1 Peter 1:6-7

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6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ~ 1 Peter 1:6-7

Today, we return to our study of 1 Peter where the Apostle Peter provides us with a blueprint on how to handle suffering. He did this for the recipients of this letter who had been enduring persecution due to their obedience to the God of the Bible. Persecution ensures that the very things that we tend to trust in the most like comfort and ease and affluence and prosperity and safety and freedom becomes less of a crutch for the believer. When these crutches are removed, we discover what is really real, and we invest accordingly.

In today's passage, the Apostle makes the point that all of our trials potentially produce at least one purpose. In addition to getting us to investing in the really real, our trials serve to create a roadway into the hearts of those upon whom we have influence. In today's passage we learn of the two things which we must have in order to growth in our faith in the God of the Bible. This faith is best described as our heart's ability to see God.

In v.6 of today's passage we read, "In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials." 

Today's passage begins with: "In all this..." The word "this" modifies "the suffering" mentioned in the previous verses. When we come to understand the purpose behind our troubles, we will inevitably rejoice because the presence of God is magnified in and through our lives. According to Romans 10:17, when we hear with our hearts the spoken word of God, the other ingredient to a growing faith is brought to bare in our lives. When out of our trials we turn to God, we will experience the purpose of our trials which is a heightened awareness of His presence which is designed to enable our faith to grow even stronger than we ever thought it could be. 

The Apostle ends v.6 with "all kinds of trials." In the KJV we read, "manifold trials" which when literally translated reads, "many-colored trials." I find it very instructive that this same Greek word is also found in 1 Peter 4:10 where the adjective is applied to God's grace, "the manifold grace of God." When our trials are varied, God’s grace is just as varied. It is the amazing grace of God that gives us the power and the desire to do what pleases Him in the middle of the most tragic circumstances of our lives. And His grace is specifically designed to meet us right where our tragedy hits us. 

The ultimate goal of it all is that we see Him in an increasing multifaceted way. The depth of our heart's to see God renders a knowledge of Him that is ever increasing. And, we will know Him most deeply due to our trials which drive us to Him in our times of our greatest need. I'm so glad God doesn't rescue me when I want to be rescued out of my trials because I would miss out on so much with Him.

In v.7 of today's passage we read, "These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

Our faith in the God of the Bible is much like our muscles, if we do not exercise them, they will not grow. In fact, unused faith will atrophy. This is the design of our troubles: they serve in pushing us into a deeper reality with the Lord Jesus Christ. And the trials are helpful in that. The key isn't just faith, the key is that the God of the Bible is the object of our faith. And our trials hone our heart's ability to see and hear God.

The Apostle Peter uses the metaphor of a refining fire. The purified gold is the product of the distress caused by intense heat. Similarly, suffering has the same effect on our faith in the God of the Bible. Our suffering enables us to see our utter inadequacy. It also enables us to see His utter adequacy. And, when we are let down enough by those inadequacies, it is then that we are granted the opportunity to place our lives more increasingly in the hands of our adequate heavenly Father.  When we are overwhelmed and cry out to Him for help, we discover His presence and His involvement in the details of our lives. We eventually will notice even a design to our trials and our troubles.

Our suffering deepens our appreciation for the sufferings of the Lord Jesus on our behalf. Like gold that is refined by the intense heat of fire, we will embrace a disposition that will be less self absorbed and more dependent upon the One who has our best interest at heart. When we withdraw from Him due to these intense fiery trials, we limit our heart's ability to see and experience Him for ourselves. And, as a result, we forfeit the opportunity to learn His definitions of things and we will not be trained in His culture.

C. S. Lewis once eloquently said: "Pain plants the flag of truth in the fortress of a rebel soul." A jeweler knows if the gold that he holds is real or fake by placing it in a fire. Our faith is no different. A faith that cannot be tested by intensity is a faith that cannot be trusted. So, God puts it through the fire in order to strengthen it. God is not out to burn us; He is always out to bless us. But sometimes those blessings are disguised in trials.

And the result of it all will be magnified when the Lord Jesus is revealed. In that moment we will see that every ounce of the unwanted trials and troubles that came into our live had purpose. In that moment we will praise, glorify and honor the Lord Jesus. These three words reveal something that is far more precious than the gold and the diamonds of this world. These three words, praise, glory and honor are words of worship. When He is revealed we will be so enthralled with Him that we will break out in intense worship. The beauty of it all will be in the recognition that our trials and troubles and persecutions prepared our hearts for the explosions of praise and worship that we will render in that moment. It will be a crescendo moment that will not be paralleled by any other.

1 Peter 1:5

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3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 

5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ~ 1 Peter 1:3-5

Today, I include v.3-4 in with today's verse for the sake of context. In this letter, the Apostle Peter is providing us with a blueprint on how to live the Christian life in the context of suffering. In v.3-5 the Apostle provides us with three buoys that enable us who are now of another world to navigate the treacherous waters of this world. In v.3-4 we have considered two results of our new birth: a living hope and an enduring inheritance. Today, we consider the next result of our new birth found in 1 Peter 1:5 that we are shielded by God's power.

The believers to whom Peter wrote this letter were being persecuted intensely. They struggled in the midst of their trials to discover God's purpose in it. In order to comfort these suffering believers, Peter reminds them they were shielded by the power of God. The word "shielded" means "guarded" in the same way as a military post is guarded by soldiers. The military guard, in this case, is the Holy Spirit who has the responsibility to guard or protect the believer and his inheritance in Christ for eternity. 

Fear is an emotion caused by the belief that something or someone poses a threat to us. The believer in Christ does not have to be controlled by fear, but by the immense power of God to guard our eternity. This power grants the believer in Christ the ability to use his trials as an asset rather than a hindrance. The key is that we operate daily from a transcendent point of view that is only granted by God's word and His Holy Spirit. This is why a life lived while walking in the Spirit is so important. 

In Ephesians 1:14 the Apostle Paul wrote of the promised Holy Spirit who was given by God to the the believer in Christ as the guarantee of our "salvation" in Christ. This inheritance is our home, our real home. Our home is where we are most at home. Homeliness is defined not by us but by the Lord Jesus, the One who best defines all things. The Holy Spirit guards and guarantees our eventual abiding place with the Lord Jesus and home is naturally where the heart is. God has, through the Holy Spirit, chosen to make His home within the believer in Christ. Our home is not a proximity. Our home is a person. And, that person is the Lord Jesus Christ. He completes all of His creation through His presence.

