How Does Romans 15 Inform Us About Paul 's Strategy For The Nations?

Paul’s distinctive contribution to Christianity is his heresy- the doctrine of salvation by faith. A salvation available not just to the descendants of Abraham, but to the pagan, non-Jewish world as well. When he was writing to those in the Roman capital, Paul makes the declaration that proved to be the cornerstone of all his writings Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live

Paul more than anyone was responsible for the spread of the Jesus movement into the Gentile world. By the end of the first century Christianity had become an important religious force. Paul while respectful of its Jewish origins moved the Christian faith into a position where it was no longer bound by Jewish law and was able to embrace people of any cultural background. After his own conversion, Paul passionately espoused his message from the Palestinian world through Asia Minor and southern Europe to Rome, the heart of the empire. Some of his letters by Paul to fledgling churches throughout the Roman Empire are contained in the New Testament and outline Paul 's theology. He insisted that Gentiles had as much access to the faith as Jews and that freedom from the Law set everyone free. It was this teaching which was essential for the development and success of the early church which would otherwise have remained another Jewish sect.

St Paul's greatest achievements and contributions are the three long missionary journeys throughout the Roman empire, Building churches, preaching the gospel and encouraging and supporting early Christians. His first missionary journey was his shortest in time and distance. He was accompanied by Barnabas. This journey ended when Paul went back to Jerusalem for the Council. During that time he was already working with Gentiles and was convinced that all, Jews and Gentiles, should hear about Jesus. He strongly argued for this position at the Council of Jerusalem. On his second missionary journey, he travelled with Silas. They spent a lot of time in Athens and Corinth, the two major centres of Greek culture and learning. Paul would preach to

Paul audience could follow his thoughts on building because of the many building that was built in their cities (Green, 2013, p.544, p.552) After Paul preaching the gospel in Athens, he continues to Corinth, the provincial capital of Achaia. The Jews in Acts who ended up in Corinth were known by their Latin names and some Greek families in city took Roman names. Paul was very familiar with the landscape of his audience. Paul was humble, but was uplifting God’s grace. Paul is careful not to think too highly of himself, but it was due to God’s grace he’s a wise builder. He told them he planted the seed when he preached and Apollo helped watered and God gives the growth. Paul stated the foundation is the

Judaizers wanted to preach works but Paul wrote that we must preach Christ alone. 7. Paul was not a passive individual as he describes himself in verse 14 he was “exceedingly zealous”. He appears to be talking to an audience who knew him in the past as a strong Jew who upheld the traditions of his people. He also stated in verse 14 that he “profited in the Jews’ religion” 8. so he was possibly politically powerful and personally benefiting from his status in the community while upholding the Jewish traditions of his fathers. He wants to make it clear to his audience that what he is preaching to them now is not of man but is by divine revelation from God by his grace. To demonstrate his point, Paul recounts his conversion, in which he switched from being a persecutor of the church to being a preacher of its gospel. He wants to advise that his conversion occurred through a direct act of God, who “was pleased to reveal his Son to me, 9. so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles”. The revelation of who Jesus really was came directly from God and for a clear purpose so that Paul could take the message to the Gentiles. Paul insisted that the Spirit is the same Spirit through whom God spoke and acted in the history of Israel, the difference is that through Jesus the Spirit is now poured out on all God’s people, Jew and Gentile alike. 10. The fact that Paul criticized some aspects of his native Judaism 11. and that he announced a gospel to the

Harris calls Paul “the most influential apostle and missionary of the mid-first-century CE church and author of seven to nine New Testament letters” (H G-33). It would be quite an accolade to receive such recognition, but what makes it even more remarkable is that Paul, or Saul, (Saul was his Judean name and Paul was his Roman name (footnotes B 1943)) originally persecuted the ekklesia or “church”. Paul went from persecuting the ekklesia or “church” to being its “most influential apostle and missionary”. Why and how did Paul make such a drastic change? The answer to the question can be found in various books of the New Testament including some of the letters that Paul wrote. This answer also aids in the explanation of how and why Paul

However, Paul’s mission was to unpack the glorious good news of Jesus Christ to these gentile people, the Romans. To begin Paul’s letter to the Romans, he shares his purpose for writing as he claims, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written the just shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:16-17). Paul first states that he is unashamed of the gospel, but for an unlearned Roman, what is the gospel?

The Book of Romans was written around 57-58 A.D. Paul was writing to the Church in Rome from Corinth. It had long been his desire to go to Rome to

Paul had been in prison in Rome for two years, during those time he wrote letters to, Colossae , Philippi, and Ephesus, the churches he helped planted. While Paul was incarcerated, he was told that his church had, some issues. His purpose was to spread the gospel of Christ in the capital of Rome. Paul was permitted to have visitors and share the gospel. In these letters he talked about some relationship issues, among the families and some social issues concerning the church.

Three of Paul’s most important journeys in his lifetime took place in 44, 48 and 55 CE. Geographically, this spread Christianity across the Mediterranean into modern day countries such as Cyprus, Turkey, Greece and Italy. He travelled tens of thousands of

The apostle Paul foresaw at the end of his life a great tsunami of attacks coming against the church of God. He responded with three letters. We call them the Pastoral Epistles: 1, 2 Timothy and Titus. After Paul’s first imprisonment, he visited different places including the Island of Crete, an Island only 160 miles long south of Greece and Turkey in the Mediterranean Sea. He wrote this letter to Titus around 62 A.D. from somewhere in Macedonia. Paul’s main objective is to encourage Titus and give instructions about Godly living as a young pastor. The churches in the Island of Crete needed leadership, correction and order thus Paul could not be everywhere. Paul at some time had visited the island of Crete for he says in Titus 1:5 “I left you

Apostle Paul was once known as a man with a bad reputation. He was once a persecutor of the church, but he later became “the persecuted among Christians” (Shelly 40). He later became known as a man of perseverance, endurance, and knowledge through proclaiming Christ Jesus. Apostle Paul was a man of “three worlds: Jewish, Greek, and Roman” and he was a “Roman citizen” (Shelly 40). As a result of his familiarity with Greek thought and literature and being able to speak Greek fluently allowed him to express the doctrines and teachings of Jesus more effectively so that the pagan mind could understand (Shelly 40).

According to John Calvin, the book of Romans was written at Corinth around 57-58 AD on Paul’s third missionary journey. The location is confirmed in Acts 20 vv. 3-6 and again in 2nd Corinthians v. 1 and v. 10.) In the letter, Paul introduces himself as an Apostle set aside for the gospel. He planned to visit the church at Rome when he traveled to deliver donations to the poor in Jerusalem (1 Cor. 16:1-3; 2 Cor. 8:1-9:1). However, Paul’s mission was to establish Christianity where Christ was not known, therefore his final destination was Spain (Rom. 15:20).

Paul's story about his vocation is part of his defense speech before the Roman province manager Fest and Jewish king Agripo. It is intended to present the mission willed by God and to

God gave Paul a mission to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. They traveled from city to city spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, the message was not always being received. It is really no confirmed certainty on why John Mark eventually left Paul and Barnabas to return to Jerusalem. The Jews went on record as being in opposition to the Gospel, but Paul kept preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles. Paul saw that the Gentiles were very receptive to the Gospel.