During my devotion this morning, I noticed something in Romans 15:14 (ESV) that I never noticed before today. Paul is wrapping things up for his most comprehensive and complete book on the contents of the gospel. He has talked about the image of God and the nature of God. He has talked about sin and our sin nature. He has talked about how you actually obtain right standing with God. But this statement in Romans 15 woke me up like someone shooting a shotgun beside my head. Look what he says, “I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.”

Stay with me now because this is important. Paul is satisfied with them because they are full of goodness. Great, that shows character change. Then he says, “Filled with all knowledge.” That is wonderful, they have the doctrine down. The part I want you to see is this, “Able to instruct one another.” This statement explains why so many Christians never get off the milk of the Word. Let me break it down.

Able to instruct.  We like this part. I was born a teacher. I can’t help it. If I know how to sharpen a pencil, I can teach you how to sharpen a pencil. I can see the potential pitfalls and problems areas in sharpening a pencil and I can teach that to someone, anyone. I just enjoy teaching. It is part of my DNA. We all like to instruct or teach to some extent. I guess it makes us feel like we know something that others don’t know. We possess a secret knowledge that others need. It can almost become Gnostic, but I digress. We need teachers in the church. People that understand the Word of God and are motivated for the right reasons to teach.

One Another. Paul continues but look at what he says. Words are so important. Paul didn’t just say he needed people able to instruct but able to instruct one another. This is where we lose people. Not only do you have to be able to instruct but you have to be able to be on the receiving end of the instruction. This is a problem.

Pastors deal with this problem all the time. This is a problem for new Christians and old Christians. What is the problem? Remaining teachable. We can become so prideful that we are unable to receive instruction from others. Paul is talking about this learning process between believers, not just pastors and congregants. We need to be able to instruct one another and to learn from each other. I understand all the implication about being prayed up and having the right attitude when you talk to sister so-and-so about gossiping, but, honestly, are you teachable? People drop out of church or go to a different church all the time because of the silliest things. We need to remain teachable and learn in our environment.

Being teachable means that you are willing to change, but before you do that you have to admit that you have made a mistake or you have a behavior that needs changing. We don’t like to admit we were wrong. Did you know that if you have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart by the time you are around 12, statistically, the chances are slim that you ever will? Why is that? This is an American statistic and is beneficial to show us about human nature and our culture. People don’t want to admit they have lived all those years wrong. Don’t let pride keep you unteachable. Be like a sponge and receive instruction from the avenues that God sends your way. Pastor Bob