Dear Student of the Word,
I had this lesson 14 from Romans ready weeks ago but forgot to send it out! Oh well, no excuses. The good news is that here it is and furthermore, we are almost done with Romans (it's only taken me 18 months). Enjoy this week's lesson from the next to last chapter as Paul begins to close out his letter. I wrote this in part six of this seven-part study that you can download below:
Study Fourteen, Part Six
26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. 28 So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this fruit, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.
15:26 – They were pleased to give, and consequently Paul took great pains to raise the money and administer it properly. The offering didn’t just happen; Paul made it happen in a manner of speaking. Paul had the idea and then had to “sell” that idea to the Gentile churches. He then wrote about the offering in his letters and went on to deliver it himself, hoping that his own fractured relations with Jerusalem would be healed. If you wish to study this special collection more closely, you can refer to 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 and 2 Corinthians 8:1-9:15.
15:27 – Paul connected spiritual and material blessing in one other place:
Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor (Galatians 6:6).
No matter how spiritual anyone is, they still have to eat and feed their family. So we must be mindful of giving to those who bless us. Do you “owe” anyone any money? Have they fed you and blessed you spiritually? Then you need to consider how to give something to honor their role in your life.
Often we don’t give because what we have to give is small or insignificant. This is the wrong attitude to have. Give what you can and even a small gift can be considered by God to be generous. Remember, you are not evaluated by what you have given, but by what you have remaining.
15:28 – Paul wanted to make sure that the offering was delivered and to insure that they knew who it was from. Paul strikes me as an effective administrator, which may be why he at times got people so upset with him. It is ironic that he was probably a task-oriented Jew who was called to a people-oriented ministry. God certainly does have a sense of humor sometimes, don’t you agree?
15:29 – Paul would come to Rome in the blessing of Christ in order to give the blessing of Christ. Both are active words. Paul was always reaching out, always stretching forth, always pressing on. Are you? Or are you passively waiting for God to use you? You may have the blessing of Christ, but it is so you can go in the blessing of Christ to give that blessing to others.
As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.
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