Tag: Encouragement
Your Faith Needs Encouragement (Part 3)

Your Faith Needs Encouragement (Part 3)

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In my last post in this mini series on Romans 1:11-12, I showed from the New Testament how your personal faith can be an encouragement to other believers. Now that you understand the truths in Romans 1:11-12, I want to give you five implications the passage has for your life.

For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

Romans 1:11-12, ESV

Implication 1: Your faith isn’t a static thing. It needs to grow and be encouraged

Think of Abraham. You see that he had faith in God’s promises. Yet this faith grew throughout Genesis until you see Abraham willing to even sacrifice his own son Isaac. Your trust in the Lord can grow and develop and find new expressions of obedience. And other Christians might have what you need to grow in your faith.

Your individual experience is not the whole of the Christian life. It isn’t even normative. You need the perspective of others to see where your faith is lacking or weak. It can be so easy to write people off in the Church. You can look at someone and say “well, they don’t know as much as I do” or “I don’t think they are obeying the Lord in this or that way” or simply “I don’t connect with them. I don’t care for them.”

But remember: Paul undoubtedly knew more truth than the Church in Rome. Yet Paul was aching to meet with the Church because he was not above being encouraged by those believers.

Anyone who loves the Lord has the potential to encourage you by their faith. Anytime you are going to meet with another believer, your soul should brim with anticipation.

Why? Any believer you meet with according to Scripture has the Holy Spirit dwelling in their heart, who has had their eyes open to see truth about the Lord, and who knows God. The living God. The creator of the universe! And God could use that interaction to grow or encourage your faith. To COMFORT you in a tough time you are going through.

You never know what is going to happen when you talk or meet with a brother or sister in Christ. That leads me to the next implication.

Implication 2: You need the local Church

Certainly, you can get encouragement from any believer. And you should!. Every Time you have a chance to talk with a fellow Christian, there is the potential for that conversation to help strengthen your faith. But where primarily are you going to interact with fellow believers? The Church. The local Church. Families who are not related by blood, but who have covenanted together to worship together, serve together, and live their lives together.

In my Church’s membership covenant, there is a line that says “I will bring to (the Church) such faith and comfort as I have means to render.” I love that line. Your membership is about glorifying God and blessing others. So bring your faith! Your faith encourages and comforts others in the body.

To put it another way, when you gather with the body, is this your goal? What are you aiming for in your interactions? Are you coming with a self-focused perspective? Romans 1:11-12 gives you a good goal and aim for when we gather together as a body: mutual encouragement from each other’s faith!

Do you have an intense desire to be around other believers? In Romans 1:11-12, Paul didn’t say “you know, if I get around to it, it would be nice if I got to see you Roman Christians.” Paul had an intense longing to visit this Church. A Church he had never met. Do you have that same sort of longing to be with believers? More particularly, do you long to be with Christians you have committed to in your local body?

If Paul had an intense longing to be among believers in Rome who he had not met, how much more should you long to be around believers who you know and see week after week?

So those are the first two implications: Your faith needs encouragement, and You need the local Church

Implication 3: Talk about your faith with other believers

One of my favorite passages is in Deuteronomy 6:

These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

emphasis added

If you want to encourage others with your faith, the first step is to talk about your faith. If you never share what is going on spiritually in your life or if you never ask another believer what God is doing spiritually in their lives, how are you going to mutually encourage each other?

Certainly seeing faith in action is an encouragement, but I would argue most of the time it is hearing about what God is doing in other believers lives that encourages you. How do you start those conversations? One time at a conference, I heard two really good questions to ask fellow believers:

One time at a conference I heard two really good questions to ask fellow believers:

  • How has the Lord been growing you in your knowledge of Him lately?
  • How has the Lord been growing you in living out your faith lately?

Ask questions like these when you are around other believers. Answer these questions when you are around other believers. Talking about your faith is the surest way to go from a normal conversation to a mutually encouraging one.

I’ll go a step further: Even if you don’t get asked spiritual questions, still answer them. Talk about the Lord! Sin and pride keeps us from always boasting in Christ and in God. But the more you talk about something, the easier it will become to talk about it.

