UBF Daily Bread

THE PRIESTLY DUTY OF A MISSIONARY

Passage: Romans 15:14~22

Key verse: 16

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

¹⁴I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness,^(A) filled with knowledge^(B) and competent to instruct one another. ¹⁵Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me^(C) ¹⁶to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.^(D) He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God,^(E) so that the Gentiles might become an offering^(F) acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁷Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus^(G) in my service to God.^(H) ¹⁸I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles^(I) to obey God^(J) by what I have said and done— ¹⁹by the power of signs and wonders,^(K) through the power of the Spirit of God.^(L) So from Jerusalem^(M) all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.^(N) ²⁰It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel^(O) where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.^(P) ²¹Rather, as it is written:

“Those who were not told about him will see,
and those who have not heard will understand.”^[a]^(Q)

²²This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.^(R)

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Footnotes

Romans 15:21 Isaiah 52:15 (see Septuagint)

1. Mission, a gift of God's grace (14-16)

It is by God's grace that we are Christians, and by his grace that we are missionaries and Bible teachers. God's people are called to be a kingdom of priests. A priest stands between men and God. He brings men to God and brings God to men. Paul saw the work of proclaiming the gospel as a priestly ministry. To call people to 'the obedience that comes from faith' is to offer them to God. God shows that he accepts the offering when the Holy Spirit works to change people's hearts.

2. Go where Christ is not known (17-22)

Paul wanted all people everywhere to repent and believe and obey the Sovereign God. When all people love and obey God, then creation order is restored. So Paul wanted to pioneer places where Christ was not known, and lay foundations. He was so busy doing this that he had not had an opportunity to visit Rome, even though Rome was the strategic center of the Gentile world.

Prayer: Lord, help me to see the world from your point of view, and obey your world mission command.

One Word: A priestly ministry

Daily Bread

THE PRIESTLY DUTY OF A MISSIONARY

Passage: Romans 15:14~22

Key verse: 16

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

Footnotes

Cross references

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