Romans 15:22 - Meaning and Application

Paul here says plainly that he means to come and see the Christians in Rome. On the surface, this is a simple matter, just a planned visit to friends. But the way he says it is gracious and full of spiritual warmth, and it teaches us something important. Even our ordinary talk should have the tone of grace. That will show what country we belong to.

It seems that Paul’s company was much wanted in Rome. He was a man who had many friends and many enemies, and he passed through both bad reports and good reports. No doubt people there had heard a great deal about him and longed to meet him. Should the apostle to the Gentiles, the missionary to non-Jewish people, be a stranger in Rome, the center of the Gentile world? Yet he had not come there yet.

Paul first explains why he had not visited them sooner. He was careful to stay on good terms with his friends and to head off any complaints against him. He does not act like someone who rules over God’s people. He tells them that he truly wanted to see them. Not Rome itself, though it was then at its height of wealth and splendor. Not the emperor’s court. Not even the philosophers and learned men there, though such company would have been appealing to a man like Paul. He wanted to come to them, a group of poor, despised believers in Rome who were hated by the world, yet loved God and were loved by him.

These were the people Paul was eager to know. They were the excellent ones in whom he delighted (Psalm 16:3). He especially wanted to see them because they had a strong reputation in all the churches for faith and holiness. They stood out for goodness, and that made Paul long to come to them. He had carried this desire for many years, yet he could never make it happen.

God’s wise providence often overrules people’s plans and desires. Even God’s dearest servants do not always get everything they want. Still, all who delight in God have the desire of their heart met (Psalm 37:4), even if every wish in their heart is not granted. Paul then says that the reason he could not come was that he had so much work elsewhere. Because of his labor in other countries, he was delayed. God had opened a wide door for him in other places and so turned him aside.

This shows God’s gracious care over his ministers. He does not assign them according to their own plans, but according to his purpose. Paul was often blocked in what he planned. Sometimes Satan hindered him (1 Thessalonians 2:18). Sometimes the Spirit forbade him (Acts 16:7). Here he was redirected by other work. People make plans, but God decides what stands (Proverbs 16:9; Proverbs 19:21; Jeremiah 10:23). Ministers make plans, and their friends make plans for them too, but God rules over both. He arranges the journeys, moves, and places of his faithful servants as he pleases.

This also shows Paul’s wisdom in spending his time and strength where there was the greatest need. If he had only thought about his own ease, wealth, or honor, nothing would have kept him from Rome. In fact, he might have been drawn there, since it would have brought him more recognition and less labor. But Paul sought Christ’s interests more than his own. So he would not leave off planting churches, even for a time, just to make a visit.

The believers in Rome were already well supplied and did not need the physician as much as other places did. In many other places, people were still sick and dying spiritually. Souls were being lost for lack of true teaching. It was no time for Paul to waste time. There was a strong wind of opportunity. The fields were white for harvest. If such a season passed unused, it might never come back. The needs of poor souls were urgent, and Paul had to keep busy.

This lesson matters for all of us. We should do first what is most needed. True grace teaches us to prefer what is necessary over what is merely optional (Luke 10:41-42). Christian wisdom also teaches us to choose what is more important over what is less important. Paul gives this as a good and enough reason. We should not take offense when our friends put necessary work, work that pleases God, ahead of visits and polite attention that please us. In this, as in other things, we must learn self-denial.

Paul also promised that he would come and see them soon (Romans 15:23-24, 29). He says he has no more room for work in those parts, meaning Greece, where he was then laboring. The whole region had been more or less leavened by the gospel. Churches had been planted in the main cities, and pastors had been set in place to continue the work Paul had started. So he had little left to do there.

He had driven the gospel chariot as far as the seacoast, and having won Greece, he was ready to wish for another Greece to conquer. Paul was a worker who finished his task, yet he did not think of resting afterward. Instead, he looked for more work and planned generous things. Here was a worker who did not need to be ashamed.

Paul also thought ahead about his visit. He planned to see them on his way to Spain. From this, it seems he intended to travel to Spain to plant Christianity there. The difficulty and danger of that work, the distance, the risks of the voyage, and other useful tasks he might find elsewhere did not cool his zeal for spreading the gospel. That zeal burned so strongly that it consumed him and made him forget himself. Yet we do not know for sure whether he ever carried out that plan and went to Spain.

