Romans 15:17-19 - I glory in Christ

15:17

Paul glories in Christ Jesus. This is the opposite of what those who take pride in observing certain customs do, or those who take pride in being “better” than the Jews because they have believed in Christ. We should put all our focus on Jesus, we should put all our hope in Him, He alone is the source of our pride. We need to be completely Jesus focused.

15:18

We see here the practical outworking of that glorying in Christ alone. The only things that Paul considered worthwhile were those that involved people obeying God. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, hence the particular mention of them here. Notice how things are accomplished by Christ through us. Without Christ we can do nothing, but when He works He works through us. So Paul led people to Christ by what he said and what he did. Speaking and doing go together, and Christ working and our working go together.

15:19

Now all would agree that Paul gives the most solid and reasoned presentation of the gospel, especially in Romans. He is most loved by reformed Christians. So it is especially notable that Paul then describes what his “speaking and doing” entailed. So we see here first of all “the power of signs and wonders”, then we see the “proclaiming of the gospel”. There are those of a cessationist persuasion who think that signs and wonders were limited to the 1st century, the apostolic time. There really is no Biblical support for this, and it is amazing that people who are usually so strong on the Bible, and usually give excellent presentation of the Scriptures then make such a fundamental error. But then they are human like the rest of us However, Charismatics can be very flakey. We are to proclaim the gospel, sometimes what passes for preaching and and teaching in Charismatic circles can be a load of nonsense. The Bible is the most balanced book on the planet, and we should follow all of it. So we should use our minds, hopefully being renewed by the Holy Spirit, and faithfully and carefully present the Scriptures, and we should be looking for and expecting God to move in power.