The Responsibility Of Righteousness

“Working Together”

Our Text: Romans 15:4—-16:27

We have a responsibility to be righteous after we are saved by God’s “Grace”. We had no righteousness before we were saved. Our righteousness was like filthy rags.

Isa 61:10  I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, [he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness], as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

That righteousness is only in Jesus Christ:

Mal 4:2  But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

And God says:

Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

This means we are help one another.

We are to pray for one another.

We are to minister to one another. To minister is not only to be a servant to each other but to do it for the “glory of God”. We are to deliver to each other the things, physical and spiritual, we have received of God. This is being a good steward of the things that God has blessed us with. We are to give back to others what God has given us!

We are to admonish one another, we should warn our brothers and sisters in Christ, when we see some things that affect their witnessing ability.

THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS JUDGING ONE ANOTHER!

Our brothers and sisters in Christ are not our enemies and should not be treated in that manner.

2Th 3:6  Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

Some read this verse and stop but we must consider the entire passage:

2Th 3:14  And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no
company with him, that he may be ashamed.
2Th 3:15  [Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother].

We should inform them of the wrong things they do, and advise them to seek counseling from the Word of God, even showing them the truth, BUT WE MUST AVOID GETTING INVOLVED WITH THEIR EVILNESS.

We must then make them aware that we are their friend, waiting on and encouraging their return to the Lord.

When we do this properly, according to the Word of God, we will gain a solid brother and sister in Christ and we are fulfilling our obligation of “righteousness” to the God who saved us.

This is not a command because when we wear the robe of Our Lord Jesus Christ we will be in His image and we will be Christian or “Like Christ”.

THIS IS AN ACTION THE SHOWS THE LOVE OF CHRIST.

LOVE IS AN ACTION WORD!

GOD’S LOVE IS NOT CONNECTED TO “LUST”!

To love our brothers and sisters in Christ is to be in one accord with them.

Pro 18:24  A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

THAT TRUE FRIEND WE ALL HAVE, THAT ARE SAVED, IS JESUS CHRIST!

THIS IS THE STRENGTH OF THE BODY OF CHRIST!

Our Text:

Rom 15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that
we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

We must not forget that there was no New Testament at this time. It was being written by
these apostles and some others at this time of Paul. Paul clearly states that the books of the
Old Testament were written before the time of the Church. The Old Testament is where we learn how
God dealt with His people. God chastised them but God never abandoned them!

Rom 15:5  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward
another according to Christ Jesus:
Rom 15:6  That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 15:7  Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

Paul is telling us, through the Holy Ghost, that the same God who gave the Old Testament Saints patience, endurance, and comfort in His Word will do the same for every believer.

In other words it is not the things of this world that can make the church better!

It is only the Word of God that can make the Church a place of worship!

Satan has too much influence on the things of this world for them to ever be any benefit to the Body of Christ!

The world would only bring false preaching and false teaching into the church and make it a place of entertainment when God wants the church to be a hospital for souls!

God uses our mistakes to teach us but we must also learn from those mistakes!

The Church must major in the Word of God and in Prayer!

Abraham knew this to be true:

Gen 13:8  And Abram said unto Lot, [Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren].

Satan will do his best to isolate Christians in this world. It is when we are alone that we are the weakest.

Satan will try to convince us that we are never good enough to get into God’s Heaven.

He will convince us that since we are so bad then it is not so wrong for us to do bad things.

This is not the plan of God nor is it the Word of God!

We can never glorify God by submitting to the evils in this world!

When we do not have the mind of Christ, we will never glorify God with our mouths!

Mat 12:34  O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? [for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh].

God saves sinners and God uses sinners to do His Work!

*****Our Text:

Rom 15:8  Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:
Rom 15:9  And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.
Rom 15:10  And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.
Rom 15:11  And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.
Rom 15:12  And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.
Rom 15:13  Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Rom 15:14  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.

What we see in chapter 15 is the fact that to minister and to be a minister of Jesus Christ should be our goal.

The theme of Chapter 15 is “minister” or “the ministry”.

