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The conclusion of the Roman letter is in these words: “Now to him that is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal, but now is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known unto all nations unto obedience of faith: to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever." Amen.” (Romans 16:25-27ASV). In this it is clear that God’s method of establishing people in the faith is by the gospel Paul preached which is the same gospel all the New Testament Apostles and Prophets preached. All through the New Testament the newly converted person is exhorted to feed on the gospel of Jesus Christ. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (I Pet. 2:2). “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet. 3:18). “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32). Let us then notice several things found in the New Testament that establishes us in the faith. 1. The command to set our affections on things above, and not on things of the earth, (Col. 3:2), is very important to growing in the Christian life. We are dead and our old life is hid with Christ in God so it is important that old sinful things no longer have preeminence in our lives such as fornication, evil desires, and covetousness (Col. 3:3-5). People still practicing these old sins are negating the very reasons they became Christians and thus are not growing in the new life but are fallen back into transgressions and sins. 2. Control of speech and anger is another admonition of the gospel. He said, “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing ye have put off the old man with his deeds” (Col. 3:8,9). Lack of control of our speech and the emotion of anger is backsliding into wickedness once more. The gospel further emphasizes: “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (Eph. 4:26). Listening to these admonitions and doing them make spiritually grown people out of us. 3. We are to develop our abilities to sing which is a means of teaching and admonishing one another. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (Col. 3:16). 4. Contending for the true gospel of Christ is another way of developing ourselves as Christians. “It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3). There is absolutely no greater way of increasing our faith than by discussing God’s word with others. We are specifically told, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” (I Pet. 3:15). Discussing the word with others makes us study harder and thus to develop our understanding of the truths of the gospel. It also helps us weed out any errors we had in our minds and to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). 5. The gospel says, “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity.” (2 Pet. 1:5-7). We need courage, a better knowledge of the truth and the temperance to live a controlled life. We need patience in dealing with others and a disposition of kindness and love. Developing these things is following the gospel and we are told that will result into an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of Jesus Christ. 6. Still another gospel admonition is “Be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the lord, forasmsuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (I Cor. 15:58). The work of the Lord is soul winning. The work of the Lord is also praise and worship. Only the gospel teaches us how to correctly grow as a Christian.
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