Romans 15 20-33 & Romans 16:1-27

Paul has taken us from sin to heaven in the book of Romans.

He has shown us what sin is, how serious it is, how permeating it is, and how it is revealed to us.

Paul has magnified the holiness of the Law while explaining to us how we can never hope to begin to keep the Law, let alone achieve salvation through it.

He has shown us the history of the Jews, the disobedience of the Jews, the fact that the Jews are and always will be God’s chosen people, that one day a multitude of them will come to faith in Christ.

Paul has shown us that the only way to become acceptable to God is by trusting in and only in the finished work of Christ at Calvary and by believing in His resurrection.

Paul has charged each of us with the responsibility of becoming living sacrifices, wholly acceptable unto God, and has shown us what that will look like in us when we achieve it by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Verses

20 & 21 Paul wanted to preach the gospel. Not some social injustice, not some political principles, not some pious pontification, but the gospel: the good news that salvation has come in Christ for all who will believe in Him and Him alone. He did not want to preach where people had already heard the gospel, but where it had not yet been heard. He wanted those people to hear and understand it, too.

22-29 Paul wished fellowship with believers in Jerusalem and in Spain. He had an offering to take to Jerusalem…just like we helped our missionaries, Paul wanted to help those where he used to persecute them. Paul puts his stamp of approval on his trip…assurance that he was in the will of God. There is an interesting principle revealed in the whole of Scripture: one measure of whether you are in God’s will is how much turmoil you are enduring. If there is no turmoil, there may be no “will of God.”

30-33 Paul asks for intercessory prayer that he might accomplish what God has in store for him. Praying for others is important for you, for the others and to God.

Romans 16

The Verses

1-16 Here is Paul’s blessing on the work people have done to further the gospel of Christ.

17-19 He reminds us that we will face problems from people and that we should not have a part with those who would cause divisions among us, nor should we be involved in causing them. Those who are involved with causing divisions will eventually be crushed.

21-24 Paul demonstrates again how we should relate to one another in love, dignity, respect, and appreciation. And here we catch a glimpse of some of the service Christians can be seen providing as they offer themselves as living sacrifices.

25-27 A great doxology of praise. As we read it, let’s try to catch the enthusiasm with which Paul wrote it. Then let’s apply the same enthusiasm to ourselves and our service.