The believer in Christ and our inheritance is being "shielded by God’s power." Interestingly, this is the same power that God used to create all things, and it is the very same power that  raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. God does not promise us the absence of suffering, However, He does promise something much greater; He promises us the ability to transcend and to live according to His precepts. And, when we are living in this way, we discover how suffering serves us. This is why the Apostle Paul references our blessings in the book of Ephesians as being accessed in the heavenly realms. And, when we live according to God's culture, we transcend to the place where we see that what we thought was a curse was actually a blessing.

I know a young lady very close to me who is incredibly skilled at solving problems; she can solve any problem. This young lady has the ability to see well in advance in order to straighten out that which has been made crooked. And the amazing part of it all, she acquired these valuable and very sought out skills by going through many family related trials while growing up. She and her sisters had it rough growing up without a father in the picture. If you look closely enough, you will notice the same is true in your life. Your strengths were acquired through going through many unwanted difficulties and learning from them.

The Bible speaks of our "inheritance" as a past event, we were forgiven by God for the penalty of our sin through the death of Christ on the cross. This, the Bible calls our justification. The Bible also speaks of our "inheritance" as a present event or our sanctification through which God is saving us from the power of sin. We do not have to obey sin because as God inculcates His culture within us through His Spirit and His word, we will see the utter stupidity of giving in to sin. Finally, the Bible speaks of our "inheritance" as a future event where we will be will be saved from the presence of sin. This is referred to in the Bible as glorification. When that day comes, we will realize the consummation of our inheritance in Christ earned by Christ on our behalf. 

1 Peter 1:4

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"3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you." ~ 1 Peter 1:3-4 

Today, we return to our study of the first of Peter's two epistles: 1 Peter. Yesterday, we considered 1 Peter 1:3 wherein we learned of our living hope which is a result of our new birth. Today, we consider 1 Peter 1:4 wherein we will learn through this very same new birth, our inheritance in and through Christ.

An inheritance is property or money or title that you own upon the death of the previous holder who has made you an heir. And once that person dies it's passed onto you, if you were named an heir. Usually this is done by parents for children. 

The Lord Jesus Christ came from heaven to earth and died bequeathing heaven to all who would be humble enough to believe that His sacrifice on the cross paid the penalty for sin. Since the Lord Jesus Christ conquered sin and death by raising from the dead, He made it possible for all believers to be joint heirs with Him. 

In Romans 8:17 we read, "Now if we are children, then we are heirs---heirs of God, co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. For I consider that the present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

The inheritance that the Apostle Peter is writing about is really the inheritance of the Lord Jesus, and He has chosen to share His inheritance with us who believe. This inheritance is mentioned in Revelation 21-22, where the Apostle John describes the new heaven and the new earth as a place where believers in the Lord Jesus Christ will inhabit the kingdom of God.

In the New Earth all living things will find their sustenance in the presence of our God, the Lord Jesus Christ. In heaven, every longing that we have ever known will be realized. Christ's promised inheritance is guaranteed to the believer in Christ and it is secured in heaven by God's power through the resurrection of Christ! In eternity, we will fully experience ultimate fulfillment that we were created to know partly due to the fact that there will be nothing to hinder us of the pursuits of our hearts. 

Peter describes this inheritance as never perishing, never spoiling, and never fading, because it is kept by God's power in heaven for us. The word "kept" means "to guard." The believer's inheritance in Christ is guarded in heaven. Here the Apostle Peter used a perfect passive participle meaning the already existing inheritance is presently under guard in heaven. And, heaven is the safest place there is because it does not suffer from the presence of sin and death.

In Revelation 21:27 we read, "Nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination, and lying shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life." 

Heaven will never know any invasion from any outside threat. Heaven will never know any spoiling of its treasure. Heaven will never know any laying waste, any defacing of its beauty. Heaven will never have armies marching into it to fight against its inhabitants. In heaven we will sleep with our doors unlocked and our windows wide open. As a result, our inheritance in Christ is and will be more than secure.

It is so easy for us, especially while we are suffering persecution, to lose sight of this eternal perspective that Peter is describing here. We most often lack an appreciation for the future because we so quickly forget the terrors of hell from which God has saved us through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross. The earth as we know it will end in flames, and God will make a new heaven and a new earth.

As believer's we sometimes develop a myopic view of what time is in the context of the eternal. Time, with reference to eternity, is just a speck of sand. This temporal earth is, in comparison to the eternal, nothing. To be defined by the nothing as opposed to the eternal is like settling for a five hundred thousand dollar home here on earth rather than a multi-gazillion dollar home in eternity. There simply is no comparison. And this inheritance is locked up in the bank vault of heaven, guarded against every intruder who might desire to take it from us. 

Finally, think of those whom you admire the most. Think of the qualities that each of these people possess. Think of why you enjoy their presence. The Lord Jesus Christ is all of those qualities and more. You see, He is our inheritance, and He is the One who will complete us. It is hard for us to wrap our minds around this concept right now, but He is everything we have ever desired and more. In heaven, we will know, in a perfect and an eternal way, an authentic and lasting union with Him. That's a prize to keep our eyes on while here on this fallen earth. This all means that heaven, although the coolest place ever, is far more than just a destination. Heaven truly is a person and His name in the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:3

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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. ~ 1 Peter 1:3

Today, we return to our study of 1 Peter 1. According to today's verse, it is by God's great mercy that we are born again. Our old life was so tainted and wretched, God had to perform a new creation in us. A better translation of the phrase "born again" is "to be born from above." When we were born this second time we were given by God a spiritual birth. As time goes by we recognize that this new birth from above is a transformation that occurred on the inside of us and works its way out. And so Peter uses that term here, begotten again, transformed from the inside out.

Our old life could not be transformed. So, out of the hopelessness of our old lives, God brought into being a new life, which Peter describes here as a new birth. Interestingly, many understand incorrectly that Christianity is about changing the old ourselves. This is not so. God, as a result of us believing in His Son, has given us a new birth which is the introduction of Himself into out dead spirit. This was promised to Abraham so long ago in the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 12. According to Galatians 3:14, the Holy Spirit was the ultimate promise that God made to Abraham. This is why the Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus, "You must be born again." Becoming "born again" to God is something that God does in our lives once we have come to faith in His Son as our Savior. Our "born again" status is not something that we do to and for ourselves; it is a gift that the believer in God receives from God.

Most Christians fail to recognize there is no way for our old lives can be transformed. In fact, when we try to change our old selves and are to some degree successful at it, we become more moral beings. But, morality and spirituality are not one in the same. In fact, we waste our time trying to "moralize" ourselves. No, the answer is dying to the old life and yielding to God's transformative work in our spirit. Our new birth is our living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. When the Lord Jesus rose from the grave, He whipped sin and death. He, at that moment, made it possible for us to receive His life into ours and then to live a new life which renders the life everyone on this earth is seeking.

