Romans 1.8-Paul Thanks God for the Roman Believers Because of Their Faith
Thursday May 24, 2007
Romans: Romans 1:8-Paul Thanks God for the Roman Believers Because of Their Faith
Lesson # 14
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 1:1.
Last evening completed a study of the salutation in the book of Romans that appears in Romans 1:1-7, which identifies the writer as Paul (verse 1) and the recipients of the letter as being believers in Rome (verses 6 and 7) and the subject as being Jesus Christ (verse 1:2-5).
This evening we will study Romans 1:8, in which Paul states to the believers in Rome that he thanks the Father for them in prayer because of their faith, which was well-know throughout the Rome Empire.
Romans 1:1-7, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 1:8, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.”
“First” is the adverb of degree proton (prwton) (pro-ton) and the particle of affirmation men ((me\n) (men).
The adverb of degree proton is the neuter form of the adjective protos (prwto$) (pro-tos), the superlative of pro (prov) and expresses a priority in the prayer and spiritual life of the apostle Paul, which was thanking the Father for the Roman believers.
The particle men is a particle of affirmation, or we could classify it as emphatic or intensifying.
Owing to its original meaning men adds a certain force to the terms and phrases with which it is connected, and thus contrasts them with or distinguishes them from others.
In Romans 1:8, the particle men is employed as an emphatic affirmative particle and stands related to the adverb of degree proton and “emphasizes” that giving thanks to the Father for the Roman believers was a top priority in Paul’s prayer life.
Therefore, we should translate the expression proton men as “first indeed.”
“I thank” is the first person singular present active indicative from eucharisteo (eu)xaristevw), which is eucharisto (eu)xaristw), which means, “to give thanks, to be thankful.”
The word is formed by adding the suffix eu (eu), “good, well, kind,” to the verb charisteo (xaristevw), “to give freely, to bestow a favor, to gratify.”
In classical literature, the word meant, “to show someone a favor.”
A favor imposes the obligation of thanks, hence, the meaning arises “to be thankful, to give thanks.”
As a rule eucharisteo is used of giving thanks to God and Paul uses the verb in the same fashion in his epistles.
In all his epistles except 2 Corinthians, Galatians and the Pastoral Epistles, Paul used this verb eucharisteo in the introductory portion to share with his readers his appreciation to God for them (Rom. 1:8; 1 Cor. 1:4; Eph. 1:16; Phil. 1:3; Col. 1:3; 1 Thess. 1:2; 2 Thess. 1:3; Phlm. 1:4).
In Romans 1:8, the verb eucharisteo means, “to give thanks to” God the Father.
Eucharisto is a “customary present” tense indicating that Paul “habitually” or “made it his habit” to give thanks to the Father for the believers in Rome because of their faith.
“My” is the 1st person singular genitive (of possession) form of the personal pronoun ego (e)gwv), which is mou (mou).
The genitive form of the personal pronoun mou in Romans 1:8 emphasizes that the apostle Paul possesses a familial relationship with God as a result of regeneration and the baptism of the Spirit, which made him a son of God (See John 1:12; Galatians 3:26; 1 John 3:1).
1 John 3:1, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.”
Galatians 3:26, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
John 1:12-13, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Like all believers, God the Father became Paul’s God through regeneration and adoption at the moment of salvation.
Romans 8:14, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
Romans 8:15, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’”
Romans 8:16, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”
Ephesians 1:5, “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.”
The fact that Paul possessed a relationship with the Father that enabled him to go the Father directly in prayer reveals an eternal spiritual principle, namely, that the first prerequisite for an effective prayer is that one must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as one’s Savior.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”
Romans 1:8, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.”
“God” is composed of the following: (1) Dative masculine singular definite article to (tw|). (2) Dative (indirect object) masculine singular form of the theos (qeov$), which is theo (qew|).
The articular construction to theo, “God” refers to a specific member of the Trinity who in context is God the Father since according to the Word of God, all prayer is to be addressed to Him (John 14:13-14; 16:23-27; Rom. 8:15; Eph. 3:14; 5:20; Col. 1:3, 12; 3:17; 1 Pet. 1:17; Rev. 1:6).
Luke 11:1-4, “It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.’ And He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
John 16:23, “And in that day (Church Age) you will ask Me no question. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you shall ask the Father for anything, He will give it to you in My Name.”
The definite article is anaphoric denoting previous reference and refers to God the Father who is mentioned in Romans 1:7 and also indicates that God the Father is in a class by Himself.
The believer is to pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ because it is through the merits of His impeccable Person and Finished Work on the Cross and Advocacy with the Father as well as the believer’s union with Christ that gives the believer the privilege to boldly approach the throne of God in prayer.
Hebrews 10:19-22, “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Church age believers when entering into prayer with the Father need to recognize and pray in accordance with their eternal union and relationship with Jesus Christ.
When we pray “in Jesus name” we are acknowledging that we can only approach the Father boldly in prayer based upon the merits of Jesus Christ and His death on the Cross and our eternal union with Him (John 14:13-14; 16:23-24; Eph. 5:20; Col. 3:17).
John 16:23, “In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.”
The believer cannot approach the Father in prayer based upon his own merits but on the merits of Christ and the believer has not received every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies based on his own merits but upon the merits of Christ and His death on the Cross.
Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
1 John 2:12, “I am providing information in writing at this particular time for the benefit of all of you, little children in view of the fact that for the benefit of all of you, your sins have been forgiven-past, present and future on the basis of His merit.”
Praying in our Lord’s name means that we are to pray to the Father consciously aware of our exalted position where we are seated at the Father’s right hand because of our eternal union and identification with Christ.
Ephesians 2:6, “and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
In Romans 1:8, Paul states that he gave thanks to the Father because of the faith of the Roman believers “through Jesus Christ,” which means that he prayed to the Father in Jesus’ name or through the intermediate agency of Jesus Christ.
