Romans 1.11-Paul's Great Desire to Impart a Spiritual Blessing to Strengthen Faith of Roman Believers
Tuesday May 29, 2007
Romans: Romans 1:11-Paul’s Great Desire to Impart a Spiritual Blessing to Strengthen Faith of Roman Believers
Lesson # 16
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 1:1.
This evening we will continue with our study of the book of Romans.
By way of review, we have noted thus following thus far:
Romans 1:1-7 contains the salutation in the book of Romans, 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).
In Romans 1:8, we read where Paul relates to the believers in Rome that he makes it a habit to thank the Father for them in prayer because of their faith, which was well-know throughout the Roman Empire.
Then, in Romans 1:9-10, Paul also related to the believers in Rome that he prayed for them and that he might be able to visit them in the future.
This evening we will study Romans 1:11, in which Paul writes to the believers in Rome that his purpose for wanting to visit them was that it had been his great desire for some time to impart some spiritual blessing to them that would strengthen their faith.
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.”
Romans 1:9-10, “For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.”
Romans 1:11-12, “For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established, that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine.”
“For” is the post-positive conjunction gar (gavr), which adduces (i.e., brings forward an argument as evidence) the reason why Paul prays to the Father that he might be able to visit the believers in Rome in the future.
“I long” is the 1st person singular present active indicative form of the verb epipotheo (e)pipoqevw), which means, “to earnestly desire” to visit the believers in Rome.
In Romans 1:11, the verb epipotheo means that Paul “earnestly desired” to see the believers in Rome in order that he might minister to them.
This is a “retroactive progressive” present tense denoting that which began in the past and continues up to the present moment indicating that Paul had earnestly desired to see the believers in Rome “in the past” and that desire “continued up to the time of writing” when Paul wrote this epistle.
“To see you” is composed of the aorist active infinitive form of the verb eidon (ei!don), which means, “to visit” and the 2nd person plural accusative form of the personal pronoun humeis (u(mei$), “all of you,” which serves as the plural form of the second person singular pronoun su (su), “you.”
The verb eidon with the accusative form of the personal pronoun humeis, “all of you” means, “to visit.”
In Romans 1:11, the verb eidon functions grammatically as a “complementary” infinitive completing the thought of the verb epipotheo, “I long.”
The aorist tense of the verb is “constative” describing Paul’s desire to see the believers in Rome in summary fashion.
The “constative” aorist tense is also “durative” in nature emphasizing that “for a long period of time” Paul had desired to see the believers in Rome.
“That” is the conjunction hina (i%na), which expresses Paul’s purpose for earnestly desiring to visit the believers in Rome.
“Spiritual gift” is the noun charisma (xavrisma), “spiritual” and the adjective pneumatikos (pneumatikov$), “gift.”
The expression charisma pneumatikon, “spiritual gift” does “not” refer to the spiritual gifts that Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 12 or in Romans 12 since they were given to the believers in Rome at the moment of their salvation by God the Holy Spirit (See 1 Corinthians 12).
The Lord Jesus Christ authorizes the Holy Spirit to distribute to the believer at the moment of his salvation one spiritual gift according to a comparison of Ephesians 4:1-16 and 1 Peter 4:10.
1 Corinthians 12:7, “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
1 Peter 4:10, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
In Romans 1:12, Paul expresses his desire that the faith of the believers in Rome and his faith would receive encouragement through the impartation of this “spiritual gift.”
This indicates that the “spiritual gift” is a reference to the communication of the Word of God in the form of some spiritual insight that Paul received from the Holy Spirit since in Romans 10:17 Paul teaches that faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ.
Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
The faith of the believers in Rome would be strengthened and in turn they would be encouraged by Paul communicating the Word of God to them.
This would fulfill the purpose for which the Lord Jesus Christ gave him the spiritual gift of apostleship, which he writes in Romans 1:5, was to bring about faith among the Gentiles, which produces obedience to God.
Therefore, Paul’s purpose for wanting to visit the believers in Rome was to exercise his spiritual gift on behalf of them.
The expression “spiritual gift” in Romans 1:11 can be translated “spiritual blessing.”
This translation is supported by Paul’s statement in Romans 15:29, “I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.”
To be “blessed” means, “to be endued with power to fulfill a particular purpose.”
The Christian is blessed in the sense that he is endued with power by hearing the Word of God, which is alive and powerful according to Hebrews 4:12.
Hebrews 4:12, “The Word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit, and of the joints and the marrow, and is a critic of thoughts and intents of the heart.”
The Word of God enables the believer to grow in respect to his salvation.
1 Peter 2:2, “like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.”
The believer is sanctified by the Word of God.
John 17:17, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”
In Ephesians 4:11-16, the apostle Paul writes concerning the purpose of the four communication gifts and teaches that they are designed to communicate the Word of God, which produces spiritual growth.
Ephesians 4:11, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers.”
“Apostles” refers to the temporary spiritual gift of apostleship that held maximum authority in the church and was given to only 12 men and existed exclusively during the pre-canon period of the church age and is no longer existent today since all 12 men have died and went home to be with the Lord.
“Prophets” is a reference to the temporary spiritual gift of a prophet, which is also no longer existent since it existed during the pre-canon period of the church to fill the void until the New Testament canon had been completed.
“Evangelists” is a reference to the permanent spiritual gift of an evangelist, which is a gift that was given exclusively to evangelize the unbeliever.
