In Christ, the things of God are given to us.

Romans 15:17 Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. We are encouraged today by Paul’s boasting in Jesus Christ when it came to things pertaining to God. All that Paul knew about God, the mission God gave Him, the grace given to Him by God to fulfill that mission, and the hope that filled Paul’s heart were found in Jesus, God’s servant to the Jews on behalf of the truth. All that Paul wrote about the gospel in the book of Romans from which we have drawn months of live to love encouragements came to him because of Jesus. So as he wrote to them what he discovered in Christ Jesus he said he boasted in things pertaining to God. But that’s just another way of saying he boasted in Christ. Let’s not miss this incredible truth. When it comes to God and things pertaining to God, Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God. God, Himself, declared that Jesus was His Son (Matt. 3:17), and who would know God better than the Son of God? Jesus went a huge step further when He declared that He and God were one! To know Jesus was to know the Father (John 14:7). Jesus said in Matthew 11:27 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” That’s exactly what Paul was saying to the Romans. Jesus had revealed to him everything that he had shared with them about God in the gospel. Therefore, Paul could boast in things pertaining to God because he had received them in Christ Jesus. The same is true for us who believe in Jesus. If you have any understanding about God, if you believe in Him, if you love Him, if you stand justified in God’s presence, if you have had the love of God poured out in your heart, then you can boast in those things because they are gifts from God through His Son, Jesus Christ. This encourages us to not be shy in speaking about the things of God that have been given to us. We should not be ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes as Paul wrote in Rom. 1:16. The very faith that we have in Jesus is one of the things pertaining to God of which we boast. We don’t boast that we believe, that we chose to accept Jesus, that we are saved because of something we have done. That’s boasting in ourselves, and that would be anathema to Paul. The very faith we have comes to us in Christ. It’s how we know we are loved by God, and knowing we are loved by God is the fountain out which we drink. I hope we will have an opportunity today to boast in things pertaining to God so that we can speak and love in His name for His glory.