Romans 15:15-16
"Nevertheless brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit."
So what is this "offering of the Gentiles" to which Paul refers?
Maybe it refers to Paul himself. Here is a man who has poured out his life to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. This is certainly a possibility, for every believer is likewise to be an offering of worship to our Lord. If so, Paul rightly acknowledges that it is only the power of the Spirit in him which makes the offering of his life worthy before the Lord.
Another possibility is that the offering of the Gentiles refers to their new found faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that the only offering we can rightly bring before the throne of God is one given to believers in faith. This is the offering of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, given as an offering for the sins of the whole world.
I like the truth of this explanation, but I'm not sure then why this offering would need to be sanctified, for Christ was sinless and blameless before God, even in his humanity.
One final possibility is that the offering of the Gentiles refers to Gentile worship of Jesus Christ. Clearly, only that worship which has sanctified by the Spirit's touch is acceptable to God. All other efforts at worship come up short of the Lord's glory. With their new belief, the worship of Gentiles as an offering to God is thus sanctified by the presence of the Spirit.
Regardless of which of these possibilities grabs you the most, and even if there is another explanation, we must confess before the Lord that only when we've been touched by the Spirit can we become a sanctified offering presented to our Lord.
LORD JESUS
Lord, I thank you for sanctifying presence in my life, making my life holy before you. Amen.
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