“14 My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced about you that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.”
Paul switches gears here and takes a moment to encourage the church in Rome. He has spent the last 15 chapters correcting and emboldening the doctrine and theology of the church, and now it seems right to encourage them in their faith and praise them for the good they are doing. Paul says that he is convinced that the people of this church in Rome are full of goodness! We certainly know by now that Paul calls it as he sees it. Paul doesn’t pull any punches. So, we know that this is a genuine article of praise from Paul, not just some empty nicety. He was fully convinced of their goodness. Paul tells the Thessalonian church something similar:
“In view of this [the second coming of Jesus], we always pray for you that our God will make you worthy of his calling, and by his power fulfill your every desire to do good and your work produced by faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” — 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 (text in brackets added for context)
Here, Paul explains that both our desire to do good, and the ability to carry out those desires, is made possible by the power of God. Additionally, Paul highlights the fact that this good that Christians want to do is not passive, but is an outward and working expression of our love for God that is produced by our faith in Him. What is our motivation in doing good works? Certainly, it is not our salvation. Paul has made it clear throughout Romans that nothing good comes from us apart from the intervention of God through the Holy Spirit. Our motivation is that through our good works, God will be glorified! Notice how Paul says that not even this motivation comes from us, but that it too comes to us by the grace of God through Jesus Christ.
Paul also speaks of the people in the church at Rome as being, “filled with all knowledge” (v. 14b). What knowledge is he speaking of? Paul is speaking about the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is through the embracing and sharing of this knowledge with others that glorifies God and testifies (brings forth testimony) about Jesus and the salvation that His elect have in Him. This salvation is available to all who are called by God, who would repent of their sins, confess, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in His resurrection.
Lastly, Paul tells the church in Rome that they are, “able to instruct one another.” (v. 14b) This is what you would expect of those who are concerned with doing good, and who have the knowledge of salvation to be doing. Teaching and instructing one another! There is no way for others to hear about the testimony we have of God’s grace and mercy in our lives through the Gospel of Jesus other than to tell each other about it. Christians must instruct (“admonish” KJV) one another in what is good and true, for this is an indication of a healthy church body.
I chuckled when I read what you wrote this about Paul! He doesn’t pull punches so we know he was fully convinced. Mary Roberts
We certainly know by now that Paul calls it as he sees it. Paul doesn’t pull any punches. So, we know that this is a genuine article of praise from Paul, not just some empty nicety. He was fully convinced of their goodness.