Romans 1.13-Paul's Intention to Visit Rome to Reap a Harvest Among Roman Believers
Thursday May 31, 2007
Romans: Romans 1:13-Paul’s Intention to Visit Rome to Reap a Harvest Among the Roman Believers
Lesson # 18
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 1:1.
This evening we will continue with our study of the book of Romans and in particular chapter one.
By way of review, we have noted thus following thus far:
Romans 1:1-7 contains the salutation in the book of Romans, which identifies the writer as Paul (verse 1) and the recipients of the letter as being believers in Rome (verses 6 and 7) and the subject as being Jesus Christ (verse 1:2-5).
In Romans 1:8, we read where Paul relates to the believers in Rome that he makes it a habit to thank the Father for them in prayer because of their faith, which was well-know throughout the Rome Empire.
Then, in Romans 1:9-10, Paul also related to the believers in Rome that he prayed for them and that he might be able to visit them in the future.
In Romans 1:11, Paul writes to the believers in Rome that his purpose for wanting to visit them was that it had been his great desire for some time to impart some spiritual blessing to them that would strengthen their faith.
Last evening we studied Romans 1:12, in which Paul qualifies his statement in Romans 1:11 by relating that his other purpose for wanting to visit the believers in Rome is that he and they would be mutually encouraged by one another’s faith.
This evening we will note Romans 1:13 and read where Paul states to the believers in Rome that it had been his intention to visit them in order to reap a harvest among them but his evangelistic work and care and concern for the churches he had established from Jerusalem to Illyricum had prevented him from doing so.
Romans 1:1-7, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 1:8, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.”
Romans 1:9-10, “For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.”
Romans 1:11-12, “For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established, that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine.”
Romans 1:13, “I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.”
The Greek text of Romans 1:13 contains the post-positive “transitional” use of the conjunction de (deV), which introduces a new topic of discussion, transitioning from Paul’s prayer in Romans 1:8-11 to his report regarding his circumstances in Corinth towards the end of his third missionary journey in approximately 57 A.D.
Therefore, the word should be translated “now,” which the New American Standard and the New International Version erroneously fail to do, however, the King James and New King James correctly do so.
Also, the Greek text of Romans 1:13 contains the statement ou thelo humas agnoein (ou) qevlw u(ma$ a)gnoein), which the New American Standard translates “I do not want you to be unaware.”
This expression is a standard formula that Paul used in his letters to the churches when he wanted to emphasize what he was about to say was especially important (See Romans 11:25; 1 Corinthians 10:1; 12:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:13) and it is always followed by the vocative adelphoi (a)delfoiv), “brethren.”
By using this expression, Paul is emphasizing to his readers that he had not intentionally neglected visiting them but had legitimate reasons for not visiting them.
Rome was a Gentile city, the capital of the Roman Empire and one would think that since Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, he would have made it a priority to visit the place.
“Brethren” is the vocative masculine plural form of the noun adelphos (a)delfov$), which is as a technical term for members of the royal family of God who are related to each other and the Lord Jesus Christ through spiritual birth, i.e., regeneration, thus, the word refers to a “fellow-believer, fellow-Christian.”
This word emphasizes the fact that the Roman believers and all believers in the church age are sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Galatians 3:26, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:27, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
John 1:12-13, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Therefore, if church age believers are all sons of God, then they must all be spiritual brothers and members of the royal family of God.
In Romans 1:13, the anarthrous construction (no definite article) of the noun adelphos is “qualitative” emphasizing the qualitative aspect of the word, thus it emphasizes Paul’s brothers in Rome, but in the “spiritual” sense who are of all genders, races and social classes.
This is a vocative of direct simple address indicating Paul is directly addressing in writing his spiritual brothers who were located in the city of Rome.
Romans 1:13, “I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.”
The epexegetical clause “that often I have planned to come to you” completes the thought that Paul began with the statement “I do not want you to be unaware, brethren” and defines what he doesn’t want his readers to be ignorant of.
The fact that Paul had planned to visit the believers in Rome is confirmed by his statement recorded in Acts 19:21 towards the end of his third missionary journey.
Acts 19:21, “Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, ‘After I have been there, I must also see Rome.’”
A comparison of the parenthetical clause “and have been prevented so far” in Romans 1:13 and Paul’s statements in Romans 15:13-25 reveal that his evangelistic activity and his care and concern of the churches he established throughout the Roman Empire had prevented him from visiting Rome.
Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
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.”
Romans 15:15-16, “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 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.”
Romans 15:17, “Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God.”
Romans 15:18-19, “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, 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 15:20-21, “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 but as it is written, ‘THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.’”
Romans 15:22-25, “For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you whenever I go to Spain for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints.”
Once Paul had delivered the contribution from the churches in Macedonian and Achaia to the poor in Jerusalem, he would be free to visit the believers in Rome.
Paul eventually reached Rome but not in the way he might have expected since he arrived as a prisoner of the Roman government and was appealing his case to Caesar as a Roman citizen (Acts 27:1-28:16).
Romans 1:13, “I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.”
“Fruit” is the noun karpos (karpov$) (kar-pos), which is often used in the Greek New Testament in a figurative sense with reference to the production of divine good, which is equivalent to the production of Christ-like character.
