Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

An overview of chapter 15 before we go into the verse by verse study.

What does Romans chapter 15 mean?

Romans 15 continues Paul’s thoughts about those who are strong and weak in faith. It ends with the first of what seem to be several conclusions to the letter.

Paul wraps up how those strong in their faith in Christ should live in relationship to those who are weaker. From Romans 14, we know that Paul equates strong faith with a sense of freedom to participate in things formerly forbidden by the law of Moses or Jewish tradition. Now, though, Paul insists that those strong in faith should trust God enough to please others above themselves. After all, our example is Christ, who did not come to earth to please Himself or to demand His rights. In fact, He did just the opposite. Instead of engaging in conflict over issues of practice, all Christians should make it our goal to live together in harmony and in unity, glorifying God with one voice. How has Christ welcomed us? We should do the same for each other (Romans 15:1–7).

Christ lived both as a servant to the Jews and the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to them. Those promises and prophesies included God’s plan to one day include the Gentiles in His family and to receive praise from the Gentile nations (Romans 15:8–12).

After praying a blessing for the Christians in Rome, Paul assures them that he is satisfied with their faith and practice. He has written boldly to them about a few things, but he knows they are full of goodness and knowledge and able to teach each other. Paul transitions into a discussion of his purpose in ministry. He has been commissioned by God to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, the non-Jewish people, and to help their offering to God to be acceptable and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. This is why he has been bold in instructing them in his letter (Romans 15:13–16).

Paul declares himself proud of the work he has done, but he immediately insists that Christ is the one who has accomplished it all. Christ did it through Paul using the power of miraculous signs and the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul knows that was not his own power at work. Still, Paul has obediently done what Christ sent him to do, taking the good news of salvation by faith in Christ alone to places where that message had never been heard before. That mission has taken him all over his part of the world, and he has now run out of nearby regions where Christ has not yet been preached by him or someone else (Romans 15:17–21).

Paul turns to his plans to visit Rome. He longs to come and visit the Christians there on his way to preach the gospel in Spain. He feels the time is right, now that every region nearer Jerusalem has been introduced to the gospel. He wants to come to Rome to enjoy their company and to receive their help with funding his work in Spain (Romans 15:22–29).

Before he can come, though, he must make a dangerous trip to deliver a gift of financial aid from Gentile Christians to the poor Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. He asks his readers to pray urgently with him that he will be delivered from the unbelieving Jewish religious leaders who wish to kill him and that the Jewish Christians will receive the gift from their Gentile brothers in Christ. Finally, he asks them to pray that, once this is done, he will be able to come and be refreshed with them in Rome (Romans 15:30–33).

Verse by Verse

Verse 1: We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

Paul continues writing to the early church about how those he describes as “strong” in their faith ought to treat those who are comparatively “weak” in their faith (Romans 14:1). This is under a specific context; Paul is referring to those issues where the Bible is not explicitly clear, such as eating meat, drinking alcohol, or observing certain holidays (Romans 14:2; 14:21). Those who are more legalistic on such matters Paul has described as “weak in faith,” not recognizing their freedom in Christ. Also, Paul has made it clear that both groups are Christians. Both are trusting Christ for their salvation.

The difference between the weak and the strong, as Paul has defined it, is that the strong are fully convinced that in Christ they have been freed from the restrictions of the law, including the dietary restrictions about food and drink. Their strong faith that Christ has fully satisfied all the requirements of the law allows them to feel comfortable with eating or drinking anything.

Those less strong in their faith still feel obligated to the old rules of the law about eating certain meats, for example. Paul taught in the previous chapter that, though their convictions are not based on truth, they must not violate their own consciences. In fact, to do so would be a serious sin (Romans 14:23).

To those strong in their faith, Paul has written that they must be willing to set aside their freedom in certain situations in order to avoid leading their less strong brothers and sisters into that sin (Romans 14:13).

Now Paul includes himself when he writes that the strong have an obligation—a duty of love—to bear with the failings of the weak. Yes, he describes their lack of faith about what is permitted as a failing. And, yes, he is still teaching that those of stronger faith must not provoke the weak to violate their convictions.

