Romans 15

This section of Romans explains the moral and ethical demands of the gospel. God’s gift of salvation in Christ calls for a response from believers.

God not only forgives sin. He also wants to transform how people live.

Much of what Paul teaches here about the moral duties of believers also appears in his other letters. However, Paul also addresses issues that were especially important for the church in Rome. One key issue was the disagreement between people who were weak in faith and people who were strong in faith(14:1–15:13).

Paul addresses a specific issue causing conflict in the church at Rome. The church encountered a dispute between those weak in faith and those strong in faith about certain practices (see 15:1).

Throughout this section, Paul urges Christians to show patience and tolerance toward one another and their practices. He is convinced that people on both sides are genuine believers. He also believes that the issues they are arguing about are not essential to the Christian faith.

• We who are strong: Paul includes himself among those he calls strong in faith. This shows that the division in the Roman church was not simply between Jews and Gentiles. Like Paul, some Jews had informed consciences and were counted among the strong. In the same way, some Gentiles were deeply influenced by Jewish teaching and tradition and were counted among the weak in faith.

• ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak: This idea is similar to Galatians 6:2. Paul did not want the strong merely to tolerate those who were weak in faith. Instead, the strong were to help them actively and with care, so the weak could live out their Christian faith with integrity (see also Galatians 5:13–15).

his neighbor: See Leviticus 19:18, quoted in Romans 13:9. Love for others should guide how Christians who are strong in faith live and act.

• This quotation is from Psalm 69:9.

• Several passages in the New Testament use Psalm 69 to describe the suffering of Jesus (Matthew 27:34; Mark 15:35–36; Luke 23:36; John 15:25; 19:28–29). By quoting only part of this psalm, Paul reminds people of the full story of the suffering of Jesus, not just one moment.

For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction: God caused everything in the Scriptures to be written for his purposes, to teach believers.

grant you harmony with one another: This phrase refers to a person's overall way of thinking (see study note on 12:16). A shared way of thinking is essential for unity among Christians (see 12:3–5, 16; Philippians 2:2–5).

accept one another: This means more than just tolerating one another. We should welcome other Christians, with all their flaws and sins, into our community and treat them as family (see study note on 12:10). Christ has done that very thing for us (5:8–11).

Through Christ, God enabled Jews and Gentiles to unite and glorify him as the new covenant people of God (see chapters 9–11). The issue of Jewish and Gentile relationships was central to the disagreement in the Roman church (14:1–15:7).

so that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy: Gentiles are now full members of God’s people.

brimming with knowledge: Paul praises the Roman Christians, as he had in the beginning of the letter (see 1:8–12). This shows his gracious attitude toward a church that he had not founded and had not yet visited.

This final section includes elements often found at the end of New Testament letters:

• a discussion of travel plans (15:14–29),

• requests for prayer (15:30–33),

• references to ministry partners (16:1–2, 21–23),

• greetings (16:3–16), and

• a short hymn of praise (16:25–27).

Only the warning about false teachers is a non-standard feature in this conclusion (16:17–19).

the grace God has given me: Paul emphasized that his role as apostle and teacher was because God had chosen him to lead in the formation of the Christian church (see also 1:5; 12:3; 1 Corinthians 3:10; Galatians 2:9; Ephesians 3:2, 7, 8).

• a minister: The Greek word leitourgos means “servant” or “minister.” It can describe many kinds of service, but Jews often used it for priests. Paul likely chose this word to highlight the priestly nature of his work.

• so that the Gentiles: Paul emphasizes that the church in Rome included many Gentiles (see also 1:6–7). This does not mean there were no Jews in the church, but Gentiles had become the majority (see 16:3–16).

• become an offering acceptable to God: Paul was fulfilling Isaiah 66:19–20.

• I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ: Paul was not saying that the work of sharing the gospel was finished in these regions. He meant that churches had been planted in enough major cities. These churches could now continue the work themselves. Paul’s own role of starting key and foundational churches had been completed.

• from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum: This description covers the regions where Paul had planted churches, including southern Galatia, Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Greece. Illyricum was a Roman province along the Adriatic Sea. It lay northeast of Italy, in the area of modern-day Albania and Croatia.

• I hope to see you on my way to Spain: In Paul’s time, "Spain" referred to the whole Iberian Peninsula, which includes modern Spain and Portugal. The Romans had controlled parts of this region since 200 BC. However, it became an organized Roman province only during Paul’s lifetime. Paul viewed Spain, at the western edge of the Mediterranean world, as the final stage of his mission. Through this mission, he believed he was fulfilling Isaiah 66:19–20.

• you can equip me for my journey: Spain was very far from Paul’s earlier sending church in Antioch of Syria. For this reason, Paul hoped the church in Rome could support him and serve as a base for this future work.

I am on my way to Jerusalem to serve the saints there: During his third mission journey, Paul gathered donations from the Gentile churches. This was to help the Christians in Jerusalem and to unite the two groups of the first-century AD church (see also 1 Corinthians 16:1–2; 2 Corinthians 8–9).

• Paul started churches in several major cities in Macedonia, including Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. In Achaia, Paul preached in Athens and started the church in Corinth (see Acts 16–18).

• the poor among the saints in Jerusalem: Jewish Christians in Jerusalem were starving because of droughts in the area (see Acts 11:27–30). Their faith in Christ also led to their exclusion from Jewish society.

indeed they owe it to them: Gentile Christians owe their spiritual existence to God’s work among the Israelites (see 11:17–24).

Pray that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea: See Acts 21–22. God saved the apostle Paul's life and used his arrest in Jerusalem to guide him to Rome, where he intended to go.

Some manuscripts do not include the word Amen. One very early manuscript places the doxology (a short hymn of praise, 16:25–27) here. This has led some scholars to think that the original letter to the Romans included only 1:1–15:33. However, few scholars now support this theory. The best early manuscripts place the doxology at the end of chapter 16. Most likely, all of chapter 16 was part of Paul’s original letter to the Romans. See also the study note on 16:1–16.