Wherefore also I have been often hindered from coming to you.
Paul had never yet visited the believers in Rome, and here he tells them why. Was the delay indifference, opposition, or God's own plan?
The words "this is the reason" point back to Paul's rule: he preached where Christ had not yet been named. One writer asks the question plainly.
For what reason? Because right up to the time just before this letter, some towns still had not heard of Christ. Once these had heard the gospel, Paul did not hesitate to leave the assemblies with their local helpers, in the care of the Lord and of His ever-present Spirit. Nor did he hesitate to push on again into lands that did not know God.
Another writer weighs Rome against the towns around it.
Here he explains what had kept him, busy as he was, from coming to a place as central and important as Rome. His earnest desire, he says, was to follow the Scripture principle: to let those see who had never had the news brought to them, and to let those understand who had never heard. So Rome, with its assembly already gathered, could not claim him while the places around it were still unworked.
The hindrance ended not because Paul changed his mind, but because the unreached ground ran out.
As long as any part of that district still had not heard the name of Christ, he felt he was not merely free to work there. He was called to take the gospel there. Yet as he wrote, he felt that the ways of God were carrying him onward. Having no more room for work in these regions loosened, for him, the tether that held him to them.
Commentators differ on what caused the hindrance. Others look past the unfinished work and name an enemy behind it.
The apostle would have wished to visit the Christians at Rome sooner, but Satan hindered him. The work of the Lord always goes on in the presence of the enemy, who seeks to stop its progress. He may use persecution. He may stir up evil in the assemblies, which the worker must then deal with. He may use false teaching that eats up the worker's time, or all sorts of other devices. It is important for the worker to notice this. He learns dependence from it, and learns that he cannot do without the strength and energy of the Lord.
Paul admits he has still not arrived. That one fact settles a question about how the church in Rome began.
The Holy Spirit knew well how arrogant the professing church would one day become, and how Rome would be the chief head of those claims. So He has kept back all knowledge of who first preached Christ at Rome. It is clear from these words that the apostle to the Gentiles had, as yet, never been there. Nor is there a shred of evidence that Peter, or any other apostle, was there when the church was founded and the brothers and sisters were able to build one another up.
Paul did reach Rome. The stay was far longer than the short call he had in mind.
So he explains the reason for the long delay. He had been "so often hindered" from fulfilling a cherished wish of his heart: to visit the believers in Rome (22). He hoped soon to set foot on the Italian peninsula, paying a passing visit to the capital on his way to Spain… A passing visit was all he had in view. God had purposed a stay of four years.
So were the prayers behind that journey left unanswered?
He did not know what means the Lord would use to send him to Rome. Let us learn from this that the Lord can, and will, accomplish all His purpose.
The blocked journey is the reason this letter exists at all.
The apostle had often planned to come to them, but he was hindered. May we not see the grace and wisdom of God in allowing a hindrance that has given us a letter for the blessing of God's people in every age? It is good for us to trace the hand of God in the things He hinders as well as in the things He allows. We should submit to His closed doors as we pass through His open ones.
- Hindered by work. Towns that had never heard of Christ still had first claim on Paul; Rome already had an assembly, so it had to wait.
- Hindered by an enemy. Writers differ on the cause: the unfinished field, or Satan opposing the work. Either way, the worker learns dependence.
- Hindered, then released. When no unreached ground was left, the tether loosened and he turned west, toward Rome and Spain.
- Hindered, not defeated. He planned a passing visit; God purposed years there, and answered his prayers in a better way than he asked.
- Hindered into blessing. The closed door produced this letter for every age, so trace God's hand in what He blocks as much as in what He opens.
But now, having no longer place in these regions, and having great desire to come to you these many years,
Paul writes at the end of one long stretch of service in the east and looks west toward Rome and Spain. Two questions matter here: what does it mean for a servant of God to have no room left in a region, and what becomes of a longing held for many years?
The phrase does not mean the region had run out of people or need. It points to the particular work Paul was given.
