Romans – A Treatise
Chapter Fifteen
PAUL – THE PIONEER
Scripture Reading: verses 17-25
I HAVE THEREFORE WHEREOF I MAY GLORY THROUGH JESUS CHRIST IN THOSE THINGS WHICH PERTAIN TO GOD. FOR I WILL NOT DARE TO SPEAK OF ANY OF THOSE THINGS WHICH CHRIST HATH NOT WROUGHT BY ME, TO MAKE THE GENTILES OBEDIENT, BY WORD AND DEED, THROUGH MIGHTY SIGNS AND WONDERS, BY THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD; SO THAT FROM JERUSALEM, AND ROUND ABOUT UNTO ILLYRICUM, I HAVE FULLY PREACHERD THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. YEA, SO HAVE I STRIVED TO PREACH THE GOSPEL, NOT WHERE CHRIST WAS NAMED, LEST I SHOULD BUILD UPON ANOTHER MAN’S FOUNDATION: BUT AS IT IS WRITTEN, TO WHOM HE WAS NOT SPOKEN OF, THEY SHALL SEE: AND THEY THAT HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND. FOR WHICH CAUSE ALSO I HAVE BEEN MUCH HINDERED FROM COMING TO YOU. BUT NOW HAVING NO MORE PLACE IN THESE PARTS, AND HAVING A GREAT DESIRE THESE MANY YEARS TO COME UNTO YOU; WHENSOEVER I TAKE MY JOURNEY INTO SPAIN, I WILL COME TO YOU: FOR I TRUST TO SEE YOU IN MY JOURNEY, AND TO BE BROUGHT ON MY WAY THITHERWARD BY YOU, IF FIRST I BE SOMEWHAT FILLED WITH YOUR COMPANY. BUT NOW I GO UNTO JERUSALEM TO MINISTER ONTO THE SAINTS. FOR IT HATH BEEN THE GOOD PLEASURE OF MACEDONIA AND ACHAIA TO MAKE A CERTAIN CONTRIBUTION FOR THE POOR AMONG THE SAINTS THAT ARE AT JERUSALEM.
This long passage sets forth the confirmation of Paul’s great commission – carry the Gospel to the Gentile nations. Although Paul is still attorney for the defense, maintaining the righteousness of God in showing mercy to the sinner, he is not forgetful that he is a beloved brother in the family of God, and the saints of God are bound to him by eternal ties of Christian affection. However, he must unequivocally state that he has a definite commission from the Lord to preach the Gospel among the nations, and it is in connection with that commission that he has uphelded the honor of the court in its right to show sovereign mercy. Therefore, in those things pertaining to God he speaks of having somewhat to glory in, through Jesus Christ.Then, lest he might be accused of boastfulness, he indicates in verse 18 that he dare not speak of any of those things “which Christ hath not wrought by me to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed.” Paul is always careful to avoid any implication that would make him the head of a church or the head of any kind of system. He points out he is but one of God’s many servants, and he will not glory in what God has accomplished through other men. However, neither is he diffident to maintain that God has substantiated his right to present the Gospel to the Gentiles, because that Gospel has gone forth with ample demonstration of the Holy Spirit. He says in verse 19, “Through many signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”
“Through many signs and wonders.” This is a reference, strangely impressive by its passingness, to the exercise of miracle-working gifts by the writer. This man, so strong in thought, so practical in counsel, so extremely unlikely to have been under an illusion about a large factor in adult and intensely conscious experience, speaks directly from himself about his wonder-works. And the allusion, thus dropped by the way and left behind, is itself an evidence to the perfect mental balance of the witness. This was no enthusiast, intoxicated with ambitious spiritual visions, but a man put in trust with a mysterious yet sober treasure.
Paul mentions that he preached around and about Illyricum. This province, under Rome, was part of Macedonia, but it cannot be certain that Paul preached there. He could have done so on the trip mentioned in Acts 20:1; but the book of Acts makes no positive mention of it. In other words, his preaching was not in any limited field, but far and wide in that great curve of the earth which begins at Jerusalem in the east and ends at Illyricum in the west.
“I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” This may be taken to mean that Paul had declared the full counsel of God, that his preaching had thoroughly covered the great area he had mentioned, and that the full charge of his energies had been utilized in its accomplishment.
