OFFERING - ROMANS 15:25-28 NLT
25 But before I come, I must go down to Jerusalem to take a gift to the Christians there. 26 For you see, the believers in Greece have eagerly taken up an offering for the Christians in Jerusalem, who are going through such hard times. 27 They were very glad to do this because they feel they owe a real debt to them. Since the Gentiles received the wonderful spiritual blessings of the Good News from the Jewish Christians, they feel the least they can do in return is help them financially. 28 As soon as I have delivered this money and completed this good deed of theirs, I will come to see you on my way to Spain. NLT
The Apostle Paul is speaking of his itinerary to the leaders of the church in Rome. The Apostle explains that he is planning to go to Jerusalem. Since Paul is speaking of his travels he takes advantage of the opportunity to teach a good lesson. The Apostle uses the example of the Believers in Greece (Macedonia & Achaia) to drop a slight hint of what all Gentile Christians should believe. Paul being a Jew naturally and in heart that was converted to a Christian always kept a passion for the Jewish people. He states that the Christian church in Jerusalem is under heavy financial attack. This was partly due to a heightened level of persecution that discriminated against Jewish Christians. This goes to show us that even when it looks dire in a financial sense the Lord is always working on some relief for His Children. Yes, even in the financial arena God wants you blessed. Yes, Paul and other Christian leaders relayed the financial problem to other remote Christians in hopes to aid the church in need at Jerusalem. Paul was pleased to report that the churches in that region were responding favorably because, as Jesus taught in John 4:22, salvation is of the Jews. We can plainly understand that the cross of Jesus (a Jewish man in the flesh, the Son of God in the spirit) brought Salvation to the world. The knowledge of God’s Love came to the world through the Jews. We have two principles that should be noted about this teaching. This is an offering teaching that confirms it is God’s Will to take up money (a contribution) from those with extra to give to those who have less. The two points that are brought out in this teaching is that giving to the Jewish Christians is good and secondly giving to whoever brought you the message of salvation with God’s love is good also. It is good to give to the Jewish Christians because as we previously stated salvation came through the Jewish religion and by way of the Jewish people. The Jewish people still today have a special place in God’s Heart. We, as Christians, should never think that God is done with the Jews because scripture teaches that He is not. Likewise, the scripture teaches that God so Loved the world (John 3:16) that He gave Jesus. We know that Jesus was sent specifically to the Jews and many of the Jews were saved and still many are being saved today. Please pray for the peace of Jerusalem and support the Jewish Christians. We know the Apostle Paul did and we would be wise to follow his example according to God’s Word. We can also see that the spiritual principle to never forget about those who brought you into the knowledge of Jesus is displayed in these verses too. Many times it is easy to live in the current wisdom of this world which teaches, “Out of sight, out of mind”. However, that type of teaching is ungodly, such sayings would have you not to believe on God because you can not see Him. We know that even though the Lord is not in our sight He should always be in our heart and mind. We should constantly think about His Goodness and Mercy toward us. Therefore, how can we ever forget those (or the single person) who introduced us to Christ. I will never forget the blessedness of Angela, my mother and a good church for my original knowledge of Christ, I still feel I owe them a debt that I can not pay. Yes, we know (realize) that Jesus and our Heavenly Father was behind it all but as Christians we must be grateful to those who introduced us to the faith because we do understand that they did not have to, they chose to. So remember those who ministered to you the spiritual gift of Jesus Christ and support them financially when you can. This gift will be received by those in the church and it is noted as a good deed in the sight of God according to verse 28. This corresponds to the teaching in Galatians 6:10 which states:
As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. KJV
In His Love, Eric & Angela Foster