His ministry in these parts was now over. He had completed his service. Others might build up, but his own work was done. He was a master-builder, there to lay the foundation... From Jerusalem to Illyricum he had preached fully — he had completed, or filled up, the measure of the gospel work. Christianity stood founded, and his work was done. The Latin world lay ahead of him, and so did the believers at Rome. His work in those parts was done, and there was no more place for him there. To stay would leave him out of his place... Even now, a man may finish his work in a place — the work of forming and establishing — and only be in the way if he stays, hindering others. It is wise to learn when this is so, and to work elsewhere when God calls.
Paul was not guessing. Commentators point to a sense of timing that God gives His servants.
There is a time for everything and a place for each one. The Lord alone is the absolute judge of this. But He does not fail to give His servants a sense of it. They will grasp it according to the measure of their spirituality.
Until that moment came, Paul stayed. Any place where Christ was still unknown had a claim on him.
As long as any part of that district was left where Christ had not been named, he felt he was not only free to work there but called to take the gospel there. Yet as he wrote, he felt that the ways of God were taking him onward. "Having no more place in these parts" was, for him, the loosening of the tether that bound him to them.
Paul had never been to Rome. That was a choice, not neglect.
He says it had been his earnest desire to follow the Scripture principle: to bring sight to those who had never had the news brought to them, and understanding to those who had never yet heard. So Rome, with its assembly already gathered, could not claim him while the places around it were still unreached. But now he found no more room, as he counted it, in the regions where he had been. And the far western country of Spain was calling to him by its need. Here would be his opportunity to visit by the way those whom he had long desired to see.
Rome was a stop on the way, not the destination.
A longing held "for many years" is a longing put off again and again. One writer sets it beside another famous unanswered request:
Paul asked the Lord three times — he begged Him — to take the thorn away from his flesh. The Lord simply told him that His grace was enough for him, and that His strength was made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12). The same apostle asked to be allowed to go to Rome, but for many years the Lord denied his request (Rom. 15:23). He also wanted a successful journey there; but the Lord saw fit to send him as a prisoner, and to wreck the ship.
Paul did reach Rome — as a prisoner, after shipwreck. Notice how he received it.
When he wrote his letter, we may be sure that he little thought he was to see them as Rome's prisoner. He had asked that he might have a good journey to them (Rom. 1:10), and had told them to pray that he might reach them with joy (Rom. 15:32). But see how beautiful and blessed this is. The Spirit of God had given his journey to them and his arrival among them this character. Yet Paul does not treat it as anything less than a full answer to his desires. He thanks God, owning that his request was answered.
- Finished. No room left for work meant the founding work was complete, not that the need was gone. Others could build where Paul had laid the foundation.
- Sensed. The Lord gives His servants a sense of when a season is over. The more spiritual the servant, the better he reads it.
- Onward. Paul stayed while places near him had not yet heard of Christ. When that ended, the tether loosened and his eye turned west.
- Delayed. Rome already had an assembly, so it could not claim him while unreached ground remained. That is why the longing ran for years.
- Granted. The desire was answered, but by chains, delay and shipwreck; Paul still thanked God for it as a full answer.
whenever I should go to Spain; (for I hope to see you as I go through, and by you to be set forward thither, if first I shall have been in part filled with your company;)
Paul writes to a church he has never visited, and he tells them Rome is only a stop. His goal is Spain — which raises three questions: why the long delay, what did he want from these believers, and did he ever go?
Paul does not say he is coming to Rome. He says he hopes to see them as he passes through. One writer notes what that order shows, and what Paul's words about their company reveal:
The Master's aim through the apostle was now reached, so he had no more place in the East. His old longing to visit the believers at Rome, often blocked, came back when he planned to go on to Spain. Notice: Spain, not Rome, was the point he was aiming at, no doubt according to the measure of the rule God gave him. His eye was on the regions beyond. But on the way he hoped to see the Roman believers, and to be sent on there by them — "if I am first filled in part with your company." He will not allow that any length of time could exhaust his love for them, or his enjoyment of talking with them. So he says, if I am in part "filled with you."
The earlier verses explain the delay. Unreached places had first claim, and then something changed:
Rome, therefore, with its assembly already gathered, could not claim him while there were unoccupied places around. But now he found no more room, as he counted it, in the regions where he had been, and the far western country of Spain was calling him by its need. Here would be his chance to visit on the way those he had long wanted to see.
