Once Paul finished discussing the Christian’s relationship to his brethren, he turns his attention to his own motivation. Since Paul did not found the church at Rome, it might be argued that he had no real reason to intervene in its affairs. In fact, Paul’s reason for involving himself had to do with his whole motivation for ministry-service to God through Jesus Christ. He begins the final section of his letter with a summary of Jesus’ inclusion of the Gentiles.

In a final conclusion to his discussion about strong and weak Christians, Paul demands that all Christians accept one another. His compelling reason for such acceptance is that Jesus Himself accepted us-while we were far less than lovable and acceptable. Jesus served the Jews in bringing to them God’s full plan of redemption, fulfilling the promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the other patriarchs and forerunners of salvation. The net effect of this is to cause Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy to us. In support of this conclusion, Paul cites passages in 2 Samuel, Psalms, Deuteronomy and Isaiah, demonstrating that the ancient revelation of God mentioned the promises to the Gentiles. This has always been God’s plan for the redemption of Gentiles.

Paul finishes this idea with a general benediction entreating peace, joy and hope upon all Christians in Rome through the power of God’s Holy Spirit. Paul has effectively shown that Jesus undertook the role of servant in order to bring salvation and reconciliation to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. He now turns his attention to his own motivation for his evangelistic emphasis.

Paul begins with a disclaimer: he is sure that the Roman Christians do not need his instruction. In fact, he claims to write only as a reminder of some points, and he insinuates himself into their deliberations only because he occupies a unique ministry from God. He is the apostle to the Gentiles, with the duty of proclaiming the gospel so that they can obey God and be reconciled to Him, holy and pure.

Paul is always eager to discuss his role. He loves to relate the wonders of God worked around and through him as he preaches Christ. His ministry was extensive in power (he worked miracles as he preached and his conversions numbered in the thousands) and in scope (he preached from Judea, through Cyprus and Crete, through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, and as far northwest as Yugoslavia to this point). He had no desire to trample someone else’s work, so he preferred to preach where nobody had yet traveled. This helped to explain why he had not yet arrived in Rome.

As he wrote from Corinth, though, it seemed that his work was nearly completed there. Paul had plans to travel to Spain and preach there, for that field was untouched. First, though, he had an errand to complete in Jerusalem. The churches in Greece had contributed to the needs of the Jerusalem church, and Paul had it in mind to deliver this gift. His plan seemed simple: he would carry the generous offering to Jerusalem and see that it was properly delivered, then he would travel westward, stopping at Rome on his way to Spain. As we know, God had other plans for him (Acts 21:17-28:31).

Paul asks for the prayers of the Roman Christians as he pursues his plans. He knows that the Jew/Gentile tension is not confined to Rome, but is noticeable in Jerusalem as well. For this reason, he has some apprehension that the gift offered by the Gentiles will not be well received by the Jews. He also has some anxiety about his own safety there. He finishes by resigning himself to the care of God.

This is the longest section of personal greetings in any Bible book. It begins with an introduction and recommendation of Phoebe, apparently the messenger who delivered the letter. She was a noted servant of the church in Cenchrea, a port near Corinth. The recommendation was doubly needed since she was apparently a stranger to the Roman church and a woman of some influence.

Paul offers greetings to many Roman Christians of his acquaintance, and begins with some characters familiar to us. Priscilla and Aquila were fellow workers with Paul in Corinth during the Jewish exile from Rome (AD 49-54). Now, they are obviously back in the city and worthy of special note as Jewish Christians beloved by Gentile churches. Among others worthy of special note are relatives of Paul: Andronicus and Junias (who are also labeled apostles!) who preceded Paul in obedience to Jesus, and Herodion.

Two more names command special interest:

Rufus is mentioned in verse 13. The Gospel of Mark was written to a Roman audience first, and Mark 15:21 has a very curious reference. Simon of Cyrene is identified as the father of Alexander and Rufus. Normally, a man would be identified as “the son of . . .” Since the sons were specially noted, it seems that the Roman Christians were unfamiliar with Simon or his ancestors, but knew his sons. It is marginally possible that this Rufus and Mark’s Rufus are the same man.

Erastus is mentioned in verse 23 as “treasurer” of “director of public works” in Corinth. This attempts to translate a term that is difficult to interpret. The actual term seems to be “city steward,” but it is unclear what duties and dignity attached to the office. At any rate, in 1929, an inscription was found in Corinth dating to AD 50-60 listing Erastus as the man who paved an important street “at his own expense.” It is by no means impossible that the two names represent the same man.

Among the personal greetings are some final thoughts by Paul. He warns of false teachers in verses 17-19, and closes with a doxology. Doubtless there are many fruitful areas of study we have neglected in this study, but perhaps we’ve laid a foundation for future growth and study.

Discussion Questions:

1. How did Jesus become a servant? What promises to patriarchs can you think of that Jesus fulfilled? What does this say about God’s nature?

2. If the Roman Christians did not need Paul’s instruction, why did he write to them? What responsibilities did his calling to preach to the Gentiles include?

3. Why did God bring Paul to Rome by such a difficult and time-consuming route? How could Paul know that his work at Corinth was nearly done?

4. Why are all the personal greetings included in the book? What are we to learn from all these names? What have you learned about Romans in this study?