of God, and is gifted to us by God. We are to present our bodies to the Lord as living sacrifices, and we are no longer to be conformed to the ways of this sinful world. And we are to love one another and do good to each other, and we are even to bless those who persecute us. And we are not to get even with our enemies, for that is God’s job.

Then we had lessons in submission to those who are in authority over us within our governments, and I shared how there are exceptions to that rule, such as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Jesus Christ, and his NT apostles, who all resisted those in authority over them if those in authority over them were demanding that they disobey the Lord. And then we were taught to love one another and not sin against each other. And we were warned of the nearness of our Lord’s return and the importance that we cease from all sinful practices and that we obey our Lord in practice.

And then they had the issue that some of them accepted the New Covenant and the removal of the Old Covenant with all its liturgical and ceremonial and dietary laws, but others were still holding on to some of those. And so they were all being instructed in not judging one another and living at peace with each other, for these were not matters of sin or not sin. What they ate or didn’t eat, or what days in the week were more special to them than others were a matter of personal conscience, and so they were to get along with one another and not fight over such things as this.

So, this is a brief summation of the “points” that Paul wrote to them about very boldly, by way of reminder. For, no matter who we are, or how long we have been Christians, we always need reminders. For we can easily get caught up in what is going on with our lives and our families and our activities, and with what is going on in the world, and we can sometimes lose sight of the importance of why we are alive and on this earth. For Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and that we might surrender our lives to him and now walk in obedience to his commands.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

Just a Closer Walk with Thee  

Hymn lyrics by Anonymous/Unknown

Music by American Melody

“For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you” (2 Co. 13:4 NASB).

I am weak, but Thou art strong;

Jesus, keep me from all wrong;

I’ll be satisfied as long

As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Through this world of toil and snares,

If I falter, Lord, who cares?

Who with me my burden shares?

None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

When my feeble life is o’er,

Time for me will be no more;

Guide me gently, safely o’er

To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

Just a closer walk with Thee,

Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,

Daily walking close to Thee,

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Ks49apflE 

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