The production of divine good or Christ-like character in the believer is the result of the believer being obedient to the Word of God which in turn enables the Holy Spirit to reproduce the character of Christ in the believer which will be rewarded at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the Church (John 15:1-8; Rom. 1:13; 6:22; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 5:9; Phil. 1:11; 4:17; Heb. 12:11; James 3:17-18).
This term karpos, “fruit” is used in relation to Paul’s readership, who were believers and is thus a figurative expression for the production of Christ-like character that is accomplished by the Holy Spirit in the believer who is obedient to the Word of God.
Fruit bearing is simply the production of Christ-like character in the believer that is the result of the believer having a lifestyle of living in the new Christ nature.
The new Christ nature at salvation is like a seed that is planted in the ground by the farmer and it needs to be watered in order for it to grow and mature and produce fruit for the farmer.
Thus, in the same way the new Christ nature must be watered with the Word of God in order for it to grow and mature and produce fruit, which is Christ-like character.
1 Peter 1:23, “for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.”
Therefore, Paul desires to communicate the Word of God to the believers in Rome in order to water the new Christ nature resulting in the production of Christ-like character by the Holy Spirit in the obedient believer.
The believer who feeds the new nature by learning and applying the Word of God will water the seed, i.e. the new Christ nature that indwells his body.
This seed that was planted by God in the believer at salvation must be watered by the Word of God in order for it to grow and produce fruit.
James 1:18, “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”
At the moment of salvation, through regeneration, the Holy Spirit creates a human spirit for the imputation of eternal life by God the Father, which makes the believer a new spiritual species meaning he now possesses the divine nature.
This human spirit with eternal life imputed to it composes the believer’s new nature, i.e. the new self and this new nature is the nature of Christ.
Galatians 3:27, “For all of you who were identified with Christ have clothed yourselves with the nature of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 15:45, “So also it is written, ‘The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new spiritual species; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
2 Peter 1:4, “For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
1 John 3:9, “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”
The new Christ nature that indwells every believer is the holiness of God and is perfectly holy just as Christ is.
The new Christ nature provides the believer the capacity to experience the holiness of God in his life and Christ-likeness is the production or the result of having a lifestyle of living in the new Christ nature.
The new Christ nature functions when the believer is obedient to the voice of the Spirit, which is heard through the communication of the Word of God and constitutes putting on the new man or the new self or new nature.
Ephesians 4:24, “and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
Fruit bearing, i.e. Christ-like character is the result of experiencing the holiness of God, which is synonymous with “experiential sanctification” since the believer cannot experience fellowship with a holy God unless he himself is holy.
The apostle Paul states in Colossians 1:6 that the Gospel produces fruit in those who trust in Christ as Savior.
Colossians 1:3-6, “We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth.”
The Spirit’s job after salvation is to reproduce the life and character of Christ in the obedient believer’s life and this is called fruit bearing.
Galatians 4:19, “My children, with whom I am again in labor until the character of Christ is formed in all of you.”
The fruit of the Spirit is the production of Christ-like character.
Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
Ephesians 5:9, “(for the fruit of the Light {consists} in all goodness and righteousness and truth).”
Colossians 1:9-10, “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please {Him} in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
The Holy Spirit employs the Word of God in order to perform this post-salvation function only on behalf of those believers who are obedient to the Word of God.
Therefore, we can see why Paul wanted to communicate the Word of God to the believers in Rome.
The Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples about fruit bearing in His metaphor of the vine and the branches.
John 15:1, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.”
John 15:2, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”
“Every branch in Me” refers to the believer’s eternal union with the source of the believer’s spiritual life, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Means of Pruning: (1) Word of God (Heb. 4:12; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). (2) Divine Discipline (Heb. 12:1-11). (3) Undeserved suffering (Jn. 15:2; 2 Cor. 12).
John 15:3, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”
John 15:4, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.”
John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:6, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”
John 15:6 refers to dying discipline and not loss of salvation.
1 John 5:16, “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this.”
John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
John 15:8, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”
There are four categories of fruit-bearing mentioned in John 15:1-8:
(1) “Does not bear fruit” refers to believers who are disobedient to the Lord’s teaching to love and serve one another self-sacrificially and who die the sin unto death (Jn. 15:2; 1 Jn. 5:16; 1 Co. 11:30).
(2) “Bears fruit” refers to the minimum production of Christ-like character in the believer by the Holy Spirit (Jn. 15:2).
(3) “More fruit” (Jn. 15:2) refers to moderate production of Christ-like character in the believer by the Holy Spirit.
(4) “Much fruit” (Jn. 15:8) refers to the maximum production of Christ-like character in the believer by the Holy Spirit.
The greater the obedience by the believer to the Lord Jesus Christ’s command to love and serve his fellow believer self-sacrificially, the greater the production of Christ-like character in the believer by the Holy Spirit.
Romans 1:13, “I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.”
Therefore, Paul writes to the believers in Rome stating that it has been his intention to visit them in order that he might reap a harvest among them or in other words that the Holy Spirit might reproduce the character of Christ in them when they obey his teaching.
However, his evangelistic work and care and concern for churches he had established throughout the Roman Empire had prevented him from doing so thus far.