Prayer must be made in the power of the Spirit or by means of the power of the Filling of the Spirit meaning that it must be in accordance with the Word of God, which is inspired by the Spirit (Eph. 2:18; 6:18; Jude 20).
Jude 20, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying by means of the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Prayer is asking for what God wants and must be according to His will in order to be effective and productive for God.
1 John 5:14, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”
Answered prayer demands faith on the part of the believer (Mt. 17:20; Jam. 5:15).
Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
Obedience to God’s Word is another prerequisite for an effective prayer.
John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.”
Obedience to God’s Word constitutes being filled or more accurately influenced by the Holy Spirit since when we obey the Word of God we are obeying the Holy Spirit who speaks to us through the Word of God.
Ephesians 5:18, “And do not permit yourselves to get into the habit of being drunk with wine because that is stupidity, but rather permit yourselves on a habitual basis to be fully influenced by means of the Spirit.”
Romans 1:8 indicates that thanksgiving was an integral part of the apostle Paul’s prayer life and demonstrates his great appreciation for other believers who have been so gracious to him throughout his ministry.
One of the most important aspects of our spiritual lives as believers is that of expressing thanksgiving to God.
Thanksgiving to God is the response in the believer’s soul, which expresses itself in love and appreciation for who and what God is and what He has done for the believer through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and for other believers.
Colossians 4:2, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.”
The believer should give thanks to the Father’s gift for salvation, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-Man Savior.
2 Corinthians 9:15, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”
The believer, who offers thanksgiving to God the Father in prayer, honors Him.
Psalm 50:23, “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.”
It is to be done with all our hearts.
Psalm 9:1, “I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders.”
We are to do it in the midst of the congregation.
Psalm 35:18, “I will give You thanks in the great congregation; I will praise You among a mighty throng.”
We are to give thanks to God for both the adversities of life and the prosperity in our lives.
1 Thessalonians 5:18, “in all circumstances give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”
No matter what our circumstances may be, we should be offering up thanksgiving, this is called a sacrifice of praise.
Hebrews 13:15-16, “Therefore, through Him (Jesus Christ) we should continue offering up a sacrifice of praise continually throughout all circumstances to God (the Father), that is the fruit of the lips, acknowledging His Person. In fact, you yourselves do not forget the unselfish performance of divine good of intrinsic value for with such sacrifices God the Father is greatly pleased.”
Songs of thanksgiving to God are a part of the believer’s worship of God (Neh. 12:8, 27, 46; Psa. 33:2; 69:30; 147:7).
Psalm 7:17, “I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.”
The humanity of Christ employed thanksgiving to God in prayer when performing miracles (Matt. 14:19; 15:36; Mark 6:41; 8:6; Luke 9:16; John 6:11).
Matthew 15:36, “and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.”
The humanity of Christ thanked the Father for hearing His prayer to resuscitate Lazarus (John 11:41).
John 11:41, “So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.’”
The Lord Jesus Christ offered a prayer of thanksgiving to the Father when instituting the Lord’s Supper for the Church (Matt. 26:26-27; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:17, 19; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).
Matthew 26:26-27, “While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you.’”
Offering up songs of praise and thanksgiving will be a part of our worship of the Lamb when we are in heaven.
Revelation 4:9, “And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever.”
Romans 1:8, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.”
The causal clause “because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world” gives the reason why Paul thanked the Father for the believers in Rome.
“Your faith” refers to the faith of the Roman believers in the Word of God after salvation, which demonstrated itself in obedience to the Word of God reflected in their conduct and Christ-like character.
“Is being proclaimed” is the 3rd person singular present passive indicative form of the verb katangello (kataggevllw) (kat-ang-gel-lo).
Katangello is a compound verb composed of the preposition kata meaning “throughout, everywhere,” and angello meaning “to proclaim” and thus, the verb means, “to proclaim throughout, to proclaim everywhere.”
Katangello means, “to announce with focus upon the extent to which the announcement or proclamation extends” and emphasizes how far the proclamation of the Romans faith had extended.
Thus, the composition of katangello indicates that the proclamation of the faith of the Roman believers “extended throughout” the Roman Empire.
This is a descriptive progressive present tense indicating that the faith of the believers in Rome was “at the time of writing” being proclaimed everywhere throughout the Roman Empire.
The prepositional phrase “throughout the whole world” is hyperbole meaning throughout the Roman Empire.
The fact that the faith of the Roman believers was known throughout the Roman Empire was evidence that they were operating in their royal ambassadorship.
At the moment of salvation, every church age believer receives two royal commissions: (1) Royal Priesthood representing oneself before God in prayer and the study and application of the Word of God (1 Peter 2:5, 9). (2) Royal Ambassadorship representing the absent Christ before the unbeliever (2 Corinthians 5:20).
The church age believer represents the King of kings and Lord of lords, who is now absent from the earth because He sits at the right hand of God representing us before God the Father as our High Priest.
Every believer in the church age, as an ambassador for Christ, has the responsibility of presenting the terms of the God’s peace treaty to the unbeliever and the terms of the peace treaty is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31; John 3:16, 36).
The effectiveness of the church age believer’s royal ambassadorship depends upon his accurate understanding of the Gospel and the ministry of the Holy Spirit and understanding the issue that is at stake.
The issue is Jesus Christ and not a person’s sins since every sin that a member of the human race has committed-past, present and future was imputed to Jesus Christ and judged on the Cross-by the justice of God the Father.
The royal ambassador’s job is to communicate the Gospel accurately to the unbeliever and is never to: (1) Guilt the unbeliever into believing or to bully them. (2) Bring up the unbeliever’s sins. (3) Embarrass them in any way. (4) Argue with them.