Consider carefully the expression in verse 19, “the power of the Spirit of God.” In these days of spiritual weakness we are prone to forget that the energy of God’s Spirit is still almighty. The reason we have so little evidence of it today is that there are so few human vessels willing to be led and guided by the Holy Spirit. We have fallen into lethargy and Satan is fast breaking down the ramparts of our faith. Let us not forget, there is still the almighty power of the Holy Spirit. It is that same power that raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. And if we should go into the grave before the Lord Jesus comes, it is the power that will raise up our bodies from the tomb. “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world” is said concerning the Holy Spirit.
Let us not confuse the power and energy of the Holy Spirit with imitations of supernatural phenomena in evidence in some circles today. The power of the Holy Spirit is always exerted along lines of definite purpose. The Holy Spirit does not display His power merely for a show or demonstration. His one great objective is the glory of the Name of Christ. Concerning the Holy Spirit, when He gave the promise of His coming, the Lord Jesus said, “He shall glorify Me.” The great test to know whether anything is the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s work is to find out if that particular operation makes the Name of the Lord Jesus more glorious.
It is not sufficient to say it makes us feel good, or a great sense of holiness came over us, or we went off into a trance and found it was exceedingly pleasant. These are not the tests. The test, relative to trying the spirits to see if they are of God or not, is given to us in John’s Epistle. If there is a confession of Jesus Christ come in flesh – that is, if the Lord Jesus Christ personally is confessed and glorified by some particular demonstration, then we may be sure it is of the Holy Spirit. There is a great deal of the energy of evil spirits today and these are being propounded in imitations of the works of the Spirit of God. Remember that Satan himself is the great deceiver and he comes forth as “an angel of light.”
In all the confusion of our present religious age let us not forget that the power of the Holy Spirit is superior to any power in the world.
Then, in the few verses following, Paul goes proceeds to glory in the fact that he carried the Gospel where the name of Christ was never known. To be permitted to carry the light of the Gospel into the dark regions where it has never gone before is perhaps the greatest honor to any Christian. There is plenty of opportunity for that today, and we have no doubt God will, in His own peculiar way, honor those who have given up home and the comforts of civilization to go into the far regions of earth, carrying the torch of the glad tidings of Christ to dispel darkness.
Notice the touch of verse 20, where Paul says, “lest I should build upon another man’s foundation.” This is a further point in Paul’s legitimate recommendation of himself to the church in Rome, namely, that he had not preached in those areas where others had already preached the Gospel, but had sought out the places where the truth had not been taught. Paul had deliberately undertaken to proclaim the Gospel of Christ to the entire world which he knew, evidently believing that every city on earth should hear the Gospel once before any should hear it repeated. Paul’s plan of preaching only to those who had “not heard” was justified by his appeal to Isaiah 52:15, where the glory of the Messiah’s extended kingdom was that prophet’s theme. This was a wise plan; and, had Paul’s example been followed what needless overlapping of missionary effort might have been avoided. Sectarianism has caused and committed this sin, and it has been especially reprehensible where it has been done to foster points of difference that are matters of indifference as it is where various factions of religions begun by men compete in the same field.
The manner in which Isaiah’s prophecy was fitted to Paul’s purpose for quoting it can be explained in this way: Till the gospel was preached to them no tidings came to the Gentiles. Paul was sent to open the eyes of the Gentiles to turn them from darkness to light, that they might see (Acts 26:14-20). Hence, those who had never heard were made to understand.
We are living in an age of imitators, and no sooner does a servant of Christ meet with success in some field of labor until others rush in so they might gain some of the credit for whatever might be accomplished. Originality is a rare grace among Christians. It is rare because most of us avoid having direct dealings with the Lord in relation to whatever task we undertake. “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word.” That is the kind of man who is original in his work for God in a needy world.
“I have been much hindered from coming to you.” Paul’s apology for not already having fulfilled his purpose of visiting Rome includes the fact that he had been in the business of preaching the Gospel to people who had not heard it; and, of course, Rome had heard it, as evidenced by the company of true believers to whom this epistle was directed. And, moreover, even the visit projected at that late date had as its major purpose the gathering of support for the planned mission to Spain; although, to be sure, Paul welcomed the opportunity to preach in Rome and visit with the disciples there.
“But now having no more place in these parts.” This does not mean that Paul was no more welcomed to preach in the great theater of his long and triumphal labors in the Gospel, but that, under the rules Paul had laid down for himself relative to preaching the Gospel only where it was not already known, he had used up the opportunities of the kind he sought. Therefore, he had projected the mission to Spain, including Rome as a necessary way-station, where he planned to request their aid and assistance. Paul’s remark here shows how widely the Gospel had been diffused throughout the earth at that time, the marvel being that only a little more than a generation had elapsed since Pentecost. Paul could look at a map of Europe with the conviction that there was not a virgin field left in it, except for Spain.
