Romans chapter 15

vs 12

Either Paul is targuming this verse, or he's remembering it slightly off wordwise, or he's quoting the LXX. The verse itself speaks for itself really. And that about wraps up the idea that the promises to the patriarchs culminate in the salvation of the gentiles.

vs 13

That's a nice little doxological wrapup there. These are all much better things than arguing over vegetarians.

vs 14

That's a pretty good compliment, especially when Paul's never actually been to the church before. Compare that with the Corinthians, who are still sucking milk - and Paul taught there for two years!

vs 15-16

So even though Paul didn't start this church, and even though they seem to be going along well and even he has confidence that they can instruct each other, he still writes to them, because that's his job! This part of the letter, I guess, is to make it so that they don't think he's patronising them, but rather showing his love for them an that he wants to do his best. Romans is a preventative measure, then.

vs 17

He serves Christ, so as a servant, the glory goes to his master, and that in turn glorifies him. Who wants to work for an inglorious master?

vs 18

Why speak about anything else? After all, results shows that God is with him and that Christ is working to his will.

vs 19

It is interesting to see what miraculous signs and wonders had to do with Paul's ministry success. I mean, it gets mentioned over and over - in Acts, here, Corinthians. Interestingly, though, miraculous signs doesn't appear in the list of gifts that Paul gives the Romans.

That's a lot of area he covered, too. That's a miracle.

vs 20

This pioneering spirit is the meat and drink of many missionaries, who trailblaze into dark jungles and barren lands to find people and tell them the gospel for the first time. People get excited about that stuff. Unfortunately, it's more difficult to get people excited about reaching nominal Christians who are all talk and no faith, or to work in discipling people who are now Christians. But Paul didn't differentiate - to him, all that was part of his work - he maintained what he grew.

vs 21

What an interesting verse to drive you on to reach the unreached! That is the kind of verse that I would read "Oh, yeah, God will do that. Yay God!" instead of reading it like Paul did, "Hey, I can be a part of God doing that work. Awesome!" Yes, Paul regularly said awesome.

vs 22

Unfortunately, Paul is not omnipresent, so he had to skip somewhere. Rome may have been a great ministry spot in one way, but for Paul it could have also meant early arrest and death. Not only that, but churches kept popping up under his feet, what was he to do?