The Apostle Paul uses five different Greek words to describe the ministry of the “Body of Christ”

We have learned from other lessons that the number “5” represents the number of “Grace”!

*****In verse 8 we see the word “diakonos”.

We get our English word “Deacon” from this Greek word but it means to execute the commands of a master. It means to be obedient to the Word of God as a servant to the Body of Christ.

Notice Paul said Our Lord Jesus was sent to execute the commands of the Master, The Almighty God Himself.

We are all also sent out into this world to execute the commands of our Master:

Mat 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

To be a deacon is not to hold an office of power but an office of a servant!

*****In verse 25 we the word “diakoneo”.

This Greek word means to help those in need in the church, to try to provide the necessities of life to the Body of Christ. This would include missions. This also includes those that can give more than their tithe.

We are beginning to see that every Born Again chold of God has a “Ministry” in the Body of Christ.

*****In verse 31 we see the word ” diakonia”.

This Greek word means to be a teacher and serve in the administration of the Body of Christ.

These would include every teacher in every age group from Sunday School to every other teaching program but also the music director and any clerical help among others.

*****In verse 27 we see the word “leitourgeo” for the word “service”

This Greek word means the volunteers who work in the Body of Christ to keep all the various functions of the Church working. This would also include the Prayer Warriors at most important part of the Body of Christ.

This would also include the van drivers, those that work in the nursery, those that maintain and clean the House of God and most every other volunteer in the Church.

*****In verse 16 we see the word “leitourgos”.

This Greek word means to Pastor. We know that to Pastor is to be called of God, but these Pastors must come from the Body of Christ.

This would also include any youth Pastor or any assistant Pastor among others that are specifically called of God.

All these that minister in the Body of Christ must first be believers and Born Again.

We all have a place in the ministry of the Body of Christ!

God will provide the gifts needed to for us to fit in our place.

Our Supreme example of ministry must always be Jesus Christ Our Lord!

Jesus made sure that His disciples understood this most important part of the ministry in the Body Of Christ!

Luk 22:24  And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.
Luk 22:25  And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.
Luk 22:26  But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.
Luk 22:27  For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? [but I am among you as he that serveth].

Until Jesus died on the cross and was “resurrected into new life”, He ministered to the Nation of Israel.

Only after this did the ministry spread to “whosoever will”.

The Book of Acts tells us that the disciples began in Israel, then to the Samaritans, then to all Gentiles.

God was not selfish to go to the Jew first because He used the Jews to spread the Gospel. We may wonder why God has not yet returned but, the truth is He will not return until the fullness of the Gentiles come in.

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, [not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance].

2Pe 3:15  [And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation]; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Look at what Paul says:

Verse 9 tells us that the Jews glorify God among the Gentiles fulfilling Old Testament prophesy:

Psa 18:49  [Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen], and sing praises unto thy name.

Verse 10 tells us that the Jews will rejoice with the Gentiles.

Deu 32:43  [Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people]: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.

Verse 11 tells us that All the Jews and the Gentiles together will praise God.

Psa 117:1  [O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people].
Psa 117:2  For his merciful kindness is great toward us: [and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever]. Praise ye the LORD.

verse 12 tells us that Our Lord Jesus Christ will reign over the Jews and the Gentiles.

Isa 11:10  [And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious].

We know that not all these things have taken place yet but they will!

In verse 12 that word trust “elpizo” means hope.

So in verse 13:

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing”

But the Power behind that “hope” is the Holy Ghost.

We must remember before we were saved, we had no “hope”.

Eph 2:12  That at that time [ye were without Christ], being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, [having no hope, and without God in the world]:
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh [by the blood of Christ].

Not only “hope” but, joy, peace, and power, still through the Holy Spirit that lives within us.

It is because the Jew took the Gospel to the us, the Gentiles, that all the nations of this world have the opportunity to “trust”(hope) in Christ Jesus as Savior!

*****Our Text:

Rom 16:17  Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
Rom 16:18  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
Rom 16:19  For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.
Rom 16:20  And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

The Apostle Paul, who was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, spent most all his years taking the Gospel to the Gentile.

When Paul met Jesus an the Damascus Road, he met the God of “Grace”.