The Apostle Peter refers to our hope as a "living hope" because it is the very life of the Lord Jesus that has come to bear on our existence from the inside out. It is His life that is our living hope. As He lives His life in, to, and through us, we experience eternal life. This kind of life enables us to love when we want to hurt. It enables us to forgive when we want to get revenge. And, in so doing, we become the people that we want those who hurt us to be. His mercy defines us as we experience His life. If we embrace the way of the old life, we will be defined by it with all of its smelly grave clothes. This new life is the life that Jeremiah speaks of in Jeremiah 31:33 which reads, "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."

The Greek word the Apostle Peter used in today's verse for "hope" describes "an eager and confident expectation." One translation translates the word as "a hope that lives on and on." Unlike the empty, dead hope of this world, this "living hope" is energizing, alive, and active in the soul of the believer. This is due to the fact that we have a living and resurrected Savior. Our living hope is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

The last phrase of today's verse is quite instructive. It reads, "Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." Pivotal to this "living hope" is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. The willing are granted a personal relationship with God because God, the Judge, became a man and lived the perfect life on our behalf, and then died on our behalf.  He took our death sentence upon Himself to satisfy His own justice. And then, He was raised on our behalf. In His resurrection, we have resurrection. Because He was raised, we will be raised. Because He lives, we live.

The Apostle Peter was a fiercely loyal follower of the Lord Jesus. He was the only one of the twelve who made this promise to Him, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And, in just a few short hours later, he called down curses on himself as he denied ever knowing the Lord Jesus not once but three times. Peter's denials proved he wasn’t as strong as he claimed to be. Years later, Peter wrote today's verse. Peter and John had run to the tomb on Easter morning after the women reported that it was empty. Later that day, Peter saw the Lord Jesus alive, and his fear, grief, and despair turned to hope. This was a new kind of hope, the type of hope that renders the new life God promised Abraham so long ago. This new hope is now our living hope. And, this new hope is the type of life that renders a prison cell into a place of rejoicing. 

1 Peter 1:2

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Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. ~ 1 Peter 1:1-2

As we mentioned in the last two blogs/podcasts, in 1 Peter 1:1-2 the Apostle Peter identifies the follower of the Lord Jesus Christ with three descriptors: Exiles, Elect, and Chosen. Having considered the first two descriptors, today, we consider the third.

In today's passage, the Apostle Peter makes clear the involvement of the Trinity in the redemption of fallen man. The Father foreknew us, while the Holy Spirit sanctified us, and the Lord Jesus died for us. God the Father is the One who has elected or chosen the believer in Christ according to His "foreknowledge." The Greek word translated "foreknowledge" is only used five times in the New Testament and it simply means "thought-out in advance." 

In eternity past, before man ever sinned, God did not just know man would rebel against Him, He, along with the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit planned our redemption. The word  "foreknowledge" does not refer to God's awareness of what was going to happen, it means "predetermined relationship in the knowledge of God." God brought the salvation relationship into existence by decreeing it into existence ahead of time and believers are foreknown by God for salvation in the same way that Christ was predetermined before the foundation of the world to be the sacrifice for our sins. God chose the believer in Christ before He created the world. He had to do this given the fact that we were dead to Him in our sins and trespasses.

Abraham is an example of this. He, the father of Israel, was foreknown by God the Father, not because of anything he did or he would do. When Abraham came to faith in the God of the Bible, he did so on the heels of his earthly father's death. It was then, after his father died that God intercepted Abraham's life. Up until that time, all Abraham knew was polytheism which did not include the God of the Bible. Having foreknown Abraham, God introduced Himself to him through his pain. This merely underscores the fact that our pain attracts the attention of God. It is our pain that serves us as stepping stones to a personal relationship with God. The question is always the same: Will I be defined by my pain or will I be defined by God? The design of our pain is to drive us into seeking God. Just like Abraham, Israel had nothing to offer God, but God chose them so that He could demonstrate to all of mankind what it looks like to have a personal relationship with God.

In v.2 of today's passage, Peter brings together the most important factors in the Christian life. There is, first of all, a relationship with God. Our relationship with God is determined by the fact that we are loved by God. Then, through the process of sanctification, the Holy Spirit provides the power to be what God wants us to be on this earth now. The result of all of God's power is our obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we fail to be what we know God intends us to be, there is always forgiveness.

God the Father extended His love toward us by sending His Son to pay the penalty for our sin on the cross. God the Holy Spirit trains us in the thinking God's thoughts so that we may live the lives the Lord Jesus died to give us. God, the Holy Spirit convinces us that we need a Savior. He brings us to a place where we are willing to receive the free gift of the forgiven son through Jesus Christ as Lord.

By using the phrase, "sprinkled with His blood," the Apostle Peter highlighted the days when the Old Testament priest offered an unblemished lamb on the altar of God. The Old Testament believers knew that the penalty for their rebellion against God was the shedding of innocent blood. Annually, on the Day of Atonement, the priest would then sprinkle the lamb's blood on the altar to cleanse the sin of the people. What began as one sacrificial lamb per person in the Garden of Eden became one sacrificial lamb per family in the wilderness after the Exodus. It was all the foreshadowing of the day that the Father would send His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, would is the one sacrificial lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

This is what frees us from a life of serving the flesh or the sinful desires that are yet within us. Paul tells us in Galatians 6:8 the flesh is out to destroy us, and when we feed the flesh, we aid it in our own destruction. John the Baptist said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." Once we beheld the Son, we gained the desire to believe in Him. And, out of our forgiven state, we desired to obey Him, not because we had to but because we wanted to. We love Him in response to His love for us, recognizing that there is no greater love than that to lay down your life for your friends. 

When the Lord Jesus Christ died for you and for me, He provided an infinite payment for our sin. As a result, we can never sin too much. Through the Lord Jesus there is infinite forgiveness. In Psalm 130, David wrote, "If You, Lord, should keep a record of our iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You that You may be reverentially trusted." One of the greatest incentives for our obedience to God's word is the realization that God has totally forgiven us in Christ. When we fail, we just thank God for the forgiveness which is ours through Christ, and we move on toward the obedience he has promised. This is what God determined before the world was created.

1 Peter 1:1-2

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1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. ~ 1 Peter 1:1-2

Today, we continue our new study in the book of 1 Peter. In 1 Peter 1:1-2 the Apostle Peter identifies the follower of the Lord Jesus Christ with three descriptors: Exiles, Elect, and Chosen.

God created mankind with two basic needs: To be loved and to love. When we are loved our deep need for security is addressed. And, as our understanding of His love for us grows, we should be becoming more and more secure. When we love others our deep need for significance is addressed. There is no greater significance than knowing that our lives have influenced others for eternity. Just think, there will be people in heaven because we shared the gospel with them.

