Request your free, three-month trial to Tabletalk magazine. You’ll receive the print issue monthly and gain immediate digital access to decades of archives. This trial is risk-free. No credit card required.
Try Tabletalk NowAlready receive Tabletalk magazine every month?
Verify your email address to gain unlimited access.
Romans 15:22–29
“I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints” (vv. 24–25).
Our look at God’s mission to the gentiles began with the Lord’s call of Abraham as recorded in Genesis 12:1–3, where our Creator makes clear His intent to bless all the families of the earth through the line of Abraham. Ultimately, this blessing is the adoption of people from all nations into the family of faith, of which Abraham is the patriarch, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (see Gal. 3). “Salvation is from the Jews,” Jesus explains in John 4:22, because the Jewish people, Abraham’s physical descendants, gave birth to the Savior. Yet salvation is not for the Jews only but for the gentiles as well, for all who believe the gospel (Rom. 1:16–17).
Because all the families of the earth are to be blessed through Abraham, the faith of Abraham—the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ—must go to all people in every place. The Apostle Paul well understood this, as seen in his various missionary journeys, which are recorded in the book of Acts. Luke’s account in Acts, however, does not give us the full extent of the Apostle’s travels. It ends with Paul in Rome, declaring the gospel to Caesar’s household while in prison awaiting his appeal to the emperor (Acts 28).
The Apostle did not intend for his missionary endeavors to end in prison, in what has come to be known as his first Roman imprisonment. In today’s passage, written as Paul was making his way to Rome, the Apostle declares his intent to take the gospel to Spain. In those days, Spain was at the edge of the known world, being the westernmost territory under the control of the Roman Empire. Paul’s desire to go to Spain shows his desire to reach the ends of the earth with the gospel. It was not enough for him to reach the most famous city in the first-century world with God’s truth; he wanted the families of Spain to hear it as well. His goal was to see the Lord’s promise to Abraham fulfilled.
Although Acts 28 does not report that Paul was released from Rome, early church tradition says that he was and that he went to Spain. This is corroborated by evidence from Paul’s later letters—1 and 2 Timothy and Titus—that he engaged in many years of fruitful ministry beyond what is recorded in the book of Acts. Today the church is to follow Paul’s example in seeking to take the gospel where people have not yet heard it. God’s purpose for the nations and the church’s gentile mission will not be complete until all nations have heard the gospel.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Paul sought to take the gospel to the ends of the known world because he knew God’s purpose to save people from every nation. Over the centuries, humanity has discovered more of the world and the church has identified more people groups who have not heard the gospel. Reaching these unreached people groups continues to be a vital part of the church’s mission and one that all Christians should participate in according to their calling.
For further study
- Psalm 22:27
- Acts 1:8
The bible in a year
- Job 16–18
- Acts 9:1–22
- Job 19–23
- Acts 9:23–10:8