Make it a habit when you are together with fellow believers to ask about their faith & their walk with the Lord

And the reality is: if you are individually pursuing the Lord and developing a relationship with Christ then it should not take much effort to start talking about Him with other believers.

Implication 4: Don’t think your faith is above encouragement from others

Christ’s address to the Church in Laodicea is one of the most sobering sections of Scripture in my opinion. And to me one of the scariest lines of all is simply this:

“Because you say I am rich; i have become wealthy and need nothing,” and you don’t know that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked

Revelation 3:17, ESV

It can become very easy as Christian at a spiritual level to think this about your faith. Self-satisfaction is a constant danger for the believer, particularly when it comes to faith. If your life is going fine, if you are “in a groove” spiritually so to speak, you can easily slip into the thinking “I don’t need to grow in my faith! It would be nice but I’m pretty much set right now.”

As soon as you slip into that mindset, you stop looking for encouragement from other believers. You stop asking other believers questions, you stop noticing the ways their faith is being lived out. Why? Because of spiritual pride.

As soon as you fall into the mindset of “I don’t need other believers,” you think that you are stronger than Scripture says you are. “You who stand take heed lest you fall.”

Spiritual pride says “I got this! My faith doesn’t need encouragement from others! In fact other believers should be coming to me for advice!” Let Romans 1:11-12 warn you against that mindset.

You would agree that Paul’s faith was undoubtedly strong, he was undoubtedly serving the Lord and loving Christ. Yet Paul was not above encouragement from other believers. Why? Because Paul was humble. Paul said to the Corinthians “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

The Christian is humble because there is no room for pride in the gospel.

Don’t be deceived. You need the body of Christ more than you think. Even if it is true that you are in a good place spiritually, there is still more to know and to grow. You serve an infinitely glorious God. There should never be a time when we have had enough of Him or enough of Christ. humble yourself and admit that you need other believers.

Implication 5: Even small things build up the Church

“Do not despise the day of small things.” It is so easy as a Christian in America to only focus on the big things: Numbers. Success. Impact.  You and I live in a culture where bigger is better and if you aren’t noticed you are told you are not important. I read this quote in a secular book a few months ago: “You are either great or you don’t exist.”

That is the wisdom of the world. You are either great or you don’t exist. What a sad, misinformed perspective. God is great and You exist because God is great to show God is great, to enjoy His greatness. But this mindset of “I have to be or do something great to make my life valuable” is everywhere.

How does this mindset manifest in the Church? Personally, I find in my own life I always have to be doing something. Maybe you feel like you need to serve in such and such ministry. Maybe you want to teach or be the “wise Christian” people come to for advice.

What Romans 1:11-12 encourages you to see is that even little conversations can have bigger impact than you think. “Don’t despise the day of small things.” You might not have a massive ministry, but you can encourage someone else in the faith. By encouraging a fellow believer you can bless them and the Church.

Other believers need to hear what the Lord is teaching you. You might think “I am not the smartest in the room, I don’t have the strongest faith, I don’t know the most Scripture.” Let Romans 1:11-12 encourage you: you do have something to bring to the table! You do have a role to play in the life of the Church.

Speak and share your faith. It doesn’t have to be eloquent but your faith, your walk with the Lord can be a blessing to others. You might not be able to teach a Sunday School, but you can share something God has been teaching you. You may not get called on to lead a ministry, but you can tell someone about an area God has allowed you to be obedient in. You might not be the one everyone goes to for life advice and wisdom, but you can share lessons God has taught you from your own war against sin.

God has given you everything you need to bless the Church, to help other believers: your faith. Your love for Christ. Your personal commitment to follow Him as laid out in Scripture. Your voice as you sing praises to God on a Sunday morning.

You are well equipped to bless your local Church and any other believer you come in contact with. Why? Because of Christ, because of the gift of faith God has granted you.

Conclusion

I have listened to sermons and read great books but the most impactful thing in my life has always been consistent spiritual conversation with other people who love the Lord and who know the Lord. Paul could not wait to get to Rome so that his faith could be encouraged and so that he give encouragement to the Roman Church with his faith.

Next time you are talking with a believer, ask yourself and ask the Lord “How is this interaction mutually encouraging our faith?” God uses ordinary conversations about Christ to produce fruit in our lives.