Today, we are considering the second descriptor of the believer in Christ found in v.2. The Greek word translated "elect" is a participle that is made up of a compound of two words meaning "out of" and "called." When these two words are used like this we are introduced to the word commonly used throughout the New Testament meaning "church." Sadly, when most people think of the word "church" they think of a building. Of course, this is not the biblical definition of the word. The church is not a building, but a body of people with the same leader: the Lord Jesus Christ.  The church are those who have been "called out" from being defined by this world. The church are those who have been called into a personal relationship with God whereby we are learning to be defined by Him.

The professionalization of the ministry has hurt the cause of Christ as much as the distortion of the word church. The man-made idea of a prominent head Pastor comes from the desire of those who desire to have someone lead them. But, the Lord Jesus has called us to follow Him. He has called us to be led by Him. Learning to follow the Lord is not so difficult if we are listening to Him daily through His word, the Bible. Most want to be told what to do, but God has designed it so that we are to grow in a personal relationship with Him wherein we are learning to listen to Him, hear Him and follow Him at every turn of life.

The professionalization of ministry has served to subvert the ways of God in our lives. In the New Testament, the word "pastor" always appears in the plural form. There is no Scriptural evidence that there should be a singular senior head pastor. The word "pastor" is the Latin word for shepherd. This means that pastor has never been intended by God to be professional title, but a work that one is gifted to do as God leads. A pastor is a shepherd who is gifted by God to care for and nurture the people of God, not as a professional hierarchical vocational office or position. All spiritual gifts are to be exercised within the context of the gathering of the "called out ones." Sadly, many churches do not operate like this. Most do not know their spiritual gifts, much less how to use them.

The Greek word "ekklesia" often translated "church" in the Bible is best translated "called out ones" as we have already noted. When we are mindful of this better definition, we come to see the static nature of our relationship with the Lord and with one another. The words of the Lord Jesus, "Come, follow me" are revolutionary and have rerouted the trajectory of many lives. These words radically changed our orientation upon life, because instead of being defined by our limited understanding or that of others, now we are learning to be defined by God. And, His definition of things is radical and sometimes frightening. His definition of how our lives should be lived is unpredictable and therefore frightening. This is why most reject His claims and His definition of life.

Across the generations this invitation has not changed but it continues to change everything. Modern day believers still answer the call to follow the Lord Jesus Christ into this new life that He defines, leaving a trail of transformation in His wake. Many miss His call upon their lives because He uses some of the most unanticipated, unusual and most often unwanted means to call and to define us. 

For me, He used, among other experiences, the death of my mother when I was five years old, and, the death of my father when I was seventeen years old. Through these two life-changing events the Lord garnered my attention. In many ways I was backed into a corner rendering belief in the God of the Bible. I have often wondered where I would be if He had not intercepted my life. 

As "called out ones," God expects us to be involved in the work of "calling others out." The believer in the Lord Jesus who is learning to walk with Him on a daily basis will be motivated to target others with whom we can share the gospel. We must be diligent to pray that the Lord would call them out of being defined by this world to being defined by Him. I always find it amazing to watch Him do the work in the lives of those for whom I pray. All He asks us to do is to be available and to share our story with Him with them. Loved people love people!

1 Peter 1:1b

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Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. ~ 1 Peter 1:1

In 1 Peter 1:1-2 the Apostle Peter identifies the follower of the Lord Jesus Christ with three descriptors: Exiles, Elect, and Chosen. Today, we will consider just the first of these three descriptors. 

The Greek word translated "pilgrims” can also be translated “exiles” living in a foreign place. It is accurate to say that all believers in the Lord Christ are exiles in this world. By using this particular Greek word here, which is used only three times in the New Testament, the Apostle Peter is noting that believers do not really belong anywhere on planet earth. We belong to the Lord, and as a result we are now being increasingly defined by Him. This is what creates our uneasiness with living on earth, the Lord's definitions are quite different and smarter than the definitions of this fallen world.

Before we trusted Christ as our Savior, we felt at home in this world. After we trusted the Lord Jesus as our Savior and we were "born again" we were given a whole new take on this world. You see, until we were baptized in God's Spirit, we were under the domain of Satan himself, and, we did not even know it. And, when we were born again, it was the presence of the Holy Spirit who gradually, day by day, began to change our understanding of all things including our understanding of this world. 

Being an exile is sometimes very frustrating, causing us to feel rootless and anxious. Being Christian exiles in American culture does not end our influence. No, the Lord is quite clear that He wants us to influence those around us with His truth. We don’t get cranky that our country has been taken away. We don’t whine about the triumphs of evil. We are not hardened with bitterness. No, we understand that none of this is new. We also understand that our allegiance is not for anything this temporal world has to offer us. No, our allegiance is for the coming kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I remember the first time that I really came face to face with the idea that I was an exile on the earth. It was the summer of 1986 and I had traveled to Italy with a group of students from Columbia Bible College in Columbia, South Carolina. I remember the thought that I noticed as soon as I departed the plane that had flown us over the Atlantic Ocean; It was a thought of "I do not belong here." It was mostly due to my inability to communicate and read the road signs and other signs that were all written in Italian. I felt like a fish out of water. Although I felt many insecure feelings that were in my soul due to being out of the comforts of America, I felt that summer many things that have become immensely instructive to me over time. That summer in Italy, the Lord taught me more than anything else that I am an exile in this fallen world more so than at any other time of my life. 

In AD 60, the Apostle Peter wrote this letter to Christians who were being persecuted by the Romans who ruled the world at that time. The Romans were known for strapping Christians to stakes, doused them in oil, and light them as lamps. Christians all over the known world were in great danger, and they did not feel at home here on earth. Persecution has a way of causing us to feel out of sorts, insecure and quite alone. Billy Graham once spoke of a conversation that he had with a leader of a foreign country. He said, "In a country where Christians were looked upon with suspicion and disfavor, a government leader said to me with a twinkle in his eye, 'Christians seem to thrive under persecution. Perhaps we should prosper them, and then they would disappear.'"

Today, we live in a culture undergoing a major cultural shift in how we, as Christians, are viewed. There once was a day in America that Christianity was far more accepted than it is today. When persecution, which is growing, comes upon us, we can take courage that we are citizens of another kingdom, the kingdom of the God of the Bible. And, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have a very different value system than that of this fallen world. Having been born again, we now operate out of a much different value system. Our default mode is now different than it was before we met Christ. This explains the trouble we experience with the world's value system. And, this should give us a greater sense of anticipation for the day when Christ shall return and take us to be with Him in heaven for eternity.

Meanwhile, God has given us the task of sharing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with all who will listen in hopes that they, like us, will be awakened to a personal relationship with God. As Jude tells us in Jude 22-23: "22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh."

