The sermon you are about to hear was recorded at Grace Baptist Church, Cape Coral, Florida. For additional sermons and more information, visit our website at truegraceofgod.org. Imagine, if you will, a church that is filled with members from radically different cultural and historical and religious backgrounds. A church that has some members who grew up in a very strict, legalistic, fundamentalistic, we might even say, background before they were converted to Christ and others who didn't come from religious homes necessarily. And when they did come from religious homes, it was more mysticism, but primarily they were atheists and secularists without much regard for formal religion. Though they're all Christians now, they're all following Jesus. Their different backgrounds provides lots of opportunity for friction, for challenges to unity and strength in that church. Imagine then that after that church had existed for six or seven years, that they'd already experienced some severe opposition from the federal government. So much so that the more religiously oriented members, those who had the religious background, the more fundamentalistic members were exiled by the federal government from the city where the church was. And they had to leave the area, leaving the leadership of the church to those that come from backgrounds without much religious foundation. Five or six years later, because the government changed, those more fundamentalistically minded members were able to come back to the church and reestablish their lives in the city. But what they found is not the same church. They found a church that didn't have the same ethos to it. They didn't regard customs the way that they had when they left. In fact, They were tempted to believe that the church had grown rather lax on some of their devotion about what it means to be holy. They saw this specifically in how the church members there were eating and drinking and the way that they ignored certain holidays that previously had been important. Well, such a church would be in danger of dividing, wouldn't it? It would be in danger of going down bad pathways. Those who believe that dietary rules and special holidays should be observed in order to be faithful when they discovered the absence of those kinds of considerations by the ones in the church who had no regard for such rules in their background. the potential for friction would increase. If they don't handle their differences properly, then the testimony to the truth and the power of the gospel, which that church wants to manifest to a watching world, could be damaged. Well, that's precisely the situation of the church at Rome in the first century, when the Apostle Paul wrote the letters to the Romans that we have in the New Testament to that congregation. That church was comprised of both Jewish and Gentile Christians. The Jewish Christians were converted out of Judaism. And many of them had very narrow and strict understandings of what it meant to be holy and right with God. We would call their views legalistic. And the Gentile Christians came from pagan backgrounds or no religious background. And so they didn't have any kind of regard for those habits, those customs, specifically with diets and days that had been important to the Jews. Well, Paul knew this when he wrote his letter and he wrote his letter to them without really being involved in the life of that church. Paul didn't start the church at Rome. In fact, he'd never even visited it. He knew some of the members. We see this in the 16th chapter when he greets them by name. But he himself had never personally been involved in the life and ministry of the church at Rome. We've been studying this letter of Paul to Rome for the last few years, and as we've done so, we see how time and again Paul makes it very clear that he is concerned to help the congregation navigate their differences and to reduce potential friction by setting forth the truth and the power and the implications of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He explains what that gospel is. The good news that God sent His only begotten Son into the world to save sinners from sin, to reconcile us to Himself, to secure our right standing before our Creator solely on the merits of what Jesus has done when we trust Him alone. and have nothing else that we're counting on except our sincere faith in him, his life, his death, his resurrection. Everyone who does trust Jesus Christ as Lord is saved, will be reconciled to God. That was true in the first century when the apostle Paul wrote this letter. It remains true today and forever. So if you want to be forgiven of your sins, if you want to be right with God, You don't try to become more religious. You don't make more resolutions. You take God at His word. You receive Jesus Christ. You take the salvation that He has provided, and you take it not by doing, but by believing, by receiving, by humbling yourself before Christ as Lord. Well, Paul explains that. He spends 11 chapters explaining that. And then beginning in chapter 12, he starts drawing out very specific implications and applications of that good news. In this last section, starting in chapter 12, Paul reminds us that it is God's law that defines what is right and wrong. And that customs, preferences about diets, days, or other things, they're okay in their place. but they must not be given the weight of defining what is right, good, or true. In the process of sorting all of that out and explaining how Christians can enjoy the freedom that we have in Jesus Christ, not allowing our consciences to be dictated or bound by mere customs or preferences, Paul identifies two groups in the church. Those whom he calls weak in faith and those whom he regards as strong in faith. And he admonishes them both. And he does so very pointedly, very directly. In their relationships with each other, Paul says that they must not insist that everybody in the church would abide by their own preferences. You can have them. Just don't make them something that everybody has to agree with. After reading Paul's direct pointed admonitions, you might be tempted to think, that those church members in Rome need all