“I myself am also persuaded about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish others. But I write the more boldly to you in part, as reminding you, because of the grace that was given to me by God, that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. I have therefore my boasting in Christ Jesus in things pertaining to God. For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of God’s Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and around as far as to Illyricum, I have fully preached the Good News of Christ; yes, making it my aim to preach the Good News, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build on another’s foundation. But, as it is written, “‘They will see, to whom no news of him came. They who haven’t heard will understand.’”
Paul has completed the theological and pastoral argument that has occupied most of Romans and now begins turning toward his own ministry and the circumstances surrounding the letter. He has explained the gospel, the universal problem of sin, justification by faith, life in Christ, the work of the Spirit, God’s faithfulness concerning Israel, and the life of love that follows from mercy. Before discussing his travel plans, he explains why he has written so extensively and so directly to a church he did not establish.
His explanation is important because the boldness of Romans could easily be mistaken for a poor assessment of its readers. Paul has corrected assumptions, warned against sin, addressed tensions between Jewish and Gentile believers, and instructed the church concerning matters ranging from government to Christian liberty. Yet he does not regard the Roman Christians as helpless or incapable of faithfulness without him. He is persuaded that they are “full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish others.”
Paul’s boldness arises instead from the ministry God entrusted to him. He describes himself as a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel so that the Gentiles themselves become an offering acceptable to God and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The apostle who has spent much of Romans explaining how mercy reached the nations now describes his own ministry as one of the means through which that saving purpose has advanced.
Even then, Paul refuses to make himself the center of the work. He speaks only of “those things which Christ worked through me.” His ministry is real, his labor extensive, and his calling distinctive, but the decisive actor remains Christ.
Able Also to Admonish One Another
Romans 15:14
“I myself am also persuaded about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish others.”
Paul begins by expressing confidence in the Roman Christians themselves. That confidence is significant after the length and force of the letter he has written. Romans is not a casual note. Paul has carefully developed arguments, anticipated objections, corrected misunderstandings, and given direct commands, yet none of this means he regards the church as spiritually incompetent.
He describes them as “full of goodness” and “filled with all knowledge,” capable of admonishing one another. Christian instruction is therefore not restricted to apostles or to a small group responsible for everyone else’s growth. Believers who have been formed by the truth are able to help one another recognize error, correct conduct, and remain faithful.
That does not make every Christian equally knowledgeable or every correction equally sound. Paul has just spent two chapters distinguishing stronger and weaker consciences, so growth in understanding clearly remains necessary. His point is that the church already possesses real spiritual maturity and responsibility. His own teaching supplements rather than replaces the ministry believers exercise toward one another.
Paul can therefore write with apostolic authority without treating the church as dependent upon his constant supervision. He addresses people capable of receiving, applying, and passing on the truth he has written.
I Write the More Boldly
Romans 15:15–16
“But I write the more boldly to you in part, as reminding you, because of the grace that was given to me by God, that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
Paul explains that his letter serves partly as a reminder. He is not introducing Christianity to Rome as though the believers there have never heard the gospel. He writes boldly because his calling gives him responsibility to remind and instruct them.
He describes that calling as “the grace that was given to me by God.” Grace here includes the particular ministry entrusted to him as an apostle to the Gentiles. Paul had introduced himself at the beginning of Romans as one who had “received grace and apostleship for obedience of faith among all the nations,” and as the letter approaches its conclusion he returns to that same calling.
His description becomes priestly. Paul serves the gospel so that “the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” The Gentiles themselves are pictured as the offering, language that recalls Romans 12:1, where believers were commanded to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.
Paul is not restoring the Levitical priesthood or placing himself between Christians and God as a mediator. He is using sacrificial language to describe the missionary work through which people from the nations are consecrated to God. Paul proclaims the gospel, but the Holy Spirit sanctifies the offering. The missionary serves, while God makes holy the people brought to him through that ministry.
The imagery therefore reinforces the argument Paul has been making throughout Romans. The Gentiles who once stood under sin have received mercy, been brought into the people of God through Christ, and now become a people consecrated to God.
Boasting in Christ Jesus
Romans 15:17–18
“I have therefore my boasting in Christ Jesus in things pertaining to God. For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed,”
Paul can speak confidently about his ministry because he is careful about what his confidence means. Earlier in Romans, boasting was excluded when human beings attempted to establish standing before God through their own works. No sinner could boast as though justification were a reward God owed.
Paul now uses the language of boasting differently because the object of his boasting is Christ. He will speak of his ministry, but only as the work Christ accomplished through him.
That distinction allows Paul to acknowledge the reality of his own labor without claiming the glory produced by it. He really did preach, travel, suffer, reason, establish churches, and carry the gospel across vast regions. Those actions matter, but Paul interprets them as instruments through which Christ worked rather than achievements that originated in Paul himself.
The goal was “the obedience of the Gentiles,” language that recalls the opening of Romans. Paul’s mission seeks more than intellectual agreement with a message. The gospel calls the nations into the obedience that arises from faith and places their lives under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
That work takes place “by word and deed.” Paul’s proclamation and his conduct belong together within the ministry Christ performs through him. His authority therefore rests neither upon personal greatness nor upon rhetorical confidence, but upon the calling and work of Christ.