The words "helped on my journey" ask for something practical. Paul expects the Romans to do this for him, though they have never met him:
Those who have gone out for "His Name's sake" should have support and help on their way. Paul said he was confident that the believers at Rome would send him on his way to Spain (Rom. 15:24. See also 1 Cor. 16:6; 2 Cor. 1:16 and Titus 3:13). The phrase "bring forward on their journey" suggests that the saints would meet the financial needs of the Lord's servants.
Paul does not treat Rome as a supply depot. He wants their company first, and that tells us something about him:
It is touching to note how the heart of the apostle sought the comfort of the fellowship of the saints. He counted on their company to stir and encourage his soul for the work he was looking forward to in Spain.
Another writer sees the same trait in Paul:
He was a spiritual man, in close touch with God and dependent on Him. Even so, he was not above thanking God and taking courage from the love and fellowship of believers whose spiritual stature may have been far below his own.
Paul reached Rome — but not as he pictured it here:
His circumstances were very different from those he had pictured when he wrote ahead about what he planned to do (see Romans 15:22-32). But he did come to them with a measure of joy by the will of God, and he was marked by "the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ." God's hand was still over him. Though a prisoner, he was allowed to live by himself under guard, and this gave him some liberty for service and testimony.
Was the plan a failure? One writer says no:
Our prayers are often answered in ways we do not know, and so it was with the apostle himself. But who shall say that they were not answered? Or that they were not answered in a way better in the sight of God — better for the gospel itself — than if all had gone according to his own thought?
Commentators differ, because Scripture never says. One writer is sure there was no such journey: "He was delivered, but as a prisoner… There was no journey into Spain either" (J. N. Darby). Others weigh early testimony and leave it open:
Some have thought that he did go to Spain right after his release. The main evidence comes from Clement, a fellow worker mentioned in Philippians 4:3. He speaks of Paul as having preached the gospel in the east and in the west, and as having gone to the far end of the west, meaning Spain. Clement was Paul's own disciple and fellow worker, so his testimony deserves our respect. Still, it is not Scripture, and so not conclusive by itself.
- Beyond. Spain, not Rome, was what Paul was aiming at; his eye was on the regions beyond, and Rome was a stop on the way.
- Room. He stayed away because unreached places had first claim. When the East was full, Spain's need called him west.
- Sent. "Helped on my journey" is a real ask. God's servants need support and supplies for the road ahead.
- Filled. He wanted their company as much as their help, counting on it to strengthen him for the work still in front of him.
- Different. He reached Rome as a prisoner, not as planned, yet with the fullness of the blessing. God answered better than his own plan. Whether Spain ever came, Scripture does not say.
but now I go to Jerusalem, ministering to the saints;
Near the end of Romans, Paul lays out his travel plans: Rome, then Spain. But he must go the other way first, to Jerusalem with money — which raises three questions: what was this service, why did an apostle carry it himself, and was the journey wise?
The trip west had to wait. Believers in Jerusalem were in hardship, and Paul meant to bring them help himself.
In the meantime he had another form of ministry to fulfil. There were saints at Jerusalem in poverty. The believers in Macedonia and Achaia were glad to make a contribution for them, and Paul was anxious to take it to Jerusalem... When he had finished this service, Paul planned to visit the saints at Rome.
The need had two roots, and the givers were not the wealthy ones.
The Philippians were poor compared with the Corinthians, yet they were far more liberal. They talked less and gave more. The Acts of the Apostles gives two explanations of how the need arose. There was a famine in those days. Sharing their goods at the beginning had also left the believers in Jerusalem especially poor. Yet their poverty gave the occasion for cementing practical bonds of Christian fellowship between Gentile and Jew.
Paul does not treat this money as charity. He treats it as something owed.
Meanwhile he had an errand of compassion in hand for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. The saints of Macedonia and Achaia had raised money to help their brothers and sisters. The apostle treats this as a debt of love rather than as a simple outflow of love. If the Gentiles shared in the spiritual privileges of the Jews, ought they not to remember their poor saints in material things?
Paul carried the money himself. Commentators read that choice in two ways. One sees an apostle who thought no service too small:
The apostle did not think a deacon's service beneath him. He was inspired to write of it all for our building up, sure of a fullness of Christ's blessing for the saints at Rome when he came.
