We have reached our final study in our series on Romans Hope you have enjoyed the journey! In these final chapters Paul talks about some of the journeys he hopes to make, he wants to say ‘hello’ to a few folk and also offers some final remarks.
He is coming to the end of his letter and if his plans work out the next time he will be speaking to the Christians in Rome it will be in person. It may be with that thought in mind that he writes our next passage, verses 14-17;
Romans 15:14 14 I myself feel confident about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 15 Nevertheless on some points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 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.
Note how tactful Paul has become near the end of his letter. He begins in an almost self-demeaning manner… “I know I really didn’t have to write all these things to you, because you always do the right thing and know what the right thing is to do and you are quite capable of teaching each other’. But then he throws in one of those words that can always be relied upon to indicate that something of note is coming along…he says “Nevertheless”.
Whenever any scripture writer says ‘nevertheless’ it’s time to pay attention. Paul wants the Romans to realize that what he had written was not just an item of casual correspondence, but that as a ‘chosen by grace’ man of God, he was carrying to them a message of great importance. His purpose from the start had been (verse 16) ‘to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God’.
God had given Paul a particular assignment, a task from which he refused to be side-tracked, to present to the world a gospel that needed to be heard by Jew and Gentile alike. About his calling he has no doubts. Likewise, he has no doubts that the Lord Jesus Christ who had called Him into service would equip him to carry out all he needed to do.
Thus he continues…verse 17 through 21…
17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news of Christ. 20 Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news, not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else's foundation, 21 but as it is written, "Those who have never been told of him shall see, and those who have never heard of him shall understand."
Whatever had been accomplished, whatever had been achieved Paul is anxious to attribute it all to the work of Jesus Christ. Verse 18…”I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished” He boasts, not of what he had done, but about what Christ had done through him. About what the power of the Holy Spirit had worked in the world.
And so much had been accomplished! Do you ever stop to think how unlikely the growth of the church was? 11 guys (there were 12 but one of them has turned traitor) and a number of anonymous ladies, with no formal education that we know of and no game plan except waiting upon God; 11 guys from this insignificant and sometimes troublesome corner of the vast Roman Empire are charged to tell the whole world that the Jesus they had seen crucified had been raised from the dead and that through these events the world was going to be changed.
And if that wasn’t enough, who also comes onboard to join the team? A one-time anti-Christian fanatic once known as Saul, now called Paul, whose claim to apostleship is that the risen Jesus spoke to him on a highway between two towns that it was time to stop persecuting the faith and instead take the faith to the people. Not just any people, but people whom for most of his life he had avoided contact with… the Gentile people!
The Book of Acts tells not only of Paul’s conversion but his remarkable escapades and unlikely victories. As the book of Acts unfolds you start realizing that Paul was the man for the task, but … what a task! Arrests, shipwrecks, gaining the ear of governors and Kings, and then in this letter to the Romans we have been studying, it is Paul who outlines what the faith looks like in a letter to a Church that has been birthed at the center of the known world; Rome.
To fully appreciate the words of verses 18 and 19 you have to remember the story of the growth of the church that lies behind them.“ I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news of Christ.
Paul really didn’t need to spend time making his claims to be an authentic apostle of God. The testimonies to his work were the many churches that had come into existence through his preaching and work of evangelism. But he’s always had a desire to go to Rome. Maybe he sensed that if the gospel were to reach the entire world then it had to penetrate the city that was at epicenter of the world’s power.
He apologizes to the Roman church that he had not been able yet to make a visit to them. He had long planned to make the trip but there were other things that needed to be done.
22 This is the reason that I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, with no further place for me in these regions, I desire, as I have for many years, to come to you 24 when I go to Spain. For I do hope to see you on my journey and to be sent on by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a little while.
Paul’s plan as he writes Romans is to travel to Spain and visit with the church in Rome on the way. Spain was at the very Western end of Europe, the limit of what was considered the civilized world. As far as we know Paul never made it to Spain. I find it comforting to observe that even the plans of God’s greatest apostles some times don’t happen.
There’s almost a little picture of our spiritual journeys in his statement and what subsequently happens to Paul. Paul does make it to Rome. But not the way he thought he would. God intervenes and changes Paul’s plans. In our own we life we can have everything mapped out. ‘I’m going to do this and end up there.’ But then God intervenes and you kind of end up where you thought you were going, but not always in the way you expected!