In short, those strong in the faith must put a low priority on pleasing themselves, placing it below their obligation to serve weaker Christians.

Verse 2: Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

Paul has written in the previous verse that those who are strong in their Christian faith, fully convinced of the grace of God and their individual freedoms in Christ, should not insist on pleasing themselves at the expense of other Christians.

Now he puts it positively: Strong Christians should make it higher priority to please others for their good than to please themselves. They should take on the mission of building up their neighbors. This echoes what Paul wrote in Romans 12:10: that living-sacrifice Christians must outdo each other in showing honor. To put it another way, they must honor each other above themselves.

This is an application of what Jesus called the greatest commandment among human relationships (Matthew 22:35–40). Loving our neighbors as we love ourselves means putting their “pleasing,” or satisfaction, or good outcome above achieving our own good outcome. It’s a lifestyle of sacrificing what I want, to give to others what they want, for their good and growth.

Verse 3: For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”

Paul is speaking directly to those who are strong enough in their Christian faith that they feel secure in the grace of God. Such believers feel free to enjoy things formerly restricted for them by the law, including meat, wine, and not observing special religious days. In a broader sense, these are believers who don’t feel led to add additional “do not” restrictions beyond those made clear in Scripture.

Paul is saying two important things about this attitude of Christian liberty. First, the “strong” believers are right to recognize that nothing is, itself, unclean (1 Timothy 4:4). Second, these believers should be willing to forego that freedom for the sake of those who are not yet strong enough in their faith to participate in those things (Romans 14:1–2).

Put more bluntly, Paul said in the previous verse that they should put pleasing their neighbors above pleasing themselves. After all, Paul now writes, they are following Christ. Christ did not please Himself in this life. He lived a life of self-sacrifice in serving and pleasing others.

Paul quotes from Psalm 69:9, applying it to Jesus. In that context, the reproaches—the mockery and criticism—of those who reproached God the Father fell on Christ. By comparison, Paul seems to be saying, strong-faith Christians should be willing to give up meat, or give up wine, or to skip the Sabbath, or any other matter of their personal freedom, for the sake of building up their weaker siblings in Christ.

Verse 4: For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Paul seems to take a bit of a detour from his main point with these words. In the previous verse, he quoted from Psalm 69 to support the idea that because Christ did not please Himself in this life, self-gratification should not be the main priority of Christ-followers.

Now Paul seems to comment on his practice—seen in Romans and throughout his other letters—of quoting Scripture to support his teaching about Christ. For the modern reader, Paul’s references are from what we now call the Old Testament. It is true that Christians have died to the law in Christ and have been released from any obligation to obey the requirements of the law (Romans 7:4–6). That does not mean, however, that the scriptures from the “former days” have stopped being valuable.

Paul insists that those older Scriptures were written to teach modern Christians, not just those who read them in the former times. Those Scriptures are for us, too, to bring encouragement and hope to God’s people in every generation. They help us to endure, even in and through suffering.

This verse serves as an answer to modern Christians who ask, why even bother to read the Old Testament? Regardless of age, those writings remain the revelation of the heart of God. The fact that we have been freed in Christ from following the law does not stop those 39 books from being the Word of God, full of truth, wisdom, history, and great encouragement for believers. Paul insists that we place value on those Scriptures and seek out encouragement and hope from them.

Verse 5: May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,

Here, Paul transitions back to the main point he has been teaching since the beginning of chapter 14. In the previous verse, he wrote that the Scriptures written in former days are intended to be a source of encouragement and hope for modern Christians. Now he offers a prayer to the God of endurance and encouragement.

What beautiful names for God! Paul views God as the ultimate source of encouragement and endurance. God is not merely the one to whom we will all give an account of our lives (Romans 14:12), He is also the one who will lift us up and help us to keep going. Paul asks God to give to the Christians in the church in Rome the ability to live in harmony with each other as they all live in accord—or in step—with Jesus Himself.

Paul will go on in the following verses to pray that the church in Rome will be unified, as well. Harmony, though, is something different. It is a metaphor about music, of course. The sense of it is that all Christians are singing the same song, but that we are singing different parts. This requires two things: We must adjust our pitch and tone to coordinate with each other while also performing our individual parts in the song.