Click here if you missed any previous posts in this mini series. Check out my other teachings here. Be sure to follow The Average Churchman on Instagram so you don’t miss any future posts.
Your Faith Needs Encouragement (Part 2)

Your Faith Needs Encouragement (Part 2)

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In the last post in this mini-series on Romans 1:11-12, I showed you what “encouragement” meant and what believers are encouraged by in the New Testament. The question to answer now is how can another believer’s faith be encouraging? Paul actually calls the encouragement of faith a spiritual gift in Romans 1:11-12.

For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

Romans 1:11-12, ESV emphasis added

Paul connects encouragement to faith. How does someone’s faith encourage or comfort you? How can your faith encourage or comfort someone else? In this post, I will give two ways and then describe the commonalities between Paul and the Roman Church that make this mutual encouragement possible.

Strong faith sets an example

Throughout the Bible, God gives us examples of strong faith. God doesn’t just say “have faith”. He also gives us practical pictures of what faith looks like. A great example of this is found in Luke 7 where Jesus marvels at the faith of the Roman Centurion.

You remember the story. A centurion’s slave was sick, and the centurion requested that Jesus heal him. In humility and faith, the centurion tells Jesus “There is no need to actually enter my house. You have authority simply to say the word and my slave will be healed!” How did Jesus react? The text says Jesus was amazed at the Centurion’s faith and said to the crowd “I have not found faith so great even in Israel.”

Jesus holds up the Centurion’s an example of strong faith to the crowd around Him. The Centurion was humble, came to Jesus in that humility, and had confidence in Jesus’ power and authority to heal. This is one way faith is an encouragement. When you demonstrate a strong faith in Jesus, other people are encouraged to imitate that faith.

Your faith can comfort other believers by setting an example of humble trust in Jesus and God’s word.

“Faith in God” can become an abstract thing in our minds, something very “heady” or intellectual. But thankfully in the local Church body, God gives us living and breathing examples of what faith looks like. A brother at my local Church mentioned a few weeks back “sometimes you don’t know how to live out a command of Scripture until you see another believer living it out.”

Faith is an encouragement because it sets an example to those around it. That is one reason Paul is anxious to come to Rome. His faith is going to set an example to the Roman Church, and the Roman Church’s faith is going to display what faith in Christ looks like to Paul.

Seeing faith in action increases our endurance

Faith doesn’t just set an example of the type of faith you should have. When you see someone’s faith in action, that encourages your faith to become more steadfast. This is exactly what happens in the 10th and 11th chapter of Hebrews. Hebrews 10 gives the problem with the Christians the letter was written to: they have faith, but they need endurance.

The author of Hebrews gives these Christian’s the encouragement to continue in the faith, to not draw back. How does the author of Hebrews then encourage enduring faith? In chapter 11, Hebrews gives a long list of what faith looks like in action.

Hebrews 11 goes through tons of Old Testament believers who had faith in God’s promises and lived in accordance with those promises. These examples didn’t just have faith, they acted on that faith. And did this in the midst of suffering and trial!

Then after going through this “cloud of witnesses,” the author of Hebrews turns again to the Church and says “therefore, you also run this race with endurance!”

When you see other Christian’s exercising faith, it encourages your faith to endure.

How? You see that you are not alone. That God was faithful to believers in the past and will therefore you can trust that He will hold you fast in the present. Hearing about someone’s faith in action encourages your faith to endure. And you know this is true in your own experience.

How many times have you read about some great missionary or Christian figure and felt your own heart hunger to live out your faith? When you see other people’s faith it gives you an example to follow and it also makes your own faith stronger.

That is how Paul can his faith and the Roman Christian’s faith can mutually encourage each other. Paul can say this because faith sets an example and also strengthens the other person’s resolve.

The foundation of mutual encouragement

But there is a final question to ask: what do Paul and the Church in Rome have in common? This might be one of the more important questions you could ask Romans 1:11-12. The apostle Paul is going to Rome and is excited to have his faith encouraged. But how could this happen? What common ground does Paul and the Roman Church have?

Apparent differences between Roman Church and Paul

If you take a superficial look at Paul and the Roman Church, they do not have a lot in common. If you focus just on externals, Paul and the Roman Church are pretty different.

