Chapter 15

^{Romans 15:1} We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

For its entire history, the Church has been cursed with habit of driving off weak believers to satiate the arrogance of those who have "knowledge" of the mind, but have no knowledge of the heart. When you think of the patience of the Lord in the presence of the abysmal arrogance and stupidity of the disciples, you have an idea of how we should treat our weaker brothers. One of my favorite passages that subtly illustrates this is from the Gospel of Matthew:

Matthew 18:15-17 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector."

I have heard this passage interpreted as meaning that you give those who sin against you three chances, then after that, you cut him off. However, remember, this passage is only recorded in Matthew. And what was Matthew? A tax collector![b] I can just imagine Jesus looking hard at Matthew when he said "treat him as you would a tax collector." Matthew remembered those words when he wrote his gospel. The lesson to all of us is that we should remember the failings the Lord has put up with from each of us before we begin judging some other believer. If you think you don't have failings you have no discernment yourself.

^{Romans 15:2} Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

The idea here is not that we should seek to please our neighbor above all things. But that we should seek to please (or accommodate) our neighbor before ourselves. First of all, of course, we should seek to please God. Galatians 1:10 "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." 1 Thessalonians 2:4 "On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts."

^{Romans 15:3} For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me."[c]

Here Paul quotes the Old Testament to show how our role model Jesus Christ behaved.

^{Romans 15:4} For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Paul is speaking of the Old Testament here, which he has just quoted (the Messianic Psalm 69). At this time, only Matthew, and Paul's first four epistles had been written (1st and 2nd Thessalonians, Galatians, and I Corinthians). Unfortunately, most of the Church today is lamentably ignorant of the Old Testament. The Old Testament is foundational to understanding who Jesus is, and what He did. If you don't understand who Jesus is, your hope will never be secure in your mind.

^{Romans 15:5-6} May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We would be unified if we followed the model of Jesus, who though He was God and King, did not scorn being a compassionate servant.

^{Romans 15:7} Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Jesus Christ accepted us on the basis of our faith in Him. We all stand before the Father based on Jesus' life of righteousness, and death on the cross. None of us has any basis for pride in our own works. Where do we get off looking down on another believer? Even if they are in error, our focus should be on gently and humbly pointing the way to the truth. As we are one in Christ forever, we should allow the Holy Spirit to make that a reality in our lives. Then we will regard the growth of our brothers in Christ as equally precious as our own growth.

^{Romans 15:8-9} For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews [d] on behalf of God's truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: "Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name."[e]

Among the many things that Jesus Christ did to redeem the failure of the people of Israel was to reach out to the Gentiles with God's truth. They will finally get a chance to fulfill this ministry for themselves during the Tribulation with the ministry of the 144,000.

^{Romans 15:10-12} Again, it says, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people."[f] And again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and sing praises to him, all you peoples."[g] And again, Isaiah says, "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him."[h]

Paul points out just a few of the Old Testament passages that prophesy that the Gentiles are part of God's eternal plan. He is reminding them what God told Peter in Acts 10:15, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."

^{Romans 15:13} May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Here Paul states in a nutshell, what we can confidently hope for in this life if we trust in God. Our hope is joy and peace by the power of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing greater that we could possibly hope for, since only God knows what will give us true joy and peace. He created us for them.

^{Romans 15:14} I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.

As an outsider, Paul is quick to assure the Roman Church that he is not assuming that their previous instruction by other teachers is inadequate, he is only teaching (inspired by the Holy Spirit) what he has observed in his own experience. Furthermore, Paul knows that his friends, Priscilla and Aquila, were in Rome. He knew they were well founded in the Scriptures. There were probably others that he knew from Antioch that he had personally instructed. Since Corinth (from where he was writing) was a main travel hub between Antioch (the Eastern Capital of the Roman Empire) and Rome (the Western Capital), he would have doubtless heard of the state of the Church in Rome.

^{Romans 15:15-16} I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Paul assures them that he is not assuming that he is teaching them anything they have not been taught before, he is just reminding them. He is trying to assure them that his letter was prompted by the grace of God, and that he is only anxious that that both the Gentile and Jewish believers in Rome should understand the truth and be reconciled, and that the ministry of the Gospel to the Gentiles by the Church should continue.

^{Romans 15:17-19a} Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done-- by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit.

Paul is quick to tell them that anything that he has accomplished can only by credited to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Paul does not even venture to mention the ministry he has had among the dispersed Jews (to whom he always went first), which was considerable. He exalts his ministry to the Gentiles however, as it was the ministry given to him by God.[i]

^{Romans 15:19b-21} So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum,[j] I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. Rather, as it is written: "Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand."[k]

Hitherto, Paul had always sought out mission fields that had been untouched, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 52:15. In this he had covered much of the northeastern shore of the Mediterranean. The easternmost part of his ministry was in Jerusalem. Going counter clockwise, he had also taught in Damascus, Antioch, Tarsus, Galatia, Asia, Macedonia, Achaia, and (closest to Rome) Illyricum.

