Romans 15:17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.
Here is the bottom line, the foundation, the motive for Paul’s ministry and life. It reveals the life that has been consecrated to God. Paul models here what he has written in this letter. He has taken the back seat and let Christ take the lead in his life. To glory in someone is to praise, boast, and exalt that person. To glory in Christ requires the deep act of faith that worships Christ rather than self. When we glory in ourselves, we end up like Romans 1:18-32 and following the way of the flesh and selfish desires. We do what pleases ourselves. This always and eventually ends up in self-destruction. The remedy for this, as we have seen in Romans, is to die to the old self and let the Holy Spirit bring change into a new person. The new person is bound to Christ who is given supremacy as Lord and Savior. Paul knew that he could not serve God from his own resources of strength and understanding. The only way to find the peace and joy (v. 13) in service to God is to glory in Christ. The two go together. In our ministries (“service”), whatever these may be, the only way to find satisfaction and lasting fulfillment is to do it all through the strength of Christ’s resurrection working itself out in our life every day through the Holy Spirit. Paul gives us a simple statement that challenges us to live out what we believe.
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