kinds of outside help. I mean, after all, Paul, in a sense, is an outsider. He wasn't part of that church, but he was an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he could speak to them with the authority of Christ, whose church it is. But after admonishing them, after being so direct with them and correcting their missteps and relating to each other, Paul makes an astounding statement about them that teaches us a great deal about the power of the gospel and the nature of true Christianity. That statement is our text for today. It is found in Romans chapter 15, verse 14. If you're using one of the Bibles provided, you'll find that verse beginning on page 5 or 949. And I encourage you to get the scriptures in front of you this morning, because I want to read not just that verse, but the verses following it. And then zero in on Romans 15, 14 for our text this morning. I mentioned when we looked at the beginning of this passage a couple of weeks ago that this section, Romans 15, 14, marks the beginning of the conclusion of the letter. And so in order to get Paul's thinking, some of his summary thoughts as he moves to conclude the letter, I want to read not just verse 14. I want to start with verse 14, read down to verse 21. But simply call your attention to that 14th verse, because that is where we're going to spend our time this morning. But hear the word of the Lord from Romans chapter 15, verses 14 through 21. The apostle Paul writes. I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. But on some points I've written to you very boldly by way of reminder because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus. Then I have reason to be proud of my work for God. Or I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders and by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to a lyricum, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ. And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I should build on someone else's foundation. But as it is written, those who have never been told of him will see and those who have never heard will understand. Genuine gospel devotion results in capable Christian counseling. That's what verse 14 of Romans 15 says. Look at it again. Paul says, I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. Well, in this verse, I want to point out two lessons for us this morning that show us how genuine Gospel devotion results in an ability to counsel one another as Christians. The first lesson is this, that gospel devotion allows for gracious deductions. Where you see gospel devotion, you have every reason to make gracious deductions. Now, it's important to distinguish between what I mean by deduction from assumptions. We all know how dangerous it is to make assumptions without any foundation, and yet sometimes we do that out of our own prejudices. We see this in John chapter one with Nathanael when he was told about Jesus Christ from Nazareth. You remember what Nathanael said? Nazareth? Can anything good come from Nazareth? Well, he was prejudiced against that town and what went on in that town. And so when he heard about someone significant coming from that town, he just assumed that it couldn't be true. That's different than what I'm talking about and what we see the Apostle Paul doing here in this text. It's different in the same way that what happened to Paul when he went to Athens teaches us how to think. You remember when Paul walked through Athens, he saw idols everywhere. And then when he had the opportunity to speak to the philosophers in Acts 17, 22 and 23, Luke records him saying this, Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you're very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription to the unknown God. What therefore you worship is unknown, this I proclaim to you. You see, Paul saw the idols, he saw the shrines, and he rightly deduced this is a very religious people. They don't know the true God, but they have lots of false gods. Well, in the same way, in the text before us this morning, Paul is using his powers of deduction to speak confidently about Christians in the church at Rome. He addresses them very warmly as his brothers, though he had never met many of them himself. He knew that because they were in Christ and he is in Christ, that they are a part of his spiritual family. And he speaks very confidently. He says, I myself am satisfied. In other words, he has been persuaded and he remains persuaded about what he is going to say. There is something that is in Paul's thinking that caused him to be confident without any doubt about the assertion he's going to make. And what is it that causes Paul to write with such assurance? He never visited the church. He didn't know many of the members of the church, and yet he is so confident he's willing to make an astounding claim about them. So what's the source of that confidence? The source of Paul's confidence is his understanding of and commitment to the nature of true salvation. Paul didn't take salvation lightly. In chapter 1, verse 7 of this letter, Paul describes those Roman Christians as being loved by God and called to be saints. In the very next verse, verse 8 of Romans 1, he says that the Romans' faith has been proclaimed in all the world. Paul is writing to Christians. He's writing to people that he has every reason to believe are genuinely devoted to God through faith in Jesus Christ. The gospel, the good news of what God has done for sinners in and through His Son is that which they are staking their lives upon. This message of Christ's person and work, of His life and death and resurrection. of who he is and what he has done and why that matters. This is what those people in the church at Rome believe. Paul writes about this gospel in chapter one, verse 16, that it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. So he automatically has confidence in the reality that whoever believes this gospel, whoever receives Jesus Christ as Lord has been acted on by the power of God. That is true for the youngest Christian, the weakest Christian. Every Christian is a new creation before God. Those who are in Christ through faith are no longer mere natural people. They