1.) It was God’s grace that saved him.
2.) It was God’s grace that called him.
3.) It was God’s grace that made him the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Rom 1:5  By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
Rom 1:6  Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:

Paul realized that the Gentile were to be also called:

Eph 3:1  For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
Eph 3:2  If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
Eph 3:3  How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
Eph 3:4  Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

Paul knew that the Salvation message was the Gospel of God, which is the “Good-News” of Jesus Christ.

All these things are done under the “power” of the Holy Spirit.

It is an absolute “privilege” to be a servant of God and to give the saving message of God to “whosoever will” hear it!

Paul did these things for God’s glory!

We cannot brag about our ministry BUT we must brag about what God had done in our lives since being saved and the fact of “Salvation” because it is a fact!

God’s Word is fact!

Our Salvation is based on “facts”!

We cannot over emphasize that we are stablished, stabilized on the facts of the Bible!

It was the Holy Spirit that gave Paul the power to do these things.

This is still the same power that every saved child of God operates on today!

The Apostle Paul preached according to God’s Plan of Salvation!

Paul was not to preach where other Apostles had ministered:

Rom 15:20  Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, [not where Christ was named], lest I should build upon another man’s foundation:

There is no greater evidence that the Apostle Peter did not start the church in Rome, as the Catholic Church declares, than this one verse!

Paul would not have desired to go to Rome if Peter had already established the church in Rome!

The Apostle Paul was the pioneer of the ministry of God, to the Gentile world!

Isa 52:12  For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.

That word rereward means the “One that gathers”.

In other words it is the God of Israel, Jehovah God and His Plan of Salvation that had sent Paul to the Gentiles.

We know that Paul preached Jesus, so God says we will gather at the cross and the blood of Jesus will wash us into Salvation!

It would now be the Gentiles that would take the Gospel back to the Jew and that is where we stand today!

Every one that wears the title Christian is obligated to repay the debt to Israel.

1.) We should pray for the Salvation of Israel
2.) We should take the Gospel message to Israel
3.) We should provide help to Israel when we are able

When the Holy Spirit is working in the Body of Christ, the giving of these things and more is no problem.

4.) We must stand by the side of Israel!

We will see in chapter 16 that it was a lady, Phebe, that took these written words of Paul to the believers in Rome.

Phebe may not have realized the importance of the message she carried but, she could have, as the New Testament was being written and assembled during this time of Paul and the other Apostles.

2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him [hath written unto you];
2Pe 3:16  As also in all [his epistles] speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

For those that teach it was many years later that the New Testament was written, disputes what the Bible itself says.

The Bible was being written and distributed to the church during the time of the Apostles!

The Apostle Paul took some time to thank many who had help him in his ministry. We all have a ministry and we should always be thankful to any that help in our own ministry.

2Co 4:1  Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
2Co 4:2  But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

2Ti 4:5  But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

The Apostle Paul knew that there were many that many that were working against the Church as there are today.

There are many who would divide the Church! 

We can see the evidence of false doctrine in our own communities.

Any place of worship not founded on the Rock of Jesus will not stand!

Paul says:

1.) Mark them, (take aim as a spy would) and point them out to the Church, the local assemblies.

2.) Avoid them, (keep a distance from) not allowing them in our own assembly, and to not be part of these false assemblies.

We cannot fall into the trap of friendship, when we should concentrate on being obedient to the Lord and preserving our own testimony!

Any one that deviates from the Word of God intentionally, comes from Satan!

AND We know his end is near!

Not everyone that hears the Gospel of Jesus will accept Him as Savior but, we owe it to them to reach out with God’s Word, and God’s Plan of Salvation.

If we can in love point out false doctrine, then we should, but not think of them as an enemy!

God’s Word is not to be argued but only delivered!

It is the work of the Holy Ghost that will bring salvation!

If we can all work together as the “One Body Of Christ” that we are supposed to be, then God’s goals will be reached.

It is God’s Plan of Salvation!

We cannot try to change God’s Plan!

We should serve the Lord because we love the Lord!

When we work together in the work of the Lord, we are showing the love of Jesus!

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Let’s Pray!