It is possible that Paul was thinking some people were not going to like what he had recently been writing. All this talk about “weak saints” and “strong saints” might offend some and make them respond negatively. They might think that Paul was saying that they were a bunch of criminals or reprobates. No, no. He was convinced that they were children of God – that they were reasonably good Christians. And yet there is not single earth-bound saint who has been made perfect, and who doesn’t have areas where spiritual growth are needed – that includes you and me. So in order to defuse a potential problem, he offers some kind comments. He did the same thing at the very beginning of this book. “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.” He does this in most of his epistles
Paul is an excellent example for the minister of Christ. We’ll look at some of this ministry next Sunday, but there are a couple of things to be said right now. He is usually tactful and delicate in handling difficult situations. That doesn’t mean that he can’t or doesn’t come down hard on people when it is necessary. And it doesn’t mean that he flatters people unnecessarily. But when he can honestly commend people he often does. When exhortation or correction is necessary, it is always best to give it in a friendly manner.
Perhaps it should be remembered that Paul had never visited Rome. He knew some of these saints from contacts in other places, but he didn’t know this body of Christ directly. And yet he did know about the church. First, he was an apostle of Christ with a ministry to all of God’s churches. It was his business to know things about them. And the Holy Spirit, certainly gave him special insight from time to time. And as Christians moved about the Mediterranean world, information spread. Travelers didn’t go from Holiday Inn to Holiday Inn, or from the Marriot in Athens to the Hilton at Rome; Rather they went from church to church, enjoying the hospitality of the children of God. When Apollos or Aquilla went from Ephesus to Corinth, they carried news of God’s blessings from place to place. So as Paul wrote back to the church in Thessalonica from his borrowed room in Greece, he could say, “Ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.” And now as he stays in Justus’ house in Corinth, he can say that the saints in that church were aware of what was going on in the church in Rome. “And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.”
Paul suggests that three things were well known about the church in Rome. We could say that these three things are excellent Christian graces – traits of good Christian character. They should be found in each of us to a growing degree and intensity. They are well-worthy of our study this morning.
The people of the church in Rome were known for their goodness, knowledge and (to apply Paul’s last point) they had a desire for the glory of God.
On the other hand – “good” is a perfectly good word. It is found over 200 times in the New Testament and three times as often in the Old Testament. “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” The Lord Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” And “why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.” Unfortunately, even though it is a good Biblical word, it still is difficult to define, & it can mean many things. Rather than really confuse ourselves, let’s begin and end with James Strong’s definition: “Goodness” refers to “uprightness of heart and life.” And Biblically-speaking to be “upright” means “to be godly” or “straight-up – in the sight of God.”
A moment ago, I quoted Matthew 19:17 which we read earlier in its context. “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.” A man, whom I consider to be sincere, but trapped in his sin, as all of us are, came to Christ wanting to know what he could do in order to inherit eternal life. The Lord Jesus asked him about the law, and he mistakenly replied that he had always kept the law. So the Lord attacked one of his foremost sins – greed – “Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.” In God’s sight, in the sight of the omniscient Christ, the man was not “good” – not upright in heart or life.
The fact is, “there is none good, but God.” You were not born good, and perhaps you are not yet good. Paul has already stated this in its practical form in Romans 3 – “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” The goodness which God wants to see in us, and the goodness to which Paul refers here in Romans 15 is not natural to any of us. Sinners are not good, and they can never be good without the miracle of God’s saving grace. Nice? – perhaps – but good? – impossible.
Please turn to Matthew 7 and our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. We might have the tendency to think of this as an accumulation of important but disconnected thoughts. That would be a mistake, because these points are often linked together into on-going arguments. Notice verse 15 – “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Verse 21 is not the beginning of new thought, but the continuation of the earlier point. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
The core of every human heart is corrupt, and so we see the production of evil fruit – even in small children. “A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit.” But when we see someone who is actually doing the will of the Heavenly father that person has entered into the kingdom of Heaven. He can do the will of God, because his heart has been made into good and godly material – by grace. When a sinner is “saved,” he or she is “regenerated” – born again, and given a new kind of spiritual heart. You could say that person has been given a heart like the Lord’s. By nature, there is none good but God, but when someone is regenerated, he becomes good and he becomes capable of doing good and being filled with goodness.
Paul says- “I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness.” When he says that they are “full of goodness,” it appears that he thinks that their lives are filled with good. This is more than just regenerated hearts – this is changed and upright lives. But isn’t he also suggesting that it is possible not to be filled with goodness or to come short of being full? In another book he says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness (and) temperance.” Apparently the Apostle is convinced that the Holy Spirit is working in most of the members of that church, and that He is producing lives which are outwardly good.