have Christ as their Lord. They have his word for their instruction. They have his spirit for their teacher. And this is what makes Paul satisfied about the Christians in Rome. Now, brothers and sisters, I want to stop and ask you a question. Do you make such gracious deductions? About Christians, when you hear of their devotion to the gospel, when you first learn of them, sometimes I fear we're too quick to discount the significance of what it means to be a Christian. But because we know the power of the gospel, because we take God at his word, we describes what a Christian is. Our default mode ought to be to believe the best. about everyone who's genuinely devoted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul did that for the Roman Christians. He saw their gospel devotion and confidently made some gracious deductions about them. But what exactly is it that Paul is confident about? What's the content of his satisfaction of these gracious deductions? Well, the answer to that question is found in the second part of verse 14. And you note that he mentions there three specific things. These gracious deductions Paul makes include both character and competence issues in those Roman Christians. Two of the three things that he mentions relates to character. And the last one relates to competence. You know that he says they are full of all goodness. That is a statement about their moral character. Goodness has been defined as a positive moral quality characterized especially by interest in the welfare of others. Goodness is relational. It is sensitive to and concerned about other people. Psalm 119 verse 68 says of God, you are good and you do good. You're not a good person if you're not doing good for other people. One writer has explained it like this. Goodness is a virtue and is virtue and holiness in action. It results in a life characterized by deeds motivated by righteousness and a desire to be a blessing. It's a moral characteristic of a spirit filled person. Well, Paul writes in Galatians 522 that indeed goodness is a fruit of God's spirit. That is, it's a result of being indwelt by God's spirit. When the spirit of God comes within a person to live, that person will begin to be a good person. Why? Because the spirit cultivates goodness as his fruit. Paul knew this about the Holy Spirit's work, and he knew that as people who are genuinely devoted to the gospel, genuinely converted to Christ, the Christians in Rome, therefore, were indwelt by God's spirit. So he could legitimately deduce that they were full of all goodness. But along with that moral characteristic, Paul was also convinced that they were filled with all knowledge. This speaks to their intellectual character. Knowledge is understanding that grows out of experience and learning. When Paul makes this statement, he's not assuming or suggesting that they were all geniuses in Rome. He's not saying that they knew everything that there is to know about all things. He's talking about their knowledge of the ways of God in salvation. They are in Christ and consequently they know God. He says they're filled with such knowledge. God himself had filled them and he continues to fill them with this knowledge. And the Bible teaches that all Christians, every Christian has vital knowledge, saving knowledge of God. Listen to the way the Apostle John puts this in First John, chapter two, in verse 21 of that chapter, he writes. I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it and because no lie is of the truth. You see, because they're Christians, they know the truth. They have the truth because they believe the truth in Christ in order to be saved. In that same chapter in verses 26 and 27, John goes on to underscore the point. He says, I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you receive from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about everything, it is true, it is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in Him." Now John nor Paul are saying that the church has no need for teachers, and that every Christian has an equally full grasp of all that God's revealed to us in Christ. But what this does mean is that every Christian has been filled with all the saving knowledge of God in Christ and that there's no secret knowledge which some special class of Christians have that no one else can access. We all have God's word and we all have God's spirit. Paul knows this. And so he's confident that the Christians in Rome are filled with all knowledge. But he's not merely confident about their character, their moral character, their intellectual character. He's also confident about their abilities, their competence, practical ability. You see what he says? He's confident they are able to instruct one another. They have the ability to do this. They have the capacity to do this. Specifically, they have the capacity to instruct one another. That word instruct is a very, very interesting and important word. One Greek lexicon defines it like this, to counsel about avoidance or cessation of an improper course of conduct, to admonish, to warn, to instruct. And so to be able to instruct one another would be to see someone who's walking down the wrong path and to correct them, to show them why it's wrong and to help them to get back on the right path. Another lexicon defines it this way to provide instruction as to correct behavior and belief. I like the way the Williams translation of the New Testament renders this verse. He renders it like this, I'm convinced that you especially are competent to counsel one another. What's Paul saying here? He's saying that he is very certain that the Christians in Rome have everything they need to be competent counselors that can help each other follow Christ faithfully in this world. They are, as Williams translates it, competent to counsel. Now, some of you will recognize that phrase as the title of a book that J. Adams wrote in 1970. J. Adams, with that book, became something of the father of the modern emphasis in evangelical churches on biblical counseling. What Adams did is he took this verse, Romans 15, 14, this word that comes across in our translation as instruct, and he went behind the English