28 - Paul’s Preaching, Plan And Plea For Prayer Series

Romans 15:14-16

14 Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. 15 Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, 16 that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

After pronouncing a blessing of peace, joy and hope on his readers in the previous verse, Paul goes on to tell them that he is confident about a few things concerning them. Perhaps he has heard about their faith, and is therefore so confident about these things pertaining to them. He’s confident that they are full of goodness – there’s nothing bad about the way they live their lives; they are filled with knowledge, perhaps about God, and His word, they are able to admonish one another – something that’s so badly needed in The Church today. We need to be able to help admonish one another in love, and not ignore the problems and issues we see that our fellow-believers face. But though he was confident about them in these things, he still had to boldly address, certain issues pertaining to preference for days and foods, and that they be concerned for one another. He had to write about these things because he was given this special gift of serving them from God Himself.

By fulfilling the calling of God on his life, he was also fulfilling his role as a minister (servant) of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. So in other words, he was chosen by God to serve Jesus as he ministered to the Gentiles. He was ministering the gospel (good news) of God to them. The reason he was serving the Gentiles was so that their lives would become an offering to God, that would be acceptable and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. We can’t offer (present) just about any gift to God – it needs to be acceptable ,and sanctified (holy). He’s talking about offering their lives as living sacrifices to God, which was what he also referred to earlier in Chapter 12 and verse 1, where he said, “ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” It’s the Holy Spirit that can bring about this sanctification (the process of becoming holy in the way we live our lives). It’s only as we strive to listen to, and obey the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and not be led by the flesh, that He is able to work in us this sanctification.

Romans 15:17-21

17 Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God. 18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient— 19 in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20 And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation, 21 but as it is written: “To whom He was not announced, they shall see; and those who have not heard shall understand.”

Paul then says that he has reasons to boast about Christ in matters pertaining to God. Before he came to know Christ personally, he rejected Christ, but now he boasts about Christ, because he has come to know that without Christ, there could be no relationship with God. Christ is the door into this relationship.

He goes on to say that he doesn’t want to go into detail to talk about the things that God has accomplished through him, both in word and deed in his ministry to the Gentiles. He seems to be saying that that the Lord, through the power of the Holy Spirit, used him powerfully to share God’s word, which was followed by signs and wonders, that served to authenticate his message, as he reached out to the Gentiles, all the way from Jerusalem to Illyricum, where he had fully preached the gospel and helped them come to obedience to the faith in the Gospel of Jesus.

He adds that he made it a point to share the gospel only in places where the Gospel was not already preached, lest he build on someone else’s foundation. By this he means, that whoever shares the Gospel with somebody, should also be involved in building up those who come to faith in Jesus – that’s discipleship. He didn’t want to go and build on somebody else’s work. He then goes on to quote from Isaiah 52:15, where it says, “To whom He was not announced, they shall see; and those who have not heard, shall understand.” This is another reference to the fact that the Old Testament did talk about the Gentiles being saved. The Gentiles had not heard about the invitation to come to faith in God until Jesus came into the world (though it was always part of God’s plan to include them). But despite that, they also ‘saw’ the truth, and though they had not earlier heard about it, they understood it when they heard it.