Outline
VIII. Conclusion (15:14-33)
- Commendation, Greetings and Doxology (ch. 16)
Romans 15
14 I am fully convinced, my dear brothers
and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well you
can teach each other all about them.
15 Even so, I have been bold enough to
write about some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder.
For by God’s grace,
16 I am a special messenger from Christ
Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as
an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit.
17 So I have reason to be enthusiastic
about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God.
18 Yet I dare not boast about anything
except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my
message and by the way I worked among them.
19 They were convinced by the power of
miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I
have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to
Illyricum.
20 My ambition has always been to preach
the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where
a church has already been started by someone else.
21 I have been following the plan spoken of
in the Scriptures, where it says, “Those who have never been told about him
will see, and those who have never heard of him will understand.”
22 In fact, my visit to you has been
delayed so long because I have been preaching in these places.
23 But now I have finished my work in these
regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit
you.
24 I am planning to go to Spain, and when I
do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a
little while, you can provide for my journey.
25 But before I come, I must go to
Jerusalem to take a gift to the believers there.
26 For you see, the believers in Macedonia
and Achaia have eagerly taken up an offering for the poor among the believers
in Jerusalem.
27 They were glad to do this because they
feel they owe a real debt to them. Since the Gentiles received the spiritual
blessings of the Good News from the believers in Jerusalem, they feel the least
they can do in return is to help them financially.
28 As soon as I have delivered this money
and completed this good deed of theirs, I will come to see you on my way to
Spain.
29 And I am sure that when I come, Christ
will richly bless our time together.
30 Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join in my struggle by praying to God for
me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit.
31 Pray that I will be rescued from those
in Judea who refuse to obey God. Pray also that the believers there will be
willing to accept the donation I am taking to Jerusalem.
32 Then, by the will of God, I will be able
to come to you with a joyful heart, and we will be an encouragement to each
other.
33 And now may God, who gives us his peace,
be with you all. Amen.
