Paul's Great Desire

Introduction

Paul’s Intention to Visit

Our first step to discovere what Paul’s great desire is for the Roman Christians is Paul’s desire to visit these believers. Again, Paul had never seen this church before but they had a place in his heart significant enough to earn an eager visit.

There is an assumption here that the Roman Christians want to see Paul. FF Bruce even suggests that they were perhaps becoming impatient with the Apostle’s long delay.

This may have stemmed from the fact that the Roman Church had not yet been visited by an Apostle.

There seems to be a desire on the Roman’s part for some special “gift” (vs 11), something that they may not have recieved before. Paul is eager to give them such a gift, but the gift may not be what they are expecting.

First, the “gift” is a two way street. Paul does want to come and strengthen them as an Apostle, but its also obvious that this church already knows the basics of the Gospel. Again, this is not an evangelistic letter, nor is it a letter like Galatians which was written to counter some false teaching that was making its way into the Galatian church and comprommising the Gospel. Paul never says anything to them that would give us that idea.

In verse 12 Paul corrects the notion that he could bring any kind of gift to them other than the Gospel in more depth. Paul is never going past the Gospel with them. In fact, he will spend the majourity of the epistle going into more detail about how the Gospel impacts Jew-Gentile relations and the loving atmosphere that the church is meant to have.

Paul wants to bring them a spiritual gift, but shockingly he, the Apostle Paul, wants a spiritual gift in return. That is, he wants to be encouraged by their faith just as they would be encouraged by his faith and teaching.

The point is that Paul has nothing new to give them. He is not some super-Christian, he is merely an inspired witness of the Gospel. The Roman Christians are themselves witnesses of the Gospel, though not with the Apostolic authority of Paul, and so are able to give the same gift to him that he gives to them, namely the Gospel and its consequences through faith.

Paul’s Harvest Among Gentiles

This leads us to the reason for Paul’s coming to them; reaping a harvest. What is this harvest? Paul is clear that it is among both they, the saved believers of the church of Rome, and other Gentiles that Paul ministers to.

First, what is this Harvest?

Harvest is used as an analogy for several things throughout the NT. It can refer to the final day as God seperates the saved from the lost (Matt 13:39). It can refer to missions as Jesus sends out his disciples because “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few.” (Luke 10:2) This latter example is likely what Paul has in mind to an extent, with a stark contrast to Luke 10 being that in Luke, Jesus is sending his disciples to the lost sheep in Israel, those ethnic Jews who needed to hear the Gospel. Here, Paul is clearly looking for a harvest among the lost Gentiles, non Jews who are nontheless called to be among the remnant of true Israel.

However, a problem with this is that Paul is writing to a Christian church. Would we say that Paul is looking to harvest where the harvest has already taken place? Not exactly. Here it is helpful to look at the context, where we can draw a parallel between the encouragement Paul expects from these believers and the harvest he is coming to enjoy. The harvest, in the immediate context, is the faith that they show. This is clearly what Paul is referring to and it makes sense. The harvest has been taken in and Paul desires to taste of it as a worker of the Gospel.

Nothing encourages a worker of the Gospel more than seeing the Gospel in action in people’s lives. This is why testimony is so important to us. Telling each other, not just how we came to know the Lord, but also how our faith is growing as we interact with the Word through the Spirit in everyday life, is a source of encouragement for all believers. That is the harvest of your life! It is not as if you have been converted and now harvesting is over for you. A worker in the Kingdom whose main priority is the edification of the saints is just as much a harvester as an evangelist. As Gospel workers, every Christian’s main occupation must be participation in this harvest by planting the Gospel and watching it bear fruit in the lives of those around us, but through conversion and baptism, and through discipleship and sanctification. Salvation is a process that begins with the new birth, continues through growth in holiness, and completes in glory.

Paul Bowers writes, “(Paul’s) Gospel…(includes) not simply an initial preaching mission but the full sequence of activities resulting in settled churches.” In other words, when Paul talks about preaching the Gospel and fulfilling the Great Comission, he sees it as a complete package.

