Romans 15.16c-The Gentile Christians In Rome Would Cause Themselves To Be An Acceptable Offering By Being Sanctified By The Holy Spirit
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday June 8, 2010
Romans: Romans 15:16c-The Gentile Christians In Rome Would Cause Themselves To Be An Acceptable Offering By Being Sanctified By The Holy Spirit
Lesson # 515
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 15:14.
Last Wednesday we began a study of Romans 15:16 by noting that the Father gave the apostle Paul the spiritual gift of apostleship for the purpose of his being a servant of Christ Jesus for the benefit of the Gentiles.
Last Thursday, we noted the second statement in this verse in which Paul writes that he served the gospel of God like a priest in order that his Gentile Christian readers in Rome would cause themselves to be an acceptable offering to the Father.
This evening we will complete the verse by noting that Paul’s Gentile Christian readers in Rome would cause themselves to be an acceptable offering to the Father by being sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:14, “And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.”
Romans 15:15, “But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God.”
Romans 15:16, “To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
“Sanctified” is the nominative feminine singular perfect passive participle form of the verb hagiazo (ἁγιάζω) (eye-ee-ah-zoe), which means “to make holy, to sanctify, to consecrate.”
In our passage, the verb means “to set apart exclusively for the Father’s purpose” and is used with Paul’s Gentile Christian readers in Rome as its subject.
The word speaks of the Gentile Christians in Rome experiencing sanctification by obeying the commands and prohibitions that Paul issued in the main argument of the epistle that help to compose his gospel and was inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Not only is the main argument in the Roman epistle inspired by the Holy Spirit but also the entire epistle.
Therefore, by obeying Paul’s commands and prohibitions in the main argument, his Gentile Christians would be sanctified by the Holy Spirit since this entire epistle is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
“Sanctification” is a technical theological term for the believer who has been set apart through the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of conversion in order to serve God exclusively and is accomplished in three stages: (1) Positional (2) Experiential (3) Ultimate.
The “baptism of the Spirit” takes place exclusively during the dispensation of the church age and is accomplished at the moment of conversion when the power of the Spirit places the believer in a eternal union with Christ, thus identifying the believer positionally with Christ in His death, resurrection and session.
1 Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”
“Baptized” is the verb baptizo (baptivzw), which means, “to cause the believer to be identified with the Lord Jesus Christ” in the sense of causing the believer to become identical and united with the Lord Jesus Christ and also ascribes to the believer the qualities and characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Positional sanctification” is the believer’s “entrance” into the plan of God for the church age resulting in eternal security as well as two categories of positional truth (1 Cor. 1:2, 30; 1 Pet. 1:2; 1 Thess. 5:23; Eph. 5:26-27; Heb. 2:11; 10:10; Acts 20:32; 26:18; Rom. 6:3, 8; 2 Thess. 2:13).
“Retroactive” positional truth is the church age believer’s identification with Christ in His death and burial (Romans 6:3-11; Colossians 2:12).
“Current” positional truth is the church age believer’s identification with Christ in His resurrection, ascension and session (See Ephesians 2:4-6; Colossians 3:1-4).
“Positional sanctification”: (1) What God has done for the church age believer. (2) His viewpoint of the church age believer. (3) Sets up the potential to experience sanctification in time. (4) Provides the believer with the guarantee of receiving a resurrection body.
By positionally, I mean that God views the believer as crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ since at the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit placed the believer in union with Christ.
This union identifies the Christian with Christ’s crucifixion (Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20), His death (Romans 6:2, 7-8; Colossians 2:20; 3:3), His burial (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12), His resurrection (Romans 6:5; Ephesians 2:6; Philippians 3:10-11; Colossians 2:12; 3:1) and His session (Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:1).
The Lord Jesus Christ is the believer’s sanctification since the Christian’s sanctification is based upon the Person of Christ and His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session and it is designed to conformed them into His image.
1 Corinthians 1:30, “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption.”
“Experiential sanctification” is the function of the church age believer’s spiritual life in time through obedience to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the communication of the Word of God (John 17:17; Rom. 6:19, 22; 2 Tim. 2:21; 1 Pet. 3:15; 1 Thess. 4:3-4, 7; 1 Tim. 2:15).
Experiential sanctification is only a potential since it is contingent upon the church age believer responding to what God has done for him at the moment of conversion, therefore, only believers who are obedient to the Word of God will experience sanctification in time.
“Ultimate sanctification” is the perfection of the church age believer’s spiritual life at the rapture of the church, which is the completion of the plan of God for the church age believer (1 Cor. 15:53-54; Gal. 6:8; 1 Pet. 5:10; John 6:40).
It is the guarantee of a resurrection body and will be experienced by every believer regardless of their response in time to what God has done for them at conversion.
In Romans 15:16, the verb hagiazo functions as a participle of means indicating that Paul’s Gentile Christian readers in Rome would cause themselves to be acceptable to the Father “by means of” being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:16, “To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
“In the Holy Spirit” emphasizes that Paul’s Gentile Christian readers in Rome will experience their sanctification “by means of” the power of the Holy Spirit.
This accomplished by obeying Paul’s Spirit inspired commands and prohibitions that appear in the main argument of this epistle.
To summarize, in Romans 15:16, Paul reveals to the Christians in Rome that the Father gave him the spiritual gift of apostleship for the purpose of being a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.
Then, he states that he served the gospel of God like a priest in order that his offering of the Gentiles would cause themselves to be acceptable to the Father by being sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit.