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Pastor's Blog December 9, 2021

"View of God in Romans XL"

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I am often asked by church members, "How can I tell if God is working in my life?"  This question is important, because it is basically a desire to know THAT God is at work in each of our lives, and it is an attempt to discern THE WAY IN WHICH God is at work in our lives.  The desire to know God's presence and see how he is at work throughout your life is a good one and should be encouraged.  But this question often contains a belief that God is not at work in our lives: that God could be at work in your life or my life in the future, but that he isn't right now. 

This belief is, frankly, wrong - and Paul helps us understand why.  In Romans 15:17-19, the apostle states, "Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God.  For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ" (NASB). 

Paul claims he has found the reason for boasting "in things pertaining to God," and this reason is grounded in what Jesus and the Holy Spirit are doing in peoples' lives.  What Christ has accomplished, "resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed," is what Paul wants to talk about.  Likewise, how that obedience has been manifested in peoples' lives by signs and wonders, "in the power of the Spirit," is where Paul wants to focus his attention. 

There is no indication in these verses that Paul believes there is a time when Jesus and the Holy Spirit have not been at work among, with, and for men and women - especially those who follow Jesus.  And the reason Paul believes in the constant work and presence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers is because of how he knows we can discern whether God is at work in our lives: by paying attention to the actual work Jesus and the Holy Spirit are doing in our lives! 

Friends, if you want to know if God is at work in your life today, take some time to notice where Jesus and the Spirit have been showing up and working on you.

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