Romans 15:16

that. should be. minister of Christ Jesus unto the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

'that. should be. minister of Christ Jesus unto the Gentiles' -Paul was especially selected by God as the apostle to the Gentiles. (Acts 9:15; Acts 22:21; Acts 26:17)

'ministering' -to work in sacred things, to minister as. priest. (Robertson p. 420) Paul viewed preaching the gospel as. "sacred thing". The N.T. informs us that every Christian is in the business of offering up spiritual sacrifices, every Christian is. priest. (Romans 12:1; 1 Peter 2:5; 1 Peter 2:9; Hebrews 13:15) "It takes no brilliant mind to see that this makes ministering the work of God an exalted and holy privilege." (McGuiggan p. 429)

'that the offering up of the Gentiles' -the "sacrifice" that Paul brought before God were those Gentiles that he had converted.

'being sanctified by the Holy Spirit' -as in the O.T. all sacrifices had to meet with God's approval in order to be accepted by Him. Gentiles are acceptable to God when they have allowed themselves to be changed and set apart from the world by the teaching of the Holy Spirit. (John 17:17; Acts 20:32)

'We are said to be sanctified by the blood of Christ (Hebrews 10:29); by the word of God (John 17:17); by faith (Acts 26:18); by baptism (Ephesians 5:26)...It is clear the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the ones who sanctify us and that the Word and submission to it are elements in the process of accomplishing our sanctification.' (McGuiggan p. 429)

Point to Note:

This verse should make us seriously reflect about the manner in which we teach people. We are bringing people to God as. sacrifice. But the sacrifice must be acceptable. We cannot change the plan of salvation, nor lower the standards of morality. We must impress people with the fact that God will not accept half-hearted followers. We must feel the responsibility of teaching others well.