translation to the Greek word, which is nuthiteo, And he took that word, transliterated it and said, I want Christians to start start thinking about counseling in terms of new static counseling, new counseling, counseling that Paul is talking about here. He builds on what Paul writes here when Paul says that Christians have everything that we need to counsel one another in the ways of Christ. Well, that's a pretty bold claim, isn't it? To say that those who are genuinely in Christ have competencies to counsel one another. It becomes even more staggering when you remember how Paul has addressed some of the people in the church at Rome. You remember in chapter 14, verse one, he described some of them as weak in faith. Weak in faith. yet competent to counsel. It's amazing, isn't it? Well, this raises two questions in our minds when we consider what Paul says about this. And the first question is simply this. How can this be? How can it be that somebody who is described as weak in faith is also competent to instruct others in the faith? The three answers that question. The first is what I've already mentioned, but I want to underscore again because of what it means to be a Christian. Again, I fear that too often we downplay what the Bible means. By being in Christ, we should take seriously what scripture says about what is involved in becoming a Christian. To become a Christian is to be born again. It is to become a new creation in Jesus Christ. A Christian is someone in whom the living God by the power of His Spirit has worked, not only to convict of sin, but to bring about a deep and genuine repentance for sin and humble faith in Christ. As such, a Christian is a person to whom God gives a new nature. A nature that now loves Jesus and honors him as Lord. That means that a Christian is somebody who willingly takes on the role of a slave to Jesus Christ. Christ is master. Christians have minds that are being renewed. They are growing and thinking rightly about life, reality, truth, goodness, beauty. A Christian is someone who has his affections being renewed so that he or she is increasingly loving the truth that they're growing in. Christians have their wills being renewed so that they more and more live in ways, make choices. that are not in conformity to the way that this world lives and thinks. A Christian's choices regarding how to spend time or money or energy or leisure influence will more and more be determined by that which the scripture teaches, honors and glorifies Jesus Christ. So that's one answer. Paul can say this because he knows what a Christian really is. But a second answer is that a Christian is somebody who's not alone. That is, a Christian is indwelt by God himself. To be indwelt by the Holy Spirit is to be indwelt by God himself. Think about that. By the power of his spirit, God lives inside everyone who has faith in Christ. What this means is that at your lowest point, your darkest day, your weakest moment. You're not left to yourself. You're not by yourself. God is with you because God, by his spirit, is in you and the spirit is in God's people as our teacher. As our comforter, as our guide. But a third answer to that question is that not only do we have God's spirit. We have God's word. Brothers and sisters, we're not left to our own imaginations. We don't have to make it up. We have a book. And that book tells us what God wants, what God reveals to be best for us, it clearly teaches what is right, wrong, good, bad, true, false. You know, I'm reminded of Second Timothy, chapter three, verses 16 and 17, where Paul speaks about the power and sufficiency of the scripture when he says all scripture is breathed out by God and it's profitable. It's profitable for teaching. It's profitable for correction. It's profitable for reproof. It's profitable for training and righteousness. And then he adds so that the man of God might be thoroughly equipped. for every good work. That also is an astounding claim. Paul wrote that and writes this. So a person who's been born of God's spirit and is indwelt by God's spirit, who's been given God's book. It's competent. He's competent to instruct others. We must never lose sight of that. In our day, we are being bombarded with those who count themselves are betters. Telling us that we need something beyond what God has given to us in Christ and his word in order to live well in this world, in order to respond rightly to both blessing and sin. Brothers and sisters, we need to humble ourselves once again and be instructed by this word and recognize it and having Jesus Christ, having his spirit, having his word that we can say what the Apostle Paul says about everyone who is indeed devoted to the gospel. Well, this is a great way to live, isn't it? To know that you're not on your own, to know that whatever faces you tomorrow, that you might have some inkling about and may even be deeply concerned about that whenever you actually enter into that circumstance, that you're not going there on your own. You're going there and dwelt by the spirit of God. You're going there with instruction in the word of God in your behalf. You're going there with a crucified, risen savior. And so you can go with great hope. Don't you want to live like that? Brothers and sisters, we can live like that if we remember what Paul is remembering when he makes this statement. And friend, if you're not trusting Christ, know that you also can live like that in Christ. Come to Christ, believe Christ, receive Jesus Christ and all of these things that we are seeing Paul had in mind when he speaks this way of the Christians in Rome can be true of you as well. God will welcome you and God will give you a spirit and God will change your life. He'll forgive your sins. He will reconcile you to himself in Christ. Simply by turning from your sin and trusting Christ, there's no reason for you to live another day, another moment without receiving the salvation that is in Jesus Christ and on the authority of God's word and in behalf of God himself. I would plead with you. right now where you are as you are, to trust Christ. These things will be true of you as well. Brothers and sisters, because of God's work in us and