Rom 15:14-29 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Rom 15:14-16:27: 15:14–16:27 This final section contains elements common at the end of New Testament letters: a discussion of travel plans (15:14-29 ), requests for prayer (15:30-33 ), references to ministry associates (16:1-2 , 21-23 ), greetings (16:3-16 ), and a doxology (16:25-27 ). Only the warning about false teachers (16:17-19 ) is a non-standard feature in this conclusion. 15:14 You know these things so well: Paul praises the Roman Christians, as he had in the opening of the letter (see 1:8-12 ), demonstrating a gracious manner toward a church he had neither founded nor visited.

Summary for Rom 15:14-16:27: 15:14–16:27 ^a This final section contains elements common at the end of New Testament letters: a discussion of travel plans (15:14-29 ^b), requests for prayer (15:30-33 ^c), references to ministry associates (16:1-2 ^d, 21-23 ^e), greetings (16:3-16 ^f), and a doxology (16:25-27 ^g). Only the warning about false teachers (16:17-19 ^h) is a non-standard feature in this conclusion. 15:14 ⁱ You know these things so well: Paul praises the Roman Christians, as he had in the opening of the letter (see 1:8-12 ^j), demonstrating a gracious manner toward a church he had neither founded nor visited.
Summary for Rom 15:15-16: 15:15-16 ^k 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 ^l; 12:3 ^m; 1 Cor 3:10 ⁿ; Gal 2:9 ^o; Eph 3:2 ^p, 7 ^q, 8 ^r).
15:16 ^s 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 ^t). This does not mean that there were no Jews in the church (see 16:3-16 ^u), but Gentiles had become the majority.

• present you as an acceptable offering to God: Paul was fulfilling Isa 66:19-20 ^v.
15:19 ^w 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 ^x 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 ^y.

• 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 ^z 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 ^aa; 2 Cor 8–9 ^ab).
15:26 ^ac 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 ^ad).

• 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 ^ae) and also because their faith in Christ caused them to be ostracized from Jewish society.
15:27 ^af they owe a real debt: Gentile Christians owe their spiritual existence to God’s work among the Israelites (see 11:17-24 ^ag).