Paul the Minister to the Gentiles
Rom 15:14 I
am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of
goodness. You know these things so well you can teach each other all about
them.
Paul was writing to a church he had not
founded. He had heard that they were mature Christians so he was writing to
them in that context.
Rom 15:15
Even so, I have been bold enough to write about some of these points,
knowing that all you need is this reminder. For by God's grace, Rom 15:16 I am
a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good
News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by
the Holy Spirit.
Here he is introducing himself. The
most likely had heard of Paul be he was assuring them that he was a Disciple of
Christ.
Rom 15:17 So
I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in
my service to God.
This is not bragging Paul is very
excited about his opportunity to work with the Roman church. He did not want
them to think he is in anyway bragging about his accomplishments.
Rom 15:18 Yet
I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me,
bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them. Rom 15:19 They
were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of
God's Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from
Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.
Life
Application New Testament Commentary:
15:18-19 Being proud
of God’s work is not
a sin—it is worship. Paul knew that all the glory for his ministry went to
Christ alone, for it was Christ who was accomplishing the work of bringing the Gentiles
to God. But Paul well understood that he was the
vessel through whom God was working because the mission to the Gentiles was
being accomplished by what Paul had said and done. Paul had, by the power of
God’s Spirit,
done miracles and signs
to verify the authority of his words. Because of the Holy Spirit’s empowerment, Paul had taken the Good
News from Jerusalem to Illyricum.
Also known as Dalmatia (see 2Ti_4:10),
Illyricum was a Roman territory on the Adriatic Sea between present-day Italy
and Greece. It covered much the same territory as present-day Yugoslavia.
Rom 15:20 My
ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has
never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by
someone else. Rom 15:21 I have been following the plan spoken of in
the Scriptures, where it says, "Those who have never been told about Him
will see, and those who have never heard of Him will understand."
In many ways Paul was the ultimate
missionary. He wanted the whole world to know about Christ. Jew or Gentile it
did not matter to Paul as long as he could preach. Imagine every Christian
having that much zeal.
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