Romans 15.20-Paul's Ambition Was To Proclaim Christ In Places Where He Was Not Known So As To Not Build On Another's Foundation
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday June 16, 2010
Romans: Romans 15:20-Paul’s Ambition Was To Proclaim Christ In Places Where He Was Not Known So As To Not Build On Another’s Foundation
Lesson # 520
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 15:18.
This evening we will study Romans 15:20, and in this passage Paul writes that his ambition in life was to proclaim Christ in places of the Roman Empire that did not know Christ so as to not build upon another man’s foundation.
Romans 15:18, “For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed.”
Romans 15:19, “In the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”
Romans 15:20, “And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation.”
Romans 15:20 advances upon and intensifies the preceding statements in Romans 15:18-19.
In Romans 15:18-19, Paul is describing the manner in which he proclaimed the gospel from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum, namely, with Christ working through him by word and action, by means of the power, which produced miracles, by means of the power of the Holy Spirit.
Now, in Romans 15:20, Paul advances and intensifies and clarifies for the reader his statements in Romans 15:18-19 that he proclaimed Christ from Jerusalem to Illyricum with Christ working through him by word and deed, miracles and by the power of the Spirit.
He wants to clarify for his readers that he proclaimed the gospel from Jerusalem to Illyricum but only in those places where Christ was already named so not to build on another’s foundation.
“Thus” is the relative adverb of manner hos (οὕτως) (oo-toce), which refers to the preceding statements in Romans 15:18-19, which describe the manner in which Paul proclaimed the gospel from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum.
So Paul is saying with this word, that he aspired to proclaim the gospel in this manner, namely with the Lord working through him by word and deed, by the power, which produced miracles, by means of the power of the Holy Spirit.
“I aspired” is the accusative masculine singular present middle participle form of the verb philotimeomai (φιλοτιμέομαι) (feel-owe-tee-meh-owe-meh), which means “to make something one’s ambition” in the sense of having a desire to achieve a particular goal.
This indicates that Paul “had as his own ambition” to proclaim the gospel only in those places where Christ was not named so that he did not build upon another man’s foundation.
Romans 15:20, “And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation.”
“To preach” is the present middle infinitive form of the verb euangelizo (εὐαγγελίζω) (eh-vahn-yah-lee-zoe), which means “to proclaim the gospel or good news” and is used with Paul as its subject.
The middle voice of the verb philotimeomai is an indirect middle indicating that it was Paul’s “own” continual ambition to proclaim the gospel where Christ was never named so that he would not build upon another’s foundation.
“Not where Christ was named” is composed of the emphatic negative adverb ou (οὐ)) (oo), “not” and the adverb of place hopou (ὅπου) (owe-poo), “where” and the nominative masculine singular form of the noun Christos (Χριστός) (cree-stoce), “Christ” and the third person singular aorist passive indicative form of the verb onomazo (ὀνομάζω) (owe-no-mah-zoe), “was named.”
The noun Christos designates the humanity of Jesus Christ as the promised Savior for all mankind who is unique as the incarnate Son of God and guided and empowered by the Spirit as the Servant of the Father.
The verb onomazo means “to cause to be made known” and is used with Christ as its subject.
The verb’s meaning is emphatically negated by the emphatic negative adverb ou, “not,” which is used to deny the reality of an alleged fact and is the clear cut, point-blank negative, and objective, final.
Here it emphatically negates the idea of Christ being known in certain parts of the Roman Empire.
The adverb of place hopou denotes unidentified geographical regions of the Roman Empire in which the inhabitants did not know of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection and that by trusting in Him they can receive eternal life.
Romans 15:20, “And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation.”
“So that I would not build on another man’s foundation” is a purpose clause indicating Paul’s purpose for proclaiming the gospel throughout the Roman Empire where Christ was never known.
“I would not build” is composed of the negative particle me (μή) (me), “not” and the first person singular present active subjunctive form of the verb oikodomeo (οἰκοδομέω) (ee-koe-thoe-meh-owe), “I would build.”
“On another man’s foundation” is composed of the preposition epi (ἐπί) (ep-ee), “on” and the accusative masculine singular form of the adjective allotrios (ἀλλότριος) (ah-low-tree-oce), “of another man’s” and the accusative masculine singular form of the noun themelios (θεμέλιος) (thah-mel-ee-oce), “foundation.”
The verb oikodome means “to build” and is used in a figurative sense describing the work of communicating the gospel.
The word’s meaning is negated by the negative particle me, which denies any idea of Paul communicating the gospel in an area already evangelized by another.
Robert Mounce writes, “He would rather not build on foundations laid by others. That was not because of some peculiar pride that would encourage him to go it on his own but because of his intense desire to reach the known world as quickly as possible.” (Mounce, Robert, The New American Commentary, volume 27, Romans, page 268; Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1995)
The noun themelios means “foundation” and is used here in a figurative sense of the elementary beginnings of or founding of a Christian community built by those evangelists that communicated the gospel to its founding members.
The adjective allotrios means “another’s” since it refers to a ministry “which belongs to another person” and is modifying and describing the noun themelios, “foundation.”
To summarize our findings from this verse, we see that this statement advances and intensifies and clarifies for the reader Paul’s statements in Romans 15:18-19 that he proclaimed Christ from Jerusalem to Illyricum with Christ working through him by word and deed, miracles and by the power of the Spirit.
He wants his readers to clarify for his readers that he proclaimed the gospel from Jerusalem to Illyricum but only in those places where Christ was already known so not to build on another’s foundation.
What Paul says in Romans 15:20 is similar to his statements in 1 Corinthians 3:1-10 and 2 Corinthians 10:15-16.