Did Paul ever go to Spain? Actually, none can say that he did; although it is allowed that he might have done so. However, whether Paul ever accomplished his purpose of rising Spain, is a matter of doubt. There is no historical record either in the New Testament or in the early ecclesiastical writers that he did so; though most of those writers seem to have taken it for granted. His whole plan was probably deranged by occurrences in Jerusalem, which led to his long imprisonment in Caesarea and being sent in bonds to Rome.
“But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.” Paul could not, even at that time, go on to Rome, for he was committed to the task of delivering the funds which he had helped to raise for the poor saints in Jerusalem. Many commentators have expressed surprise, and even such a thing as disapproval, of Paul’s interruption of his great ministry to raise money, take up collections, and personally deliver the funds to the poor in Jerusalem. However, it may surprise us that Paul would have interrupted his primary apostolic function for what is apparently secondary and concerned with material things. We think so only when we overlook the dignity of the work of mercy.
This noble concern for the poor on the part of Paul was not an occasional or expedient thing with him at all. On the occasion of that confrontation in Jerusalem with Peter, James, and John, the harmonious communique which closed the disputation was summed up thus by Paul: “They gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision; only they would that we should remember the poor; which very thing I was also zealous to do” (Gal. 2:9,10).
An implied disapproval of Paul’s fund-raising is in this: “There is a note of pathos in the fact that this apostle who proclaimed so eloquently God’s acceptance apart from works should seek to secure his own place among the Jerusalem Christians with his collection for the poor.”1
In such a remark as that just quoted, two things of challenge our attention. Paul did not preach acceptance “apart from works’ but apart from “works of the law of Moses” and “circumcision,” Paul’s position being exactly that of James, i.e., “obedience of faith” is always required. Moreover, there is no cause for viewing Paul’s fund-raising for the poor as “pathetic.” It was not a mere strategy of Paul’s to try and win favor in Jerusalem. He accepted the mission of aiding the poor in that city on the basis that the Gentiles “owed” it to them (Rom. 15:2); and undertaking the personal delivery of that bounty was in order that he might seal “this fruit” to the credit of them that had given it.
Paul had long advocated, encouraged, and promoted the collection for the poverty-ridden Christians in the great Jewish capital, finally delivering the money himself; and it would be impossible to find a nobler example of the Scriptural status of a man who raises money for worthy ends than the one given here. Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ, perhaps the greatest preacher ever to set foot on earth; and he was not above the prosaic business of asking the brethren for money, not for himself, but for others. Ministers of the Gospel who are loathe to touch such a thing as fund-raising forfeit all resemblance to the greatest apostle and preacher of them all.
“For it hath been the good pleasure of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints that are at Jerusalem.” This identifies the object of Christian charity from the viewpoint of apostolic Christianity. It was not the “poor in Jerusalem” but “the poor saints in Jerusalem” who were the objects of this charity, reminding one of the words of Jesus regarding “these my brethren” (Matt. 25:40), such words are limiting the obligation of the church, at least in some degree, to the poor Christians, and not to the poor generally.
Admittedly, where there is ability and opportunity to aid the alien poor, it may indeed be a righteous and effective work; but, as regards the obligation, that begins with the household of God. The Gentile Christians of the ancient Roman Empire were not laid under tribute for the purpose of helping to support the relief load in the city of secular Jerusalem; and, likewise, the church of the present time should plan some nobler work than that of merely carrying the bed-pan for a sick society, a role to which some sociologists would restrict the holy mission of the church.
In regard to the suggestion, already noted, that Paul was in any sense acting out of harmony with his doctrine of justification in the sight of God, apart from works, by his long and difficult fund-raising efforts for the Christian poor of Jerusalem, it must be said that Paul’s diligence in the discharge of such a Christian work, even though it seriously interfered for a time with his missionary journeys, demonstrates in the most dramatic manner possible that “faith” in Paul’s usage of it was impossible of standing “alone,” but required the type of obedience which alone could validate it as a saving experience. It was precisely for this reason that “obedience of faith” was made by Paul to be both the beginning of this epistle (Rom. 1:5), and the validating seal upon its conclusion (Rom. 16:26).
Paul ends by expressing deep desire to see his brethren at Rome, a desire which was fulfilled under circumstances that at this time must have been totally unknown to the great apostle. His kindly affection toward his brethren is again characteristic of the great man, the great Christian, Paul – champion of the faith.