Verse 6: that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This verse concludes a prayer for the church in Rome that Paul began in the previous verse. There he asked the God of endurance and encouragement to grant them the ability to live in harmony with each other in Christ.

Now he asks for something that describes the very purpose of the church. We exist, in part, to glorify God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is what we are here for. One of the ways we accomplish that, according to Paul’s prayer, is by living in unity as if singing with one voice. In other words, Paul prays that the Christians in Rome will be unified in their purpose to glorify God together as if they were all singing the same song.

It’s a beautiful picture of what life in the church should be like. To get there, though, Paul has made it clear that both the strong and weak in faith (Romans 14:1) will have to yield to each other and refuse to judge each other (Romans 14:13). They will have to set themselves aside to be able to harmonize and sing with one voice.

Verse 7: Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Paul has prayed for the unity and harmony of the church in Rome. Now he instructs them one more time to welcome each other as Christ has welcomed them. This is not merely a nice-sounding phrase to tack on the wall. Paul is commanding believers to fully accept and include other Christians in community with themselves, including those who disagree strongly about what is and is not permitted (Romans 14:1–2; 14:20–21). He is commanding them to set their Christ-won freedoms aside, if necessary, to build up the church (Romans 14:13).

Why would they do this? In the end, it is all to add to God’s glory. Put negatively, a refusal to welcome Christians who disagree with my convictions will keep me from participating in bringing glory to God. It will keep me from achieving the very purpose of my life. Acting as if my own convictions are beyond doubt—as if I were infallible or beyond reproach—makes it difficult for me to appreciate God’s holiness and majesty, let alone my own role in the body of Christ.

Verse 8: For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God ‘s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,

Paul is addressing Christ’s unique relationship with the Jews and the Gentiles. First, Christ, during His time on earth and continuing even now, became a servant to the circumcised. Israel’s identity was closely associated with circumcision. Christ, then, became in His earthly life and ministry a servant to the Jewish people.

Jesus said something similar in Matthew 15:24, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Paul echoes this idea about Jesus’ purpose in Galatians 4:4–5, “God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law.”

It’s not that Jesus’ work on earth did not also benefit non-Jewish people, as the following verse will state clearly. It’s that in Jesus, God was keeping all His promises to Abraham and the patriarchs. In sending Jesus as the Messiah, God was proven to be a keeper of His promises to Israel.

Verse 9: and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,and sing to your name.”

Paul is describing the reasons Christ came to earth. First, He was sent to become a servant to the Jewish people. He was, in fact, the means by which God kept all the promises He had made to Abraham and the patriarchs of Israel.

Now Paul says that Christ also became a servant to the Jews for another reason: so that the Gentiles would glorify God for His mercy. When the Israelites, for the most part, refused to come to God through faith in Christ, God offered the gift of His grace through faith in Christ to the rest of the world (Romans 11:11–12). That’s how Jesus’ mission to serve the Jews resulted in so many Gentiles giving glory to God for His mercy in forgiving their sins and sharing His glory with them.

Paul offers several quotations from the Old Testament Scriptures to show that this was always God’s plan. He begins with the quote in this verse, most likely from Psalm 18:49. It’s also possible Paul is citing 2 Samuel 22:50. The picture Paul uses this verse to construct is of David or the Jewish people praising God alongside the Gentiles.

Verse 10: And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”

Paul is providing several quotations from Old Testament Scriptures to support the idea that Christ came to serve the Jews both to fulfill God’s promises to them and to cause the Gentiles to glorify Him.

This is a quote from a text similar to Deuteronomy 32:43, though it reads differently from that specific passage. Paul uses the quote to show that the Gentiles will rejoice along with God’s chosen people, the Jews. Within the context of this passage, Paul is showing that God’s plan was always to show mercy to both the Gentiles and the Jews as they came to Him through faith in Christ. Then they would rejoice and praise God together.

Verse 11: And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,and let all the peoples extol him.”

Paul is continuing to provide quotations from Old Testament Scriptures to support his teaching that Christ came to serve the Jews both to fulfill God’s promises to them and to cause the Gentiles to glorify Him.

He now quotes almost directly from Psalm 117:1. David calls these people “the nations,” a common Old Testament reference to all non-Jewish people: the Gentiles. Again, Paul is showing that God planned all along for Gentiles and Jews to praise the Lord together as they came to Him through faith in Christ.

The verse following Paul’s quotation, Psalm 117:2, shows the Gentile nations praising the Lord for His steadfast love and faithfulness. This follows a major theme of New Testament teaching: that the gospel applies to all people and cultures, throughout all of mankind (Galatians 3:28–29).

Verse 12: And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come,even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;in him will the Gentiles hope.”

Paul is offering quotations from Old Testament Scriptures to support his recent claim. He is teaching that God’s plan all along, has been for both the Jews and the Gentiles to come to faith in Christ. Those prophecies may not have explicitly spelled out how this would come to pass, but Paul is eager for his readers to see that the prophecies always pointed to the inclusion of the Gentiles in the praise of God.

Now Paul refers to something written by the prophet Isaiah in a version of Isaiah 11:10–12. “The root of Jesse” refers to the descendant of Jesse who will rise to rule over Israel and all the Gentile nations. This is a prophecy about the coming of Israel’s promised Messiah. The Gentiles, however, will not merely become the servants of the Messiah. The verse ends with the statement that they will hope in Him.

Paul is connecting that Scripture to the truth that Christ has become Lord of all peoples, and the Gentiles who come to God through faith in Christ have placed their hope in Him for their salvation. Paul’s bottom line is that Jesus is the fulfillment of all these Old Testament writings both for Israel and for the Gentile nations (Galatians 3:28–29).

Verse 13: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Paul’s prayer for the Christians in Rome found in this verse is often used in churches today as a closing benediction. It is a powerful statement about what God can do in the heart and mind of every Christian.

Paul makes this request of the God of hope, another beautiful name for God. He is the only lasting source of hope we have for meaning in this life, and for a life beyond death. Paul asks that the God of hope fill these believers with all joy and peace “in believing” or as they trust in Him. In other words, Paul is not asking God to simply dump joy and peace into their hearts without cause. He is asking that as these believers trust in God, their faith will bring joy and peace to their hearts. In other words, help them to keep believing so that they can experience joy and peace.

Finally, Paul asks that they might have this joy and peace in believing so that they may abound with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul is asking God to give them more than just regular human hopefulness. He is asking for supernatural, Holy Spirit-powered hopefulness.

What a fantastic prayer to ask God for others or for ourselves. What more could we wish for other believers than to be filled with joy and peace and abounding in hope?

Verse 14: 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.

This verse begins a new section of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome. It’s likley he has not yet met most of his original readers in person. He does know Priscilla and Aquila, who host a house church in Rome (Romans 16:3–5). He knows other people in Rome, as well (Romans 16:5–15), so he likely has received several reports about what’s going on among the believers in that city.

Based on this knowledge, Paul can both praise and express his concern for them. Here, he calls them brothers and sisters and tells them that he is satisfied in two things about them. First, he believes the Roman Christians to be full of goodness, meaning they have a reputation for doing the right things and being kind and generous.

Second, Paul understands them to have good knowledge and to have the ability to teach that knowledge to each other. By this, Paul means that he believes they have learned well from their teachers about Christian truths to the point that many of them are even able to teach those truths to each other.

Likely, these two ideas are connected. Paul believes the Romans Christians to be full of goodness in their behavior because they are full of knowledge about God and His grace to them in Christ.

Verse 15: But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God

In the previous verse, Paul wrote that he understood the Roman Christians to be full of goodness and knowledge. Still, he now says, he has written to them boldly. Indeed, Romans is a long letter that teaches both powerful truth and practical direction about how to live. The Roman Christians were full of goodness and knowledge, but they obviously had room to add more and more specific knowledge, as well as room to act with even more self-sacrificing goodness.

Paul says that he has written to remind them of what they already know. To the extent that is true, Paul reveals the value for all of us who study the Bible. We may already be doing well, including good works, and understanding much of what God wants us to know, but we study God’s Word because we have much more to learn and much more good to do.

Who is Paul to be the one to write to them about all there is to know and do in Christ? Paul describes his role in a long series of phrases that reveal his authority to represent Christ to them in this letter, beginning here and concluding in the following verse.

First, Paul insists that he writes to them by God’s grace, not by his own merits. All his authority as an apostle and teacher comes from God, not from the excellence of his own mind or study or achievements.

Verse 16: to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Paul is describing to the Christians in Rome the authority by which he writes. This is the source of his knowledge about the grace of God and how to live the Christian life on earth.

God is the one who has appointed Paul to be a minister of Christ to the Gentiles. He is focused on one message, the gospel—the “good news.” He acts as a priest might in service of the gospel of God, representing the truth of God’s grace to them on God’s behalf. Paul is not a priest, however, but an apostle. In fact, because of Paul’s Christ-given role as an apostle, and that he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, his teaching in Romans stands as the very Word of God.

Paul adds his purpose in writing to them: so that the offering of their lives to God, as Gentile Christians, might be acceptable to God and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Again, Paul is picturing the role of a priest offering a sacrifice to God. In that picture, he is the priest and their lives are the offering. He is working hard to make sure that offering, their lives, are acceptable to God.

Paul understands, of course, that though his teaching might be used by God to help shape the living-sacrifice lives of the Roman Christians into something acceptable to God, he is not the one who accomplishes that. The Holy Spirit is the one who supernaturally sanctifies believers, transforming us from the inside out (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Verse 17: In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God.

Paul has just described his work in writing God’s Word to the Roman Christians. In a way, he has said, he is like a priest of the gospel of God and they are like the offering he presents to God. His desire is to see the Holy Spirit sanctify their lives in a way that will make them acceptable offerings on Paul’s behalf.

Paul is not suggesting that he should be given personal credit for the lives of service to God that may come from these or other Christians. Instead, he is boldly pointing to them as the product of his effort in the power of Christ. He insists here that the fruit that comes from their lives gives him reason to be proud of the work that he has done for God and in Christ Jesus.

This is not selfish or sinful boasting about his own accomplishments. As Paul will clarify to a point in the following verse, he is proud to have been used by God to accomplish God’s purposes in God’s power.

Verse 18: For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience — by word and deed,

Here Paul models for us how believers can be proud of our work while still walking in humility. In short, Paul refuses to take personal credit for his accomplishments. Christ has accomplished this work through him. Though Paul is the one who obeyed, he merely participated in the work Christ was accomplishing. He recognizes himself as an instrument of God to be used for God’s purposes.

Still, he is proud of what God has used him to accomplish—bringing the Gentiles to obedience. Paul emphasizes the obedience of the Gentiles here and not their faith. He has been clear throughout Romans that belief in Christ itself is an act of obedience to God (Romans 1:18–23). In addition, faith in Christ leads to greater obedience to God in all areas of life as we walk in the Spirit.

Before Christ, nobody would have expected the larger Gentile world to begin to live in obedience to Israel’s God. Paul is fulfilling his mission to take the gospel to the Gentiles and, by Christ’s power through him, many Gentiles around the world have begun to come to God, to obey by believing in Christ. Paul recognizes that he is at the forefront of a world-changing movement.

He begins to list how Christ has accomplished this work through him, beginning with “word and deed.” Paul has used words to spread the good news of salvation through faith in Christ far and wide. His deeds have included heroic acts of service, as well as miraculous signs and wonders.

Verse 19: by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God — so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;

In the previous verse, Paul wrote about what Christ had accomplished through him to bring non-Jewish peoples to obedience to God. Christ had done this by word and deed. Now Paul adds to that explanation. Christ did this work by the power of signs and wonders and by the power of the Spirit of God.

Paul is continuing to show that he cannot take the credit for the transformation that has begun among the Gentile people through faith in Christ. God used supernatural miracles to convince Paul’s listeners that his words and deeds were genuinely of heaven. These miracles included evidence of the Holy Spirit’s power, especially when groups of people believed in Christ and received the Spirit.

Paul understood that none of the results of his ministry were his doing, but also that he was the one who showed up with the message of God’s grace for the Gentiles. That is still the case with ministry today. Believers obey God by showing up to serve in whatever way He has made available, and then He provides the power to do the work. He sends. We go. He accomplishes His purpose through us.

