Honor Privilege And Responsibility 

Romans (1:24-25)

Apostle Paul prepared himself to dictate this letter to a man named Tertius. The words on the papyrus scroll, would be sufficient to change the course of history of the western world." These two men undertook a mutual project-to write this letter in the winter of A.D. 57. Paul did not actually take stylus in hand, put ink on the pages and write this letter I find interesting that Tertius did the actual writing; For the last chapter of the letter to the Romans clues us in to the role of this humble servant who was Paul's scribe: " I Tertius who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord (16:22).

The purpose was to prepare for Paul's upcoming visit to Rome and to present the basic system of salvation. One of the key themes being "Righteousness from God.

And the "Emphases being, sin, salvation, grace, faithfulness, justification, sanctification, redemption, death and resurrection. The key terms of; "Righteousness, law, faith, sin and Holy Spirit in Christ. 

Paul is saying there is a privilege and a responsibility for Christians. God graciously

forgives the sins of those who, by faith, believe in Him as Lord. When we believe, we receive His forgiveness. In doing this, however, we are committing ourselves to live a new life. Paul points out that this new life, a gift from God, also involves a call from God-a God-given responsibility--to witness to the world as a missionary. God may or may not call you to be an overseas missionary, but He does call you (and all believers) to be a witness and a example of the changed life Jesus Christ has worked in you.

Paul is also teaching us to "Respect others. We can honor others in one of two ways. One involves ulterior motives. Like we honor our bosses so they will reward us, our employees so they will work harder, the wealthy so they will contribute to our cause, the powerful so they will use their power for us and not against us. The other way--God's way--involves love. As Christians, we honor people because they have been created in God's image. We should especially honor fellow Christians, because they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. God's way of honoring others should not sound to difficult for our competitive nature, why should we try to outdo another in showing honor? Let us put others first!

According to the thesaurus, honor has these synonyms: "esteem, respect, pay homage to, assign value to." The Greek word translated "honor" in our English Bibles, timao, means "to prize, i.e. fix a valuation upon; by implication, to revere" (Strong's Concordance). Showing honor, then, means treating another respectfully because we value them highly.

So is honor due anyone? Should we put value on any man or woman, or should we honor God alone? What does the Bible say? A study with a concordance reveals just how much God has to say about honoring others. He does not limit it to honoring our parents.

This verse tells us clearly honor is due certain ones, but it begs the questions: To whom is honor due besides God? And how do we honor others?

The truth is that we will never sincerely respect, prize, value, or honor anyone until and unless we start with an attitude of meekness. Honoring and respecting others will not happen when a superior or holier-than-thou attitude is present. Paul tells us to "esteem others better than" ourselves. Philippians (2:3).

When we truly repent of what we are, and how we regularly fall short of God's holiness, we cannot remain in a pompous mood. Perhaps we can learn from some of those who have lived God's way before us. John the Baptist says of himself: "He --Christ must increase, but I must decrease." John (3:30). Paul considers himself "the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle." I Corinthians (15:9). He also writes that he is "less than the least of all the saints." Ephesians (3:8). History will conclude otherwise, but it opens a window into Paul's thinking. When we dishonor others, it is a sure sign we are thinking of ourselves or others wrongly. We are to love others as ourselves, honoring them.

Honoring from a pure motive is possible only when we have a proper perspective of who God is, what we are, and who others are in relation to us and God. It begins with deep honor and respect for God—and thus for all He says. The first four commandments lay the foundation for doing this.

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness 

In examining the central issue in each of the first several commandments, we find that the first concerns what we worship. Worship is the devoted service one gives to what he regards most highly. As these verses show, we can give devoted service to created things as well as the Creator. Additionally, the tenth commandment says covetousness is idolatry too Colossians (3:5), clearly amplifying that we can give our devotion to things other than the true God.

How good can it be to exchange the truth for the lie? In this context "the lie" is that one can profitably worship someone or something other than the true God. Worshipping things other than the Creator turns the thrust and direction of our lives off the true path of God's purpose. Though those objects may be otherwise harmless in themselves, it is sin to give them the devotion that rightly belongs to the Creator.

John (4:24), proclaims that those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and truth. The worship of God involves the totality of our life, and therefore it cannot be confined to a particular location or a mere hour or two on a given day. Our worship must be guided, motivated, and empowered by His Spirit. Further, it cannot merely be sincere, but it must also be true. Attitude is extremely important, but it alone does not replace truth.

Apostle Paul is addressing the "Gentile" convert. Most likely from the city of Corinthian,  while Paul was on his third missionary journey. 

The chapters (12-16) in particular are providing practical advice on how to live the Christian life. 

Paul is admitting that the prejudice of the Jew was not well-founded. But admitting that still the question was, "how" he should be treated while he had that prejudice. The apostle here shows the Gentile that "he" ought not so to act as unnecessarily to wound his feelings, or to grieve him.

To be grieved - Be pained; as a conscientious man always is, when he sees another, and especially a Christian brother, do anything which "he" esteems to be wrong. The "pain" would be real, though the "opinion" from which it arose might not be well founded.

According to charity, or love; that is, he would violate that law which required him to sacrifice his own comfort to promote the happiness of his brother.

Destroy not him - The word "destroy" here refers, doubtless, to the ruin of the soul in hell. It properly denotes ruin or destruction, and is applied to the ruin or "corruption" of various things, to a reward, in the sense of "losing" it to food. The Israelites represented as lost or wandering to "wisdom" that is rendered "vain", 1 Corinthians (1:9);  rendered "useless" etc. But it is also frequently applied to destruction in hell, to the everlasting ruin of the soul; "Who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell;" That "this" is its meaning here is apparent from the parallel place in,1 Corinthians (8:11), "And through the knowledge shall the weak brother perish." If it be asked how the eating of meat by the Gentile convert could be connected with the perdition of the Jew, I reply, that the apostle supposes that in this way an occasion of stumbling would be afforded to him, and he would come into condemnation. He might be led by example to partake against his own conscience, or he might be excited to anger, disgust, and apostasy from the Christian faith.

Here in Romans (2:28-29), Paul is using "Jew" in its spiritual sense. In this sense, "Jew" includes any converted person--even a Gentile. It indicates the church as the body of Jesus Christ, Ephesians (1:22-23); Colossians (1:18), when we recognize what is written in Hebrews 7:14: "It is evident that our Lord was of the tribe of Judah." He--Jesus Christ--was a Jew by birth. Therefore, since He was a Jew, and we are part of "the body of Christ" in the Bible's imagery--therefore we are spiritual Jews. And because we are spiritual Jews, we are spiritual Israelites.

It does not matter what race or ethnicity we are. If we are converted, we are a Jew in the eyes of God because we are part of Christ's body. That is the spiritual application. If we are a Jew, we are an Israelite too, and because the promises were given to Israel, the descendants of Abraham, the promises then apply to us.