his provisions for us, we are, as the text says, able to instruct one another. We are capable counselors for each other. I could tell you stories of how that has been manifested in this congregation, even recently with with those who a year ago would were timid and hesitant and thinking there's no way who God has given grace and strength to. And now they're able to say, you know, I was at work and this came up and I was able to speak these words. I was able to quote this verse. I was able to encourage this thought revealed from God's word. This is what God does in and through his people. We're competent to counsel one another. Now, that doesn't mean that every Christian is equally competent and equipped to counsel each other in every circumstance, every challenge. But it does mean that every Christian has all the resources in God's word and spirit to provide good counsel to one another. And sometimes, you know what the best counsel that you can give is? We need to bring somebody else in on this who has the mind of Christ, who's walked a little bit further down this road than I have. Maybe you need to go sit down and talk to an elder. That's good counsel in very specific situations. Sometimes as we encourage one another, we should positively stop and remind each other. that what Romans 15, 14 says of those Christians in the first century in Rome is true of us. And by faith, take God at his word and venture forward in accordance with his word to try to help those in need. Well, that raises a second question that we should ask, not only how can this be, what does this mean about how we should approach the Christian life? If this is true of us, brothers and sisters, how then should we live? Well, it ought to motivate us to be serious about growing in grace. It should cause us each to have a goal to mature in goodness and knowledge. To be a capable counselor does not mean that you can never become better equipped, better prepared to help others with thoughtful, helpful words. Well, how do you do that? How do you become better equipped? It's not complicated. Take seriously the ordinary ways that God has provided for you to grow in his grace and knowledge. Read your Bible regularly, seriously. Study it, learn it. Pray regularly, seriously, more and more. Fellowship with believers. Become committed to them. Committed to the point where you are willing to know them and to be known by them, which cannot happen in 15 minutes before a worship service or 15 minutes after a worship service. Worship with brothers and sisters as a matter of high priority. Sing with them, pray with them, receive God's word together with them, participate in the Lord's Supper with them. Live openly and evangelistically with them, commending Christ together to unbelievers. You want a simple way to summarize all of that. This is the way I've done it for years. Find a healthy church and build your life around it. Build your life around it. So you won't grow in these ways if you're satisfied to be an hour and a half a week Christian. By that, I mean, you show up because, you know, that's the right thing to do. Maybe you get something out of the singing or the preaching or something. And so you just kind of do that like a consumer. You'll never grow that way. You stay on that path, you might wind up on that day of judgment, discovering that you were deceived all those years. What I mean by building your life around a healthy church is that you embrace the calling to be brothers and sisters together with others that are on this pathway of following Jesus Christ through this world. And you're willing to be helped and you're willing to help. And you're willing to open up your life and let others open up their lives so that together we might benefit from what God has done in each of us as we mutually counsel one another, mutually help one another on to the celestial city. When we do that in the context of brothers and sisters who themselves are capable counselors will grow in our ability to competently counsel others as well. So, brothers and sisters, Let's encourage each other to think rightly about the power of the gospel for all those who believe. And when you meet someone, you hear of someone who you have no reason to doubt is genuinely devoted to the gospel, then make gracious deductions about them. Believe what the Bible says is true of them. I know, I know there are false converts. I know there are people who say that they love Jesus and they live contrary to the way of Christ. But until that is manifested, if someone says that they're devoted to the same gospel, you and I are, then let's hope the best. Let's believe that what God says is true of every Christian is going to be true of that person as well. Where we see genuine devotion, let's be encouraging to one another to pursue that devotion more and more to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. And let's believe what God says about us. Let's do it here in this church. Because we're in Christ. We really are filled with goodness. And knowledge. and have by his spirit's help the ability to counsel one another. That gives great hope, doesn't it? For facing the world we're in, for going forward. God has put us together in an assembly of competent counselors. Let's pray together. Our father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this astounding statement that we find in our text this morning. It's amazing to us. that you would say this about us, and we wouldn't believe it if you hadn't revealed it. And yet, as you've revealed it and as we try to think about it in light of the scriptures, we we have to confess your word is true. Help us to feel the truth of it, help us to, by faith, take it to heart and and not to rest upon it. But to use it to motivate us to grow more and more in goodness, in knowledge, so that we will come even better equipped to instruct one another, to help one another. God, please. Work in us by your word and spirit. That we might serve one another and serve our friends and family. In this way, as ambassadors of Jesus. Please come help us to live by faith in what you've revealed to us today in your word. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.