Sunday School Notes: Romans 15:14-19a

¹⁴ I am persuaded, brethren, even I myself concerning you, that you yourselves are full of goodness, having been filled with all knowledge, able even to instruct one another. ¹⁵ But I have written to you, rather more boldly in parts, as one reminding you on account of the grace that was given to me by God ¹⁶ in order for me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, having been sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷ Therefore, I have [this] boasting in Christ Jesus [concerning] the things of God. ¹⁸ For I shall not dare to say anything of which Christ did not accomplish through me unto the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and by deed, ¹⁹ by [the] power of signs and wonders, by [the] power of the Spirit [of God]…

Paul has finished the main body of the letter where he presented the gospel in light of the situation in the Roman church, and has given practical admonitions based on that theological foundation. We are now to the final part of the letter, where Paul gives some words of encouragement, outlines his itinerary and plans for future ministry, and passes on some greetings.

The way Paul addresses the church in Rome here is a little different, I think, to how he addresses other churches in other letters. Paul does not have the same relationship with this church as he does the ones he planted. He has never visited this congregation, and outside of his reputation, they don’t really know him. As we shall see from the greetings, Paul does have acquaintance with some of the people there, but he is still effectively writing to people he doesn’t know. This, I think, gives a somewhat formal air to his words. In verse 14, he uses a lot of emphatic pronouns (“I myself… you yourself…”) as he commends his readers, perhaps trying to convey a sincerity they would only know from his words,  having never met him. Lest they think he’s treating them like children, upbraiding them for their behavior, Paul expresses his confidence that they only need this reminder. He assumes they are well-taught, and don’t need persuasion that the things he says are true. One might detect behind this a negative sub-text–“you should know better!”–but I doubt that’s at the forefront of Paul’s thinking. I believe he is sincere in his complements and confidence in his readers. Indeed, he notes that some of what he has said was rather bold–perhaps a little forceful for one who is not one of the elders of the church. Paul doesn’t apologize for this, but notes that his intention was simply to remind them, and to fulfill the ministry given to him by God.

The terms with which Paul describes his calling to the Gentiles are interesting. First, it is a “gift” or a “grace” (Greek: charis). Reading what Paul says elsewhere about his ministry, his conversion, and the way he sees himself, I get the strong impression that he feels unworthy of the commission he has been given. He was a persecutor of the church–not just in words, but actually supervising and sanctioning the murder of Christians. When he calls himself “least of the Apostles,” I think that comes from this deep sense of unworthiness. This is perhaps why Paul has such a deep appreciation of the grace of God, which comes through in this and other letters (see 1 Timothy 1:12-17, and Galatians 2:7-10). I think, also, that if Paul had been given the choice, he would have preferred a calling to his own people. Although he was a Roman citizen, and conversant with pagan culture, he was a Pharisee, trained in the Law and committed to Judaism. After his conversion, Paul went to the synagogues–that was his “comfort zone.” However, the Lord knew better what ministry suited Paul, so He gave him, as a gift, the mission to the Gentiles. And it turned out that Paul was precisely the right man for the job.

This is something we should bear in mind when we’re not sure why the Lord has put us in the positions we are in, doing the things we’re doing. We need to remember that our Sovereign Lord has been molding us all our lives for the work He has prepared for us. Every class we took in school, every good and bad experience we had, every book we’ve read, friend we’ve had–all the things that shape our character and form our thinking have been foreordained by God for the purpose of preparing us for the ministry He has in store for each of us. We all have unique experiences, and that’s as God intended.

Paul also uses sacramental language with regard to his calling: he is a servant (Greek: leitourgos, from the same root as our word “liturgy”) of Christ to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the gospel, so that the Spirit-sanctified offering of the Gentiles might be pleasing to God. Obviously, Paul doesn’t intend these words literally. But this helps us get a sense of how he sees his ministry among the Gentiles. First, this ministry is a gift to him, not something he sought out. He didn’t apply to the Twelve for a ministerial position; it was given to him by God, and confirmed by the Twelve. Also, he sees it as an act of service, like the priest in the Temple serving the Lord. It’s not something he does for his pleasure or convenience, but as working for the Lord. Finally, those to whom he is called, the Gentiles, are his offering to the Lord. Paul doesn’t look upon these people and pat himself on the back for the great job he’s done. He doesn’t consider them his own (though he does express affection for those churches he founded). They are the fruit of his labor which he then offers to the Lord–Paul worked among them for the glory of God, and he recognizes that they are His. In this, I hope we see that for Paul, pleasing God was all that mattered. He ministered for the Lord, in order to glorify the Lord, that his work might be acceptable to the Lord. It’s not about Paul being happy or comfortable, it’s not about the Gentiles being happy or comfortable. It’s all about the glory of God and His pleasure.

Verse 17 seems to go against what he’s just been saying: if Paul has “a boasting in Christ Jesus,” then isn’t he making his ministry about himself? On the contrary, I think Paul’s boasting, or his pride, is in the fact that God chose to use him in this capacity despite who he was, not because of who he was. Paul’s boast is in the grace of God operating so powerfully in his life. Indeed, I think this becomes clear as we read on in verse 18. My translation of verse 18 (above) is rather literal. All those negatives may be confusing, so perhaps it helps to rephrase it in a positive statement: Paul will only dare to speak of the words, deeds, etc. that Christ did through him which resulted in the obedience of the Gentiles. Again, Paul knows that he is merely a vessel in the Lord’s hands; he is the clay, the Lord is the Potter. To boast in anything that was by Paul, for Paul, and done in the power of Paul, would be a waste of time. He sees himself as irrelevant. Only what Christ does really matters, and that’s all Paul wants to talk about.

At the end of verse 18, and into verse 19, Paul makes a short list of the ways he (by the grace of God) has ministered to the Gentiles. First, by word, which is perhaps his most obvious ministry (preaching and writing letters, for example). The next, “by work,” is somewhat vague since we don’t really read much of Paul doing things outside of preaching and teaching. However, I think we can include his missionary journeys, during which he endured beatings, shipwreck, and other kinds of perils and hardships to minister to various congregations. Also, Paul was prepared to support himself through tent-making, so he would not be a burden to the churches. He also took up collections for churches during his missionary trips to help support believers in need. It’s very possible there are other “works” Paul did not mentioned in Acts, so we shouldn’t take this list to be exhaustive.

Finally, the first part of verse 19 mentions “signs and wonders by [the] power of the Spirit [of God].” While “signs and wonders” are, technically, “works,” they are of a special type. First, we should note that Paul calls them “signs,” not “miracles.” John uses the same terminology in his Gospel, speaking of Jesus’ miracles. The significance of the term “sign” is in the fact that a sign points away from itself to something else. If you’re traveling to a city, you look for a sign telling you where the city is. You don’t get out at the sign thinking you’ve arrived, but you follow the sign until you reach your destination. Likewise, the point of the “miracle”-sign is to point to Christ. It isn’t the answer, but it point away from itself to the one who is the answer.

I see these “signs and wonders” as marks of Paul’s Apostolic ministry. In Acts, such gifts were used to authenticate the gospel message. We see “signs and wonders” in Jerusalem, Samaria, and then among the Gentiles. For Paul, the testimony of God’s approval these signs gave was important to convince people that the mission to the Gentiles was indeed valid, and of God. But Paul’s main point here is that all these aspects of his ministry–words, works, signs, and wonders–were all by the power of the Spirit, and were not done in his own strength.

We’ll finish the rest of the verse and continue on from there next time.