Paul’s Ministry and Plans
Lesson 27 Notes: Romans 15:14-33
“Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.” (Romans 15:17)
How do God’s plans mesh with yours? Can you know if where or how you live pleases God? The world offers a vast menu of options. We find ourselves in neighborhoods, workplaces, and daily conversations that can appear random or inconsequential. God’s people, however, recognize God’s intentional, sovereign design that orchestrates their lives. When our focus rises beyond our own pleasure to pursue God’s higher purpose, we find true significance and hope. God intends more for us than surviving the daily grind. God lovingly positions His people in unique places of influence. He gives His people ample opportunities to serve Him and others in divinely crafted ways.
God called Paul to work for His cause. Paul traveled the known world, keenly aware of God’s intention for his ministry. God compelled Paul to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles and in unreached places. Paul sought God’s wisdom to guide His steps and prioritize people. God intends every believer, like Paul, to recognize that His blessings are to be shared, not squandered. God invites His people to join in His gospel work. Nothing matters more than living with a heart for God and others, investing in eternity during our brief time on earth.
Paul’s Passion – Romans 15:14-22
The book of Romans presents Paul’s doctrinal treatise wrapped up in a letter. His personal letter began in the first 17 verses of chapter 1. After explaining rich doctrine and declaring how believers should apply that truth in their lives, Paul resumed in chapter 15 the personal letter format for the remainder of the book. He clearly cared about more than delivering information. Paul’s concluding words reveal his love for the people God sent him to serve and his passion for the gospel.
Grateful Commendation (15:14) – Paul was convinced that the believers in Rome were faithfully following Christ. In Romans 1:8, Paul noted their faith was reported all over the world. The depth and strength of the teaching in his letter recognized them as people who took their faith seriously, not as people lacking maturity. Paul expressed confidence in his brothers and sisters in Rome by pointing to three specific ways the gospel had borne fruit in their lives.
Bold Reminders (15:15) – Paul recognized the boldness of his letter—he developed his doctrinal arguments fully and forcefully. He intended to remind his readers of important points that upheld the grace of God given to him. God calls His people beyond mere rote understanding of spiritual truths. As they incorporate sound doctrine into their minds, those truths impact how they think and live. God’s truth enters the mind to penetrate the heart. However, we are prone to forget what we already know. Ongoing exposure to infinite truth deepens understanding. Constant and deliberate reminders of sound doctrine contribute to spiritual growth.
Distinct Duty (15:16) – Paul clearly understood God’s call on his life; he knew God sent him as “a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.” Throughout his letter, Paul widened the understanding of Jewish believers to embrace God’s inclusion of Gentiles in the gospel’s outpouring. He knew God had prepared and sent him specifically to take the good news of Christ to people outside the Jewish faith.
Paul further referred to his “priestly duty” to proclaim the gospel so Gentiles might become acceptable to God and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, priests stood between God and people, offering sacrifices. In Paul’s case, his priestly duty on behalf of others points to his gospel teaching. Paul may have had in mind Israel’s calling to be a kingdom of priests that would bless the world.1 As Paul fulfilled his priestly duty, God called individual Gentiles to saving faith and right standing before Him. Paul trusted God to sanctify or set people apart by the Holy Spirit’s redeeming power. Paul offered saved Gentiles to God as an offering to Him. If we trust the gospel is the “power of God that brings salvation,” we will preach it and rely on God to do the needed work.2
Ministry to the Gentiles (15:17-19) – Paul recognized that his unique ministry served Christ and gave glory to God. A witness in a court of law promises to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” Likewise, Paul committed to proclaim the gospel, the whole gospel, and nothing but the gospel. Paul’s undeterred focus on the gospel in his ministry helps us understand the impact God wrought through this dedicated servant.
The gospel is good news for today and eternity. What is the nature of this good news? God has provided a way for us to be saved from sin through the work of Jesus Christ. Why is that necessary? Sin, a lack of conformity to God’s perfectly righteous standards, puts all people in line for God’s just judgment. This essential tenet of Christian theology should be proclaimed not only with tact but also with boldness. Paul had done this thoroughly in his letter to the Romans.3 Only by receiving Christ’s willing sacrifice on our behalf can we be declared righteous, or justified, before God.4 We need to be reminded of these truths for these reasons:
Paul did not offer his ministry to God in his own strength but rather as a living sacrifice, through the Holy Spirit’s power.8 Paul sought to lead Gentiles to obey God and turn to Christ through all he had said and done. Paul reflected on his years of ministry from a spiritual perspective. He had certainly faced hardship, threats, beatings, dangers, and rejection.9 Yet through it all, he did not waver from fully proclaiming the good news of Jesus.
