Romans 1:7
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
With these words Paul opens his letter to the Romans. He is greeting the Roman church with a blessing reminding them that they receive true Grace and Peace not from worldly pursuits but from Christ Jesus through God our father. We sometimes forget that In our daily lives. We try to make our own peace with the world, this is a temporal peace at best.
Events in the world surround us, filling us with anxiety and uncertainty. We want peace so that we might live quiet lives. Thus we allow what seems like small surrenders enter into our actions so we don’t rock the boat, fearing if we stand it will capsize. We begin to believe it’s is better to compromise, give in a little, so the world will accept us. Yet this is not what we are called to do. Paul says it in this manner:
“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:24
We see in this country, in the world, the call to but aside God in favor of man…and say that this is okay with God. After all we have evolved to a higher state of knowledge and truth is as we make it. Thoughts of pleasing the one true God is old school, not to be tolerated or believed. If you are the person who wants to honor God, you are what’s wrong in this country and must be silenced.
We have a ministry. We are ambassadors for Jesus, an official envoy. When we become aware of what appears to be everyone accepting ungodly actions, we need to be in prayer. We need to study God’s Word so we are knowledgeable in regard to Τruth. We need to understand the lies and deception, and run the race. Throughout the Bible, we are encouraged to run the race, to “finish the course” as Paul puts it. In Ephesians 4 Paul tells us there are those among us who are called to a distinct position to help instruct us in our growth:
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”
To equip the saints (us) in the work of the ministry. Wow! (In this I know I fail.) It is far easier to hear no evil, see no evil and tell no evil (well, there is a lot of “talk” going on). Yet, this tells us we are to grow to the fullness of Christ, to not be swayed by the worlds lies. We are, as Paul did, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. We are to speak and Paul tells us how:
“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
Let’s go to work then and call others to the Grace and Peace that is ours in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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