Romans 1:8-15 (ESV)
(8) First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. (9) For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you (10) always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. (11) For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you – (12) that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. (13) I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. (14) I am under obligation both to the Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. (15) So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Paul begins to wrap up his introduction by expressing his thanksgiving for the faith of these Christians in Rome (1:8). However, not only is he expressing thanksgiving, but is likewise praying for them and hopes to meet them in person soon (1:9-10). He hopes to see them in order to “impart” unto them some spiritual gift (1:11). We don’t know exactly which gift Paul is referring to, but we do know that the result will be mutual encouragement in the faith between Paul and these Christians (1:12).
At the present, you might be wondering why Paul hasn’t visited them yet, considering how frequently he traveled from city to city in his missionary travels, recorded in Acts. Yet, Paul informed these Christians that he has not been ignoring them, but his failure to visit was due to the lack of opportunity (1:13).This was probably because of the pressing needs of other churches he had planted. As well, another reason why he wants to visit them, is because his purpose as an Apostle is to tell all gentiles (non-Jews) about the gospel of Jesus Christ (1:14), both the “Greeks” and “barbarians” (individuals in the empire who could not speak Greek well). Paul was zealous about this mission, which includes those in Rome (1:15).
In reading about Paul in his passion for evangelism – telling others about the gospel is where I believe we should imitate Paul. Some of the questions we need to ask ourselves are as follows:
How much does the gospel mean to us?
How would someone describe our evangelism?
What motivates us to tell others about the gospel?
In reading 2 Corinthians, chapters 4 & 5, we saw that Paul viewed the gospel as truth (2 Cor 4:1-6) and even though he was persecuted, yet he was empowered to proclaim the gospel in the midst of suffering (2 Cor 4:7-15). What motivated Paul to evangelize: God’s love (2 Cor 5:14) and Paul’s reverence for God (2 Cor 5:10-11). On account of these two aspects, Paul pleaded (2 Cor 5:20) and persuaded (2 Cor 5:11) for others to be reconciled to God in Jesus Christ (2 Cor 5:20). As a result of our study, we need to examine the three previous questions and encourage one another to be on mission wherever we might find ourselves.
Aaron Edwards