So by the time Paul sat down to write his letter to Rome, the church leadership was feeling a bit overlooked and unappreciatedĪnd yet Paul was going to need the help of this significant and well-financed church body for his future evangelism In fact, Paul had not even written to the church in this great city Yet the great apostle Paul had never visited the church in Rome, even when he had been in the neighborhood (relatively speaking) What’s more, the church had not been founded by an apostle, which gave the leadership an even greater sense of accomplishment Rome was the most important city in the known worldĪnd therefore the church in Rome carried itself with a certain degree of pride He had established or discipled churches in major Roman cities like Antioch, Corinth and EphesusĪnd he had written letters to many other churches around Asia Minor, and each letter was treated as a precious object by the faithful He had traveled extensively throughout the Roman Empire evangelizing and teaching To understand how and why Paul makes this appeal, we need to remember the background I provided at the outset of this letterĪs you may remember, by the time of this letter Paul was the foremost apostle of the church What follows is a diplomatic yet convicting appeal for the church in Rome to support Paul’s future missionary journeys We can clearly see Paul turning to address his audience as he says “and concerning you…” ![]() 15:16 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. 15:15 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, 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. We ended last week in Chapter 15 v.13 as Paul wrapped up the formal teaching in this letterĪnd now Paul turns to addressing his readers specifically, calling on them to respond to his letter in the appropriate way Surprisingly, Paul ends with a fundraising appealĪnd perhaps that makes sense in this caseīecause the enormity of what Paul has given to the church in this letter certainly justifies an expectation of gratitude So what kind of ending do you tack on to the end of such an impressive letter? He’s covered so much ground, and he’s tackled many of the toughest topics of our faith Then Paul spent 3 chapters revealing the mystery of God’s plan for His people Israelįinally Paul taught nearly four more chapters on how the church should walk in the light of our salvation Paul spent 8 chapters walking us down the Romans Road, carefully explaining the way to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ Paul’s greatest written work – and perhaps the most important New Testament epistle – comes to an end in a peculiar fashion
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