Communion of the Saints (Part I)

Romans 1:8-15

March 13, 2022

In the not-to-distant past, the church was the center of culture. Church buildings were found on almost every street-corner in large cities and every small community had a centrally located church. In addition to its function as a place to worship God, it was a place where people gathered for fellowship, for service to the community, for weddings, for funerals, for recreation, etc. The church building was a place where the church gathered. So where are we as a church in America today? Clearly, the church has lost its position as the center of influence in our culture.

What is responsible for the waning importance of the church in our culture? The answer is complex, but some factors are: 1) the increased availability of other forms of entertainment, such as television and movies; 2) increased mobility due to automobiles; 3) a public education system that has actively promoted atheism, 4) an affluence that convinces us that we don’t need anything or anyone, and 5) probably the most significant, liberal pastors who do not hold to the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture and its relevance today. Some seminaries even have reduced degree requirements, making it easier to earn a degree at the expense of training in theology and the proper handling of scripture.

Some who believe the church should play a significant role in society have resorted to worldly, non-biblical tactics to make the church palatable to the world. Marketeers have conducted studies to determine what attracts people to church. Often they conclude that the drawing card is dressing down for comfort, coffee bars and tables for people to sit at while being entertained, music that excites, sermons that make them feel good, etc. It is all driven by consumerism. The result is often the creation of a group of individuals with little connection to one another but, worse, no real connection to God. We might enjoy being there, but the church becomes just another place to go when there is nothing better to do.

The church that Jesus is building (Matthew 16:18) is very much different from the church of consumerism. His church consists of saints, the called-out ones, those set apart from the world; set apart to be a community in communion with one another. An ongoing theme of Southside is a Simple Pursuit, where we seek to recover the values of the early church as described in Acts 2:42, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Clearly, as they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, they devoted themselves to one another in fellowship and service. In the breaking of bread, they remembered what Christ had done for them and were exceedingly joyful. They prayed with and for one another. They were a community of believers – a church! In one sense the church is for non-believers and in another sense, it is only for believers. One of the tasks of the church is to preach the message of redemption through Jesus Christ. Romans 10:14 asks, “But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” One of the ways in which people hear is by coming to a church where the truth of Scripture is proclaimed and people are challenged to examine their lives. On the other hand, the church is only for believers, for it is only believers who can truly share in the vibrant body of Christ.

There are many blessings in life that only believers in Christ can enjoy. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” Some of the other blessings that we share as brothers and sisters in Christ are as follows:

• Reconciled to God (Romans 5:1)
• Set free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2)
• Become God’s children (John 1:12)
• Created by God for good works (Ephesians 2:10)
• Commissioned to build up God’s church (1 Corinthians 14:12)
• Names written in the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 21:27)

In the body of Christ there are no strangers! This is one aspect that the world does not enjoy – and cannot enjoy. People with a common hobby or support the same sports team or even participate in a common philanthropic project cannot have the commitment to one another as found in the church. When we first meet someone new and learn that they are a disciple of Jesus, there is an instant bond of unbreakable fellowship! Neither race, nor ethnicity nor gender can divide us. In the high priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17, He prayed for unity in the church body so that the world would believe in Him.

When we began to study this epistle to the church at Rome, we saw that Paul introduced himself, described his mission in life, and gave a very brief summary of who Jesus is and what He had accomplished for all believers, including them. Paul tells us that he had a great longing to visit the church at Rome. This epistle was written while in Corinth in either 56 or 57 AD, toward the end of his third missionary journey. He finally visited the church in Rome in 62 AD and, tradition says, he was martyred outside Rome in approximately 66 AD. John MacArthur said the church was probably founded by some of the Jews who were converted on the Day of Pentecost. Today we examine the first of the five themes in verses eight through fifteen of chapter one. These are the Communion in Faith (v. 8), the Communion in Prayer (v.9), the Communion in Work (vv. 10-12), the Communion in the Harvest (v. 13) and the Communion in the Gospel (vv. 14-15).

1. Communion in Faith (v.8)

• Paul’s communion in faith began with gratitude (v. 8a)

Paul began this section of his epistle by giving thanks to God. Being thankful to God was a natural outcome of having been saved by Jesus. Paul models his thankfulness to God in 2 Corinthians 9:15, “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” He expressed his thankfulness for the believers at Rome in Romans 1:8, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.” How wonderful it would be if the faith of us at Southside was proclaimed all over Johnston County!

Whenever Paul thought about other believers, he was flooded with joy because of what God had done for him and for them. He also marveled at the fact that God would temporarily set aside the Jews to make His mercy known to the Gentiles (Romans 11:30-36). He asked in verse 34, “For who has known the mind of the Lord?” He showed how much he appreciated what God had done for him in Philippians 3:8 when he said, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” Paul was willing to joyfully give up everything for Jesus. Are we willing to give up even a minor comfort for the sake of reaching the lost?

