Thoughts From Romans 16 - Part 2

 

 I ask you to receive her in the Lord

Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus

...they were in Christ before I was.

Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.

9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ

Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.

12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.

Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.

13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord

22 I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.

            Ten times in these few verses, Paul makes reference to being in the Lord, especially working in the Lord. To figure out the difference between working for the Lord and working in the Lord has to be one of the deeper truths to mine out of scripture. Two people working at the winter coat drive at the church. One is working for the Lord, and one is working in the Lord. Can you spot the difference? Probably not, but God can. One is bearing fruit that will last and one is bearing that wax fruit that looks good in a bowl but in the long run isn't of use. I want to be the one God approves of that bears real fruit and the glory goes to Him, not me in the end. Don't you? How can we make sure we are?

           I'm still trying to plumb the depths of this but let me give you an example from this passage. Who wrote Romans? Paul, right? I mean that's what we have been saying throughout, and you'd have to go to seminary to hear otherwise. But notice a guy named Tertius shows up in verse 22 and states that he wrote it! So why don't we attribute Romans to Tertius instead of Paul? Because everyone knows that Paul used a person with skills as a scribe, and told him word for word what to write down. He submitted to Paul, listened to every word he said and wrote it down word for word and let Paul sign it at the end to authenticate it. Tertius made himself nothing, yielded to Paul and did everything he said so the credit would go to Paul.

       Lest you think that now you have the perfect trick Bible trivia to pimp everyone - Q. Who wrote Romans? A Tertius! - some smarty pants would say, "No, the Holy Spirit!" and you would probably lose because in the same way as Tertius is to Paul, Paul is to the Holy Spirit. Paul is yielding his thoughts and his mind to the Holy Spirit who is telling Paul, straight from the mouth of God, what to tell Tertius to write. This is how inspiration works, a yielded vessel, chosen by God, to pass His word on to believers of all generations.

         So what does it mean to work in the Lord? We, at salvation are given the indwelling Holy Spirit. Being in the Lord means that we are yielding our will to His and letting Him glorify the Father by manifesting good works in us. We are not doing things for our glory but His. We are not doing things in our strength but in His power that flows through us. Before every fall festival, Christmas store, food pantry, we should be begging God, "take me and use me. May people see my good deeds and glorify You not me. May I experience the oneness and presence of Jesus as I yield my body in service of You. Thank You for the opportunity to make my Father happy, Amen." This is a little glimpse of what it means to work in the Lord.