In the Power of Signs and Wonders
Romans 15:19
“in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of God’s Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and around as far as to Illyricum, I have fully preached the Good News of Christ;”
Paul’s apostolic ministry was accompanied by “signs and wonders” through the power of the Holy Spirit. The language reflects the extraordinary character of the apostolic mission. Paul did not merely claim to have been commissioned by the risen Christ; his ministry was accompanied by powerful works through which God authenticated and advanced that mission.
Even here, Paul attributes the power to God rather than himself. The signs and wonders occur “in the power of God’s Spirit,” fitting the pattern already established in the passage. Christ works through Paul, the Spirit supplies the power, and God receives the people brought through the gospel.
Paul then describes the geographical extent of his ministry: “from Jerusalem and around as far as to Illyricum.” He does not mean that every person throughout that enormous territory personally heard him preach. Rather, his pioneering ministry had established gospel witness across a vast region stretching outward from Jerusalem through much of the eastern Roman world.
In that sense, Paul says that he has “fully preached the Good News of Christ.” The statement prepares for the travel plans that follow. His particular missionary work in these regions has reached a stage at which he is looking toward new territory. Existing churches still require teaching and leadership, but Paul’s distinctive calling pushes him toward places where Christ has not yet been named.
Not Where Christ Was Already Named
Romans 15:20
“yes, making it my aim to preach the Good News, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build on another’s foundation.”
Paul describes the missionary ambition that shaped his movements. He sought to preach Christ where Christ had not already been named and to establish gospel witness where none existed.
This does not imply that ministry among existing Christians is unimportant. Paul himself spent considerable time teaching established churches, returning to congregations, correcting problems, appointing leaders, and writing to believers who had already received the gospel. His point concerns the particular nature of his apostolic mission.
Paul was a pioneer.
He describes that calling through construction imagery: he did not want to “build on another’s foundation.” His ministry often involved laying the initial gospel foundation in new places so that others could continue the work that followed.
That principle also explains something unusual about Romans. Paul is writing extensively to a church he did not establish, and he respects the work already present there rather than treating the Roman Christians as though their existence depends upon him. His desire to visit Rome will fit into a larger missionary movement rather than an attempt to take possession of another person’s field.
The same apostle capable of writing boldly also recognizes the boundaries of his own calling.
Those Who Haven’t Heard Will Understand
Romans 15:21
“But, as it is written, “‘They will see, to whom no news of him came. They who haven’t heard will understand.’”
Paul grounds his missionary ambition in Isaiah 52:15, immediately before Isaiah’s description of the suffering servant. In Isaiah, those who had not been told would see, and those who had not heard would understand what God had accomplished through his servant.
Paul sees his mission to unreached Gentiles within that scriptural expectation. His desire to preach where Christ has not been named is therefore more than missionary temperament or personal preference. He understands the spread of the gospel among the nations as part of what Israel’s Scriptures anticipated God would accomplish.
This continues the argument of the preceding passage. Paul had just drawn from the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets to show Gentiles praising God alongside his people and hoping in the root of Jesse. He now places his own missionary work within that same scriptural story. The nations joining in the worship of God requires the message of Israel’s Messiah to reach people who have not yet heard.
Paul does not create that purpose through his missionary ambition. His ambition serves the purpose God had already announced.
I Have Written More Boldly to You
Paul’s explanation of his ministry clarifies both the authority of Romans and the place Paul understands himself to occupy within the gospel’s advance. He has written boldly, but not because he regards the Roman Christians as ignorant or incapable. He recognizes their goodness, knowledge, and ability to admonish one another while still exercising the apostolic responsibility God gave him toward the Gentiles.
That calling allows Paul to describe his ministry through the language of priestly service. He proclaims the gospel so that the Gentiles themselves may be presented to God as an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The imagery gathers together themes that have run throughout Romans: people once under sin receive mercy, are brought into the people of God through Christ, and become lives consecrated to God.
Paul occupies an important place in that work without becoming its ultimate cause. Christ works through him, the Spirit supplies the power, and the resulting obedience of the Gentiles becomes an occasion for boasting in Christ rather than in the apostle.
His ministry from Jerusalem toward Illyricum demonstrates how extensively that work has already advanced, while his desire to preach where Christ has not yet been named reveals the missionary calling that continues to drive him. The goal is not to collect established churches beneath his authority but to carry the gospel into territory where its foundation has not yet been laid.
Isaiah gives Paul the scriptural frame for that ambition. Those who had received no news would see, and those who had not heard would understand. The apostle therefore sees his ministry not as an independent project but as participation in the saving purpose God had already announced.
Romans began with Paul describing himself as a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God. Near the end of the letter, he returns to that calling after showing what decades of ministry under it have produced.
Whatever has been accomplished through Paul’s preaching, travel, suffering, and labor, he refuses to name himself as the final explanation.
Christ worked through him.