This thought takes us down a trail that we really don’t have time to travel, so let me summarize. Goodness – uprightness in heart and life – can be seen in forgiving one another, as God has forgiven us. It means benevolence and generosity towards those who are in need, especially among the saints. It means kindness. It means humility and meekness in receiving what the Lord has for us to receive. It means moral excellency, and relative sinlessness in the midst of a wicked, wicked world. This goodness refers to every godly characteristic which might possibly be found in a saint of God – as produced by the ministry of the Holy Spirit in us.
And it was Paul’s testimony that he had heard of those people’s goodness – they were full of goodness. But what is the testimony of our church and you in particular? Does the world say that you are nice? How nice. Does the world say that you are good? That is much better. Do other believers say that you are filled with goodness, and does the Lord concur? This is a question which will come up before us as the Judgment Seat of Christ.
He is talking about the Scriptures and what they reveal about the Lord. Ie. there are thousands of questions and unanswerable problems posed by the hypothesis of evolution, but the Christian who with simple faith believes the Bible, has satisfactory answers to those questions. And the philosopher who ponders the questions of life-after-death, may walk around in a daze, but there is no mystery about the subject when someone knows the Lord. Sadly, there are tens of thousands of Christians who seem to be pulling their hair out in regard to the current condition of American politics, the economy and the state of our society, but those whose faith is founded upon the love of the sovereign God, are not living in the same terror.
Years ago, the Lord Jesus said, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” Brethren, the Holy Spirit has come and has given us an understanding. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God,” and He has revealed much unto the saints, if we are willing to look.
This knowledge to which Paul refers is very desirable. He told the people in Philippi – “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory & praise of God.” Similarly he prayed for the people in Colossi and Laodicea – “For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, & unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Obviously, some people are more filled with knowledge than others – but whose fault is that? Similarly, why are some people more filled with the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit than others? Isn’t it by their choice and the way that live and approach their Christianity?
This knowledge is important – it is essential for some things as I’ve already suggested. Through knowledge comes faith – which then brings comfort and peace. “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” If we neglect God’s word we will be cast into confusion and worry. The Lord expects us to live holy lives before Him, but what is holiness? The answer to that question is found in the pages of the Word of God. No secular philosopher can tell us what is good and what is holy. Knowledge lays at the foundation of usefulness. I could not get Brother Asmundson’s van started the other day, and we need it for camp tomorrow. I tried everything that I knew, but nothing would get it to run. My uselessness in this matter was based on my ignorance, so we finally got an expert to look at it. His knowledge appears to have solved the problem. And how can we know how to serve the Lord if we aren’t informed and learn how?
Of course, we can’t make a blanket statement about this. But what about the man who professes to be a Christian, but hasn’t learned the rudiments of Christianity? Is that man a Christian who doesn’t believe in the virgin birth of Christ, the Lord’s sinlessness, or His eternal nature? It is not necessary to a man’s salvation to believe in the upcoming return of the Saviour, but when he hasn’t learned that truth, after reading his Bible for 20 years, might not we question whether or not he is indwelt by the Spirit?
I don’t have to tell you that I still have a lot to learn about the Lord – it should be obvious. I certainly am not stuffed full with “all knowledge,” but I am still working on it and growing. Are you? Do you have this aspect of the evidence of spiritual life? Is this a part of your character? Are you a Biblical Christian?
For my final point for the morning, I want to take Paul’s words and twist them just slightly.
The Greek word here is translated two ways an equal number of times – to “admonish” and to “warn.” In English “to admonish” means to “reprove earnestly, but gently.” It’s second definition means “to counsel.” As we raise our children we are constantly admonishing them, because we love them. We want them to grow up safely, learning things that will keep them from harm later on. I constantly hear our grand-daughter being told that if does this or that she will get hurt. And sometimes it is one of her teachers who will hurt her – with a chastising snap of her finger. We admonish our children because we love them.
And as Christian adults we admonish one another for the same reason. But there is an additional reason – it is for the Lord’s glory. We have been left in this world, since the time of our salvation, to be ambassadors for the Saviour. When one ambassador sees another ambassador behaving in a manner unbecoming a Christian then the first needs to admonish the second. He needs to reprove earnestly, but gently – for the glory of the Lord.
Listen to the Apostle Paul in this regard – he says that this is one of the purposes of the church. “And having an high priest over the house of God (who is not the pastor but the Saviour) Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Later he says, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” This church ministry of admonition is something which any Christian can perform. “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
Not only is the giving of admonition a sign of Christian character, so is the receiving of that admonition.
Goodness, knowledge and practical desire for the glory of God. Together these three things provide us with a good self-administered test. In the light of these things, am I truly a child of the King? A saint of God? Am I growing in my knowledge of the Saviour and all those things which pertain to Him? Am I a good person according to the Biblical definition and does my life display goodness? Then lastly, do I really have a desire for the Lord’s glory? If not, then perhaps you need to bow before the cross in repentance for your sin. Is your love and faith resting upon the Saviour this morning? Is the Holy Spirit urging and inviting you to come to the cross today? Don’t put it off – please don’t put it off.