Rom 1:13-17
Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes
I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some
fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the
Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach
the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of
God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by
faith.
Paul says, that he has intended to come to Rome to preach
the gospel. But up to this point he has not done it. Up to this point he has
been hindered. Every time he decides
that he is going to go, something else comes up. Have you ever been there? You look around you and you see people who
need Jesus, And you have every intent of sharing truth with them, but it seems
like something is always coming up. There is always an excuse as to why we never get around to
it. There are too many people around.
The timing isn’t right. The grass needs mowed, the house needs painted, the
laundry needs washed, the kids have ballgames, mom is sick, dad is sick, the
dog needed a bath, and the list goes on and on.
To excuse means to make an apology, or to remove blame. Thus making excuses is our attempt to justify
our failure; to remove our blame. Excuses
may make us feel better about failing to fulfill our duty, but they do not remove
our obligations.
In the above passage, Paul recognizes his failure to do what
he knows he should be doing, namely to preach the gospel. In verse fourteen he says “I am debtor”. The word translated debtor literally means “delinquent”,
or past due. Here Paul is admitting that
he is past due to come to Rome and preach the gospel to the people there. As
Christians we have an obligation to preach the Gospel as well. We have been
commissioned to go into the world and preach the gospel; to set the captives
free, and expand the kingdom of God. But
we often allow our excuses to keep us from fulfilling that obligation. The result is groups of people going to Hell,
because we were delinquent in telling them about Jesus. The Bible is clear that as we have been given
the opportunity to believe, we are to give others that same opportunity. Failure to do so not only hinders others from
believing, it may even cause us to forfeit our own salvation. God expects us to take what we have been
given and multiply it. The scriptures
make it clear that being debtor, is cause for us to have what we have been
given taken away, and we ourselves be cast out (Matthew 25:14-30). Make no mistake, fruitless branches are will
be cut away and burned.
God is not just concerned about us being faithful, he wants
us to be fruitful. Typically when we
speak of fruit we think of the fruit of the Spirit; Love, joy, peace, patience,
etc. But here the fruit Paul is talking
about the adding souls to the kingdom, the fruit of his labor. Paul says the reason he wanted to come to
Rome was so that he might have fruit among them, even as he had among other
gentiles. Paul had been preaching the gospel to others, and his ministry had produced
new believers (fruit). God is expecting us to plant seed, so that fruit
can be reaped. God is looking for us to
go forth and make disciples. Unfortunately
too often our own excuses keep us from performing our duty. It is time that we stop with the excuses, and
realize that we have a duty to act. And
we must purpose to not allow other things to hinder us from fulfilling our
obligation. Paul puts it this way in
verse fifteen, “I am ready to preach the Gospel to you”. We too have to be ready to preach the Gospel to
everyone we contact.
Paul admits that he has been delinquent in preaching to both
the Greeks and the Barbarians, the wise and the unwise. Our obligation to preach the gospel spans
across gender, race, social category, economic status, sexual orientation,
criminal background, or religious affiliation.
We are to preach the gospel to every creature, not just the ones we are
comfortable with, or with whom we are close.
We are obligated to sow the seed upon every type of soil. We are not responsible for the soil, but we
must scatter the seed. The bible tells
us to be ready always to give an answer for the hope that is in us; ready to
speak the truth in love. We live in a
society that has tried to shame us into not speaking. They paint Christians as mean, hateful and
intolerant. And by doing so they create
so much opposition that Christians will find it easier to just be silent. But being silent makes us debtor.
Rom 10:13-14 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” We have an obligation to give people the opportunity to believe. But how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard, and how can they hear without a preacher? News flash, we are the preachers. We are all called to be preachers of the gospel, It is our duty, it is our obligation. And we have no excuse not to do it. If there are people that God has placed on your heart to talk to about Christ, and you have failed to do it, realize that you are debtor; you are past due. Don’t waste any more time, and don’t allow any other excuses hinder you from fulfilling your obligation to preach the gospel.
