Mutual Admonishments Romans 15:14-22

Text:  “And I myself also am persuaded of you, my Brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.”

Romans 15:14.

Good morning, mature Christian!  Let me ask you, “What distinguishes you from a mere ‘babe in Christ’, a novice in the faith, an immature believer in the Lord Jesus Christ’s service?” 

The maturity-level of the Christian’s faith and usefulness in His service is clearly revealed in our text above.  The mature Christian is striving to be like Christ daily.  He/she is often failing; often faltering; sometimes in doubts; and at all time merely a sinner saved by grace - but always continuing on in the faith; growing, ever growing, ‘...in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ...’.       (2 Peter 3:18)

At least three things mentioned in today’s Bible passage determine Christian maturity, and it is these three Christian attributes that we shall look at in today’s lesson.  (Psalm 119:105)

Full of Goodness: The mature Christian servant must be ‘...full of goodness...’, for God is goodness incarnate, and we must be ‘born again’ of God if we are to manifest any true ‘goodness’ at all! 

“This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is Light (i.e. goodness), and in Him is no darkness (i.e. badness, evil) at all.”  (1 John 1:5)

Therefore, to be ‘...full of goodness...’ in this Scriptural meaning is to be ever seeking to be full of Godliness; Christ like; truly Christian.  This first attribute is an absolute necessity for Christian maturity. We must have learned by personal experience how to be like the Christ Whom we profess to a world of darkness and ignorance.  We do this by studying the Lord Jesus, His teachings; and His way of living in obedience to our Father in Heaven.  

If we can achieve this honourable goal in any degree, we can then move on to fuller Christian maturity in our daily lives for Christ.

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.”  (2 Timothy 2:15)

Filled with all knowledge:  Secondly, we must seek to be ‘...filled with all knowledge...’ if we are to be deemed 'mature Christians'.

We have already seen how knowledge of God’s Word incarnate (the Word in bodily form, Christ Jesus!) is vital to the maturity we seek.  However, only as we seek to apply ‘knowledge’ of God’s Word to our own daily lives in a very personal manner will we begin to ‘...grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ...’.  (2 Peter 3:18) (John 1:1;14)

God the Spirit leads us into all truth as we read/study the inspired Word of God; we in turn pray to be, and become, ‘...filled with the Spirit...’ of God. 

“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”  (Ephesians 5:18) 

Being filled with the Spirit of God gives us the power we require to do great things for Jesus, and bring much glory to His Holy Name.  People will often be influenced more by what spirit we believers manifest consistently than a million words we might say.

“But ye shall receive POWER, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me...unto the uttermost part of the earth.”  (Acts 1:8) 

Able also to admonish one another:  Ability to successfully admonish one another is a very clear trait of Christian maturity.  Oh, it takes no Spiritual attribute at all to CRITICIZE another Christian sister or brother - in fact, fault-finding Christians are one of the biggest hindrances to the real work of any Christian group within Christ’s church!  

But, to successfully admonish one another, with a view to bringing each other even closer to Christ, is an ability which is invaluable in the church at large today.  What does God’s Word say on the matter:

“Brethren, if any man/woman be overtaken in a fault, ye which are Spiritual (i.e. mature in the faith), RESTORE such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”  (Galatians 6:1)

It is some other Christian in trouble today, it could be YOU or I in trouble  tomorrow!  We must seek to restore each other with meekness, for if we can manifest and practice this Godly Christian quality, we will be manifesting a characteristic of our beloved Saviour, Jesus Christ, Himself.  Praise His lovely and most gracious Name!  (1 John 1:8-9)

In conclusion therefore, let us go forth in the knowledge of our lesson above and grow, and become even more mature in our Christian faith daily.  The Lord needs mature Christians in His church in these ‘latter days’ of self-righteousness and apostasy.   Go forth, and the Lord go with you in all you say and do.  Amen.  (Exodus 4:12)

Thought:  If we think we have reached absolute maturity in the faith - it’s a proof we really haven’t!  We are, at all times, a ‘work-in-progress’.