"Save others by snatching them from the fire" is a reference to hell. These who need to be saved are already in the fire of false belief. They are not just confused, they have bought the lie that the Lord Jesus is not God. They are already being singed by the fires of hell, which will engulf them in the future if they do not come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The word "snatching" means "to take by force." This is the same word the Apostle Paul uses to describe the rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4. When we meet somebody who is not saved, we must patiently share the truth with them, praying the Lord opens their eyes as He did ours. It may take years but we must never give up on them. The greatness of Christian exiles is not success but service. Whether we win or lose, we witness to the way of truth. And, the best way to win people to the Lord Jesus is by serving them with a heart that is broken for their everlasting souls.

1 Peter 1:1a

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"Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." ~ 1 Peter 1:1

Today, we begin a brand new study in the first epistle written by the Apostle Peter to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who lived during the first century in what is known today as modern-day Turkey. These believers were victims of the Dispersion which was a term that Peter used to describe the fact that these first century believers in Christ had been dispersed from their homes. They were under intense pressure and persecution in a world that had been turned upside down by the teachings, death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Before Peter was known as such, he was known as Simon. Fifty times in the four gospels, he is referred to as Simon. This name is derived from the Hebrew word which means "reed" which is a tall, slender-leaved plant of the grass family. It grows in water or on marshy ground and it is a symbol of weakness. This epistle was written by a man who from birth was named Simon which means "reed that is easily broken." Brokenness is high commodity in the economy of God. Our brokenness is a product of our fallen humanity. And, along with our brokenness comes great hurt. And, hurt people hurt people. However, when the broken come to the God who masters at fixing our brokenness, He has been known to through our brokenness bring us to the place where we experience His tremendous love. And, loved people love people. God uses broken people to help broken people, and we are all broken.

As I am sure that you already know, the Lord Jesus renamed Simon to Simon Peter. The additional name of "Peter" was given after Simon acknowledged the Lord Jesus as the Christ of the Living God in Matthew 16. Peter means rock which is always a symbol in the scriptures as a refuge or a strong foundation. He was one of the first four followers of the Lord Jesus. The Apostle Peter was a pebble who put his trust in a boulder and taught others how to build on a solid foundation. 

Peter's life teaches us the secrets of God which render a man a leader. These secrets are easily unrecognizable, because they are not found in the many success books that we would find in our local bookstore. A year after meeting Peter, the Lord Jesus called him to "Come and follow me and I will make you a fisher of men." For the next three years, Peter, along with several others, followed the Lord Jesus. At the end of those three years, Peter failed miserably by denying that he even knew the Lord Jesus. In fact, the third time he denied having a relationship with Jesus, Peter dropped what was the equivalent of the "F" Bomb.

Peter's life illustrates that failure is not the opposite of success with God. As we will discover in this great book, Peter experienced his failure so that he would be able to speak authentically into the lives of hurting people each day. Then, some 40 days after his failure, on the Day of Pentecost, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, is used of God to lead 3,000 people to faith in Jesus by preaching the Gospel in Jerusalem.

Peter realized life-changing power because he experienced so much trouble. As is clear in this first chapter, Peter's powerful faith was the product of his many trials. Thirty years after he began to follow Jesus, Peter became a great leader, who was hardly recognizable from the fisherman become failure. This is the secret of God for becoming a great leader: great trials create great faith. We must be wise to welcome the unwanted, knowing that it is through the unwanted God does His greatest work in and through us.

According to Mark 1, we know that Peter was married. He had a wife, and, he had a mother-in-law who lived with he and his wife. And his wife is also mentioned in 1 Corinthians 9. This throws a wrench into the idea that Peter was the first pope. He was also a leader among the twelve. Every time there is a list in the New Testament of the earliest followers of Christ, Peter is always listed as number one on the list. 

The Lord Jesus spoke more often to Peter than to any other of His disciples. Sometimes He spoke to him in praise and sometimes He spoke to him in blame. No disciple was so pointedly and directly reproved by the Lord as Peter. And, not one of the disciples ever ventured to reprove the Lord but Peter.  No disciple ever so boldly confessed and outspokenly acknowledged and encouraged our Lord as Peter and he repeatedly did that. And no one ever intruded and interfered and tempted the Lord as repeatedly as Peter. All of this explains why we love Peter so much. He was the most authentic and human of all of the disciples. This is why he was so equipped to be the leader of the twelve.

Again, we like Peter because he was in many ways like us. He was impulsive, impetuous and strong willed. He was the guy who when they came to arrest the Lord Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, he drew his sword and cut off the ear of a guy named Malchus, the servant of the high priest. Peter was the guy who said, "Lord, we have left everything to follow you." And when the Lord Jesus tried to wash Peter's feet, he said, "You're not going to wash my feet." It didn't take long to recognize He said those words due to his pride. 

The many lessons that Peter learned from the Lord Jesus will become obvious as we work through this book. Peter died around 67-68 AD. And most of you know that he died upside down on a cross. He felt like he was unworthy to die in the same manner as the Lord Jesus, so they took and turned the cross upside down, and that's how he died. 

Romans 16:25-27

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25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith— 27 to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. ~ Romans 16:25-27

Today, we come to the end of the book of Romans which was written by the Apostle Paul while he was in the city of Corinth. It was very likely that at this point the Apostle Paul took the pen and wrote the closing paragraph in his own hand. Paul told us in 2 Thessalonians 3:17 that this was his custom. He did this to protect his letters from forgery. Scholars agree that Paul probably suffered from a serious eye problem as indicated in his letter written to the Galatians. As a result, the Apostle Paul wrote these final words in large letters with his own hand.

In v.25 of today's passage we read, "Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began." 

We serve a God who is truly the Supreme Being of all. This  letter written to the believers in Rome begins and ends with the idea of the power of God. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so powerful that it is used of God to rescue man from eternal damnation in hell. It also has the power to establish the believer for an eternity with God. God has the power to save and to sanctify the believer in Christ. It is not only God's responsibility to save us, it is also His responsibility to sanctify us. You and I are not given the final responsibility to bring about this change that God desires to bring about in our souls through the process of our sanctification. 

Now, we are wise to walk in God's truth and His culture as spelled out in His word, and, if we walk in His truth, we will realize all of the blessings the Lord Jesus died to give us. I am sure, as Paul wrote these words, he had in mind all the instances and circumstances from the past that instruct us on God's sovereignty. Just this morning I went to a men's Bible Study and only one man showed up. I have experienced enough of God culture to recognize that He was up to something and He had something in mind that I did not anticipate. The two hour conversation that ensued would not have happened had all of the guys who were supposed to be there had showed up. It was designed of God for just the two of us to meet. All too often we accuse Satan for such things when in reality God is the one who is causing or allowing the disruption. When we are being defined by God, we will recognize such and we will fall in line with that which God is doing.

