Rom. 15:30-33 - Strive with Me

30 Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,
31 that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints;
32 so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company.
33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Pray for Me. Pray With Me.

V. 30 - “strive together with me in your prayers to God for me“ - Not asking for prayer telegrams. He asking for a dedicated commitment of prayer. Founded in the power of Jesus, and fueled by the Holy Spirit - prayer that lifts Paul and encourages him.

V. 31 - “I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea” - Ironic isn’t it - the Christian church (Side note: don’t know if synagogues were ever called ‘churches’, nor if any pagan religion has groups of believers called churches) was started in Jerusalem, and the epicenter of hatred against the church of a Jesus Christ was also Jerusalem. Paul knew he was going to the worst possible place for him to be. The Jewish high priests and leaders must have felt betrayed, that Paul was a traitor. They must have felt scorned, and they were seeking revenge.

“my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints” - Paul, risking his life to bring alms to the believers in Jerusalem - how could that not be acceptable?

V. 32 - “I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest“ - Just get through this one task, then he could come to Rome. He would be refreshed by their faith and joy in Christ. What a blessing they would be to him. Paul has been on the road for about 25 years, preaching the gospel, building up the faithful, and dodging ‘bullets’.

V. 33 - “Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.” - I suspect this verse should have been included in chapter 16 (see note 1). This blessing fits nicely with the greetings and acknowledgements making up most of chapter 16.

Note 1: Chapter numbers/divisions were identified in the 1200s AD. Verse numbers came about 1555 AD.

End of Chapter Romans 15:1-33 (NASB)

Rom. 15:22-29 - Paul’s journey

22 For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you;
23 but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you
24 whenever I go to Spain--for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while--
25 but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints.
26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
27 Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.
28 Therefore, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain.
29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

I Am Finally Getting to Come to You!

V. 22 - “For this reason” - Paul was ‘driven’ to spread the gospel to places and people who had not heard. He wanted to revisit Philippi, but was compelled to go to other places.

V. 23 - “with no further place for me in these regions” - Paul believes the gospel message has been shared, through his ministry and of others, throughout the area. He is looking for new places to evangelize (See below). Paul was a traveling evangelist. Sometimes he stayed in one place for a while to build up the believers so the local church would be strong, and he used that church as a hub to spread the gospel throughout a region.

“I have had for many years a longing to come to you” - He’s been constantly on the move, but still wants to come see them and find out first hand how they are growing in Christ. Paul had not been to Rome, nor started a church there. Perhaps the church was started by people converted around the day of Pentecost, when so many believers were joined to the body of Christ. I am sure Paul wanted to come to Rome to see this church in the center of the Roman empire. He knew the influence of this church would be massive, since it could spread from the capital of the empire to the outer edges - basically the whole known western civilization.

Some commentaries say that Paul was not writing a systematic theology treatise, yet they recognize the foundational principles of our faith are found here in this letter.

V. 24 - “whenever I go to Spain” - His next adventure for Christ. Rome was to be a stop-over on his way to Spain. There is no record in Acts or Paul’s letters of him being directed to go to Spain. Paul was told by the Lord to go to Rome (Acts 24:11). (See note 1)

“to see you... to be helped on my way... to enjoy your company” - As he passes through Rome on the way to Spain, he wants to visit with them, spend some time with them, and get some help from them to be able to complete his missionary journey. I think Paul is very interested in this church since it was started without apostolic imprimatur. And perhaps that is why Paul wrote this detailed instructive letter - in order to build them up in the faith.

V. 25-26 - “I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints” - But first Paul wants to go to Jerusalem, carrying gifts from churches to Jerusalem. The believers in Jerusalem were suffering, either from natural causes (famine, etc.), or from persecution. In any case, churches in Macedonia, Galatia, and Eur-Asia were sending help via Paul and his fellow workers. (Achaia is the part of Greece which has Corinth, Athens and Sparta.)

V. 27 - “they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them” - The far flung churches, hundreds of miles from Jerusalem, are pleased to help the brethren in Jerusalem.

