-18-
In Conclusion
Romans 15
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. 1-4
The opening verses of this chapter are actually closing verses of chapter 14 and they serve as a connecting thought to what Paul is now going to say.
Paul has covered these concepts:
And we noted in the previous chapter, beliefs concerning the gospel of salvation are not debatable. There is one true gospel to which we all hold. Paul says if anyone should come along with a different gospel, let him be accursed. There is only ONE door to heaven, and that is Jesus. Anyone who teaches that Jesus is only one door of many, is preaching another gospel entirely.
Martin Luther left the Catholic church because of their false teaching regarding the gospel. He recognized that the Catholic church was not teaching salvation by grace, but salvation by works. The people of the Catholic church also had beliefs. They believe that Jesus is God, that He was born of a virgin – miraculously. They believe in God the almighty creator. So what is wrong with their gospel?
Martin Luther said that, in spite of all their right beliefs, they thought they could perform works worthy enough of entering heaven. He pointed out that the scripture is clear that Jesus paid it all and any work we think we need to do toward our salvation is a slap in Jesus' face. We insult God to the highest degree when we come up with the idea we are somehow meriting (earning) salvation.
When we understand this, we will also realize that all of us are on the same level. We were all without hope. We all have sinned. We all need salvation. And Jesus paid it all and by His love and mercy He has saved those who have thrown themselves onto His mercy alone, for salvation.
Verse 2 says that we need to 'please our neighbor'. Even though one of the commandments says that we must love our neighbor as our-self …. in this context 'neighbor' means fellow church member, or brother and sister in Christ. The context clearly has been church family and I don't think Paul is changing the subject to suddenly be talking about our neighborhood. Yes, we need to love those of our neighborhood … but Paul is really focusing on unity in 'the brotherhood' of the church.
Following Paul's instructions regarding how we deal with differences in the body .. could take 'endurance' and Paul knows that … so he breathes this prayer for them and for us.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 5-6
Christ endured a lot … and He still does. He puts up with every one of us. Do we believe anything 'incorrectly' from His standpoint? Of course we do. And yet he encourages us and builds us up. He is our model.
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.” 7-9
The church in Rome was made up of two basic types of people:
So perhaps you can see the potential for a big problem. The Jews (now believers in Jesus) could bring with them an attitude of superiority over the Gentiles. They could boast about knowing their bibles better than these ignorant gentile Christians. And even worse than that, back when they were still Jewish in their beliefs, they literally hated gentiles. They believed that they became 'unclean' in God's eyes if they so much as touched a gentile.
Now that they were in the same church, how long would it take for these old attitudes to die? Paul can't wait that long. These attitudes needed to die right away.
In the above verses you will observe that Paul mentions something about the Jews and he mentions something about gentiles. About the Jews Paul uses the words 'behalf of God's truth'. About the gentiles he says they will 'glorify God for His mercy. And this statement about the gentiles comes right out of the Jewish book of truth. So in the Jewish bible it says, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.”
The Jews, in their 'orthodox' religion, believed that they alone had the right to the bible. Only they had the right to praise Jehovah God. But Paul has to point out to these new Jewish Christians, that even their Jewish bibles included gentiles in worship. In other words, the entire time that the Jews functioned as God's special people in the old testament, they were supposed to have been aware that God wanted to include gentiles in worship. The Jews of the old testament were wrong to have thought that only Jews could worship God.
Paul wants this attitude out of the church ...now! He says it never should have been in there to begin with – and he gives them old Testament bible truth to prove it. They are now living in the new testament era, and yet Paul sees that they have brought with them this air of superiority.
To combat this attitude Paul has (in the previous chapter) called the Jews 'weak' because they held certain days in high esteem and because they thought it to be sinful to eat meat (pork and other unclean meats). So he called them weak. Here he calls them biblically ignorant regarding whether or not gentiles should be allowed to worship God. Weak and ignorant.
Paul gives more verses to convince the former Jews to accept (even welcome) gentiles … as EQUALS. 9-12
Again, it says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with His people.” Paul is quoting Deuteronomy 32:43.
And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol Him.” Here Paul quotes Psalm 117:1
And again, Isaiah ( 11:10) says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in Him the Gentiles will hope.”
These would be verses that the gentiles in the church would receive with joy.
