I have therefore [whereof to] boast in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God.
Paul has just described his work among the nations as priestly service. He presents believing Gentiles to God as an offering He accepts. Only then does he claim a reason to boast — and every word of the verse keeps that boast out of his own hands.
Everything Paul can point to, God gave him. One writer traces it all back to that gift before he comes to the word "glory":
To Paul, all this was the free favour of God — "because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles." And the result of all this blessed favour he could offer up to God, "sanctified by the Holy Spirit." Since it all came from the free favour of God, he could glory.
Paul does not boast without limit. He keeps the boast inside one area, and that leaves out a whole class of things a man might be pleased about:
Wherever the Apostle brought about this blessed result, he had ground to boast in Jesus Christ. But this boasting was in things that belong to God, not in things that were gain to him in the flesh.
Inside that limit stood the work of the previous verse: Gentiles presented to God, set apart by the Holy Spirit and not by birth:
He was, in a sense, a priest offering up the Gentiles as an offering acceptable to God, because they were sanctified by the Holy Spirit (see Num. 8:11). This was his glory before God. This sanctification by the Holy Spirit took the place of sanctification by birth, and it was well worth it.
The words "in Christ Jesus" are not decoration. They name who did the work, so the boast never lands on the man reporting it:
So in all this he could boast, but his boasting was "through Jesus Christ," or, "in Christ Jesus"; because it all traced back to Him as the great Master-worker.
Another writer traces that boldness to God's choice of Paul, and notes where it pushed his heart:
This was no boasting in the flesh. It was a boldness born from the assurance that God had chosen him for this special work, and it moved his heart all the more to glory in the Lord, not to exalt himself as the vessel.
Having claimed a boast, he at once limits what he will mention. The Lord used other servants too, and their results were not his to count:
Christ had other servants whom the Lord had used to bless souls, but the Apostle would not pass judgment on their work. He speaks only of what Christ had done through him, and his preaching came with mighty signs and wonders in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle had tried to avoid places where Christ was already named, so that he would not build on another man's foundation.
Some have used Paul's sacrificial language about his preaching to argue for a special order of clergy. One writer answers that, and shows where Scripture really puts the priestly place:
It is easy to see why ritualism seizes on such phrases, trying to make a servant of the Lord Jesus look like a priest. But it fails. Far more plainly, and with far less room for doubt, the Spirit gives a priestly place to every Christian, simply as a Christian... The truth is that in this passage the apostle uses that word for service of the Gentile believers helping the Jewish saints with material things. So there is not the smallest ground for confusing ministry with priesthood, or for the idea that Scripture allows a priestly caste standing between the Christian and God.
This is not a special allowance for an apostle. Grace gives every believer the same object to boast in:
Grace brought them all to glory in the Lord — to boast in Him! They had nothing in themselves to boast in, and the heart needs something, or rather someone — a worthy object; therefore He is the One provided for this purpose.
- Grace first. God gave Paul his place as minister to the nations as free favour, and that is why he could boast at all.
- Grace shapes the field. He kept his boast to things that belong to God, not to anything that counted as gain to him in the flesh.
- Grace names the worker. His boast was in Christ Jesus, the great Master-worker, not in the vessel He used.
- Grace sets the limits. He spoke only of what Christ had done through him. He refused to build on another man's foundation or judge another's work.
- Grace levels the ground. The sacrificial language here creates no priestly caste. Scripture gives that place to every Christian, and gives every heart the same worthy object to boast in.
For I will not dare to speak anything of the things which Christ has not wrought by me, for [the] obedience of [the] nations, by word and deed,
Paul has just said he has ground for boasting in Christ Jesus. Now he draws a strict line around what he is willing to talk about. He will mention one thing only: what Christ has done through him. The test he applies to his own life's work is one any servant can apply to their own.
The verse turns the usual question about service around. Paul does not count what he has achieved for Christ.
About service the apostle says, in Romans 15:18, "I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me." All that he valued was what Christ did through him. Some of you younger men may say, "What can I do for Christ?" No! Put it like this: What can Christ do through me?
Paul does boast. But the boasting is safe, because none of the credit lands on him.
In all this he could boast, but his boasting was "through Jesus Christ," or, "in Christ Jesus"; for it could all be traced back to Him as the great Master-worker.
That confidence is not self-promotion. It grows out of knowing that God, not Paul, chose the vessel and filled it.
This was no boasting in the flesh. It was a boldness born from the assurance that God had chosen him for this special work. That moved his heart all the more to glory in the Lord, and not to exalt himself as the vessel.
The restraint cuts two ways. Paul refuses to claim credit that is not his, and he also refuses to pass verdict on labour that God gave to someone else.
The Lord had used other servants of Christ for the blessing of souls, but the Apostle would not judge their work. He speaks only of what Christ had done through him. His preaching came with mighty signs and wonders in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul does not treat his gift as a platform. He stays inside the limit the Lord gave him, and he sees ministry as something he owes.
