But I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, that I often proposed to come to you, (and have been hindered until the present time,) that I might have some fruit among you too, even as among the other nations also.
Paul is writing to a church he had never visited. Here he opens up his own plans: he had tried again and again to reach Rome, and every try was blocked. Why was the capital of the empire his business at all? What harvest did he hope to gather? And who kept stopping him?
He does not want them in the dark about his plans. That openness came from more than his office:
He wrote to them, and he longed to see them. This was not only to carry out his commission as an apostle, or to use his apostolic authority. It grew out of a brother's love that longed for them. He counted on receiving comfort from them, as well as on giving them spiritual blessing.
Another writer sets the two sides side by side: real authority, and real tenderness.
By right he is apostle to all the Gentiles, even if he has never seen them. But in heart he is their servant. He wants to see them, with the truest and warmest brotherly love — a love flowing from the grace that had made him an apostle.
Why does Paul speak of Rome as a place where he owes work? The phrase "as among the rest of the Gentiles" claims the city for his commission.
As the apostle of the Gentiles, he would not neglect any part of the field put in his care. So he had often planned to come to them, to have fruit among them as well as elsewhere. We see that the church at Rome was mainly a Gentile church, and so it counted as part of his field of work.
The letter also shows what kind of church was already there:
The letter itself, from the first chapter to the last, is the fullest proof that a large number of believers were already there — both Jews and Gentiles.
One writer sees two kinds of fruit in view:
Paul wanted to share fellowship with them, and to bear some fruit among them. That fruit might be the conversion of souls. Or it might be the giving of some spiritual gift to those already brought to Christ.
Commentators differ on the cause of the delay. Some read the block as enemy action, and draw a lesson for anyone in the Lord's work:
The apostle would have liked to visit the Christians at Rome sooner, but Satan had hindered him. The Lord's work is always carried on in front of an enemy who tries to stop its progress. He may use persecution. He may stir up evil in the churches, which the worker then has to deal with. He may use false teaching, which eats up the worker's time, or all sorts of other tricks. The worker needs to notice this. That is how he learns dependence.
Others look at the same delay from the far end and see God's hand in it:
May we not see the grace and wisdom of God in allowing a hindrance that gave us a letter written for the blessing of God's people in every age? It is good for us to trace the hand of God in what He hinders as well as in what He allows. It is good to submit to His closed doors, as well as to walk through His open ones.
Paul did reach Rome — but as a prisoner, not as he had pictured it:
When he wrote his letter, we may be sure he little thought he would see them as Rome's prisoner. He asked for a good journey to them, and had told them to pray that he might reach them with joy. But here is something beautiful and blessed. The Spirit of God shaped his journey and his arrival in this way, yet Paul does not treat it as anything less than a full answer to what he asked. He thanks God, owning it as the answer to his prayer.
And he did gather the fruit he asked for, from both sides:
Paul had hoped to have fruit among the Gentiles at Rome, as he had among others (Rom. 1:13). Here we see fruit for God among the Jews. And he did have converts among the Gentiles in Rome, for he could write to Philemon, "I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment."
- Purpose — he planned the trip again and again. Love for them drove it as much as his commission: apostle by right, servant in heart.
- Province — Rome lay inside the Gentile field God gave him, so he claimed work there, though he had never seen the church.
- Fruit — he wanted a harvest of two kinds: souls converted, and believers built up by a spiritual gift.
- Hindrance — commentators differ on the cause. Some see the enemy resisting the work, which teaches the worker dependence. Others see a closed door of God's, which gave us this letter.
- Fulfilment — the answer came, but in chains. Paul thanked God for it, and gathered fruit in Rome from Jews and Gentiles alike.
I am a debtor both to Greeks and barbarians, both to wise and unintelligent
Paul is writing to a church he has never visited, and here he explains why he keeps trying to reach it. He does not call himself generous or gifted. He says he owes something. The two pairs he names — Greeks and barbarians, wise and foolish — leave nobody outside that debt.
Paul makes three statements about himself in verses 14 to 16. One writer sets them side by side:
In the following verses the Apostle speaks about his debt, and his readiness, to preach... he felt like a man with a debt to pay off. It is a wonderful thing that he can say, "I am a debtor" to the Gentiles; "I am ready" to preach; and "I am not ashamed" of the gospel. "I am a debtor" is the language of someone who found in the gospel the thing that met his own need. He now feels he owes it to others in need, whether among cultivated Greeks or unintelligent barbarians. "I am ready" is the language of someone in the right moral condition to preach. "I am not ashamed" is the language of someone who sees the greatness of the gospel and is bold to proclaim it.
Who counted as a "barbarian"?
The word means "foreigner, alien". The Romans used it for any people who did not understand Latin or Greek. In Romans 1:14 they stand in contrast to the Greeks.