Paul stated facts about his ministry not to boast in his efforts but to recognize God’s faithfulness in carrying His purposes forward. God had validated Paul’s authority in ministry through miraculous signs. Paul stated he had preached the gospel “from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum.” While Paul visited Jerusalem several times, there is no definite record that he evangelized in Illyricum (the Roman province that broadly encompassed the country of former Yugoslavia and modern Albania). Acts does not record Paul’s visit, but perhaps he visited there during one of his trips to Macedonia. This description could also emphasize the widespread range of his missionary work.
Ministry in Unreached Places (15:20-22) – Verse 20 states the unique nature of Paul’s work—“to preach the gospel where Christ was not known.” God called Paul as a pioneer, sending Him to establish sound churches in unreached areas rather than building on someone else’s work. Paul faithfully fulfilled his assigned role within the Great Commission. He supported his claim by quoting Isaiah 52:15, “Rather, as it is written: ‘Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.’” Paul’s ministry reflected God’s heart for people who do not know Him. Paul had traveled and faithfully preached in all the places where God had directed him. Paul had not yet visited the Christians in Rome but trusted that God’s providence had not yet sent him there.
What God Accomplishes Through His Children
Paul celebrated all God had accomplished through his ministry. He had witnessed the gospel at work in the lives of real people—by God’s Spirit and for His glory. Paul confidently commended the spiritual steadfastness of the believers in Rome and the foundation of faith around the world reflected through his ministry. Believers do not earn God’s favor by their own efforts or works.1 Salvation in Christ grants believers His righteousness, which is utterly different from their best, yet flawed, efforts. However, God called Paul and calls all believers to join in His work on earth. God so transforms people’s hearts and minds that they delight to serve God and others out of gratitude to Him. In fact, God ordains specific works for believers—those He calls and empowers to work for His cause.2
Saving faith, secured through faith alone in Christ alone, never remains dormant. Someone saved by God’s grace desires to reflect God’s heart and obey Him. Mere profession does not prove a person’s salvation without corresponding evidence of the Holy Spirit’s transforming work.3 Believers serve God in His power, in gratitude for His grace, and as an act of worship.4
Anyone who trusts human efforts to earn God’s favor denies or ignores their unrelenting internal struggle with selfish thoughts and motives. Comparing ourselves to someone we deem worse than us may bring a momentary sense of accomplishment, but it measures goodness by a fatally flawed standard.5 God will not weigh the works we consider as good against our worst moments to see if we are somewhat acceptable. Our best human efforts can never meet God’s requirement of righteous perfection. Based only on our performance, we never know if we have done enough to satisfy God.
Only God can generate truly righteous works within us. His Spirit changes believers’ desires and empowers their steps of obedience. Only in God’s power can people bear lasting fruit that gives God glory. So when like Paul we remember amazing things God has done on our journey with Him, all the glory belongs to God. How amazing that God desires to do eternally significant work through His children when they yield to Him! May we join in the work of heaven while we live on earth.
Paul’s Plans – Romans 15:23-33
Paul spelled out his missionary plans and desires for the future. His concern for the spiritual well-being of the church in Rome resonated deeply within him. However, he had not yet met these believers face-to-face and desired to do so.
Paul’s Desire: Rome and Spain (15:23-24) – Feeling like his work in other remote places was complete, Paul expressed his long-term yearning to visit Rome. He planned to do so on the way to Spain—another place he had determined to preach the gospel. Paul desired to spend a profitable time with the Roman church but did not plan to settle there permanently. Perhaps he anticipated Rome as a stopping-off place or home base for an anticipated fourth missionary journey. Paul trusted that when one assignment from God ended, he would move on to new places with the same gospel message. He sought to take the gospel westward to Spain.
Did Paul ever get to Spain? The answer to this question depends on whether Paul experienced one or two Roman imprisonments. If only one, he was martyred in Rome without being set free. If two, Paul might have gone to Spain and returned to Rome and then been arrested and martyred in Rome. No historical evidence conclusively confirms that Paul made it to Spain. Paul’s steadfast commitment to the gospel eventually cost him his earthly life but reaped eternal fruit for God’s kingdom.