The New Testament speaks not so much of the right to minister as of the obligation. If anyone has the gift, he is under obligation to use it, and to give himself to that ministry. Treating ministry as a right rather than an obligation has given the Church its worldly look... Paul saw himself — and wanted others to judge him by the same rule — as simply what the Lord had made him. He would not dare to speak of anything Christ had not done through him (Rom. 15:18). He measured himself only by the line the Lord had marked out for him (2 Cor. 10).
The aim of the work was obedience: Gentiles — the non-Jewish nations — brought to obey the gospel. And the power behind it was not human skill.
Younger believers will do well to think over these precious divine principles of service — how the Gentiles were made obedient to the gospel. It came through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, not by human wisdom or eloquence.
The work he points to is not a share in someone else's harvest. It is a work Christ did in the field Paul went out to, carried by what he said and what he did.
He speaks not of other men's work in which he had the privilege of sharing, but of work that Christ had done specifically through him as he went out to the Gentiles — words and deeds that had power to bring Gentiles into obedience.
- Source. Paul counts only what Christ worked through him. So the servant's question is not "What can I do for Christ?" but "What can Christ do through me?"
- Gift. The work was Christ's, so Paul's confidence is boldness, not self-display. He glories in the Lord, not in the vessel.
- Limit. He measures himself only by the line the Lord gave him. Ministry is a debt he owes, not a right he claims — and he leaves other men's work alone.
- Means. Obedience came by word and deed. The power was not human wisdom or eloquence but the Spirit of God.
- Result. The Gentiles came to obey Christ — real fruit, because the great Master-worker produced it.
in [the] power of signs and wonders, in [the] power of [the] Spirit of God; so that I, from Jerusalem, and in a circuit round to Illyricum, have fully preached the glad tidings of the Christ;
Near the end of his letter, Paul looks back over years of work. The verse raises two questions: whose work was it, and what does it mean to have "fulfilled" the gospel in a whole region?
Paul is describing an enormous achievement, yet he limits what he claims for himself:
The Apostle has spoken of the special grace given to him, and of the purpose of this grace. Now, with fitting modesty, he says briefly how he had sought to carry out this ministry. Christ had other servants, and the Lord had used them to bless souls, but the Apostle would not judge their work. He speaks only of what Christ had done through him. Mighty signs and wonders went with his preaching, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Scripture uses several words for miracles, and each carries its own force:
We can see God's purpose in using miracles from the words scripture uses for them: signs, wonders, and powers. As "signs," they showed that God had visited His people. As "wonders," they caught the attention of a godless world and pointed to His rights in it. As "powers," they were beyond human ability, and happened only as He permitted and as His sovereign will worked.
These signs did something else as well. They were Paul's credentials:
Mighty signs and wonders had appeared. With divine power they confirmed the preaching of the word by the Lord's messenger. He would speak freely of such things, so that the Lord who had done the work might be magnified. For he was not ashamed of His message. He also knew that there were false apostles as well as false brothers. So he hurries to lay his credentials before these readers. Then, if anyone pressed apostolic claims on them, they would have a safeguard against deceptive pretensions.
One writer sets the two possible sources of this power side by side:
Through mighty signs and wonders, by (not human wisdom or eloquence, but) the power of the Spirit of God.
The same conclusion follows from the sheer distances involved:
From Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum — the modern Albania — he fully preached the Gospel. Within about 25 years he had fully evangelized peoples living in territories that covered hundreds of thousands of square miles. He travelled on foot, with the occasional help of a boat at sea and an animal on land. A miraculous feat indeed! One only possible for him as energized by the Spirit of God.
One writer traces the same route and lists what it cost:
Trials, trouble and disaster seemed to be piled upon him mountains high. Five times the Jews gave him forty stripes less one — 195 stripes in five doses. Three times he was beaten with rods, apparently by Gentiles. Once he was stoned; we know that was at Lystra. Three times he suffered shipwreck… One of those shipwrecks was so desperate that for a night and a day the sea tossed him about.
The word behind "fulfilled" (older versions read "fully preached") means the testimony in those regions was complete. That is why he could say he had no more room there:
Verse 19 describes the limits within which the power working through him had kept itself up to that time. From Jerusalem, and in a circuit as far as Illyricum, he had fully preached the Gospel of Christ… The testimony as to these parts was fulfilled… So when the apostle had completed his mission in any district, nothing more had to be done there.
The message carries several names in the New Testament, each naming its source or subject:
This message is called the Gospel of God (Rom. 1:1), because it comes from Him. It is called the Gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24), because it tells of His grace. It is called the Gospel of His Son (Rom. 1:9), of Christ (Rom. 15:19), of our Lord Jesus (2 Thess. 1:8), because it speaks of what He has suffered and done for us.
- Christ works. Paul claims only what Christ did through him. He leaves other servants' work unjudged.
- The Spirit empowers. Not human wisdom or eloquence, but the power of the Spirit of God. Nothing else explains that reach in 25 years on foot.
- Signs attest. Miracles showed that God had visited His people and caught a godless world's attention. They were also Paul's credentials against false apostles.
- The circuit costs. One short sentence covers floggings, beatings, a stoning and shipwrecks.
- The work is finished. "Fully preached" means the testimony in those parts was complete. Nothing more had to be done there.