Another looks at what pulled Paul toward Jerusalem:
We see that his heart turns to the Jews; they occupied his thoughts. He wanted to put the seal of performance on the grace this collection showed. Yet he was preoccupied with them as Jews, as those who had a claim. Perhaps this was a mixed feeling in one who was anxious to show that he did not forget them; for, in fact, he loved his nation. This service belonged properly to a deacon. Pleasing as it might be, we have to learn whether he was at the height of his mission as apostle in carrying it out.
Commentators differ here, and none treat it as settled. One sets the journey beside the warnings Paul was given, and finds his love for Israel blinding him to them:
The apostle is first told, plainly and unmistakably, not to go to Jerusalem. Then he is shown what going will cost him... Despite it all, the apostle sees nothing of the kind. There is a veil over his eyes, and it is a very solemn one. It is the veil of an impulse that holds him — his love for Israel, which he himself has recorded for us in the letter to the Romans. He wrote that letter with this very journey in view.
Another writer leaves the question open and looks at what came of the prayer Paul asked for.
Paul clearly considered this collection a very important matter, and he insisted on carrying the money himself. He was quite aware of the danger he ran... Whether he was right to go to Jerusalem has been much discussed. We need not try to answer that here. But we should note this: God answered the prayer he asked the Roman saints to join him in, though not in the way he hoped. He was delivered, but not as a free man.
Paul did reach Rome — in chains, not as the free traveller of these verses.
His circumstances were very different from the ones he had pictured when he wrote ahead about what he planned to do. But he did come to them with a certain measure of joy by the will of God, and "the fullness of the blessing of Christ" marked him. God's hand was still over him.
- Need. Famine and the early sharing of goods left the believers in Jerusalem poor. Their hardship became an opening for others to give.
- Gift. The money came from Macedonia and Achaia, and the poorer givers gave the most — they talked less and gave more.
- Debt. Paul treats the money as a debt of love. Those who received spiritual things owe material things in return.
- Bond. The collection cemented practical fellowship between Gentile and Jew. Paul knew the danger and still insisted on carrying the money himself.
- Result. Commentators still debate whether the journey was wise. God answered his prayer through imprisonment, and he reached Rome in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.
for Macedonia and Achaia have been well pleased to make a certain contribution for the poor of the saints who [are] in Jerusalem.
Paul is about to leave for Jerusalem with money raised in the churches of Greece, and he tells the Christians in Rome about it. Two questions follow: why were the believers in Jerusalem poor, and why did churches hundreds of miles away want to help?
Macedonia and Achaia were the two Roman provinces that together made up Greece. The order in which Paul names them is not accidental. The record of the early church also explains why the need arose.
We find a reference to this collection for the saints in 1 Corinthians 16:1-4, and again at much greater length in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. If you read those passages, you can see at once why the Apostle here places Macedonia before Achaia. The Philippians were poor compared with the Corinthians, yet they were far more generous. They talked less and gave more. The Acts of the Apostles gives two reasons for the need. There was a famine in those days (Acts 11:27-30). The believers in Jerusalem had also grown especially poor through the "Christian communism" they practised at the beginning (Acts 2:44-45).
The word behind "contribution" is one the New Testament usually uses for something else.
The word "koinonia" means to share a thing in common. The New Testament translates it nineteen times — twelve times as "Fellowship," four times as "Communion," and once each as "Communication," "Contribution," "Distribution."
The words "it pleased them" set a principle for Christian giving. Liberty rules out force, but it does not cancel what is owed.
If you take the trouble to read Romans 15:26, you will find that "Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem." So on this point, the principle recognised in the word of God is the full liberty of the saints, and under certain aspects their moral obligation. "It pleased them." So when it pleases us, we do it, often acknowledging that it is an obligation. If you wish to see the spirit in which the thing was done, you can read 2 Corinthians 8 where the apostle says he does not speak this as a command.
So why did the Greeks owe anything? Paul points to what they had already received.
Meanwhile he was on an errand of compassion for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. Long before this, the Romans had divided Greece into the two provinces of Macedonia and Achaia. The saints there had raised money to help their brothers. The apostle treats this as a debt of love rather than as love simply flowing out. If the Gentiles shared in the spiritual privileges of the Jews, should they not remember their poor saints in material things? They were pleased, he repeats, but they are their debtors.