Second, why does Paul expect this harvest, given that he did not plant this church?

Paul is an Apostle, and as such he carries on the mission of Christ. We know from other parts of the New Testiment that Paul had lost all self-identity in exchange for seeing himself as one who embodies the Gospel and, to an extent, embodies the presence of Christ.

Philippians 1:20–21 ESV

as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Lets look at what Paul means by encouragement. Encouragement can mean two things, either together or seperately. It can mean to confort someone, such as encouraging a depressed or sad friend, or it can mean to exhort someone, such as encouraging your friend to do the right thing. When the Holy Spirit is called the “Comforter” this is the word that is used. The Greek word can also carry a third meaning: to summon or ask something of someone, at times even beg. What is the case here?

Paul seems to usually use this word in the context of fatherly, loving exhortation; pushing believers on to greater excercise of their faith. An example can be found in 1 Corinthians 14:31

1 Corinthians 14:31 ESV

For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged,

Encouragement is often paired with instruction, spiritual growth, and strengthening. It has the neuance of comfort, but comfort for the sake of pushing forward to the tast at hand. That is why I say his exhortation is loving and fatherly, such as when a father pushes their child, after taking her first step, to be encouraged to take more as she learns to walk.

For Paul, this mutual encouragement can only have one end: further growth in the Gospel and a further reach to the unsaved in the world. The harvest Paul wishes to share in among them is one of mutual encouragement between Saints that spurs them on in the Faith to preach Christ to the lost. Their faith will encourage him to continue his work among the Gentiles, and his faith and teaching will hopefully do the same for the Roman Christians.

Conclusion for Part 1

Nothing more than the Gospel.

It is easy to think of the Gospel as the first steps of our life in Christ, but this is not the case at all. What Jesus did for us in his incarnation, death, and resurrection is the source and foundation for everything else in the Christian life. If the Roman Christians expected a special, spiritual blessing from Paul they were right; but this blessing was simply a further preaching of the Gospel to them for their sanctification. In fact, that is what this letter is about. It’s what the entire New Testament is about!

Paul loves to begin many of his letters by reminding the believers about the Gospel and what they have in Christ, and then instruct or encourage them based on those truths. Just as gasoline is not only useful in starting an engine, but also keeping it going, the Gospel not only saves us but fuels us to keep going on our way to our eternal home with Christ.

A word to the lost.

But perhaps this Gospel is still foreign to you. You are trying to live a holy, good, or moral life without this fuel and it is getting you nowhere. Have you consistantly refused the call of the Gospel which tells you to put away your own goodness and run into the arms of the Saviour? Have you finally given up on yourself and living a Christless life to come know him? I hope that the urgency and even the obsession in Paul’s writings on the Gospel will compel you to search out this Gospel and submit to it while you still can. It was for people like you that Paul, and before him the Lord Jesus Christ, came to preach this Gospel. Don’t let this oppertunity go to waste.

Mutual Encouragement.

And believer, what does this text say about your calling? Every breathing Christian has a prioritized responsability to preach the Gospel eagerly, not just to the lost but to each other. This is done through our words, our prayers, our fellowship, but also through sacrificial love, personal holiness, and a consistent walk with Christ which yields a harvest of Gospel encouragement to the church as well as the world around you. Make it your great aim to be a man or woman of God whose walk with Christ would encourage a believer who sees you to push forward with their own faith. In this way, iron sharpens iron. As I told someone recently, make it your ambition to be qualified for ministry because Christ has called you to it. Not necessarily as an elder or deacon, although that may be so, but as one whose life is a clear demonstration of the power of God through the good news of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul’s Obligation to All Gentiles

Paul’s Eagerness to Preach to the Roman Church

Not Ashamed —>

The Power of God —>

Jews and Gentiles

The Revelation of Righteousness: The End of Paul’s Great Mission