How are the Gentile churches indebted to the Jerusalem churches? The Jerusalem church sent apostles and missionaries to spread the Good News! To make it personal: we are thankful and grateful that some people who don’t know us or know anything about us will care enough to about us to send a messenger with the Gospel. We gain eternal life because someone care enough to send a messenger!

“the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things” - They have shared the Good News of eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ.

“indebted to minister to them also in material things” - In return for the generosity in sharing Jesus with the Gentiles, the Gentiles will share some of their wealth and physical goods.

V. 28 - “I have finished this... I will go on by way of you to Spain.” - After the offerings are delivered to Jerusalem, and the church there knows the Gentile churches care about them, he will stop in Rome as he passes through. We know from the account in Acts that Paul never got beyond Rome. In fact his trip to Rome was not exactly voluntary.

V. 29 - “I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.” - Even though Paul’s trip to Rome was not what, nor the way, he had planned.

*** Note 1: This letter was written in Corinth. Paul was there about three months. (On Paul’s third missionary journey - re-visiting some of the cities of the second missionary journey - see: Acts 20:1-2) He had not yet been instructed by the Lord about going to Rome. On the way from Greece to Jerusalem, to take some offerings to the church there, Paul tells the Roman soldiers and governors that he, Paul, was a Roman citizen. This simple statement, “I am a Roman citizen,” changed the demeanor of the governors and Roman commanders. All of a sudden, he was no longer someone they could beat and imprison as they wished. There was immediate deference to Paul as a Roman citizen. The Roman commander provided 270 soldiers to escort Paul to safety, on his way to Rome.
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Rom. 15:17-21 - Paul’s ministry

17 Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. 
18 For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed,
19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
20 And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man's foundation;
21 but as it is written, "THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND."

Aspiring to Preach the Gospel

V. 17 - “I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God” - It is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.
Not boasting about his education, or his zeal, or the superiority of Jewish worship, sacrifices, tabernacles or temples, but that salvation is in Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ alone. It is He who saves us, and not we ourselves. (See: 2 Cor 3:5, 4:7)

V. 18 - “For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me” This reminds me of the verse in Jeremiah, “The LORD says, ‘Wise people should not boast that they are wise. Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful. Rich people should not boast that they are rich. If people want to boast, they should boast about this: They should boast that they understand and know me. They should boast that they know and understand that I, the LORD, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth and that I desire people to do these things,’ says the LORD.” (Jer 9:23-24)
Paul is boasting, “Christ did this!”

“the obedience of the Gentiles” - The result was Gentiles came to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Jesus called them. They responded. The obedience was not pertaining to rules and rituals, but to accepting and believing. See: John 6:28-29: “Therefore they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’ “

V. 19 - ‘In the power of the Holy Spirit” - Not by Paul’s power, but by Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, with manifestations and signs which reinforced the actions of the Lord, and seen by others, accepted as proof their lives were changed.

“Jerusalem... as far as Illyicum” - (Illyricum - an area east of the Adriatic Sea, the sea east of the Italian ‘boot’ between the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea.) Paul’s ministry did not start in Jerusalem. He first spread the Gospel in Damascus. He travelled to Jerusalem to meet with the Church leaders there. (Acts 9:20-25) He and Barnabas went to Tarsus and Antioch (Acts 11:19-26). It was there that believers were first called "Christians!" They returned to Jerusalem to make the case for evangelism to the Gentiles, and were sent out with blessings from the leaders of the Jerusalem church. (Acts 15:1-35)

V. 20 - “I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named” - Paul was always seeking new territories in which to preach Jesus Christ. He was not here on earth to pirate believers from other evangelists. His goal was to witness to those who had never heard of Jesus. He wanted to reach as many people as possible.

V. 21 - “but as it is written” - A quote from Isa 52:15, which is a Messianic prophecy stating that finally, as mankind is totally amazed at what they hear and see, they will begin to understand what God has done for them. Many nations will hear, Gentiles and Jews, will hear the Gospel. People will be gobsmacked. Their jaws will drop, and then snap closed, silenced in total awe of what has happened.
They have never heard of anything so amazing as Christ’s resurrection.
They have been astounded beyond understanding that God would die for our sin.
And then understanding will dawn. They will see! They will understand! To God be the glory!

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