Paul did indeed make it to Rome but not likely in the way he anticipated. Who would have thought that God would bring Paul to Rome through his arrest in Jerusalem, a two-year imprisonment at Caesarea, and an appeal to Caesar?10 God often accomplishes His will in ways that appear strange to us. Paul came to Rome as a prisoner and departed earth’s borders for heaven while there. However, God maximized His work through Paul, even during his imprisonment. While in Rome, Paul most likely penned the epistles Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, which continue to bless Christ’s Church to this day. Though Paul was humanly bound by his enemies, the gospel continued to echo throughout his earthly ministry.
Paul’s Destination: Jerusalem (15:25-29) – As much as Paul wanted to get to Rome, he followed the Spirit’s leading to return to Jerusalem. God directs and redirects the paths of His servants. Paul determined to take a financial gift from the believers in Macedonia and Achaia to the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. He recognized that this gift from the Gentiles reflected their indebtedness to the Jewish believers in gratitude for the many spiritual blessings they had received. Fostering unity between Jews and Gentiles, Paul recognized how much God’s people need one another.
Paul always preferred to work with co-laborers.11 Perhaps Paul desired to recruit members of the church in Rome to support his ministry. Whatever his intentions, Paul knew he would come to Rome with the full measure of blessing in Christ.
Paul’s Plea (15:30) – Paul often asked for prayer.12 His request for the believers in Rome to join him in prayer incorporates a strong sense of urgency. His needs were great, his vision was large, and his enemies were many. Paul understood that God’s work must be done in God’s power, which he did not take for granted. He asked believers, whom he called his brothers and sisters, to join in his struggle by praying for him, motivated by the Lord Jesus Christ and love of the Spirit.
For the word translated as “struggle,” Paul used sunagonizomai in Greek, which conveys an intensified form of the word often rendered in English as “agony.” He invited these believers into an intense battle of exhausting combat, fought in prayer. Prayer for God’s work to prevail in a hostile world involves more than casual words. Paul asked these believers to join in his passionate fight for the gospel through their prayers.
Paul’s Requests (15:31-32) – Paul offered specific prayer requests. When we pray specifically, we can notice and give God glory for His specific answers. Paul asked the believers in Rome to pray that he be kept safe from unbelievers in Judea. Paul knew that Jews who rejected Jesus intensely hated him and considered him a heretic who undermined Judaism. God answered this prayer. When Paul went to the Jerusalem temple, a riot erupted, and his enemies tried to kill him.13 Paul was rescued by soldiers in Jerusalem and ushered into incarceration that took him to Rome. God’s answers to our prayers often defy our expectations.
Paul also asked the believers in Rome to pray that the Jerusalem church would favorably receive the financial gift he was bringing. God answered this prayer as well. When Paul presented the gift, the church leaders thanked him and praised God for his ministry. They reminded Paul that God was at work, bringing many Jews to salvation and blessing Jewish Christians.14 Surely this offering and its positive reception helped bridge the gap between Jewish and Gentile believers.
Paul again added that he desired to come to Rome with joy and by God’s will. He sought prayer that their time together would bring refreshment to all. Paul’s zeal reflects the beauty of true Christian fellowship and the unity and peace it brings to believers. Paul knew that both he and the believers in Rome would be blessed as they stood for and with one another.
God hears and answers the prayers of His people. Through prayer, we take hold of God’s willingness to bless us spiritually.
Paul’s Blessing (15:33) – Paul ended all his letters with a benediction or blessing, but in Romans he gave at least three. Chapter 11 ends with a doxology that can be considered a benediction. Chapters 15–16 contain a series of benedictions as Paul approached the end of his letter.15 Paul made every word count as he simply said, “The God of peace be with you all. Amen.” God, the only true source of peace, remains present with His children. Paul’s life brought anything but tranquility and ease. However, Paul found peace in God’s character and prayed for the believers in Rome to experience God’s nearness.
Paul’s ministry reflected sensitivity to God’s leading. He knew God had called him to take the gospel to the Gentiles and unreached people. His passionate labor and heartfelt investment in the church in Rome offer an example for Christians today. God invites His people to join in His gospel work. Nothing this world offers compares to God’s gift of salvation in Christ.
Take to Heart
Through the book of Romans, Paul unfolded God’s plan of salvation in Christ. After teaching deep doctrinal truths and layering practical application, Paul returned to a specific message for the church in Rome. Commending the gospel’s fruit in the lives of these believers, Paul again expressed his desire to visit them in person. He recounted the fruit borne by his call from God to take the gospel to the Gentiles and unreached lands.