Paul names both ends of the social scale in one breath:
He was debtor to the Greeks — the civilized, the cultured, the artistic, the intellectual. They needed it, and without it they were completely undone. He was debtor to the barbarians too, who were sunk in depravity and sin. They needed it not more than the Greeks, but just as much. So Paul preached as long as God gave him breath.
Later in the letter Paul tells these same readers to keep no debt outstanding except one: love. One writer ties that to the debt Paul owns here.
"Owe no one anything, except to love each other." This is a debt that can never be fully paid up. Paul's knowledge of the gospel and his love for men made him a debtor to Greeks and barbarians, to the wise and the foolish. This is the case, in whatever measure, of all saints.
The very next verse says Paul is ready to preach the gospel at Rome — to people already called saints. One writer notices the wording:
Even the saints there would have been all the better for the gospel. It was not merely "to those at Rome," but "to you that are at Rome." So it is a mistake to think that saints gain nothing from a better understanding of the gospel, at least as Paul preached it. He now tells them why he could speak so strongly, not about the more advanced truths, but about the good news.
Paul's commission was his own. One writer applies the same principle to every Christian.
He felt what every sinner saved by grace should feel — that he was a debtor to all. Owning the gospel makes us debtors to all. He had constantly paid his debt by preaching the gospel to Jews and Gentiles, and now he is eager "to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome."
Where does the power to pay such a debt come from?
We have a debt to pay, and only the power of the Spirit can enable us to pay it. Paul felt this deeply in Romans 1:14. Romans 15:19 tells how he paid it: "by the power of the Spirit of God... I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ." ... We need souls so filled by God with the things we profess to believe that our lips must speak.
- Received. The debt starts with a gift. Paul found in the gospel what met his own need, so he owed it to everyone else in need.
- Owed. Greeks and barbarians, wise and foolish, cover everyone. The cultured needed the gospel just as much as the depraved.
- Ready. "I am a debtor," "I am ready," "I am not ashamed" belong together. The debt puts him in the right condition to preach. The greatness of the gospel makes him bold.
- Unpaid. This is the one debt Paul says can never be settled — the debt of love that stands behind "Owe no one anything, except to love each other."
- Passed on. Every believer who owns the gospel inherits the debt. We pay it the way Paul paid his: with souls so full of what we believe that we must speak.
so, as far as depends on me, am I ready to announce the glad tidings to you also who [are] in Rome.
Paul writes to believers in Rome, a city he had never reached. He is eager to preach the gospel to them — people who already believe it — and God would keep him from that visit for years.
Older translations read "as much as in me is." Paul limits the claim to his own side of the matter. His willingness was total. The timing was not his to arrange.
He longed to see them, that he might impart to them some spiritual gift, so that they might be established... He was under obligation to all nations to bring the grace of God to them; and so, as far as depended on him, he was ready to preach the gospel to them also that were at Rome.
That combination — full readiness with no power to open the door — is held up as a pattern for service.
He could say, "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also." What entire readiness, yet the most real dependence on God alone. If he had been the servant of men, he might have needed a call from them to preach at Rome, or some human appointment. But there is no such thought here. Paul could say, "I am ready." Yes — with the world behind him: "I am ready as soon as my God shall open the way."
The weight falls on the word "you." Paul is not only ready to preach in the city. He is ready to preach the gospel to the Christians already in it.
He was ready, as far as he was concerned, to preach the gospel to those that were at Rome also. Even the saints there would have been all the better for the gospel. It was not merely "to those at Rome," but "to you that are at Rome." So it is a mistake to think that saints cannot gain from a better understanding of the gospel, at least as Paul preached it.
The believers there had a faith known everywhere. Yet something in their foundation was still missing.
The gospel had truly reached souls in that city by other means. Many there had clearly received it as the word of God, since people everywhere spoke of their faith. But something seems to have been missing in them: they were not grounded in "the righteousness of God," the main subject of the letter. So Paul said he was ready to preach to them at Rome as well as to others.
Paul makes three claims in a row here: he is a debtor, he is ready, he is not ashamed. One writer draws out what each one shows.
"I am a debtor" is the language of one who has found in the gospel what meets his own need. He feels he owes the good news to others who are in need, whether among cultivated Greeks or unintelligent Barbarians. "I am ready" is the language of one in right moral condition to preach. "I am not ashamed" is the language of one who, realising the greatness of the gospel, is bold to proclaim it.
Paul never made the journey he was so ready for. God Himself prevented it.
He declares himself a debtor to all the Gentiles, and ready, as far as it depended on him, to preach the gospel to those of Rome also. The apostle claims the whole field of the Gentiles as his own. Yet God kept him from going to Rome until he arrived there at the end of his career — and then only as a prisoner. This is worthy of all attention.
So the visit became a letter. Since he was hindered in body, "he would do it by letter" (F. B. Hole).
Paul was the most gifted of teachers. If he gave himself to plain gospel preaching, no one can call that work beneath them.