The gift did more than relieve hunger. It worked against a split that was opening in the early church.
In those days Jew and Gentile tended strongly to fall apart, and teachers from Jerusalem who pressed the law of Moses made the split worse by their scheming. So Paul clearly saw this collection as very important, and he insisted on carrying the money himself. He knew well the danger he was running. Verses 30 and 31 of this chapter show that he sensed trouble coming.
Commentators differ. One leaves the question open and looks instead at how the journey ended.
Whether he was really right in going to Jerusalem has been a much discussed question. We need not try to answer it here. But note that God answered the prayer Paul asked the Roman Christians to join in, though not in the way he hoped. He was delivered, but not as a free man. His imprisonment by Caesar's officers delivered him from his persecutors.
Another writer reads Paul's silence about any spiritual motive as telling.
No doubt it was a sweet testimony of affection and unity — so valuable at the time. Yet we may be sure that this was not all that moved Paul's heart. He has already told us (Rom. 10:1) of his deep longing for Israel's salvation... Why then does he not speak of it here? Can it be that he mentions no spiritual reason for going because he had a sense that it would bear no spiritual fruit? Indeed, we know from elsewhere that he did not have the direct leading of the Spirit of God to go to Jerusalem — in fact the Spirit warned him not to go. Another brother could just as well have carried this practical service to the poor saints.
- Debt — Spiritual blessing came out of Jerusalem to Greece. So Paul treats the money going back as a debt of love, not just love overflowing.
- Pleasure — No one ordered the debt paid. "It pleased them" — full liberty, with moral obligation beside it.
- Sharing — The word translated "contribution" is the word for fellowship. The gift was shared life, not charity from a distance.
- Bond — Jew and Gentile were pulling apart. This collection tied them together, and Paul carried it himself.
- Cost — He knew the danger and asked for prayer. God answered, but delivered him as a prisoner, not a free man.
They have been well pleased indeed, and they are their debtors; for if the nations have participated in their spiritual things, they ought also in fleshly to minister to them.
Paul is heading to Jerusalem with money collected from believers in Macedonia and Achaia for poor Christians there. This verse gives his reason, and it raises a question far bigger than one relief fund: when does a gift become a debt?
Paul says two things at once about the same collection. It pleased the givers, and they were under obligation. One commentator notes how he refuses to leave it at spontaneous generosity:
Meanwhile he was busy with an errand of compassion for the poor believers at Jerusalem. The believers of Macedonia and Achaia had raised money to help them. The apostle treats this as a debt of love rather than simply love flowing out. If the Gentiles shared in the spiritual privileges of the Jews, should they not remember their poor believers with physical things? They were pleased, he repeats, but they are their debtors.
The obligation is not just sentiment. It rests on where the gospel came from:
The Gentiles were in some sense debtors to Jerusalem. "Salvation is from the Jews," and the gospel had started in this favoured though guilty city. So if spiritual blessing had come from there to the Gentiles, it is only right — and a chance to show thankfulness — that when the Jews are in need, the Gentiles gladly serve them with material things.
The words "owe" and "ought" here come from one Greek verb. It is the language of accounts, not of advice:
Bengel says that the Greek word opheilo means "obligation," while the word dei means "necessity." Opheilo means to be under moral obligation, bound by duty, one ought — and especially in personal matters. Opheilo, and the words built from it, is with one exception the word for "owing" and for what is owed. In Romans 15:27 the older translation renders it "debtor" and "duty."
The older translation says "carnal things." That can mislead a reader today, since the same word carries a moral sense elsewhere. Here it means physical:
In Romans 7:14 the word means "fleshly" in a moral sense — the state of a newborn soul under bondage, doing the things he hates. In Romans 15:27 it means "fleshly" in a physical sense.
The need at Jerusalem had a traceable cause, and the relief did more than feed people:
The Acts of the Apostles gives us two reasons for the need. There was a famine in those days (Acts 11:27-30). The believers in Jerusalem had also become especially poor through the "Christian communism" they practised at the beginning (Acts 2:44-45). Their poverty, however, gave the occasion for building strong practical bonds of Christian fellowship between Gentile and Jew.
Giving was only half of it. One writer weighs what receiving such help admits:
When one church receives financial aid from another, that is a full and complete recognition of practical fellowship, founded on the confessed unity of the body.