Many careful Bible students think he did not, because he was hindered as he was in other plans. He did come to Rome, but as a prisoner, and he stayed there two years. What happened after that is uncertain. Some of his letters written in prison suggest that he planned to go east, not to Spain. Still, Paul had it in his heart to bring the light of the gospel to Spain, and that was good in God’s sight, just as God said to David, “You did well to have this in your heart” (2 Chronicles 6:8). God often kindly accepts the sincere intention, even when his wise providence keeps it from being carried out. And is not that a good Master to serve? (2 Corinthians 8:12)

In planning to go to Spain, Paul meant to stop and see the Romans along the way. There is wisdom in ordering our affairs so that we can do the most work in the least time.

Notice how cautiously Paul speaks: “I hope to see you.” He does not say, “I am set on this,” but “I hope I will.” We should make our plans and promises the same way, with humility and submission to God’s providence, not boasting about tomorrow, since we do not know what a day may bring forth (Proverbs 27:1; James 4:13-15).

Paul also explains what he expected from this visit. First, he hoped the Romans would help send him on his way to Spain. He was not asking for a grand escort, like a king would receive, but for the warm help of friends. Spain was a Roman province, and the Romans had much contact with it, so they may have been able to help him on his journey. But Paul was thinking not only of himself. He also had in mind the souls of the people in Spain, whom he hoped to reach with the gospel.

That is a fair expectation from all Christians. They should do what they can to support every good work, especially the work of bringing souls to Christ. They should try to make ministry easier for faithful workers and more fruitful for the people who need the message. Paul did not expect honor for his own sake. He expected loving help for the sake of Christ’s work.

Second, Paul hoped to be “somewhat filled” with their company. He wanted their fellowship and conversation. Good Christian company is precious and refreshing. Paul was far ahead of most believers in knowledge and grace, yet he still valued the company of other saints. As iron sharpens iron, one person sharpens another.

He also shows that he planned to stay with them for a while. He would not merely see them and move on. Their fellowship was so enjoyable that he thought he could never get enough of it, though he still says “somewhat filled,” because this life gives only partial satisfaction. Our joy in the fellowship of believers here is real, but it is incomplete. It is nothing like our full joy in Christ, and it is only a small taste of the fellowship we hope to have with all the saints in heaven, made perfect.

Third, Paul expected God to bring him to them “in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ” (Romans 15:29). About what he expected from people, he speaks with caution: “I hope” they will help me and “I hope” to be filled with your company. He had learned not to place too much confidence in even good people. These very Roman Christians later failed him when he needed them most (2 Timothy 4:16). So we should learn not to lean too heavily on man.

But when Paul speaks of what he expected from God, he is confident. He knew that if he came, he would come loaded with blessing. God would make him a means of great good among them, filling them with the blessings of the gospel. Compare (Romans 1:11). The blessing of the gospel of Christ is the best blessing a person can receive. It includes spiritual knowledge, grace, and comfort. A meeting between believers and ministers is truly happy when both come under this fullness of blessing.

The gospel itself is a treasure placed in weak, human vessels. When ministers are ready to give, and people are ready to receive, that blessing brings joy to both. Many people have the gospel, but not the blessing of the gospel, so they gain nothing from it. The gospel will not profit us unless God blesses it to us. We should wait on him for that blessing, and for its full measure.

Paul then gives the reason he could not visit them right away. He had other work that required him first to go to Jerusalem (Romans 15:25-28). He explains this clearly to show that his excuse was genuine. He was going as the messenger carrying the church’s charity to the poor saints in Jerusalem.

He mentions this gift in order to encourage the Roman Christians to do the same, according to their ability. Example often moves people, and Paul knew how to ask for help, not for himself, but for others. This offering was intended for “the poor saints at Jerusalem” (Romans 15:26). It is no unusual thing for saints to be poor. Those whom God loves, the world often treats badly. So riches are not the best things, and poverty is not always a curse.

The believers in Jerusalem seem to have been poorer than other Christians. This may have been because the nation’s wealth was declining as judgment drew near, and if anyone had to be kept poor, the saints would be first in line. It may also have been because of the famine that spread over the world in the days of Claudius Caesar, which seems to have hit Judea especially hard, since it was a dry land. God had called many of the poor of this world, and the Christians there suffered most. This likely was the occasion of the relief mentioned in (Acts 11:28-30).