We too, in our present day, have come into the church with various 'ideas'. It doesn't matter where we got them from. What matters is unity in the body of believers. In the previous chapter Paul talked about dealing with differences. The simple instructions are: When you realize that you believe something a little different than what you are hearing from other Christians … go back and study the scripture to make sure of what it really teaches. Change your mind, if necessary, and accept what you see the bible really says. Be convinced in your own mind that you are right. Then keep it to yourself. Wait for those other believers who believe differently than you do … to come around on their own when they study it out. In the meanwhile, don't shun them because they are different. Make an effort to get together and fellowship with them and show genuine acceptance.
Now, while you are doing all that … Paul's prayer for them (us) is:
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And Paul gives a positive prediction: I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 14
Do you catch the wit in this verse? They are full of goodness. Full of knowledge … Able to teach. So why does Paul bother to write this book? He knows very well that these people need this instruction from him. But he is calling on their new Christian conscience. He is saying (in my view) 'Come on people … you know better, right? You can do this.'
Looking back over what Paul has written, from chapter one right up to this point … he says;
15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.
Yes, he was very bold. He addressed some of them as hypocrites in chapter 2 verse 1.
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
He very boldly suggests that some of them might not even be born-again Christians.
Ro 8:9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
He in fact is saying, 'I don't care what you claim. You say you accepted Jesus as your Saviour? If you are not demonstrating in your life that the Holy Spirit is in you …. you don't belong to Him. You are not saved! You are not a Christian. You are destined for Hell.' That is pretty bold.
8:13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die;” is a warning to those who think 'once saved-always saved.'
In chapter 13 Paul talks about obeying the government. Very boldly and directly he says, 'Pay your taxes. Obey the law. If you disobey, expect consequences'.
So we have covered the main portion of the book. Paul has talked about salvation. He has talked about unity in the church. Accepting and welcoming new people in spite of their differences in background and beliefs.
At this point Paul talks a little about himself.
He gives the reason for his boldness:
15- because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles
Paul had Jewish roots the same as the apostle Peter. Paul, however, had a hard time proving that he was apostle number 12, the replacement for Judas. As a result, he received a lot of criticism from certain Christian Jews. They denied that Paul was an apostle. When Paul would say, I am the apostle to the gentiles … imagine the derision from these ungracious Christian Jews. Maybe some of them even said … “Apostle to the gentiles? He can have it. Yuck!”
But Paul, in a Godly sense is proud to be a minister to the gentiles. Honored … because of Who asked him to begin with. He goes on ...
16-17 He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.
As Paul continues … he talks about his ministry without bragging:
18-19 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
What is the key phrase here? what Christ has accomplished through me. He gives all the credit to Christ.
This was Paul's ministry. It was his gift. When you, by virtue of the gift that you have, accomplish good things … make sure you give God the credit.
Next we discover something that has been on Paul's heart … all along. He has not told us this anywhere else in scripture.
20-21 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”
New frontiers. He saw himself as a church-planter. A pioneer. What a mission and what a challenge. Starting from the ground up, sharing a 'strange' gospel to heathen people, having them convert to Christ, and then teaching them enough scripture to have them carry on after he left. Even though he was a minister especially for the gentiles, no wonder he began by first going into Jewish synagogues to turn a few Jews into Christians. These Jewish Christians would have a great bible background and could teach these gentiles who had never read any scripture at all.
So, because he wanted to go where no other missionary had ever gone before he says,
22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you. In other words, “My job wasn't done. I had more virgin soil to cover”.
23 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain.
These are the words of a faithful servant. “I have run out of new places to go around here, so I am heading for Spain”
He is so sure of his plans that he says,
24 I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while.
His present plans are to leave from Corinth.
25 -27 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.
Here is a bit of a hint for the church in Rome. He says that the gentile churches have taken up an offering for the poor among the Lord’s people. Paul is saying “Take the hint … take an offering for me to get to Spain.”
Why are the Lord's people in Jerusalem poor? We are not told directly, but here are two suggestions. One: this is the church that started off by having thousands added right at the beginning and many of them were from out of town. The out-of-towners went back, sold their properties and settled in Jerusalem … just so that they could be part of the new church. Christians in Jerusalem who had any extra properties sold them as well. Everybody brought the money to the apostles. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time … to have all things in common. This would be much like the Hutterites today who do not have personal property. Everything belongs to everyone. This works for the Hutterites because they are farmers. This would not work for long for the Christians in Jerusalem. Many of them would be unemployed. Until the money ran out, everybody did fairly well.