One of Paul’s plans though that does come to pass is to go to Jerusalem. He knows that he has both friends and enemies in Jerusalem. To his friends he wants to bring an offering. The Jerusalem church appears to have been passing through a lean time and they were hurting and in need. A collection in the churches at Macedonia and Achaia had been initiated and Paul is anxious to deliver the help that was necessary.
25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem in a ministry to the saints; 26 for Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to share their resources with the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do this, 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 things. 28 So, when I have completed this, and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will set out by way of you to Spain; 29 and I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. 30 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in earnest prayer to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 The God of peace be with all of you. Amen.
As Paul travels to Jerusalem he invites the Roman Christians to pray for him. He knows that when he arrives he’s going to face some strong opposition from the Jewish authorities. To them he was a turn coat and a traitor. He was by their standards ‘unclean’ because of his association with Gentiles.
Paul was also anxious about the reception he would receive from the church in Jerusalem. Whilst the debate about how tied to Judaism the Christian faith should be was simmering in Rome, in Jerusalem it was a fiery, hot button issue and there were those who wouldn’t like what Paul had to say.
The collection from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia indicates that the church was beginning to recognize itself as being more than a local body of believers, but rather a united force that had a responsibility to care across traditional boundaries. Paul also feels that the Gentile church had a particular responsibility towards Jerusalem… as it had all started right there amongst the Jewish believers.
Chapter 16 begins with greetings from a whole host of folk, some of them we know a little of, some are just names.
NRS Romans 16:1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, 2 so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well. 3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work with me in Christ Jesus, 4 and who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. 5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert in Asia for Christ. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked very hard among you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my relative Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; and greet his mother-- a mother to me also. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
The first person to get a mention is Phoebe. As today there continues to be debate about the role of women in the Church it is of note that she is described as a deacon, the same office held by the first martyr of the Church Stephen. That women played an active role in early church life is beyond any doubt!
Prisca and Aquila are mentioned in Acts 18 as being tent-makers who gave Paul a place to stay when he visited Corinth. When Paul went onto Ephesus they went with him. Their home became both a meeting place and a mission base for evangelistic activities. We catch up with them later again in Rome, where again they have a house where the gospel is welcome. There is actually still a church in Rome called ‘The Church of St. Prisca on the Aventine’.
About others in the list we know very little. There are speculations about some, but as most of their names were common throughout the empire it is difficult to accurately identify any of them. Maybe the message of this passage is that our faith is the product of numerous saints, many anonymous, many forgotten but whose names and lives are all known by God.
In verse 17-20 Paul makes one final loving appeal.
17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and offenses, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned; avoid them. 18 For such people do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded. 19 For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I want you to be wise in what is good and guileless in what is evil. 20 The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Any public organization attracts those who will see an opportunity to influence others for their own purposes. Those purposes may have little to do with the gospel, but a whole lot to do with their own needs and desires. Some of them can be charmers, ‘smooth talkers’ as Paul describes them. His advice? Avoid them.
Paul wishes them the very thing that had revolutionized his whole existence. Captured in One Word? GRACE! ‘The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.’
And so final words… a few more greetings (including one from Paul’s secretary Tertius and one from the city treasurer, Erastus and a couple from Paul’s relatives) and a final benediction.
21 Timothy, my co-worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my relatives. 22 I Tertius, the writer of this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you. 24 25 Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith-- 27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.
About the final benediction, Biblical Scholar N.T. Wright writes in the New Interpreters Bible;
“It should not surprise us that the letter ends … with an invocation of the one true and wise God, made known in and through Jesus the Messiah; or that Paul would draw together so many threads of his argument in this way. The ideal reader of Romans, in fact, is one who is prepared to heed a summons to love this one God with mind and heart alike, and who is ready to let that love transform his or her life at every level. If the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob really is the creator, the God of the whole world, and if this God raised Jesus from the dead and thereby announced that he was and is the Messiah, the world’s true Lord, then worship is the ultimately appropriate response.”
Paul ends his letter by giving glory to God. I suggest we end our journey through Romans in similar fashion. A prayer!
“Lord, we thank You for the genius of Your servant Paul and this wonderful book that offers us reasons to believe, encourages us in our faith and outlines the Good News of Your redeeming love. To Your name Lord God, our Father and Creator of all, be glory, honor and praise for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit who continues to transform our lives and our world. Amen.”