Paul describes his ministry to this point in time in geographical terms. His travels reached from Jerusalem, where he began, to Illyricum, also known as Dalmatia, a region north and west of Macedonia, including part of modern-day Croatia.

In saying that he has fulfilled his ministry of delivering the gospel of Christ to all these places, Paul does not mean that no work remains to be done there. More likely, he means that he did in each place exactly what Christ gave Him to do.

Verse 20: and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else ‘s foundation,

There’s nothing wrong with preaching the gospel of Christ in an area where it has already been preached. In fact, that preaching must continue. It’s not feasible to put that message in front of every living person in a region all at once. People are born and move into and out of those areas all the time. Others need to hear the message more than once to fully understand it. Paul, though, grasped that staying to re-preach the good news was not his mission. God had given him a more specific work to do.

Ambition is a good thing when it is bent toward a good purpose. Paul’s ambition was to preach the gospel only to what we call today “unreached peoples.” His work was not to build on the work done by other preachers before him. His work was to break new ground, to bring the truth of God’s grace to new ears.

This fits with what he wrote in the previous verse that he has fulfilled his ministry in a large number of places, introducing the gospel for the first time in many cities and regions. What an honor Paul was given: to introduce to so many people the news of the amazing opportunity to be made right with God through faith in Christ.

Verse 21: but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see,and those who have never heard will understand.”

Paul quotes Isaiah 52:15 to drive home his recent point. The work he has done around the world has not ultimately been his own work. He is not taking credit for the results. He has been tasked by God to bring the good news about salvation through faith in Jesus to people who have never heard it before.

This passage from Isaiah 52:15 pointed forward to Christ. Paul is showing that his ministry to the Gentiles is a fulfillment of centuries-old prophecies. While Paul was proud to see himself used by God (Romans 15:17), he understood that God had long planned to accomplish this work in this way.

Paul also understood his great privilege in being the one to help those who had never been told about Christ to see and understand for the first time.

Verse 22: This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you.

Paul is nearing the end of his long letter to the Christians in Rome. He has just revealed that his mission from God has been to take the gospel to people who have never heard about Christ. His particular quest is to introduce the gospel to regions where Christ has never been preached. In that way, Paul saw his work as a fulfillment of ancient prophecies.

This prior commitment to his work is the reason Paul refers to in this verse. That is why, he now writes, he has not yet been able to travel to Rome to visit with the Christians there. He kept finding new territories in his part of the world where the gospel had not yet been preached. He had to fulfill his mission to introduce each region to Christ. This hindered or prevented him from traveling to Rome, since a group of believers had already been established there by the work of others.

Verse 23: But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you,

Paul has written to the Christians in Rome about why he has never traveled to see them there. His mission from God was to take the good news about salvation through faith in Jesus to regions where it had never been heard before (Romans 15:20).

He now writes that he has run out of unreached places to preach in his part of the world, freeing him up to come and see them on his way to Spain. Paul speaks very personally that he has longed to come and see them for many years. The following chapter will reveal that, though Paul has never been to Rome, he knows a great many people there, and cares deeply about them.

Paul’s expression of his longing to see the Romans echoes what he wrote at the beginning of his letter. There, he mentioned his desire to strengthen them spiritually, to give and receive encouragement, and to reap a spiritual harvest among them (Romans 1:10–13).

Verse 24: I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while.

Paul has longed to travel to Rome and visit the Christians there for many years. Now he plans to do so as part of an itinerary that will take him on to Spain to preach the gospel to unreached people in that part of the world. Spain, at that time, was part of the Roman empire.

Paul has mentioned several reasons for coming to Rome both at the beginning of his letter (Romans 1:10–15) and in this chapter (Romans 15:23). Now he adds two other reasons: He genuinely wants to enjoy their company for a while. This phrase suggests that Paul sees the visit, in part, as a time of refreshment for him, a break from his larger mission. However, he also hopes to be helped by them for his journey to Spain. Likely, this means Paul is hoping they will be able to help fund his missionary efforts in this new region.

Verse 25: At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints.

