Because Paul has been so busy in Asia Minor and the Greek peninsula, he hadn’t had time to come to Rome (Romans 1:13). Now that these churches are well established and because of his desire to preach in new territory (Romans 15:20), he is running out of new places in these regions, so he plans to go to Spain. On his way to Spain, Paul plans to stop in Rome to enjoy the company of the brethren there and perhaps be aided on his trip to Spain.<\/p>\n
Before going west, Paul has a duty to complete for the saints in Judea (Acts 19:21). At his urging, funds were gathered for the brethren who were suffering because of a famine and persecution (I Corinthians 16:1-2; II Corinthians 8:1-4; Acts 24:17). The brethren on the Greek peninsula were eager to send this gift because they had benefitted from the brethren in Judea. Judea had sent out the early teachers, such as Paul, into the Gentile world to teach the gospel. In sending aid, they were paying them back for the teaching they received (Galatians 6:6; I Corinthians 9:11).<\/p>\n
After making sure the gift was delivered, Paul then planned to go to Rome and then Spain to bring the blessing of the gospel (Romans 1:11-12).<\/p>\n
A man’s plans don’t always go as expected because man is not in full control of his life (Proverbs 16:9). One of the reasons we know the authenticity of the Scriptures is that what happened to Paul was not as he had planned it. The overall points were true. He did go to Jerusalem. He then went to Roman and history tells us he eventually went to Spain. But Paul spent two years in prison in Palestine because of the Jews. He came to Rome as a prisoner and spent another two years under house arrest awaiting his trial before Caesar (Acts 28:30-31). After visiting the churches in Asia Minor and the Greek Peninsula again, he finally made his trip to Spain. Romans was written before Paul’s imprisonment because he had no clue what was going to happen to him.<\/p>\n
It wasn’t just Paul’s wish to go to Rome. He desired that the Romans pray for him to come to them safely as well. Paul’s request that they strive in together with him, which hints that he had some concerns about his trip. His concern was focused on the unbelieving Jews because Paul wasn’t popular in that region (Acts 21:21-22). He also was concerned that the Jewish Christians might not accept the aid sent to them from their Gentile brethren. One of Paul’s goals with the gift was to create a closer bond between the Jewish and Gentile Christians.<\/p>\n
The third thing Paul desired was to be able to come to the brethren in Rome with joy (Romans 1:12). He always kept in mind that whatever happened had to be by God’s will (James 4:15; Acts 18:21; Romans 1:10; I Corinthians 4:19). Paul did arrive by the Lord’s will (Acts 23:11), though he came in chains.<\/p>\n
Paul brings the teaching portion of his letter to a close with a prayer of peace for the brethren in Rome. It is a fitting conclusion after expressing his concerns over his reception by the Jews. This is Paul’s typical way to “sign” his letters (Romans 16:20; II Corinthians 13:11; I Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 13:20).<\/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 Plans Journey plans\u00a0(Romans 15:22-29) Because Paul has been so busy in Asia Minor and the Greek peninsula, he hadn’t had time to come to Rome (Romans 1:13). Now that these churches are well established and because of his desire to preach in new territory (Romans 15:20), he is running out of new places in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":22351,"menu_order":33,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-42157","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":30520,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-corinthian-letters\/future-plans\/","url_meta":{"origin":42157,"position":0},"title":"Future Plans","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Future Plans Paul's Plans\u00a0(I Corinthians 16:5-9) Paul plans to stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, which is around the beginning of summer. He has a number of opportunities for teaching the Gospel in Ephesus and because of the strong opposition (Acts 19:9), he does want to leave too soon. Having worked\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30572,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-corinthian-letters\/changed-plans\/","url_meta":{"origin":42157,"position":1},"title":"Changed Plans","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Changed Plans Paul's sincerity\u00a0(II Corinthians 1:12-14) We generally view boasting or glorying as something wrong. Often it is wrong because the person is boasting about himself or glorying in his own accomplishments. Paul finds pleasure in his clear conscience concerning how he and the other preachers with him have conducted\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60290,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/lessons-from-the-lives-of-the-apostles\/the-last-years-of-pauls-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":42157,"position":2},"title":"The Last Years of Paul\u2019s Life","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Last Years of Paul's Life Paul had written to the Roman brethren that he would like to go to Spain after seeing them (Romans 15:23-25, 28). But things didn't go quite as Paul planned. After going to Jerusalem, he was arrested. He was held for several years in Caesarea\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38634,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/pauls-letter-to-the-romans\/greetings-to-those-in-rome\/","url_meta":{"origin":42157,"position":3},"title":"Greetings to Those in Rome","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Greetings to Those in Rome Phoebe\u00a0(Romans 16:1-2) Paul introduces to the Roman brethren the woman who likely delivered Paul's letter. She is a member of the church at Cenchrea, which is a small town on the outskirts of Corinth. Corinth was actually in the middle of the isthmus with Cenchrea\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/erastus-inscription-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":30640,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-corinthian-letters\/the-collection-for-the-saints\/","url_meta":{"origin":42157,"position":4},"title":"The Collection for the Saints","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Collection for the Saints Paul moves from discussing the past to discussing the present need to aid the brethren in Judea. 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