  • Paul is from a completely different part of the world.
  • Paul lived and grew up in a completely different context than these Roman believers.
  • Paul an apostle specifically called by God.
  • Paul studied the Old Testament with Gamaliel, Roman Church was likely not near “his level”
  • Paul was traveling around planting Churches, Roman Church likely had a more ordinary local ministry

If you step back and look at the superficial differences, it should make you think “how could Paul and the Roman Church have anything in common? How could there be mutual encouragement when they had completely different backgrounds, lived in different parts of the world, had different levels of intelligence and Biblical knowledge?”

But if you leave the superficial, external differences, you can see just how similar Paul and the Roman Church were at a spiritual level.

Commonalities between Paul and Roman Church

Despite these superficial differences, Paul and the Roman Church on a spiritual level have many things in common. In fact, the whole of the letter to the Romans demonstrates the rich spiritual commonalities Paul and the Church in Rome have.

Same problem: Sinners under God’s wrath

Paul and the Roman Christians had the same fundamental problem: the wrath of God on their sins. Paul persecuted the Church. We might not know the specifics of what sins the Roman Church members were guilty of before believing in Christ but we do know “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Paul and the Church in Rome had the same problem, the same problem you and I face: every human has not given God the glory due to Him. Rather than glorifying God, acknowledging Him, worshiping Him, thanking Him, every human has exchanged God’s glory. Given it up. Instead we build idols of self or out of material things.

Neither Paul nor the Romans before they were saved looked for God. No one seeks after God, no one does good, not even one. Paul thought he was doing good when he persecuted the Church, but no, it was rebellion.

The law could not help either of Paul nor the Roman Church either. For “by the works of the law no human being will be justified in God’s sight, because through the law comes the knowledge of sin.” Paul and the Roman Church had the same problem when they were unbelievers: their sin and rebellion. It manifested itself differently, but deserved the same punishment: the wrath of God.

Same need: Christ’s righteousness

And so, because Paul and the Roman Church had the same fundamental problem, they had the exact same need:

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

Romans 3:21-22a, ESV

That is what Paul and the Romans both needed. The law was a dead end, they could never keep it but God has made another way. “For what the Law could not do because it was weak because of the flesh Christ did.”

Jesus. He is the end of the law for all who believe. Jesus’ death and resurrection are the only way God can be just and justify sinful humans. Paul and the Church had only one question they needed to answer, the question every human being has to answer: “How can God still be perfectly righteous, perfectly just and yet forgive me?”

Through Jesus. God’s righteousness has been manifested, displayed, shown apart from the Law. How did God do it? God put Jesus forward as a propitiation. Jesus paid the punishment for those who would believe in Him. When Jesus was on the cross he cried “My God my God why have you forsaken me?” It wasn’t for His own sins that Jesus suffered.

It was because “God laid upon Him the iniquity of us all!” “it pleased God to crush” Jesus. Why? So that by His wounds, we can be healed. That payment, that righteousness is given to all who have faith in Jesus and His sacrifice. It is what Paul and the Roman Church both needed.

They were different in so many ways, but Paul and the Roman Church were now united. They were united in that they had both received mercy! Magnificent mercy! Costly mercy!

Paul and the Church had the same background and the same need. And everyone in the world also has the same background and need.

Have you received God’s mercy in Christ? Have you believed upon Jesus and this gospel?

The world tells you that you have a lot of problems and gives you a lot of solutions but the Bible is the only place you can find the truth about yourself. The truth about your real problem. And God offers to you His very son as the solution.

If have not repented, turned from your rebellion against God, and turned to Jesus by believing in His death on the Cross, there is only one implication for you: believe. Do not delay. There can be no encouragement for a faith that doesn’t exist. You must have faith before your faith gives and receives encouragement.

Conclusion

Paul and Roman Christians were united in all the important ways. They had the same needs, same present reality, same future. Therefore the encouragement really can be mutual. Even though Paul and the Roman Church had different backgrounds, they could speak into each other’s lives because their lives were the same in all the important ways, in all the essential ways.

Christians need other Christians so that their faith can be encouraged and can endure.