And Two: Agabus, a person with the gift of prophecy, announced that there was coming a terrible famine in the land. And it happened.
I just thought of a third reason: Persecution came to the Jerusalem church and scattered Christians all over the place. These people would have no jobs – no income.
So Paul is bringing a cash offering to Jerusalem. As he makes his way to Israel, he will stop off at many key places and pick up the offering from that group. Paul had instructed all of them to have it ready when he got there so that he would not be held up waiting for them take up an offering.
28-29 So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.
That's the plan. Paul asks the Christians in Rome to pray toward this end.
30-32 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed.
God's plan was somewhat different from Paul's plan. That's the way it often is with us. We pray for God to bless our plan. I believe we need to spend time in prayer asking Him just what His plan for us is. He may reveal it or He may not. God wants us to walk by faith. And He wants us to walk seeking His plan for us. Not my will, Thine be done, prayed Jesus. Paul was warned not to go to Jerusalem. I supposed he listened to a point and then wondered … 'If I don't bring this offering, who will?' But I believe that, larger than that thought, was Paul hoping for a break-through with the unbelieving Jews of Jerusalem. He wanted some of the key Jewish leaders to become Christians. His hearts desire was for Israel, that they might be saved.
And so he continued on, even after the Holy Spirit said, “Don't go.” Ac 21:4 And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.
Paul did go to Rome. As far as we know, he never did go to Spain. Some have reasoned … if Paul had listened and had not gone to Rome, we would not have ever received the letters that he wrote from prison. True. But God would have had a plan to get the complete new Testament to us, one way or another.
But it is also wonderful to note that God has for us a plan. Or a plan B … or a C etc. Marvelous grace!
Paul closes this section:
33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
This sounds like an ending, a conclusion. And in most of Paul's writings … this would have been 'it'. But there is one more chapter. Paul's heart for 'real people' will be made transparently visible.
The opening verses of this chapter are actually closing verses of chapter 14 and they serve as a connecting thought to what Paul is now going to say.
Paul has covered these concepts:
- Differences in non-essential beliefs exist (will always exist) between believers.
- When your point of view on a subject differs from that of another believer, re-study your position, you may be wrong.
- Come to a conclusion regarding your belief of that topic.
- Keep it to yourself.
- Do not avoid those whose understanding of that topic differs from your own.
- Make every effort to be close to those who differ from you and 'build them up'. That is, encourage them. After all their goal is to please God, just as your goal is to please God. You will have many areas of agreement with them, so affirm them in areas of agreement.
And we noted in the previous chapter, beliefs concerning the gospel of salvation are not debatable. There is one true gospel to which we all hold. Paul says if anyone should come along with a different gospel, let him be accursed. There is only ONE door to heaven, and that is Jesus. Anyone who teaches that Jesus is only one door of many, is preaching another gospel entirely.
Martin Luther left the Catholic church because of their false teaching regarding the gospel. He recognized that the Catholic church was not teaching salvation by grace, but salvation by works. The people of the Catholic church also had beliefs. They believe that Jesus is God, that He was born of a virgin – miraculously. They believe in God the almighty creator. So what is wrong with their gospel?
Martin Luther said that, in spite of all their right beliefs, they thought they could perform works worthy enough of entering heaven. He pointed out that the scripture is clear that Jesus paid it all and any work we think we need to do toward our salvation is a slap in Jesus' face. We insult God to the highest degree when we come up with the idea we are somehow meriting (earning) salvation.
When we understand this, we will also realize that all of us are on the same level. We were all without hope. We all have sinned. We all need salvation. And Jesus paid it all and by His love and mercy He has saved those who have thrown themselves onto His mercy alone, for salvation.
Verse 2 says that we need to 'please our neighbor'. Even though one of the commandments says that we must love our neighbor as our-self …. in this context 'neighbor' means fellow church member, or brother and sister in Christ. The context clearly has been church family and I don't think Paul is changing the subject to suddenly be talking about our neighborhood. Yes, we need to love those of our neighborhood … but Paul is really focusing on unity in 'the brotherhood' of the church.
Following Paul's instructions regarding how we deal with differences in the body .. could take 'endurance' and Paul knows that … so he breathes this prayer for them and for us.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 5-6
Christ endured a lot … and He still does. He puts up with every one of us. Do we believe anything 'incorrectly' from His standpoint? Of course we do. And yet he encourages us and builds us up. He is our model.
