Friday after the Third Sunday after the Epiphany of our Lord
Posted on January 28, 2022 by under
Scripture: Romans 15:14-21 (NKJV)
15:14 Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. 15 Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, 16 that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God. 18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient—19 in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20 And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation, 21 but as it is written:
“To whom He was not announced, they shall see; And those who have not heard shall understand.”
Devotion
St. Paul writes boldly to the Romans because they seek to believe and live in accord with God’s Word. In the first chapter of the epistle he discussed the understanding of the Law by means of created reality. He set forth man’s condition apart from God, which necessitates a justification that is by grace alone and through God-given faith alone. He shows them the necessary gift of death and resurrection through Holy Baptism and what it implies, and he admits his own failure to manifest this purely. He recounted the situation of Israel, the required attitude and actions of Gentiles under a persecuting empire, and how those who teach falsely are to be dealt with. The Spirit accomplishes a great brevity in covering weighty topics because St. Paul does not have to navigate his way through a sea of problems and failings in the parish. There is no need for illustrating and backtracking in the hope that they will hear him and not take some part of his writing as a license to sin or believe falsely.
Many take pride in their ability to “speak bluntly.” Quite often, that simply means “speaking lovelessly.” Others believe themselves “tough enough” to “handle the truth.” What St. Paul says, though, is neither unloving, nor written to the Romans because they are “tough”. He writes straightforwardly because they are confessing the faith accurately, speaking to one another lovingly when reproving error, and doing good after the pattern of Christ. So straightforward is our growth in faith, if our reason and feelings are in submission to God’s Word!
Prayer: Almighty and Everlasting God, mercifully look upon our infirmities, and in all our dangers and necessities, stretch forth the right hand of Thy Majesty, to help and defend us; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