The word "establish" used here in v.24 means to set steadfastly in an immovable position. The result of this in the life of the believer in Christ is a mental settledness that causes us to be faithful to His call on our lives. This is what the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ accomplishes in the yielded life of the believer in Christ. Many mistakenly think that the gospel is just the doorway into Christianity; but the gospel is the mansion itself. As believers in Christ, we do not get the gospel and then move beyond it. We get the gospel and then we move into it. This is the way God strengthens the believer in Christ. We must be careful to preach the Gospel to ourselves on a daily basis because it is the very life of Christ in our lives that brings about the purposes and culture of God in and through our lives.

In the latter part of v.25 we read, "...according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began."

This mystery is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. More specifically the mystery is Christ Himself living His life in, to, and through our yielded lives. This mystery includes the bad news and the good news. The bad news is that man violently rebelled against the God of the Bible. The good news is that from the foundation of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ willingly agreed to remedy man's rebellion and to die on the cross to remove the subsequent sentence of hell that we all deserve. By means of His virgin birth, His sinless life, His substitutionary death upon the cross of Calvary, and by means of the gift of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, God has given the Lord Jesus Christ all that He is and all that He has to you and to me. He has done this in order to equip us to realize that which He has called us to on this earth.

In v.26 of today's passage we read, "but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith."

Throughout the Old Testament Scriptures God hinted at the work the Lord Jesus eventually brought to pass while hanging on the cross of Calvary. The prophets spoke and wrote about it. Ezekiel had written about the fact that someday God would come and save His people and take away their stony hearts and give them a heart of flesh and He would write His law in their hearts and He would give them His Spirit. But, for a long time it was not made manifest. It was hidden and veiled. The gospel was the unfolding of this mystery, this mystery kept secret since the world began and now has been made manifest.

As the latter part of this verse clearly reveals, God did all of this "for the obedience to the faith." God didn't do all of this wonderful work so that we would continue to live in sin and rebellion against Him. God saved us to bring us into a wonderful personal relationship with Himself so that His culture would invade ours. And, He doesn't stop there. It is the nature of the truth to be used through our lives so that others might come into a personal relationship with God, as well. As a result, every born again believer is a part of the unveiling of the mystery which has been hidden from ages past and is now being revealed.

In v.27 of today's passage we read, "to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen."

And now, the Apostle Paul cries out in final conclusion, "to God, alone wise be glory." He did this because only the infinite mind of God could ever have designed such a plan. And, only He could bring it to fruition. There was no one who would be wise enough to ever accomplish such a saving work. This is what makes God the Supreme Being of all. And, just as through the yielded life of the Lord Jesus Himself, our yielded lives bring Him great glory as well. This is all part of the unveiling of the mystery that has been hidden from the foundation of this world.

Romans 16:21-24

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21 Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen, greet you. 22 I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a brother. 24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. ~ Romans 16:21-24

Today, we return to our study of the letter written by the Apostle Paul to the believers in Rome during the first century. The main goal that the Apostle had in mind in writing this book was to challenge the believer in Christ to focus on being the servant of the Lord. Clear understanding of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ will cause us to embrace the role of the servant of Christ simply out of gratitude for what the Lord Jesus for him on the cross. When we serve others, we are chiefly thanking God for his goodness in giving his Son in our place. 

In v.21 of today's passage we read, "Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen, greet you."

Here, the Apostle Paul reveals those who were with him in Corinth as he wrote this letter. The first was Timothy who was Paul's son in the faith and his number one disciple. In Philippians 2 the Apostle wrote of Timothy that there was no one who was as like-minded with himself. All through all of Paul's epistles we learn of Paul's affection for Timothy.

And then there was Lucius of Cyrene who was also a Gentile.  According to Acts 13, he was one of the five men who led the church at Antioch. And then Paul adds "Jason and Sosipater." According to Acts 17, Jason was Paul's host on his first visit to Thessalonica. He was a man who gave hospitality to him and he was saved at that time. Paul stayed in Jason's home when a riot broke out in the city. Sosipater was from the town of Berea and was probably one of those noble Old Testament students who studied the Scriptures. He was in Paul's group at this time as well and is mentioned in Acts 20.

Here were six members of Paul's family, kinsmen who had all become believers in the Lord Jesus. Some were Christians before him, but some Paul influenced toward Christ. They came from various places. Sosipater was the man from Beroea, mentioned in Acts 20 as "Sopater." Paul met him in Macedonia and may have accompanied him to Jerusalem with the offering to the churches there.

In v.22-23 of today's passage we read, "22 I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a brother."

Up to this point the Apostle Paul dictated this letter to Tertius, who wrote it down. His name indicates that he, too, was a slave, because his name means "third." In slave families they did not bother to think up names; they just numbered the children. The brother of Tertius, Quartus, was also with the Apostle in Corinth, as well. We know that these two were educated slaves because they could read and write.

These men were gathered together with the Apostle in the home of Gaius, this gracious, generous host of the city, mentioned in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. Gaius opened his house to the entire Christian community, so here is Paul, sitting there with his friends. Tertius is writing down the letter, and the others are gathered around listening to Paul as he dictates, and profiting much from the writing of these great truths. 

The final name is Erastus, director of public works in the city of Corinth. You can see how the gospel penetrated all levels of society, with slaves, public officials, consuls, leaders of the empire, all sharing an equal ground of fellowship in the church of Jesus Christ. All class distinctions disappeared within the church and that is what happens whenever the church works. All of these believers in the Lord Jesus were noted for their  faithfulness to the gospel of the Lord Jesus. 

In v.24 of today's passage we read, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."

God has called us believers in Christ to participate in the ministry that He is bringing to fruition in this world. Without His grace operative in our lives, we will not be successfully involved in anything the Lord desires to do in and through us in this world. Two things in this world will last for eternity: the souls of people and the word of God. It is our calling to be involved in investing our time, talents and treasures in getting these two together. Be used for eternity in the lives of those with whom you have appointment with today! God is in it!

Roman 16:17-20

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17 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. 18 For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. 19 For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil. 20 And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. ~ Romans 16:17-20

Today, we return to our study of Romans 16 where the Apostle Paul is showing us in practicals terms what it looks like to be the servant of the Lord. This is the goal of the believer in Christ who is growing in intimacy with the Lord, to be the servant of the Lord. This idea of selflessness will in the end be a part of the destruction of the self life that was introduced to man while in the Garden of Eden so long ago. The Apostle Paul begins this book with seven characteristics of the servant of the Lord and he ends this book with a portrait of what it looks like to be the servant of the Lord.