Or it may have been because the saints at Jerusalem suffered more from persecution. Of all people, the unbelieving Jews were especially bitter and hostile toward Christians, and wrath had come upon them to the fullest extent (1 Thessalonians 2:16). The Hebrew Christians are also described as having had their goods taken from them (Hebrews 10:34). In light of that, this contribution was made for them.

Even though the saints at Jerusalem were far away, the Roman believers were to stretch out their charity to them. In the same way, when we have the means and the need is real, we should extend our help to all who belong to the household of faith, even if they live far from us.

Although each church should care for its own poor in ordinary cases, since we always have poor people with us, there are times when a wider need calls for help. When public acts of poverty are set before us as objects of charity, even if they are far away, we should open our hands generously, like the sun sending out its rays. We should do as the virtuous woman does, stretching out our hands to the poor and reaching out to the needy (Proverbs 31:20).

This gift was collected by the believers in Macedonia, led by the Philippians, and in Achaia, led by the Corinthians. Both were thriving churches, though still young and newly converted to Christianity. It is sad that people are often more generous when they first know the gospel than they are later, because first love often cools with time. Macedonia and Achaia were rich, while the believers in Jerusalem were poor and in need. God arranged this so that some would have what others lacked, and so Christians would keep depending on one another.

It pleased them to give. This shows how ready they were, since no one forced them. It also shows how glad they were to do good, and God loves a cheerful giver. They made a certain contribution, a shared gift that showed the fellowship of believers, their belonging to one body in Christ. In a natural body, one part helps another when there is need, and the same should be true among Christians. Everything that passes between believers should be a sign of their common union in Jesus Christ.

There had been a time when the saints in Jerusalem were the givers, and they were very generous then. They laid their property at the apostles’ feet for charitable use, and they made sure the Grecian widows were not overlooked in the daily distribution (Acts 6:1, etc.). Now God had turned the situation around and made them needy, and the Grecian churches were kind to them. The merciful will receive mercy. We should give a share to seven, and even to eight, because we do not know what trouble may come on the earth, and we may one day be glad to depend on others.

There was also a good reason for this gift, as Paul says, they are debtors. Gifts to the poor are called righteousness (Psalm 112:9). Since we are only stewards of what we have, we owe it wherever our great Master, through providence and the commands of his word, tells us to place it. But here there was a special debt. The Gentiles owed much to the Jews, and gratitude should move them to be very kind to them. From Israel came Christ in his human nature, the light for the Gentiles. From the same people came the prophets, the apostles, and the first preachers of the gospel. The Jews, who had been given the living words of God, were like the Christians’ keepers of the library, and from Zion the law went out, and from Jerusalem the word of the Lord. Their old church life as a nation was broken down, and they were cut off so the Gentiles could be brought in.

So the Gentiles shared in the Jews’ spiritual things and received the gospel of salvation, as it were, through them. Therefore they were bound in gratitude to help them in material things. That is the least they could do. The word used means to minister as to God in holy things. When charity is done with a sincere regard for God, it becomes an acceptable service and sacrifice to him, and fruit that brings a good return. Paul likely used this same argument to persuade them, and it applies just as strongly to other Gentile churches.

Paul also had a part to play in this matter. He could not give money himself, since he had neither silver nor gold and lived on the kindness of friends. Still, he ministered to the saints by stirring up others, receiving what was collected, and carrying it to Jerusalem. Many good works stall because no one takes the lead and gets things moving. Yet Paul’s work in this area did not mean he neglected preaching. He did not leave the word of God to serve tables, because he also had other business on this journey, including visiting and strengthening the churches. He took this task along with that larger calling, and he was bound to be faithful in it (Galatians 2:10).

Paul was willing to spend himself in doing good in every way, like his Master, caring for bodies as well as souls. Serving the saints is good work, and it is not beneath the greatest apostles. Paul had taken this task on, so he was determined to finish it before moving on to other work. He calls the alms fruit, because it is one fruit of righteousness. It grew from grace in the givers and brought help and comfort to the receivers. His sealing it shows how carefully he watched over it, so that what was given would stay complete, not be lost, and be used exactly as the donors intended. Paul was very eager to prove faithful in managing this matter, and ministers should follow that example, so that the ministry may be open to no blame.