Romans Chapter 1Paul's Gospel, Paul's Testimony Part 10

Mutual Encouragement of the Saints (v. 12)

Romans 1:11-12 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you–– 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.


Integral to the gospel is the doctrine of the body of Christ, into which every believer is placed with specific gifts to be exercised for the building up of the body in love. The Corinthian church from which this epistle to the Romans was written was, without doubt, the poorest example of the proper working of body ministry that we have been given. Thank the Lord again for this! Because their need for correction produced a record of right doctrine for the rest of us about the proper operation of the Spirit.

Early in Romans we see Paul practicing, or rather yearning to practice, mutual body ministry with the saints in Rome. Here is an Apostle of the Lord, an eyewitness of His resurrected glory, a man uniquely gifted and used of God throughout much of the known world of the time speaking not only of imparting some gift to the Roman saints, but fully aware that the Roman saints are there for his own upbuilding. For He knows that the Lord is the builder in all His saints, working through each of them to bless the others. Do we see this? Do we really see it? Do we understand and accept that Christ alone is the builder of His church, though we labour in the building of it?

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. {Psalm 127:1}

…upon this rock (Peter’s declaration of Jesus as the Christ) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. {Matthew 16:18b}

Much of what is wrong in Western Christianity today is that we have forgotten this truth. We still pay lip service to it. But we have begun to treat the church like a business to which we attract clients who have “felt needs” that must be met. And we bring worldly means into the church, bowing down at the altar of mega-size madness, success in numbers, the herd mentality, pragmatism and humanism. We water down the truths of the gospel so that they will be appealing to the widest possible “market”. We think that God is depending upon us to build His church and we rush off into fleshly, misdirected and fruitless works governed by worldly methods. The Bible doesn’t teach that! God doesn’t need us at all – He deigns (grants, condescends) to include us in what He is doing, when we seek and obey Him, under the leading of His Spirit. Which of these is our attitude? Which of these do we do – as individuals and as a body of believers?

Christ taught this truth. Paul knew and taught this truth. It is the gospel we first received. It is the gospel that has been corrupted by new methods aimed at producing “predictable” results based on our fallen human thinking and our carnal methodologies. God does indeed use means to achieve His ends – and He may use any of the things in the world, including business methods, buildings, calculations, statistical analysis, wages, meetings, telecommunications, computers – things without number. Things that are neither good nor evil of themselves. They are neutral. But, being neutral, they can be used for good or evil. And it is only in Christ that we can be sure that we use these things for good.

So let us abide in Him. Let us trust Him to do what He purposes to do, which is to build His church. Let us give ourselves – that is, let us present our bodies a living sacrifice to Him for Him to use, to build up the saints, to minister to them, to disciple, to bring to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ all those brothers and sisters whom He has called out of the world. Let us do that part that He has given to us, remembering that not all are eyes or ears or legs, and by trusting God to work all things together through the diversity of saints that He has supplied to our local body.

In later chapters of Romans we shall come to examine the interactions between believers in the body. As with all parts of the Christian life it is both simple in concept and, due to our own missing the mark, elusive in practice