Paul does not leave the principle with Macedonia and Achaia. He hints rather than presses when he turns to the readers at Rome:
This points to an important principle. If the Gentiles get blessing in spiritual things, they ought to treat it as their duty to give from their material things. There is a kind of obligation here. The apostle gently suggests to the believers at Rome that they might send a little help to their Jewish fellow-Christians in their present need.
Commentators read this verse as a working principle, not a one-off. One writer applies it to those who teach the word:
What the apostle commands is that the one who is taught the word should share his "good things" with the teacher. That is, the one taught has the privilege of meeting the teacher's material needs. The apostle states the same principle from another angle when he says that if the Gentiles have shared in the spiritual things of the Jewish believers, it is their duty to serve them in material things too. It is for the reader, not the writer, to say whether people generally recognise this obligation.
- Received — The Gentiles got the gospel through Jerusalem. Salvation is from the Jews, and the blessing travelled outward from that city.
- Owed — Paul's word is the language of debt: moral obligation, bound by duty. The older translation renders it both "debtor" and "duty" in this one verse.
- Willing — Yet the givers were pleased to give. One commentator calls it a debt of love rather than simple generosity — both, not either.
- Repaid — Not in kind. Spiritual things came down and material things went back. "Fleshly" here means physical, not sinful.
- Bonded — The money did what argument could not. Relief for believers hit by famine built practical fellowship between Jew and Gentile. The same rule still binds those taught to support those who teach.
Having finished this therefore, and having sealed to them this fruit, I will set off by you into Spain.
Paul is writing about a delivery. He is holding money from Gentile churches for poor believers in Jerusalem. It must reach them before he can turn west toward Rome and Spain.
Some translations render the middle of the verse "having sealed to them this fruit." One writer lists the meanings sealing carries in Scripture, and puts this verse under the closing of a transaction:
In Scripture, one of the meanings of sealing is the closing of a transaction, as in Romans 15:28. It is the putting into a person's hands of something designed for him and prepared for him, so that he can have it and use it.
One writer names two events that had drained the believers in Jerusalem, then draws out what their poverty made possible:
The Acts of the Apostles gives us two reasons for the need. There was a famine in those days (Acts 11:27-30). The believers in Jerusalem had also been made poor in a special way by the "Christian communism" they practised at the beginning (Acts 2:44-45). Their poverty, however, gave the occasion for building practical bonds of Christian fellowship between Gentile and Jew.
The same writer describes how Paul handled the collection he was trusted with:
Paul himself was the chief trustee of this collection made among the Gentile churches. He took great care to handle everything with openness and integrity. His own words are that they take this course "so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us." They aim "at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man" (2 Corinthians 8:20-21). Because of this care, he took with him no fewer than three brothers. One of them was Titus, whom Paul himself chose for the task.
(The quotation there follows an older translation; the ESV reads, "We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man.")
One writer points out which place Paul was aiming for, and what his hope for the visit shows:
Notice that Spain, not Rome, was the point he sought. This was no doubt in keeping with the measure of the sphere God assigned him. His eye was on the regions beyond. But he hoped to see the Roman believers on the way, and to be sent forward from there by them. He asks first to enjoy their company "for a while," for he will not allow that any time could exhaust his love for them or his enjoyment of talking with them.
Whether he ever arrived is another matter, and the record stops short:
The New Testament mentions Spain only in connection with Paul's plan to visit it. Whether he went there between his first and second imprisonments is not known.
The plan in this verse sounds simple: finish, then travel. What followed was neither simple nor short.
He did indeed get to Rome; whether to Spain or not we are not told. But how much came in between that he had not counted on! After Jerusalem came two years in prison at Caesarea. Then came the dangerous voyage across the Mediterranean, with three months at Malta, and a full two years in a Roman prison before release. He had meant only to stop there for a short time. But God had work for him, and he was kept there by force.
One writer leaves the much-argued question of the Jerusalem trip open, and points instead to what came of the prayer Paul asked for:
Whether he was right to go to Jerusalem has been much discussed. We need not try to answer it here. But we should note this: God answered the prayer he asked the Roman believers to join him in, though not in just the way he hoped. He was delivered, but not as a free man. He was delivered from his persecutors by his imprisonment at the hands of the representatives of Caesar.