^{Romans 15:22-24} This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.[l] But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to see you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain.[m] I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while.

Now, Paul sees that the next step west is Rome. It is not untouched territory. It had a very well established Church at this time, but Paul feels led to go there at this time. He was also hoping that the Roman Church would support Paul in his next ministry to the untouched territory of Spain. It is clear from Acts that Paul did not visit Spain before his first Roman imprisonment. It is possible that Paul visited there before his second and final imprisonment and death. However, it seems unlikely. It would have been more that four and a half years after he wrote this epistle before he could have made the visit, since he spent almost all that time in prison in Caesarea and Rome. By that time the call from Spain had likely been answered by another. Also, we know from Paul's later epistles [n] that after Paul's first imprisonment, he revisited Asia, Macedonia, and Achaia at least twice apiece, and from the Epistle to Titus, we know he also established the Church on Crete. From the end of Paul's first imprisonment to the beginning of his second was between three and four years, and that would have left little time after his documented activities for a visit to Spain. At the very most, it would have been very short.

^{Romans 15:25-27} Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.

This describes Paul's trip to Jerusalem from Corinth. The beginning of the trip is recorded in Acts 20:2-3. As we know, when he arrived in Jerusalem, he was arrested and spent the next two years in prison in Judea at Caesarea before being shipped to Rome (the complete trip took six months). The offering for the poor of Jerusalem which he mentions seems to have occurred on an annual basis. Certainly the need was annual. We know of at least one other time that Paul took custody of an offering for Jerusalem (Acts 11:30). We also know that he was enjoined by the Apostles at the Council of Jerusalem to take up an offering regularly. Galatians 2:9 "James, Peter and John, those accounted pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do."

^{Romans 15:28-32} So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this fruit, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ. I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.  Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there, so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed.

Paul knew he was travelling into the lion's mouth. Even before he left Corinth he discovered a plot the Jews had to kill him on shipboard (Acts 20:3). The solicited prayers were answered, though probably not in the way Paul envisioned. The offering was accepted gratefully in Jerusalem and Paul was rescued, but as a consequence he had to spend over four years in prison or in custody. However, God used those years of Paul's imprisonment powerfully. He got to teach the believers in Judea for two years when he was in prison.[o] He got to preach to the court of the Roman Governor Felix [p] and to his successor Festus and King Herod Agrippa II and his sister Berenice,[q] who would be the de-facto wife of the future Emperor Tiberius. We will never know how God used this exposure to the Gospel of the heart of Roman power. Paul also got to preach to the Chief Magistrate of Malta,[r] and then to Imperial Guard [s] in Rome. He also preached freely to the Romans for two years while under house arrest.[t] During this time, the Holy Spirit also inspired him to write the Prison Epistles. [u]

^{Romans 15:33} The God of peace be with you all. Amen.

This reads like the end of the epistle, but Paul still has one Chapter left.

[b] Matthew 9:9 "As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him."

[c] Quoted from Psalms 69:9, a Messianic Psalm.

[d] The Greek word here is peritomhv {pe-rē-to-mā'} which means "circumcision." This refers us back to one of the unimportant issues that was dividing the Church. 1 Corinthians 7:19 "Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts."

[e] From one of the Messianic Psalms,  Psalms 18:47-55 "He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me, who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from violent men you rescued me. Therefore I will praise you among the nations (Gentiles), O LORD; I will sing praises to your name. He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants (seed)  forever."

[f] Deuteronomy 32:43

[g] Psalms 117:1

[h] Isaiah 11:10

[i] Acts 9:15 "But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man (Paul) is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel."

[j] Illyricum is a country to the north-west of Macedonia, on the eastern shores of the Adriatic, now almost wholly comprehended in Dalmatia, a name formerly given to the southern part of Illyricum. Paul must have visited there on his way to visit Corinth the second time, during which visit he  wrote this epistle to the Romans (Acts 20:1- 3a).

[k] Isaiah 52:15

[l] See Romans 1:13 "I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles."

[m] It is problematical whether Paul ever made it to Spain. He would have had to visit there after his first Roman imprisonment; and it seems doubtful that he would have had the time. He never mentions Spain in his post-imprisonment epistles.

[n] Hebrews, 2 Corinthians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus.

[o] Acts 24:23

[p] Acts 24:24-26

[q] Acts 25 and 26.

[r] Acts 28:7-10

[s] Philippians 1:12-13 "Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard   and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Also Ephesians 6:19-20, Philippians 4:22

[t] Acts 28:30-31

[u] Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.