Romans 16:1

“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae.”

The book of Romans. Paul’s letter to the church of Rome, 16 chapters, and full of some of the deepest doctrinal truths imaginable. Romans is really unrivaled in terms of the profound nature of the material found within. And yet, as if to keep this lofty piece of literature grounded in reality, it ends with a series of names like Phoebe, Pricilla, Aquila, Mary, Junia, and Julia, and many others.

I love the beauty of this. The needed reminder that at the end of the day, after all of these deep doctrinal truths, real authentic people are an indispensable part of our faith. Yea, Christianity is theological and doctrinal, yet it’s also personal. It includes and impacts real people, people with names and roles that are rooted in real life.

Pastor Bob Coy helps key in why we need to know this, “so often we can distance ourselves from the things we read about in God’s Word. Without even realizing it, we can view it as somebody else’s thing that doesn’t fully belong to us. But it isn’t.”

The Christian faith belongs to us just as much as it belongs to Phoebe, Pricilla, Aquila, Mary, Junia, and Julia. Ours is a personal faith, applicable to real people, and we’re the people that comprise it. God doesn’t want His truths to be carved in stone or on monuments. He wants them to be etched in hearts of actual people.

The truths of Romans and the rest of God’s Word apply to you just as much as anyone else!

The Gospel is personal.

Think about it…