- Seal — sealing closes a transaction. It puts into someone's hands what was prepared for them, and Paul will not leave for the west until the gift is delivered.
- Need — famine and early poverty had drained Jerusalem. That need became the occasion for real bonds between Gentile and Jewish believers.
- Trustee — as chief trustee of the collection, Paul took three companions with him. He aimed at what is honourable before men as well as before the Lord.
- Beyond — Spain, not Rome, was the goal. His eye was on the regions beyond, with the Roman believers as a stop and a send-off.
- Overruled — prison at Caesarea, a dangerous voyage, Malta, two years in Rome. He was delivered, but as a prisoner, and God had work for him there.
But I know that, coming to you, I shall come in [the] fulness of [the] blessing of Christ.
Paul is finishing his long letter to believers in Rome. First he will take a gift to Jerusalem. Then he will travel west and meet the Christians he has been writing to. He is sure of one thing: he will arrive carrying the full blessing of Christ.
Paul says this while laying out his travel plans. One commentator sets Paul's plan beside God's. He also notes that the words "of the Gospel", found in older versions of the verse, do not belong here:
Once he had completed that service, and confirmed that fruit to the Greek believers, he planned to pass through Rome on his way to Spain. He had only a short visit in mind. God had planned a stay of four years. He hoped to visit them in the fullness of the blessing of Christ (the words "of the Gospel" should be omitted here).
"I know" is a strong word for a journey not yet taken. One writer gives the two reasons behind it, and adds what Paul still had to do before he could go:
He knew this for two reasons. First, he understood the nature of the work committed to him, and what fruit it would bear when it is ministered faithfully and gladly received. Second, his desire had been put off for so long that the time now seemed to have come. Notice this: being an apostle was not in itself enough to secure a blessing from his visit. He had to wait on God.
What he expected to bring to Rome was not stored up for the occasion. It was what he already lived in, and expected to spill over wherever he travelled:
Fullness of blessing was his own personal and constant enjoyment. He had no emptiness to complain of, no barrenness, no lack of refreshment from heaven. In him the spring of water within sprang up to everlasting life, and flowed out of a heart filled to the full. He counted on that overflow spreading itself to others wherever he went.
He did reach Rome — but in chains. One commentator follows what Paul asked for and what he received:
Paul had a feeling that it might not turn out well. So he asks the believers at Rome to pray for him — that God would deliver him from the hands of the wicked, and that he would see their faces with joy. We know how it ended. He did see them at Rome. God delivered him, but as a prisoner. We do not know whether he ever went to Spain. God's ways follow His eternal purposes, His grace, and His perfect wisdom.
Another writer draws a lesson about prayer from this:
I believe it was according to God's mind that Paul should go to Rome. He had often prayed for it, if it were God's will. And I have no doubt God granted it, though not quite in the way the apostle expected. When he prayed that he might reach the believers at Rome and give them some spiritual gift, he probably had no idea that he would go there in chains. But so it was. And at the same time God answered his prayers, and more than answered them.
The chains did not empty the verse. One commentator points to what came out of Rome through a prisoner:
Chains, imprisonment and a fierce storm travelled with him to Rome. Even so, his Lord did not disappoint him. It was from Rome, and at Rome, that the Lord used him to bring out the fullness of the gospel in the revelation of the church. And from there he sent the precious stream of truth to the Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. So, in the severest storms of life, we may rest in patience, sure that He does all things well.
So the fullness never depended on a warm welcome. Another writer weighs the result (he quotes an older version of the verse, which adds the words "of the gospel"):
The fruit of his stay in Rome is far beyond our ability to measure. "The fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ" does not depend on men's favourable attitude.
- Fullness carried. Paul enjoyed this fullness himself first. He counted on it overflowing to others wherever he went.
- Fullness grounded. He knew the work given to him, and he waited on God for the timing. Being an apostle was not enough on its own.
- Fullness redirected. He planned a passing visit; God had purposed a four-year stay, and he arrived a prisoner.
- Fullness answered. The prayer was granted, though not in the way he expected — answered, and more than answered.
- Fullness proved. From that prison came the letters to Ephesus, Philippi and Colossae. The blessing does not depend on a warm welcome.