Romans 1:8
“Indeed I give thanks first to the God of me through Jesus Christ on behalf of all of you because the faith of you is being announced in the whole world.”
What’s interesting here is the cause or reason for Paul’s giving thanks. The conjunction “because” is dependent on the context. It is expressing the reason for something. Paul is thankful that the faith of them is being announced in the whole world.
Faith. This is a concept that I am only just beginning to grasp. Pistos (faith) comes from the word peitho (to persuade). I wrote previously about faith (being persuaded) that God will do and act according to what He has promised. It is all God, saying something, and doing it, exactly the time and place and way He intended to do it. The Spirit of God gives us the faith to believe that He will do it. That is faith-being persuaded. Faith is the presence and activity of God’s Spirit, NOT the believer’s works. Galatians 5:22……….. Faith is, being persuaded by God. I think of the old hymn:
“But I know whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day”
Is being announced. This is a great word!! Katangelos is the word angelos (a messenger, or angel) with the prefix kata (a preposition meaning according to, after or against.). Actually, this is interesting because, when you put certain prepositions in front of this word, it changes the meaning. For example, if you put the preposition pro in front of angelos, the word means “to announce beforehand”. The preposition ana in front of the same word changes the meaning to “to bring back news”. Our preposition kata, makes the word mean “to spread out news, up and down”. Paul is saying that the Roman’s faith was being announced throughout the whole world. It was spreading, like a first century tweet, or a tabloid headline. I hear excitement and wonder in Paul’s tone. The awe of God's incredible sovereignty!!
The phrase that Paul uses next, “ in the whole world” is a hyperbolic statement. Paul uses them occasionally, and they were very common to ancient Romans and Jews. A hyperbolic statement is an exaggerated phrase or colloquialism. When someone is overweight, a hyperbolic statement would be they are “bigger than a house”.
When was the last time you were so excited to hear that the work of God's Spirit in someone you know was causing Christ's name to be spread up and down the whole world? My first thought was of the Survivor contestant Matt, who testifys daily to the power of Christ working in his life to bring glory to Himself, and this excites me!! Oh how I wish that were true of me!! I know that Christ shines most in weakened individuals, which frightens me a little.
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