Rom 15 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Rom 15:1-4: 15:1-4 We who are strong: Paul aligns himself with those he identifies as strong in faith, and he reveals that the division in the Roman church was not simply between Jews and Gentiles. Like Paul, some Jews had enlightened consciences and so were counted among the strong. Similarly, some Gentiles were so strongly influenced by Jewish teaching and tradition that they were among the weak in faith. • must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this: This phrase is reminiscent of Gal 6:2 . Paul did not want the strong to simply put up with those who were weak in faith; rather the strong were to actively and sympathetically assist the weak in living out their Christian faith with integrity (see also Gal 5:13-15 ).

Summary for Rom 15:1-4: 15:1-4 ^a We who are strong: Paul aligns himself with those he identifies as strong in faith, and he reveals that the division in the Roman church was not simply between Jews and Gentiles. Like Paul, some Jews had enlightened consciences and so were counted among the strong. Similarly, some Gentiles were so strongly influenced by Jewish teaching and tradition that they were among the weak in faith.

• must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this: This phrase is reminiscent of Gal 6:2 ^b. Paul did not want the strong to simply put up with those who were weak in faith; rather the strong were to actively and sympathetically assist the weak in living out their Christian faith with integrity (see also Gal 5:13-15 ^c).
15:2 ^d others (literally the neighbor): See Lev 19:18 ^e, quoted in Rom 13:9 ^f. Love for others should govern the conduct of people who are strong in faith.
15:3 ^g This quotation is from Ps 69:9 ^h.

• A number of passages in the New Testament use Psalm 69 ⁱ to describe Jesus’ suffering (Matt 27:34 ^j; Mark 15:35-36 ^k; Luke 23:36 ^l; John 15:25 ^m; 19:28-29 ⁿ). Paul’s quotation of just a small portion of that psalm evokes the whole experience of Jesus’ suffering.
15:4 ^o Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us: All that God caused to be recorded in the Old Testament has supreme relevance to believers, who experience the fulfillment of God’s plan.
Summary for Rom 15:5-6: 15:5-6 ^p live in complete harmony: This phrase (see study note on 12:16) refers to the whole orientation of how someone thinks. A mindset of harmony is important for Christian unity (see 12:3-5 ^q, 16 ^r; Phil 2:2-5 ^s).
15:7 ^t To accept each other means more than grudgingly putting up with each other. We are to welcome other believers, with all their flaws and sins, into our fellowship and treat them as family (see study note on 12:10), just as Christ has accepted us, with all our flaws and sins, into his fellowship and family (5:8-11 ^u).
Summary for Rom 15:8-9: 15:8-9 ^v Through Christ, God made it possible for Jews and Gentiles to join together to give glory to him in the new covenant people of God (see chs 9–11 ^w). The issue of Jewish–Gentile relationships was fundamental to the dispute in the Roman church (14:1–15:7 ^x).
Summary for Rom 15:9-12: 15:9-12 ^y These quotations from the Old Testament all emphasize God’s promise that Gentiles would join with Jews in praising God. Gentiles are now full members of God’s people.
Summary for Rom 15:14-16:27: 15:14–16:27 ^z This final section contains elements common at the end of New Testament letters: a discussion of travel plans (15:14-29 ^aa), requests for prayer (15:30-33 ^ab), references to ministry associates (16:1-2 ^ac, 21-23 ^ad), greetings (16:3-16 ^ae), and a doxology (16:25-27 ^af). Only the warning about false teachers (16:17-19 ^ag) is a non-standard feature in this conclusion. 15:14 ^ah You know these things so well: Paul praises the Roman Christians, as he had in the opening of the letter (see 1:8-12 ^ai), demonstrating a gracious manner toward a church he had neither founded nor visited.
Summary for Rom 15:15-16: 15:15-16 ^aj by God’s grace: Paul emphasized that his role as apostle and teacher was because God had chosen him to lead in the formation of the Christian church (see also 1:5 ^ak; 12:3 ^al; 1 Cor 3:10 ^am; Gal 2:9 ^an; Eph 3:2 ^ao, 7 ^ap, 8 ^aq).
15:16 ^ar special messenger: The Greek word (leitourgos, “servant” or “minister”) could refer to almost any kind of servant, but Jews often applied the word to priests. Paul probably chose this word to emphasize the priestly nature of his ministry.

• to you Gentiles: Paul stresses the Gentile flavor of the church in Rome (see also 1:6-7 ^as). This does not mean that there were no Jews in the church (see 16:3-16 ^at), but Gentiles had become the majority.

• present you as an acceptable offering to God: Paul was fulfilling Isa 66:19-20 ^au.
15:19 ^av I have fully presented the Good News of Christ: Paul was not claiming that the work of evangelism had been completed in these regions. His point was that churches had been planted in enough major population centers so that those churches could carry on the work of evangelism themselves. Paul’s own distinctive ministry of planting foundational and strategic churches had been fulfilled.

• An arc drawn from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum would include the areas where Paul had planted churches (southern Galatia, Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Greece). Illyricum was a Roman province that occupied most of the coastlands northeast of Italy along the Adriatic Sea, from modern-day Albania to Croatia.
15:24 ^aw I am planning to go to Spain: In Paul’s day, “Spain” included the entire Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal). Parts of the peninsula had been occupied by the Romans since 200 BC, but only within Paul’s lifetime had the area been organized into a Roman province. Paul saw Spain, at the far end of the Mediterranean, as his final target in fulfilling the promise of Isa 66:19-20 ^ax.

• you can provide for my journey: Spain was so far from Paul’s previous sending church, Antioch in Syria, that he hoped the Roman church could serve as the logistical base for this future evangelistic effort.
Summary for Rom 15:25-28: 15:25-28 ^ay I must go to Jerusalem to take a gift to the believers there: During his third missionary journey, Paul collected donations from the Gentile churches to help the believers in Jerusalem and to draw the two wings of the first-century church closer together (see also 1 Cor 16:1-2 ^az; 2 Cor 8–9 ^ba).
15:26 ^bb Paul founded churches in several prominent cities in Macedonia, including Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. In Achaia, Paul had preached in Athens and founded the church in Corinth (see Acts 16–18 ^bc).

• the poor among the believers in Jerusalem: Jewish Christians in Jerusalem were suffering from famines that had hit the area (see Acts 11:27-30 ^bd) and also because their faith in Christ caused them to be ostracized from Jewish society.
15:27 ^be they owe a real debt: Gentile Christians owe their spiritual existence to God’s work among the Israelites (see 11:17-24 ^bf).
15:31 ^bg Pray that I will be rescued from those in Judea who refuse to obey God: See Acts 21–22 ^bh. God preserved Paul’s life and used the circumstances of his arrest in Jerusalem to take him precisely where he planned to go—Rome.
15:33 ^bi Some manuscripts do not include Amen. One very early manuscript places the doxology (16:25-27 ^bj) here. This has led some scholars to conclude that the original letter to the Romans consisted of only 1:1–15:33 ^bk, but few now follow this theory. The best early manuscripts place the doxology at the end of ch 16 ^bl, and the whole of ch 16 ^bm was most likely part of Paul’s original letter to the Romans. See also study note on 16:1-16.