Paul made plans for his ministry yet yielded when God changed the direction and timing of his work. Paul felt led to deliver a financial gift to struggling believers in Jerusalem but still hoped to stop at Rome on his way to Spain. We know that God’s plans for Paul unfolded differently than he imagined, but Paul’s vision and commitment to God’s call bore great fruit. Paul asked the Roman church to join in his struggle through the hard work of prayer. He asked them to pray for his safety and a positive response to the gift he planned to deliver to Jerusalem. Paul spoke blessing to these people he had never met but carried deeply in his heart.
Paul wrote a long letter to the church in Rome filled with key teachings about faith in Christ. However, the depth and intensity of his letter did not mean Paul thought that the Christians in Rome were spiritually immature or did not know these things. Instead, Paul sought to remind them of what is true. Believers grow as they increasingly grasp the things of God. To do so, we must study God’s Word intently and regularly. Knowing a lot about the Bible is not enough. Because our knowledge of truth grows faster than our conformity to that truth, we require the Spirit’s continual help to hear and yield ourselves to what the Bible teaches. Like the believers in Rome, we need a constant infusion of God’s truth and reminders that keep our minds set on what God has declared. How do you approach your lesson each week? When you read something you already know, do you trust God to drive that truth more firmly into your mind and heart? How will you ask God to work in your life so that you are “full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another”? The gospel saves sinners and teaches saints. The foundational truths of the Christian faith bear repeating and pondering.
Paul clearly understood his ministry for the cause of Christ. He fervently pursued God’s call and sought His direction over each step. What has God uniquely positioned, gifted, and suited you to do for Him? God intends far more for every believer than merely living a happy life. In His sovereignty, God selects the workers and assigns the work to accomplish His eternal plan. The transforming work that the Holy Spirit births within believers is not only meant for their personal benefit. God intends believers to invest in others. He gives His servants specific burdens and calls them to invest their time on earth in work that matters for eternity. We cannot rightly evaluate the impact of work that may seem small or insignificant to us. How willing are you to step up when God calls you out of your comfort zone? When we surrender ourselves to God and allow Him to direct and redirect our steps, He leads us where He wants us to go. Serving God and sharing the gospel is not easy, but no other pursuit matters more. Are you willing to go where God is leading you?
Paul’s natural intellect and gifts are obvious. Before his conversion, Paul wholeheartedly committed himself to crushing Christianity and approving the murder of Christians. Yet God transformed this well-educated and zealous man into a missionary who risked everything for the gospel. Paul’s effectiveness, however, did not depend on his natural gifts. Paul worked in utter dependence upon God’s power, presence, and protection as he journeyed over the known world with the gospel of Christ. Paul invited the Christians in Rome to be co-laborers who supported him on the battleground of prayer. Do you think your work for God rests on your shoulders alone? How heavily do you rely on your own thoughts and natural abilities in life? Think about your pastor or missionaries who serve God around the world. How willing are you to struggle in prayer on their behalf? God’s work can only be accomplished in His power. How might God move among His people if all believers humbled themselves before Him in fervent prayer? What if we went to battle more in prayer than on social media? Believers stand united in Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit. When God’s people deeply absorb His Word, passionately pray, humbly surrender, and stand together, God will do more than we can ask or imagine. What are you asking God to do?
1. Kingdom of priests: Exodus 19; 1 Peter 2
2. Gospel’s power: Romans 1:16
3. Sin’s universal impact: Romans 3:10-18
4. Justified in Christ: Romans 5:1-2; 8:1-2
5. Remember key truths: 1 Peter 1:10-15
6. Share the gospel: Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15
7. Love as God loves: 1 John 4:11
8. Living sacrifice: Romans 12:1-2
9. Paul’s hardships: 1 Corinthians 4:9-13; 2 Corinthians 4:8-12; 6:3-10; 11:23-29
10. Paul to Rome: Acts 21–26; 28
11. Paul's co-laborers: Romans 16:3-4; 1 Corinthians 3:6-9; 2 Corinthians 8:23; Philippians 1:3-5
12. Paul and prayer: 2 Corinthians 1:10-11; Ephesians 6:19-20; Philippians 1:19; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2
13. Paul in Jerusalem: Acts 21:27–22:22
14. Jewish Christians: Acts 21:17-20; 2 Corinthians 8–9
15. Benedictions: Romans 15:13, 33; 16:20, 25-27
© BSF 1999, 2006, 2017, 2026 (This material may be downloaded from mybsf.org or bsfonline.org and used by BSF class members in connection with their personal BSF class studies. It may not be otherwise reproduced without BSF’s written permission.)
All Scripture quotations in this publication are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ® NIV ® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.