Following the greeting and blessing in his epistle to the Philippians, Paul expressed his thankfulness to God for what He was doing in their church. Paul had a special affection for the believers at Philippi for this is where he was warmly received by Lydia (Acts 16:13-15) and where a jailer and his family were converted in dramatic fashion (Acts 16:25-34). In Philippians 1:7, Paul said, “It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.” Paul was also thankful for the Philippians’ partnership in the gospel, for he bragged that early in his ministry it was only the Philippians who provided him financial support (Philippians 4:15). One could imagine that much of this financial support came from Lydia, for she was certainly a woman of some wealth. One of the most encouraging statements in all of Scripture for believers is found in verse 6, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

• Our communion in faith begins with gratitude

When we think about what God has done for us and for our fellow pilgrims, thankfulness should be constantly on our minds. If we spend any time pondering the blessings we have in our salvation, our adoption as sons/daughters, our inheritance, and our future glorification, we cannot help but give joyful praise and thanks to God. Paul instructs us in Ephesians 5:20 and in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that we are to give thanks always and in all circumstances. The downward spiral that Paul warns of in Romans 1:18-32 begins with failure to honor God as God and to give thanks to Him for His grace. Paul found great joy and thankfulness to God for the way He was working in the lives of fellow believers. When comparing the church body to the human body, Paul shows just how connected we are to one another: “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (1 Corinthians 12:26). If we are in Christ, 1 John 3:1 states that we are God’s children, then we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. We should overflow with joy and gratitude for the way God is working in our spiritual brothers and sisters at Southside, making dead people live and bringing believers to maturity. The psalmist proclaimed, “It is good to give thanks to the Lord” (Psalm 92:1) and Proverbs 17:22 states, “A cheerful heart is good medicine.” Being thankful brings many social, spiritual and health benefits.

Believers in Christ are joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), we have a rich inheritance (Ephesians 1:18), we have a seat at the table of Christ in heaven (Luke 22:30), and we will reign with Christ in heaven forever (Revelation 22:5). We are going to be with our brothers and sisters in Christ, enjoying these blessings for all eternity. Understanding the hope we have in Christ will fuel the hope we have for others around us. If we understand the depth of our depravity and the amazing work of grace that God has wrought in us, we cannot keep silent; we will be bursting out with a joy that we are driven to share. If we are truly thankful for what God has done, we will naturally want to share the good news with others. Some standard methods of evangelism can lead people to Christ, but rather than trying to memorize the steps of a particular evangelistic method, we probably just need to be more bold and more astute in recognizing open doors. Non-believers seeing joy and thankfulness in us will go a long way toward attracting them to Christ.

Clearly, we live in a fallen world that is demonstrating its true character more and more every day. Are we beaten down by all the disobedience or sin or unbelief that is around us? If you are disgruntled by all that is going on around you, so discouraged that you feel like giving up, it is an indication that you have lost the joy and amazement of your salvation. We need to remember the blessings we share in communion with our spiritual family. Do we rejoice over the salvation of our brothers and sisters in Christ? Do we pray for them?

Do we have a tendency to see anyone as irredeemable and think, why waste time on them? Would this be casting pearls before swine? (Matthew 7:6) If we are truly amazed at what God has done in our life, we would not doubt that God could similarly work a miracle in their life also. Any new birth in Christ is a miracle and only God can bring it about. In Luke 15 Jesus told several parables emphasizing the joy that is experienced when a lost sheep or a lost coin or a lost person is found. In verse seven, Jesus described the joy in heaven when a sinner repents. Heaven rejoices over the miracle of someone coming to faith in Christ and we often have a laissez faire attitude about it. A desire to share this joy should motivate us to share the gospel.

• The testimony of the church in Rome was an encouragement to the saints (v. 8b)

Paul was filled with gratitude and he was praying for the believers in the church at Rome. Rome was the hub of commerce for the known world, and many people, including Christians, were coming to and leaving Rome. No apostle had been to Rome, yet there was a vibrant church in this sinful city – and their faith was being proclaimed around the world! The Holy Spirit had planted this church using lay-people and Paul was especially excited to view this Spirit-filled community. As the people came together in unity The Spirit of God developed a real communion of faith. Does Clayton know that there is a communion of faith at Southside? How will they know unless there are witnesses? The work of the church should be about bringing sinners to faith, maturing them in the faith, and equipping them to witness to our world.

Selah:

1. God and family should take higher priority, but what place does the church occupy in your list of priorities?
2. How much time do you spend simply thanking God for your salvation? For the salvation of others?
3. What do our family members and friends think of our faith? Do they see someone who is truly grateful for salvation and eager to share the joy?