“Pastor and teachers” does not refer to two different spiritual gifts but rather to one gift since the expression contains the figure of hendiadys and the Granville Sharpe rules applies to this expression.
“Pastor” is the noun poimen (poimhvn), which emphasizes the pastor’s responsibility and authority given to him by the Lord to communicate the Word of God to the body of Christ who have been assigned to him by the Lord, and the exercise of this responsibility and authority protects and nourishes the flock.
“Teacher” is the noun didaskalos (didavskalo$), which emphasizes the pastor’s responsibility to systematically impart his technical knowledge of the Word of God to his congregation on a regular or sustained basis (Eph. 4:11; 1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11; James 3:1).
The pastor-teacher is a male church age believer who at the moment of salvation and by divine appointment has been given the spiritual gift and responsibility and authority to communicate the Word of God to his fellow believer priests in the royal family of God who have been assigned to him by God.
The Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures.
2 Peter 1:20-21, “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
Therefore, the Scriptures are God-breathed.
2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
The Holy Spirit reveals the Father’s will, character, and provisions to the believer through the communication of the Word of God by the man with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher.
This is why John says in Revelation chapters two and three “he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (See Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22).
Ephesians 4:12, “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”
“For the equipping of the saints” refers to training members of the body of Christ to operate in their spiritual gift by communicating the Word of God to them in a face-to-face manner.
This prepositional phrase indicates that the believer is to receive his training in the Word of God from the pastor-teacher in a face-to-face manner since “for” is the preposition pros, “face to face” thus, implying that believers must gather together with other believers to hear the Word of God.
God keeps a book of remembrance of those who gather together to hear His Word.
Malachi 3:16, “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who respect the LORD and who esteem His name.”
The early church made it their top priority to gather together to hear the apostles teach the doctrines of Christ.
Acts 2:42, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Believers are commanded not to forsake the assembling of themselves with other believers.
Hebrews 10:23-25, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
“For the work of service” refers to the fact that the function of the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher provides the believer the capacity to perform Christian service, which produces divine good of intrinsic value that will be rewarded at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the believer that will be conducted by the Lord Jesus.
The communication of Bible Doctrine trains and prepares the believer for Christian service, which produces divine good.
The believer has been set apart to serve God by God the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation in order to produce divine good of intrinsic value (Eph. 2:10).
“To the building up of the body of Christ” refers to the spiritual growth of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 3:9; 1 Pet. 2:5).
There is a progression with these three prepositional phrases.
The Lord Jesus Christ provided the body of Christ with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher in order to train in a face to face manner each individual member of the body of Christ, which in turn enables the believer to perform Christian service resulting in the spiritual growth of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 3:9; 1 Pet. 2:5).
These four great communication gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 were given so that the believer can grow up spiritually and become like Christ, which is clearly indicated in Ephesians 4:13-16.
Ephesians 4:13, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”
“Knowledge of the Son of God” refers to attaining an experiential knowledge of the Son of God in the sense of personally encountering Him through the process of fellowship and being affected by this encounter with Him resulting in the gaining of practical spiritual wisdom and more of the character of Christ.
“To a mature man” refers to attaining spiritual maturity, which is maximum production of Christ-like character in the believer and is accomplished by the believer spending the majority of his time in fellowship with God, which enables the Holy Spirit to conform him into the image of Christ.
“To the measure of the stature, which belongs to the fullness of Christ” emphasizes that the standard for spiritual maturity that we are to strive to attain is the perfection of Christ.
Ephesians 4:14, “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.”
Ephesians 4:14 teaches that the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher was given to the church so that the church might have stability and be protected from the lies promoted by the false teachers in Satan’s cosmic system.
Ephesians 4:15, “but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.”
Ephesians 4:15 teaches that we are to grow up to become like Christ in all aspects of our lives meaning in thought, word and action and we are to accomplish this by operating in love.
Ephesians 4:16, “from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”
“Joint” is the noun haphe, which is used figuratively for men with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher who is to abundantly supply the individual members of His Body with the Word of God.
The ultimate purpose of the four great communication gifts is so that the Holy Spirit can develop Christ-like character in believers.
The Holy Spirit produces the character of Christ in the believer who obeys the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Holy Spirit through the communication of the Word of God.
Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
The phrase “from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part” indicates that the proper function and unity of the body of Christ is directly related to the teaching of the Word of God, which the pastor is to abundantly supply.
The phrase “causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” means that the spiritual growth of the body of Christ is the direct result of obeying the Lord’s command to love one another and indicates that spiritual growth is directly related to the teaching of the Word of God, which the pastor is to abundantly supply.
Romans 1:11, “For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established.”
“Established” is the verb sterizo (sthrivzw), which means, “to cause someone to become stronger in the sense of more firm and unchanging in attitude or belief.”
Therefore, in Romans 1:11, the verb sterizo means that Paul desired to communicate the Word of God to the believers in Rome in order to cause them to become stronger in their faith and stabilized in their relationship with God.
Consequently, this would produce greater obedience and consequently, greater spiritual growth.
In fact, in Romans 16:25-27, Paul writes to the believers in Rome that God the Father would establish (sterizo) them according to the communication of his gospel and the proclaiming of Jesus Christ and the mystery doctrine of the church age.
Romans 16:25-27, “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 which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith, to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.”