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.” 7-9
The church in Rome was made up of two basic types of people:
- Former Jews
- Gentiles (which means basically everybody else who was not a Jew)
So perhaps you can see the potential for a big problem. The Jews (now believers in Jesus) could bring with them an attitude of superiority over the Gentiles. They could boast about knowing their bibles better than these ignorant gentile Christians. And even worse than that, back when they were still Jewish in their beliefs, they literally hated gentiles. They believed that they became 'unclean' in God's eyes if they so much as touched a gentile.
Now that they were in the same church, how long would it take for these old attitudes to die? Paul can't wait that long. These attitudes needed to die right away.
In the above verses you will observe that Paul mentions something about the Jews and he mentions something about gentiles. About the Jews Paul uses the words 'behalf of God's truth'. About the gentiles he says they will 'glorify God for His mercy. And this statement about the gentiles comes right out of the Jewish book of truth. So in the Jewish bible it says, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.”
The Jews, in their 'orthodox' religion, believed that they alone had the right to the bible. Only they had the right to praise Jehovah God. But Paul has to point out to these new Jewish Christians, that even their Jewish bibles included gentiles in worship. In other words, the entire time that the Jews functioned as God's special people in the old testament, they were supposed to have been aware that God wanted to include gentiles in worship. The Jews of the old testament were wrong to have thought that only Jews could worship God.
Paul wants this attitude out of the church ...now! He says it never should have been in there to begin with – and he gives them old Testament bible truth to prove it. They are now living in the new testament era, and yet Paul sees that they have brought with them this air of superiority.
To combat this attitude Paul has (in the previous chapter) called the Jews 'weak' because they held certain days in high esteem and because they thought it to be sinful to eat meat (pork and other unclean meats). So he called them weak. Here he calls them biblically ignorant regarding whether or not gentiles should be allowed to worship God. Weak and ignorant.
Paul gives more verses to convince the former Jews to accept (even welcome) gentiles … as EQUALS. 9-12
Again, it says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with His people.” Paul is quoting Deuteronomy 32:43.
And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol Him.” Here Paul quotes Psalm 117:1
And again, Isaiah ( 11:10) says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in Him the Gentiles will hope.”
These would be verses that the gentiles in the church would receive with joy.
We too, in our present day, have come into the church with various 'ideas'. It doesn't matter where we got them from. What matters is unity in the body of believers. In the previous chapter Paul talked about dealing with differences. The simple instructions are: When you realize that you believe something a little different than what you are hearing from other Christians … go back and study the scripture to make sure of what it really teaches. Change your mind, if necessary, and accept what you see the bible really says. Be convinced in your own mind that you are right. Then keep it to yourself. Wait for those other believers who believe differently than you do … to come around on their own when they study it out. In the meanwhile, don't shun them because they are different. Make an effort to get together and fellowship with them and show genuine acceptance.
Now, while you are doing all that … Paul's prayer for them (us) is:
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And Paul gives a positive prediction: I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 14
Do you catch the wit in this verse? They are full of goodness. Full of knowledge … Able to teach. So why does Paul bother to write this book? He knows very well that these people need this instruction from him. But he is calling on their new Christian conscience. He is saying (in my view) 'Come on people … you know better, right? You can do this.'
Looking back over what Paul has written, from chapter one right up to this point … he says;
15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.
Yes, he was very bold. He addressed some of them as hypocrites in chapter 2 verse 1.
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
He very boldly suggests that some of them might not even be born-again Christians.
Ro 8:9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
He in fact is saying, 'I don't care what you claim. You say you accepted Jesus as your Saviour? If you are not demonstrating in your life that the Holy Spirit is in you …. you don't belong to Him. You are not saved! You are not a Christian. You are destined for Hell.' That is pretty bold.
8:13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die;” is a warning to those who think 'once saved-always saved.'
In chapter 13 Paul talks about obeying the government. Very boldly and directly he says, 'Pay your taxes. Obey the law. If you disobey, expect consequences'.
So we have covered the main portion of the book. Paul has talked about salvation. He has talked about unity in the church. Accepting and welcoming new people in spite of their differences in background and beliefs.
At this point Paul talks a little about himself.
