Romans 15.19b-21-Paul Proclaimed The Gospel By The Power Of The Spirit From Jerusalem To Illyricum In Fulfillment Of Old Testament Prophecy
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday June 20, 2010
Romans: Romans 15:19b-21-Paul Proclaimed The Gospel By The Power Of The Spirit From Jerusalem To Illyricum In Fulfillment Of Old Testament Prophecy
Lesson # 522
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 15:14.
In Romans 15:19b-21, Paul reveals to the Roman believers that he proclaimed the gospel by the power of the Spirit from Jerusalem to Illyricum in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
Romans 15:14, “And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another. 15, But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God. 16, To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17, Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. 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. 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.”
“So that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” presents the results of Christ working through him by the power of the Spirit in his ministry to the Gentiles.
“From Jerusalem” denotes that the city of Jerusalem was the geographical starting point of Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles since according to Acts 22:17-21 this is where he received his commission from the Lord to go to the Gentiles.
“Illyricum” was a Roman province in the northwestern Balkan peninsula, stretching along the eastern coasts of the Adriatic Sea to the borders of Italy to Macedonia and inland as far as the Danube.
Today, this area corresponds to modern northern Albania, much of Yugoslavia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
“Round about as far as Illyricum” indicates that Paul took a circuitous route and that his journey was not a direct one.
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.”
The statement “I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” means that Paul fulfilled what he was required to do as an apostle sent by the Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.
It means that he proclaimed the gospel in strategic centers throughout the area from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum and established churches in these areas.
From these strategic centers, these churches that he had planted would evangelize their own specific regions.
He was simply laying a foundation among the Gentiles from Jerusalem, all the way around as far as Illyricum.
In Romans 15:20, 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 15:20, “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.
“Thus” 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.
“I aspired” 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.
“To preach” means “to proclaim the gospel or good news” and is used with Paul as its subject.
“Not where Christ was named” emphatically negates the idea of Paul proclaiming Christ in unidentified geographical regions of the Roman Empire where He was already known.
“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 on another man’s foundation” 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)
What Paul says in Romans 15:20 is similar to his statements in 1 Corinthians 3:1-10 and 2 Corinthians 10:15-16.
In Romans 15:21, Paul cites Isaiah 52:15b because it alludes to the context of his gospel, it describes his ministry to the Gentiles and it supports his teaching in Romans 15:20.
Romans 15:21, “But as it is written, ‘THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.’”
The quotation from Isaiah 52:15b that appears in Romans 15:21 stands in direct contrast with the idea of Paul building on another’s foundation and proclaiming the gospel in places where Christ was already known.
It validates his assertion in Romans 15:20 that he aspired to proclaim the gospel in those regions of the earth where Christ was never known in order that he would not build upon another’s foundation, Paul quotes exactly from the Septuagint translation of Isaiah 52:15b.
Isaiah 52:15b supports Paul’s previous statement in which he wrote that he aspired to proclaim the gospel in those regions of the earth where Christ was never known in order that he would not build upon another’s foundation.
It also alludes to the content of his gospel, namely Christ and describes the purpose and modus operandi of his ministry on behalf of the Gentiles since in this passage the individuals who have not had the gospel proclaimed to them and have not heard it yet are “kings” and “nations” (cf. Isaiah 52:15a).
The statements “THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE” and “THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND” both speak of the Gentiles accepting by faith the gospel message concerning the Messiah.