Fellow believers are one of the main sources of comfort God gives. Your faith can both set an example for someone else and also encourage a fellow believer to endure. The reason any believer can encourage you is that you are UNITED to any other person who believes in Jesus.

In the final post in this mini-series, I will lay out 5 practical implications of these truths from Romans 1:11-12.

If you missed Part 1 of this mini-series, find it here. You can also listen to me preach this text here.
Your Faith Needs Encouragement (Part 1)

Your Faith Needs Encouragement (Part 1)

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You need other believers. Your faith needs the encouragement only other Christians can provide. And Romans 1:11-12 are some of the most encouraging verses to think about the importance of the Local Church.

A lot of times when you want to emphasize the importance of the local Church, you go to 1 Corinthians 12 with the body analogy or Hebrews which constantly emphasizes the need to gather together. But I think these couple verses in Romans where the Apostle Paul shares his heart for this Church in Rome, a Church he has never even met before, really instructs you and I about what our expectations should be for the local Church

For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

Romans 1:11-12, ESV

What are your expectations when you come to Church? When you gather together on a Sunday, what are you coming for? What are you hoping to get out of it? Why do you attend a midweek small group? Is there a reason to prioritize taking time out in the middle of your week to partake in a men or women’s bible study?

Even more broadly, what should excite you about having conversations with fellow church members or other believers in general?

These are important questions.

A lot of people’s expectations for the local Church are not biblical. They might want to be entertained. To simply hear things they already agree with, they might never want to have their behavior and beliefs challenged by the Word.

Romans 1:11-12 is helpful for answering these questions. In this 3 part mini-series, I will start by defining some key terms in the passage, then answer some questions that come to mind, and finally give some biblical implications from the point Paul gives in these verses.

Defining key terms

“Long to see you”

This word means “to earnestly desire, to passionately long for.” In 2 Corinthians 5:2 Paul uses it to describe his desire to be with the Lord. Philippians, 1 Thessalonians and 2 Timothy all contain this word referencing Paul’s desire to be with Churches he has planted and to be with Timothy.

Interestingly, the word is also used in 1 Peter 2:2 to communicated believers should long after word. The text uses a metaphor: a baby with milk. A baby’s longing for milk isn’t a casual thing. The baby isn’t saying “I kinda would like some milk, if it isn’t too much trouble.” No, the baby strongly desires it.

So the word Paul uses in Romans 1:11 doesn’t just indicate desire for something. It also indicates the intensity of that desire. Paul’s longing to see & encourage the Roman Church is intense, like a baby longing for milk.

“Spiritual gift”

This word is “Charisma” meaning “a divine grace, a divine gift”. It points to origin of gift, namely God. Don’t immediately think of “gifts of the Spirit” when you see this word. The New Testament uses “Charisma” to describe a variety of gifts that are from God.

  • Rom 5:16-17-the divine gift is justification in Christ
  • Rom 12:6- “spiritual gifts” i.e. gifts of spirit for edification of Church
  • 1 Tim 4:14, 2 Tim 1:6-gift of eldership/teaching

So by using the term “charisma,” Paul is highlighting where he got the gift from. In Romans 1:11-12, Paul is emphasizing faith is a divine gift from God. God is the one giving these gifts freely. The gift is not earned. Paul is saying “I have received this gift of faith from God, and I want to share it with the Church in Rome!”

This gift Paul wants to share with the Church is a divine gift, something Paul has received freely from God, namely faith.

“To strengthen you”

This word gets to the reason why Paul wants to share his faith with the Roman Church. The word means “to set fast”, “to turn in a certain direction” or figuratively “to confirm, fix.”

In the epistles it always is used figuratively: “establish and exhort you in the faith”, “so that he may establish your hearts in blamelessness and Holiness”, “establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”

In the Septuagint, this word “to strengthen you” is used in Exodus 17:12 where Israel is fighting a battle and Aaron has to hold Moses hands up. Aaron has to steady Moses, establish Moses, fix Moses’ hands.

Now, what is Paul strengthening or establishing for these Roman Christians? I think it is the gospel, if you keep reading Romans. The Roman Christians already believe in the Gospel. But Paul still preaches the Gospel, expounds the Gospel, argues for the Gospel because the Roman Church needs to be reminded.