He gives the reason for his boldness:
15- because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles
Paul had Jewish roots the same as the apostle Peter. Paul, however, had a hard time proving that he was apostle number 12, the replacement for Judas. As a result, he received a lot of criticism from certain Christian Jews. They denied that Paul was an apostle. When Paul would say, I am the apostle to the gentiles … imagine the derision from these ungracious Christian Jews. Maybe some of them even said … “Apostle to the gentiles? He can have it. Yuck!”
But Paul, in a Godly sense is proud to be a minister to the gentiles. Honored … because of Who asked him to begin with. He goes on ...
16-17 He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.
As Paul continues … he talks about his ministry without bragging:
18-19 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
What is the key phrase here? what Christ has accomplished through me. He gives all the credit to Christ.
This was Paul's ministry. It was his gift. When you, by virtue of the gift that you have, accomplish good things … make sure you give God the credit.
Next we discover something that has been on Paul's heart … all along. He has not told us this anywhere else in scripture.
20-21 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”
New frontiers. He saw himself as a church-planter. A pioneer. What a mission and what a challenge. Starting from the ground up, sharing a 'strange' gospel to heathen people, having them convert to Christ, and then teaching them enough scripture to have them carry on after he left. Even though he was a minister especially for the gentiles, no wonder he began by first going into Jewish synagogues to turn a few Jews into Christians. These Jewish Christians would have a great bible background and could teach these gentiles who had never read any scripture at all.
So, because he wanted to go where no other missionary had ever gone before he says,
22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you. In other words, “My job wasn't done. I had more virgin soil to cover”.
23 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain.
These are the words of a faithful servant. “I have run out of new places to go around here, so I am heading for Spain”
He is so sure of his plans that he says,
24 I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while.
His present plans are to leave from Corinth.
25 -27 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.
Here is a bit of a hint for the church in Rome. He says that the gentile churches have taken up an offering for the poor among the Lord’s people. Paul is saying “Take the hint … take an offering for me to get to Spain.”
Why are the Lord's people in Jerusalem poor? We are not told directly, but here are two suggestions. One: this is the church that started off by having thousands added right at the beginning and many of them were from out of town. The out-of-towners went back, sold their properties and settled in Jerusalem … just so that they could be part of the new church. Christians in Jerusalem who had any extra properties sold them as well. Everybody brought the money to the apostles. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time … to have all things in common. This would be much like the Hutterites today who do not have personal property. Everything belongs to everyone. This works for the Hutterites because they are farmers. This would not work for long for the Christians in Jerusalem. Many of them would be unemployed. Until the money ran out, everybody did fairly well.
And Two: Agabus, a person with the gift of prophecy, announced that there was coming a terrible famine in the land. And it happened.
I just thought of a third reason: Persecution came to the Jerusalem church and scattered Christians all over the place. These people would have no jobs – no income.
So Paul is bringing a cash offering to Jerusalem. As he makes his way to Israel, he will stop off at many key places and pick up the offering from that group. Paul had instructed all of them to have it ready when he got there so that he would not be held up waiting for them take up an offering.
28-29 So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.
That's the plan. Paul asks the Christians in Rome to pray toward this end.
30-32 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed.
God's plan was somewhat different from Paul's plan. That's the way it often is with us. We pray for God to bless our plan. I believe we need to spend time in prayer asking Him just what His plan for us is. He may reveal it or He may not. God wants us to walk by faith. And He wants us to walk seeking His plan for us. Not my will, Thine be done, prayed Jesus. Paul was warned not to go to Jerusalem. I supposed he listened to a point and then wondered … 'If I don't bring this offering, who will?' But I believe that, larger than that thought, was Paul hoping for a break-through with the unbelieving Jews of Jerusalem. He wanted some of the key Jewish leaders to become Christians. His hearts desire was for Israel, that they might be saved.
And so he continued on, even after the Holy Spirit said, “Don't go.” Ac 21:4 And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.
Paul did go to Rome. As far as we know, he never did go to Spain. Some have reasoned … if Paul had listened and had not gone to Rome, we would not have ever received the letters that he wrote from prison. True. But God would have had a plan to get the complete new Testament to us, one way or another.
But it is also wonderful to note that God has for us a plan. Or a plan B … or a C etc. Marvelous grace!
Paul closes this section:
33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
This sounds like an ending, a conclusion. And in most of Paul's writings … this would have been 'it'. But there is one more chapter. Paul's heart for 'real people' will be made transparently visible.