Paul has written that at long last it may be possible for him to travel to Rome to spend time with the Christians there. This is something he has longed to do for many years (Romans 15:23). Now he says he must first go to Jerusalem to bring aid to the believers there.

As the following verses show, the aid Paul mentions is money for poor Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. The need there was great. Paul had taken it on himself to raise money from the Gentile Christians to meet the needs of these struggling believers. Now, having that money in hand, Paul was headed to Jerusalem to deliver it. Paul will continue by giving more details on this contribution, as well as asking his readers to pray for his safe and successful delivery of it.

Verse 26: For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.

Before Paul can come to Rome as he longs to, he must first travel to Jerusalem to deliver money to the poor Jewish Christians there. Paul has taken it on himself to urge the Gentile Christians on his travels to give generously to help their Jewish brothers and sisters in Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 16:1–2; 2 Corinthians 8:1–9).

Now, he has that money in hand. The churches in Macedonia and Achaia, he writes, have been pleased to contribute what they could to the poor saints in Jerusalem. As in all of the New Testament, Paul uses the word “saints” here to refer to all believers in Jesus. This is not some specially-blessed group, but all of those who have accepted faith in Christ.

The following verse shows Paul’s emphasis that these Gentile Christians were pleased to give to meet the needs of Jewish brothers and sisters they had never met. Their giving came of their own free will. Paul may have pushed hard for it, but the giving was not mandatory.

Verse 27: For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.

Before Paul can go to Rome to visit the believers there, he must deliver financial aid to the poor Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. He has been raising these funds from the Gentile Christians as he has traveled around his part of the world, especially on his third missionary journey.

He has reported that the funds he will be delivering next have come from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia. They have contributed of their own free will and have been pleased to do so, as Paul reports again in this verse. The New Testament emphasizes that giving should always come from a willing spirit and not as a burdensome obligation (2 Corinthians 9:7).

However, Paul does imply a certain measure of obligation in this case. These funds are coming from Gentile Christians to be delivered to Jewish believers. Paul writes that the Gentiles owe it to the Jewish Christians to share their material blessings. Why? Because the Gentiles have come to share in the spiritual blessings of the Jewish people. Through faith in Christ, the Gentiles have now received a permanent place in God’s family, something once available only to God’s chosen people Israel.

Though Paul has made clear in this letter that most Jewish people have so far rejected faith in Christ, Paul still sees Gentile Christians as being indebted to the Jews, in a sense. After all, Christ came through Israel and out of Israel’s special, centuries-long relationship with God. It was God’s plan all along to offer salvation to the Gentiles through the Jewish Messiah.

Verse 28: When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you.

Returning to his main point about coming to see the Christians in Rome, Paul sums up his earlier statements. He will travel to them after he delivers the financial contributions to the poor Christians in Jerusalem. More specifically, Paul says he will leave for Spain by way of visiting his readers in Rome. To this point, Paul’s emphasis on introducing the gospel to unreached areas has prevented him from passing through Rome (Romans 15:20–22).

He also uses unusual language to describe his delivery of the money to Jerusalem. He says that he will leave when he has “sealed to them this fruit.” Likely, by fruit, he means the financial gift of the Gentile Christians. It is the fruit, or product, of both their generosity and their faith in God. Paul will “seal” it in the sense that he will complete the task by handing it off to the right people and verifying who it is from and what it is for.

Verse 29: I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

Paul makes a declaration about his plans to visit the Christians in Rome. He is convinced that when he finally gets to them, he will arrive in the fullness of Christ’s blessing. In other words, Paul knows that he will come with Christ’s blessing or approval and that his presence with the Roman Christians will be Christ’s blessing to them, as well.

Paul is confident that his comings and goings are dependent on Christ’s blessing. He also recognizes how such travels serve the purpose of Christ blessing others through him. All believers can live with this confidence, as well, if we are willing to be used by God in this way.

However, that confidence does not mean we can ever claim perfect knowledge. We don’t know the circumstances under which God will use us to bless others. Paul, for instance, did not likely anticipate the path that would finally bring him to Rome. Acts chapters 27–28 contain that surprising and powerful story. Because of the events described there, it is unknown if Paul ever reached Spain.

