Paul has never seen the brethren in Rome (Romans 1:10-13), but he is confident about their abilities (Romans 1:8; 16:19). He has emphasized their need to live and work as one – both Jews and Gentiles. Paul knows they are full of goodness or kindness (John 13:35). They had a good knowledge of God’s Word (James 1:25; Colossians 1:8-10). They are able also to warn each other to stay faithful to God (Colossians 3:16; I Thessalonians 5:14).<\/p>\n
Because they were well prepared to receive them, Paul boldly wrote to remind them of points (II Peter 1:12-15; 3:1-2). Paul saw his duty as an undeserved gift from God (Ephesians 3:7-8; I Timothy 1:11-14).<\/p>\n
Paul saw it as his privilege to be a servant of Jesus to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; Galatians 2:7-8). He parallels the conversion of the Gentiles to the sacrifices given to God in the Old Testament (Isaiah 66:20). They were prepared by the teaching of the Gospel and thus found acceptable (Malachi 1:11; Acts 20:32; Ephesians 2:22).<\/p>\n
Therefore Paul sees that he has reason to boast in the things of God (I Corinthians 15:10). It isn’t a boast in human accomplishments (II Corinthians 1:12; I Thessalonians 2:19). He limits himself to what Christ has accomplished through him (I Corinthians 3:5; II Corinthians 10:12-18). God has used Paul to do mighty miracles (evidence that Paul is an apostle) (Acts 19:11-12; II Corinthians 12:12). Scribing a circle, Paul has preached in an arc from Jerusalem to Illyricum, which is the province northwest of Macedonia. It includes Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, and Macedonia. Acts doesn’t mention Paul going into Illyricum, but it doesn’t preclude it either. The distance is an arc of over 1,000 miles. Throughout all these regions Paul has preached the full gospel (II Timothy 4:17) and it was his joy to do so (Acts 20:24).<\/p>\n
Paul particularly preferred to work in areas where the gospel had not yet arrived (II Corinthians 10:13-16). In doing so, he fulfilled the prophecy in Isaiah 52:15.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRomans\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Paul’s Purpose You are full of goodness\u00a0(Romans 15:14) Paul has never seen the brethren in Rome (Romans 1:10-13), but he is confident about their abilities (Romans 1:8; 16:19). He has emphasized their need to live and work as one – both Jews and Gentiles. Paul knows they are full of goodness or kindness (John 13:35).…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":22351,"menu_order":32,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-42082","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22661,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/survey-of-the-bible\/survey-of-the-bible-romans\/","url_meta":{"origin":42082,"position":0},"title":"Survey of the Bible – Romans","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Survey of the Bible - Romans Text: Romans 3:19-26 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After Acts, the next major section of the Bible are Paul\u2019s letters \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0These are further divided into Paul\u2019s letters to the churches, Paul\u2019s letters to individuals, and then Hebrews because there is a dispute over whether it is Paul\u2019s work.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":64586,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/pauls-letter-to-the-romans\/salutation\/","url_meta":{"origin":42082,"position":1},"title":"Salutation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Salutation Who Paul represents\u00a0(Romans 1:1-6) Paul begins by introducing himself. He calls himself a slave or servant of Jesus Christ. By this, Paul indicates that he does not act on his own will but that of his master (Galatians 1:10; I Corinthians 9:16-17). Such a designation has been common in\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37303,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/liberty-a-study-of-galatians\/pauls-authority-demonstrated\/","url_meta":{"origin":42082,"position":2},"title":"Paul’s Authority Demonstrated","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Paul's Authority Demonstrated Galatians 2:11-21 \u00a0 Peter's Hypocrisy\u00a0(Galatians 2:11-14) The equality of the apostles was demonstrated in an event that occurred in Antioch. It most likely occurred after Paul's first journey (Acts 13-14). Galatians 2:5 indicates that the churches in Galatia were already established, which happened during the first journey.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40552,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/pauls-letter-to-the-romans\/the-rich-blessings-of-gods-plan\/","url_meta":{"origin":42082,"position":3},"title":"The Rich Blessings of God\u2019s Plan","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Rich Blessings of God's Plan A mystery revealed\u00a0(Romans 11:25-26) The reason Paul wrote at length about Israel's rejection of Christ and the Gentile's acceptance was so that the Gentiles would better understand what had been kept hidden in the past. God saw fit to keep His plans hidden until\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":64559,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/pauls-letter-to-the-romans\/the-sins-of-the-jews\/","url_meta":{"origin":42082,"position":4},"title":"The Sins of the Jews","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Sins of the Jews The Jews saw themselves as teachers of the truth\u00a0(Romans 2:17-20) Proving that God is impartial, Paul now focuses on the Jews. The Jews saw themselves as superior because of their birth (Galatians 2:15), their dependence on the law, their pride in their God (Deuteronomy 4:7;\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56236,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/christ-in-you-a-study-of-colossians\/pauls-service-to-christ-and-the-brethren\/","url_meta":{"origin":42082,"position":5},"title":"Paul\u2019s Service to Christ and the Brethren","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Paul's Service to Christ and the Brethren Text: Colossians 1:24-2:7 Rejoicing in Suffering - Colossians 1:24 Being a prisoner is not fun, but Paul found reasons to rejoice. He knows that his hardships are benefiting the church (II Corinthians 4:8-12; Philippians 1:12-14; 2:17-18; II Timothy 2:10). 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