Sinners need the gospel for their salvation. Saints need it too, often, to be established... Paul was the most gifted of teachers, yet he threw himself fully into the testimony of the gospel. So how happy, how profitable, how encouraging it would be if every servant of Christ did the same — whatever his gift or his age, showing hearty fellowship with every sincere and godly effort to spread the gospel! ... Disparagement of true gospel work is not of God. It is of Satan.
- Debtor — Paul found in the gospel what met his own need, so he owed it to everyone else, Greek or Barbarian.
- Ready — his part was full willingness. God's part was to open the way, and Paul waited for it, needing no human appointment.
- To you — Paul aimed the gospel at the believers in Rome, not just at the city, because saints gain from understanding it better.
- Hindered — God kept him from Rome until he came as a prisoner. The visit he could not make became this letter.
- Established — sinners need the gospel for salvation, saints for grounding. So belittling gospel work never comes from God.
For I am not ashamed of the glad tidings; for it is God's power to salvation, to every one that believes, both to Jew first and to Greek
Paul wrote to believers in Rome, the capital of the empire. He begins not with sin or judgment but with a claim: this message has the power to save.
The phrase is often read as a claim about Paul's nerve. One writer argues it is a claim about the message itself.
These two verses are the key verses of the letter. They hold the great words of its teaching section: righteousness and faith. It cannot mean, as people often say, that Paul was not ashamed to confess Christ. It means he had complete confidence in the gospel of Christ. He knew it would never make him ashamed. He was not ashamed of it because of what it is in itself. The world sneered at the gospel he preached... He knew the gospel holds the highest wisdom. He knew God Himself is its author, that it came from God and leads to God.
Writing to that city sharpens the word "power." Rome knew all about power, and a comparison is hard to miss.
He was not at all ashamed to speak about the gospel itself, even to people living in Rome. This proud city was the centre of all worldly power, yet the gospel was God's power. Rome's power brought people into its empire by forced submission. God's power saved every believer through the gospel. It brought them into His kingdom and under His rule in grace.
Notice how often the little phrase "of God" is repeated in these opening verses. That repetition is deliberate, and it is aimed at a habit deep in every human heart.
See how the apostle presents everything as coming from God. It is the gospel of God, the power of God for salvation, the righteousness of God, and even the wrath of God. That wrath comes from heaven. It is not the same as punishment on earth. This is the key to everything. The apostle stresses it and puts it first, right at the start of the letter. Man always leans toward confidence in himself. He wants to boast of himself and to find some merit, some righteousness, in himself, as though he could do something. It was the apostle's joy to put his God forward.
If salvation is God's power, then everything moves one way: from God to man.
In verse 16 the apostle began to show the character of the gospel. It is God Himself, acting with power when man is completely lost. So where the gospel comes, God no longer asks anything from man. He does not demand works to put things right between man and God. God acts; His power is working for the benefit of man. Not to help him, but to save him, for this power is for salvation.
Salvation comes "to everyone who believes." So does faith add something to the work? One writer says it does the opposite.
Man came into it by faith. It was the believer who shared it. But sharing it by faith was the one way to share it without adding anything at all, and to leave it wholly the salvation of God. God be praised that it is so, whether for righteousness or for power, or for the whole result. That is what makes it perfect and divine.
The verses that follow tell us what the danger is, and so define what "salvation" means here.
Yet again and again Scripture shows that salvation does mean being spared and rescued from the wrath of God. The gospel is "the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes... for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven" (Rom. 1:16-18). A little later in the same epistle we read, "we shall be saved by Him from the wrath of God" (Rom. 5:9).
The verse names an order: the Jew first, then the Greek — that is, everyone else. But it does not create two classes of saved people.
God's power was there to save. It took man up in his need and sin, not in his titles or claims, even ones God had given him. It reached a lost Gentile just as it reached a lost Jew. It was for "everyone who believes" — the way of it was faith; the order of it recognised God's ways. It was "to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." But this did not alter its character; it was salvation for a sinful Jew, who had to come in by mercy, just like a Gentile.
Power that produces nothing is not power. That test falls on preacher and hearer alike.
Those who preach should look for clear results. Those who hear should ask whether the gospel has made a great change in them. Why has it not? Because they have not believed... the way of salvation is not just hearing about Christ. It is believing on Christ. It is not simply knowing the plan of salvation, as some say. It is coming to Christ to be saved.
- Confidence — Paul's "not ashamed" is not bravery under mockery but trust in a message whose author is God.
- Power — the word answers Rome's empire. One power forces people to submit; the other saves. Everything here comes from God, not man.
- Faith — believing is the one way in, because it adds nothing and leaves the salvation wholly God's.
- Reach — the same power meets Jew and Greek as equally lost; the order of preaching differs, the terms never do.
- Result — real power leaves evidence. The honest question is not whether you know the message, but whether you have come to Christ.