Verse 30: I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf,

Romans 15 concludes with Paul’s request that the Christians in Rome pray with him about three specific things. He has told them his plans. His intent is to deliver financial aid to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem and, once that task is completed, to travel to Rome to visit the Christians there (Romans 15:23–25).

Paul uses strong words in asking his readers to pray for him. He appeals to them by Christ Himself and by the love they have because of the Holy Spirit. This is not a casual request. What he asks is also weighty. Paul wants these believers to strive or wrestle with him in prayer to God on his behalf.

Paul often closes his letters by asking for prayer (Ephesians 6:18–20; 1 Thessalonians 5:25; Philemon 1:22). This request is different from most of those other appeals, as the following verses reveal. Paul is deeply concerned about three specific things.

Verse 31: that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,

Paul has asked, very seriously, that the Christians in Rome would wrestle with him in prayer about his circumstances. Now he begins to list three specific requests.

The first thing he wants them to ask God for is that he will be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea. Paul has learned by repeated experience that the religious Jews want to kill him (Acts 14:9; 23:12; 25:3). He is preparing to travel to Jerusalem, the very heart of religious Judaism. He realizes this will put him in grave danger. He is asking the Roman Christians to pray for his safety, that his life will be spared.

Paul was right to be concerned. Acts 21:27–36 describes what happened when the Jewish religious leaders found him in the temple in Jerusalem. Furious about his teaching that salvation was available only through faith in Christ and not through following the law, they grabbed Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and tried to kill him. This prayer was answered, however, in an unexpected way. Roman soldiers intervened and took Paul into custody. He was spared but found himself in prison for the following two years. God does not always answer our prayers in the way we expect.

Paul’s second request was that the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem would receive the gift of financial aid he was delivering from the Gentile believers. Why would they not? Perhaps tension between Jewish and Gentile Christians was running high. Perhaps the Christian Jews would reject the gift out of fear of the unbelieving religious Jews. Maybe Paul was concerned about being robbed or imprisoned on the way. In any case, he wanted desperately for the gift to be received.

Apparently, this prayer was also answered when Paul was, at least at first, received warmly by the Christian Jews in Jerusalem on his arrival (Acts 21:17).

Verse 32: so that by God ‘s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.

Paul has asked the Christians in Rome to strive with him in prayer for three very serious requests about his upcoming trip to Jerusalem. He was going there to deliver financial aid given by Gentile Christians (Romans 15:22–25).

His first request was that he would be delivered from the Jewish religious leaders who wanted to kill him. His second request was that the gift he was bringing would be received by the Jewish Christians.

God answered both prayers, though God’s answer to the first request did not likely come as anyone would have expected. Paul was indeed attacked by a murderous group of religious Jews and would likely have been killed. He was rescued by Roman soldiers—who arrested him (Acts 21:27–36). Paul ended up spending the next two years in prison!

That only delayed the answer to Paul’s third request found in this verse. He asked his readers to pray that, by God’s will, he could come to them with joy and be refreshed in their company. This did eventually come to pass, in a sense, though Paul traveled to Rome as a prisoner and was shipwrecked along the way. That saga is found in Acts 27–28.

God always answers the prayers of His people. Sometimes He says no. Sometimes He says yes, but in entirely unexpected ways that we could never anticipate. Paul’s life demonstrates that God often does not follow our idea of what He should do, even as He acts for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28).

Verse 33: May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

After asking his readers to wrestle with him in prayer about his own serious circumstances, Paul closes the formal part of his letter with a prayer for them. This was a customary greeting among believers of the time, but we should not read it as anything less than a genuine prayer for the Christians in Rome.

Paul prays that the God of peace would be with them all. “God of Peace” is one of the titles Paul uses to describe God’s nature. He is the God who gives peace in every sense of that word. He makes us to be at peace with Him through faith in Christ (Romans 5:1). He gives us peace in our hearts and minds through His Spirit (Romans 8:6). And He makes it possible for us to be at peace with other Christians (Romans 14:19).

Paul’s letter isn’t entirely finished. In Romans chapter 16, Paul launches into a series of post-script greetings and recommendations, followed by more instructions and greetings, before coming to a beautiful letter-closing doxology or hymn of praise to God.