Romans 15 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin

When reading warning passages in Scripture against falling away from the living God, many of us are tempted toward mere introspection, which can lead to great discouragement. For if we only consider our sins and failures, then, surely, we will not be able to lift up our heads unto heaven with any confidence. Instead, each morning we should look for our encouragement in the Word of God. In v.4 the apostle Paul, speaking of the Old Testament primarily and not just the New, says, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Throughout the Old Testament, even in the midst of Israel’s unfaithfulness, God shows himself faithful time and time again, and just when the horizon seems the bleakest, the Lord displays his great power and mercy on behalf of his people. What we find in the Scriptures is the very God of endurance and encouragement Himself.

Then, in addition to the encouragement we find in the Scripture, we also are meant to find it in the context of the church. The local gathering of believers is not merely a sermon club or a glee club in which various individuals gain insights and show off their talents to one another. Rather, the sermons are given in order to exhort the believers to hold onto the hope that they have in Christ that they in turn might share that hope with one another. In the same manner, we do not sing merely to hear the mellifluous sounds of our own voices, but to give an offering of praise unto God primarily and then to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ with those same songs of hope and endurance.

Finally, our endurance and encouragement are strengthened through prayer. In vv.5-6, Paul prays a benedictional prayer upon the church saying, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” So he is praying that the God of hope,

endurance and encouragement would give us these very things that we so desperately need to walk in faith and obedience unto Him. He’s praying for the church collectively for these things and not just for individuals, since we need each other in order to endure. So he prays for a harmonious church, and a joyful and hopeful church in order that we might find a temporary place of rest in a fallen world and taste something of the joys of heaven as we are strengthened by grace to go out once again into the wilderness of this world in hope that one day we will assuredly inherit a better country.