In v.17 of today's passage we read, "Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them."

There in Rome in that day was a group of people who professed to be believers in Christ, but, they created disunity and they erected obstacles which could have prevented the Romans believers from pursuing the life of the servant of the Lord. This group of people the Apostle Paul identified as false teachers. They taught something different than the truth that is found in the word of God. This false teaching, as a result, created division, discord, and conflict among the believers there in Rome. It was into this context that the Apostle urged his readers to recognize, and turn away from those who did not pass the litmus test of the truth that is found in God's word. 

The way we are to handle such false teachers is to make a note of them or to identify them as such. "To note" simply means to identify them or to scrutinize them through the lens of God's word. And, after we have identified their teaching as heresy, we are to avoid them and their teaching. We are not to argue with them, we are to just ignore them. The Apostle instructs us in this way because divisive people love the fact that their divisiveness has garnered for them a voice and a platform. And, if we do not give them a voice and a platform, and we just ignore them, they will eventually move on. 

In v.18 of today's passage we read, "For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple."

These particular false teachers did not serve the Lord Jesus Christ; they served themselves. They were probably Epicureans who believed in a very common Greek philosophy at that time. For the Epicurean, his individual pleasure was his life’s highest goal. As is always the case with all false teaching, the hallmark of its teaching is that it always accentuates the self life that is a disease that will eventually destroy those given to it. This is why the Apostle Paul predicated the final five chapters of this book Romans upon those three commands in Romans 12:1-2 which result in a selfless living sacrifice.

False teachers always use "smooth words" because the devil wouldn't put error in the mouth of an obvious idiot, otherwise the people would not listen to him. The words "flattery speech" is the Greek word from which we get our English word "eulogy."  This false eloquence always includes well-chosen lies that sound good and are always appealing to the self and they deceive the hearts of those who are too given to the flesh and are not being defined by God enough. This is why we must be in the word and the word must be in us every day.

In v.19 of today's passage we read, "For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil." 

When we are being defined by God's word and His culture, we will be obedient to God. And, our obedience will be obvious to others. It is the word of God that gives us the ability to recognize what is of God. When the culture of God has gripped us we will not be experts on the lie that says this life is about I, me, and mine. The self life always leads us to deceit, heresy and destruction.

In v.20 of today's passage we read, "And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen."

The believer in Christ must continue to hold on to the truth, because the demise of Satan is coming and is guaranteed. There is soon coming the day when our spiritual warfare will be over. And all false teachers spawned by Satan will be done away with because the God of peace will make war against Satan and He will win this final battle. And, as a result eternal peace will reign. The Apostle referred to the Lord Jesus as the God of peace at the end of chapter 15 also. But, in this final chapter his emphasis is a little different. Here, the Apostle refers more about the peace that we will enjoy because of God's provisions. Here in this final chapter of Romans, the Apostle writes about the peace that He enjoys because of the Lord's victory and we will enter into that peace. Our God of peace will end the war by crushing Satan as promised in the first prophecy in the Bible found in Genesis 3:15. 

Note the phrase "under your feet." This is a reference to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. We, the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ will reign with Him for eternity. In fact, when the Lord Jesus comes out of heaven, after the Tribulation, according to Revelation 19, He will be riding on a white horse with all the armies of heaven riding on white horses with Him. We will be in the innumerable number, and we will witness the final defeat of Satan, sin and death.

But, until then, the battle rages on.  And, until we draw our final breath on this earth, we are to be strategically engaged in this very acute spiritual battle which demands that we are daily being defined by God and His word. Interestingly, the word "shortly" in v.20 does not mean in a little bit of time, it means suddenly.  When it happens it will happen fast. The final and complete destruction of Satan and his work will come to a screeching halt and we will look on with amazement. It will be then that we will know the eternal nature of the reign of God throughout the world. And, it will be peaceful.

Romans 16:1-16

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1 I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, 2 that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also. 3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. 5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ. 6 Greet Mary, who labored much for us. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. 10 Greet Apelles, approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. 11 Greet Herodion, my countryman. Greet those who are of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. 12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, who have labored in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis, who labored much in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you. ~ Romans 16:1-16

Today, we come to the final chapter of the book of Romans, Romans 16. Most miss the tremendous lessons on servanthood in this chapter because it seems to just be a long list of names but it is oh so much more. For example, the first person the Apostle Paul mentions here is Phoebe who was one of thirty-three people mentioned in this chapter. Nine of them were with Paul in Corinth. Twenty four of the names mentioned here were in Rome. There were two households mentioned, and two unnamed women, the mother of Rufus and the sister of Nereus. 

Phoebe bore and preserved this letter all along the hazardous journey from Corinth to Rome. She is referenced here by the Apostle Paul as "a servant of the church in Cenchrea." Cenchrea was the port of Corinth, located about nine miles east of the city. A group of believers met faithfully there, and Phoebe was a faithful servant to them. So, the first name on this long list of names was a woman. Down through the years we have heard others accuse the Apostle Paul of being chauvinistic and misogynistic. It is true that throughout time women have been treated as subservient to men, but, a careful study of history reveals that Christianity has elevated women. The Lord Jesus Himself elevated women by involving them quite heavily in His ministry. And, women played a prominent role in Paul's ministry. As John F Kennedy once said, "A rising tide raises all boats." The very fact that the least were lifted up by the gospel speaks to its authenticity and organic difference.

In v.3 the Apostle mentions Priscilla and Aquila who were themselves from Rome. The believers in Rome were familiar with this wonderful couple who had been expelled from Rome by Caesar Claudius. They ended up in Corinth where the Apostle Paul met them in the synagogue there. I find it most interesting to note that in the synagogue service, the women sat on one side while the men sat on the other side. And, the men sat together according to their occupation. Since the Apostle Paul was a tent maker, he sat next to Aquila who also was a tent maker. Priscilla and Aquila came to faith in the Lord Jesus, and they hosted the meeting of believers in their home. For the first 200 years of Christianity, churches met in homes. There were no public church buildings like we have today. We will do well to return to the early church model. 

In v.5-6 the Apostle mentions Epaenetus who was the first to believe the gospel when Paul came to the province of Asia, of which Ephesus was the capital. One never forgets the first one he witnesses seeing go from the darkness into the light. No matter how many others follow, we never forget the first. We do not know what Epaenetus was doing in Rome, but he was cherished because he was the first to exercise faith in Asia. And associated with him is Mary, of whom Paul wrote, "Mary who labored much for us." She was one of the group of unknown women in the Gospels who had the gift of service. This underscores the fact that every gift and every talent is of utmost importance to accomplish the tasks before us in a given day. 