Why? It is through reminding them of the gospel that Paul intends to establish them. Paul wants to remind them of the Gospel so the Church is more certain, more fixed, more established on that truth. And that goes along with what follows: Paul clarifies what he means when he says “strengthen”. It means being mutually encouraged by “each other’s faith, both yours and mine.”

“Mutually Encouraged”

This word is only used once in Bible and it is a combination of two words: one that can mean “comfort or encourage,” the other meaning “with”. So, this compound word really is well translated “mutual encouragement.” It is joint comfort, both groups are getting comfort and encouragement.

Paul isn’t just wanting to give encouragement. He also expects to receive encouragement.

So, in summary so far: Paul intensely longs to visit the Church in Rome so that both he and the Church will be encouraged by each other’s faith. This faith is a gift from the Lord, and the encouragement they receive from each other will help anchor their faith in Jesus, making it more steadfast and enduring. 

Christians need other Christians so that their faith can be encouraged and can endure.

That is you see just by looking at the words in these verses. Now, to better understand the truths in these verses, there are 3 areas of further study: what encouragement is in the New Testament, how your faith can encourage another believer, and what Paul’s faith and the Roman Christians’ faith have in common.

Encouragement in the New Testament

Why is encouragement and comfort important for believers? Paul’s letters are full of encouragement for local Churches. Why is this so important?

A quick look at the New Testament reveals that Paul and the other authors were concerned with encouraging the Church. The biblical concept of a God who comforts His people was not common in the ancient world. Pagan dieties would never comfort a suffering person. After all, why would a lowly human expect a god to care about his or her personal suffering?

The Bible reveals a completely different picture. The New Testament explicitly gives a number of sources of encouragement for the Christian.

The truth encourages the Church

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11, ESV

In the context here, Paul is talking about the hope of being with the Lord forever. Then Paul says “therefore, in light of this hope, encourage one another! Build one another up!” In other words, the application, the practical response to the truth of Christ’s return is it should encourage the Church.

Paul was not communicating spiritual truth to the Church merely for their intellectual benefit, or there general awareness. The truths of Scripture should comfort and encourage the Church.

Christ encourages the Church

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Philippians 2:1-2, ESV

The “if” clauses here are hypothetical. Paul is implying the answer. Think of this verse as saying “since there is encouragement in Christ.” Paul sees Christ as a source of encouragement. And this encouragement Christ provides is Paul’s basis for commanding the Philippians to have unity. Christ comforts His Church and is the foundation of the Church’s unity.

God encourages the Church (and the Church imitates God)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, ESV

The source of comfort and encouragement is God. God is the one who comforts us, and part of the reason He comforts us is so we can then comfort others. God comforts those in the body so they can comfort others in the body.

Christians encourage other Christians

This comes full circle to Romans 1:11-12. Believers offer encouragement and comfort to other believers. This is actually one of the main reasons the Bible gives for believers gather together.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:24-25, ESV

One of the reasons to gather together as a body is so Christians can encourage each other.

So in summary: encouraging the Roman Church was important to Paul because the source of Christians comfort matters. Paul wanted to encourage those believers who were a minority in their culture, who were facing persecution. Being a Christian in the ancient world meant sacrifice and suffering, sadness and loss.

But the New Testament is full of teaching about a God who comforts His people, especially through suffering. And God comforts His people through means. One of the main means is other Christians. God doesn’t give you superficial comforts like the world gives.

Paul knew this. Paul didn’t want to come to Rome to correct everyone or confront everyone there. He says here he wants to encourage the Church in their faith. And as I said before, Paul expects this encouragement to be mutual. Paul expects to get comfort and encouragement from the Roman Christians’ faith.

Other Christians are a God-ordained source of consolation in times of suffering.

Never let your suffering pull you away from other believers. If you do, you are cutting yourself off from one of God’s main means of comfort.

What is interesting in this text, however, is Paul says the source of the encouragement is faith. Paul’s faith is going to encourage the Church in Rome and their faith is going to encourage Paul. This leads us to the next question: how can your faith be an encouragement to someone else? I will explain in part 2 of this post.

Read Part 2 of this mini series here. You can find my other ongoing series in the “Teachings” page. If you want to listen to the sermon I preached on Romans 1:11-12, you can find it here.