In v.9 Paul mentions Urbanus which was a common name for slaves in those days. Urbanus means city-bred. So it was a generic name usually for a slave who was raised in the city. But what is interesting is in the same verse, Stachys is mention. Stachys was of the royal household of Caesar Claudius. In this verse we have a slave and a person of royalty mentioned together. This is what the Lord Jesus does to a community; He brings people from the two ends of the social spectrum together. This just underscores that fact that at the foot of the cross, we are all on equal ground. 

In v.10 the Apostle Paul urges the believers in Rome to greet Aristobulus who was the grandson of Herod Agrippa I, which made him the great grandson of Herod the Great. Then in v.11, Paul highlights Herodion who was obviously somebody related to the household of Herod. And then, Paul urges them to greet those who are of the household of Narcissus who was a well-known, wealthy, influential, bad dude, who was the secretary to the Emperor Claudius, who obviously come to faith in the Lord Jesus. 

All of these names reveal so many principles that causes one to be successful in this life. One of these many principles is that fact that the Apostle Paul always had a team that was around him. That's why he was so successful. All of these people were there to support and pray for Paul in a variety of ways. One of the greatest dangers in any organization is that there is one man that everyone follows; this is not biblical. In fact, the model the Lord gives us in His word is a plurality of leadership. Add to that the fact that the Lord has equipped every believer with spiritual gifts and natural talents, the involvement of many in the decision making and the execution of the plan is the best way to go.

The list of names in this chapter reflects Paul’s purposes for writing the letter to the Romans. Paul wrote to the Roman believers about the gospel so that they would love and look out for one another, particularly across ethnic and socioeconomic lines. In a world where class envy is used for selfish purposes by everyone, it is refreshing to see ethnic differences valued for selfless reasons. Such is the nature of the Gospel and its centerpiece: the grace of God. The grace of God knows no favorites. 

We must never forget that ministry is about people. Good ministry comes out of good relationships. Paul’s list of names reflects the intense relationships that he had with believers throughout the world. Serving with brothers and sisters in Christ is one way to greatly deepen our relationships. In fact, the deepest relationships that I have in this life is with those with whom I have gone through the deepest of troubles. This is by design; our struggles galvanize us together to make us strong together.

Romans 15:29-33

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29 But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. 30 Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me, 31 that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you. 33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. ~ Romans 15:29-33

Today, we conclude our study of Romans 15 where the Apostle Paul continues to reveal to us the ultimate goal of servanthood for the believer in Christ. In these verses the Apostle provides several principles that should govern and define the servant of the Lord in everyday living. Thus, these principles will equip the servant in that which God has called him.

In v.29 of today's passage we read, "But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ."

When the believer in Christ gets to the point of being the servant of Christ, in spite of the many trials that will be encountered, he will always recon himself blessed of the Lord because he will be being defined by the culture of the Lord. When the servant of the Lord walks in obedience before the Lord, he will always live in the blessing that was granted to every believer in Christ through the work of the Lord Jesus on His cross. When we have come into the truth and the truth has come into us, we will be the most confident, secure and mature people on the planet because our confidence will be in the Lord of all creation.

When we are living in submission to Christ, we will live in obedience to His Word which is the door through which we enjoy to completeness of that which the Lord Jesus died on the cross to give us. This explains why this is not always the case for all who call themselves believers in the Lord Jesus. You see, the economy and the culture of God is so much different than ours, and, if we are not being defined by Him we will never see that those things that we thought were curses were actually blessings. In order to get to this place we must pass the many tests in God's classroom of our sanctification which results in the rearranging of our thinking according to the word of God.

By the way, effective ministry in the will of God will always receive persecution from those who have not been trained by the culture of God. It is very easy to be a believer in the Lord and lack death in the culture of God. It is very instructive to recognize that as it turned out, the Apostle Paul did get to Rome; he got there as a prisoner. And, as a prisoner he wrote the letter to the Philippians wherein he wrote about the blessing that came into his life through the difficulties, chains, and the imprisonment that he endured while in Rome.

God's culture is always missed by those who lack a biblically informed worldview. Mike Yaconelli, founder of Youth Specialities once said, "Spiritual growth is not running faster, as in more meetings, more Bible studies, and more prayer meetings. Spiritual growth happens when we slow our activity down. If we want to meet Jesus, we can't do it on the run. If we want to stay on the road of faith, we have to hit the brakes, pull over to a rest area, and stop. Christianity is not about inviting Jesus to speed through life with us; it's about noticing Jesus sitting at the rest stop. While the church earnestly warns Christians to watch for the devil, the devil is sitting in the congregation encouraging everyone to keep busy doing "good things."

The will and the call of God will always shock us, and it should. A big part of our sanctification is that through it we are being delivered from the power of sin. There are many believers in Christ who believe that all believers should be healthy all the time and that we should have the best of what this world offers us thinking it is being offered to us by the Lord. They fail to recognize the God who allowed all of that calamity to come into the life of Job. They fail to realize that the disciples of the first century had it pretty difficult because of the call of God on their lives. No, God allows or even sometimes causes bad things to happen in the believers life because He has the highest purposes in mind. Those who look for Satan behind every trial miss God because they fail to recognize that it is through the trials of this life that God hones our heart's ability to see Him and know Him best.

In v.30-32 of today's passage we read, "30 Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me, 31 that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you." 

Emphasis is placed here by the Apostle upon prayer which is the product of the Holy Spirit of God within us, awakening a desire to show love and compassion to those in need. When we catch a glimpse that the honor of Christ is involved, and the love of the Spirit is fulfilled when we pray, we will truly pray. This is what the apostle appeals to here. Life is a struggle and prayer is the primary way that we engage in the battle. Prayer is the greatest weapon we have along with the abiding Holy Spirit to usher in the results God wants to bring. 

When the Apostle Paul arrived in Jerusalem, as we learn from the book of Acts, there came a moment when he was set upon by a mob in the temple courts. They were out to kill him, right on the spot. They had rocks in their hands, and they were about to stone him to death. But it just so happened that at the critical moment, the commander of the Roman legion on the other side of the wall, in the castle of Antonia, looked over into the temple court and saw what was going on. He came down with a band of soldiers and rescued the Apostle Paul in the nick of time.

In v.33 of today's passage we read, "Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen."

Peace is one of many of the beautiful characteristics that are manifested as one of the fruits of the Spirit in the life of the yielded believer who is growing in grace. There are three types of peace in the Scriptures: Spiritual peace or peace with God. Then, there is psychological peace or peace within. The, there is relational peace or peace with others. It is the peace with God that Christ earned for us on His cross that makes the other two work in our lives. It all starts and ends in the life of the servant of the Lord with being defined by the God of peace so that we can live out of the peace of God.