Romans 15.13b-The Purpose Of Paul's Desire Is That The Romans Would Prosper With A Divine Confidence By The Power Of The Holy Spirit
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday May 27, 2010
Romans: Romans 15:13b-The Purpose Of Paul’s Desire Is That The Romans Would Prosper With A Divine Confidence By The Power Of The Holy Spirit
Lesson # 510
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 15:13.
Last evening we began a study of Romans 15:13 and in this passage Paul completes the argument of the epistle.
In this passage he shares with his readers the prayer he makes to the Father on their behalf that the Spirit will cause them all to be filled with all joy and peace by believing what the Spirit says in the Word of God.
This evening we will complete the verse by noting the purpose of Paul’s desire, which he expressed in prayer to the Father, namely that the souls of each and every one of the Roman believers would prosper with that confidence, which is divine in quality and character by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
“So that you will abound” is composed of the preposition eis (εἰς) (eece), “so that” and the accusative neuter singular form of the definite article ho (ὁ() (owe), and present active infinitive form of the verb perisseuo (περισσεύω) (peh-dee-sev-owe), “will abound” and the accusative second person singular personal pronoun su (σύ) (see), “you.”
Depending on the context, the verb perisseuo means “to have the abundant presence of something, to abound, to be extremely rich in something, to be abundant, to excel.”
In Romans 15:13, the verb perisseuo means “to prosper” and is used intransitively of the souls of the Roman believers and with the prepositional phrase en te elpidi (ἐν τῇ ἐλπίδι), “in hope,” which marks the confident condition of their souls.
This indicates that Paul desires that the Holy Spirit, who produces a confidence that is divine in quality, cause the souls of the Romans to be filled with all joy and peace by trusting in the Spirit’s teaching in the Scriptures in order that their souls would “prosper” with confidence by means of the power of the Holy Spirit.
The articular infinitive form of the verb perisseuo is governed by the preposition eis and functions as an “infinitive of purpose” indicating the purpose or goal of the action or state of its controlling verb pleroo.
This indicates that the purpose for which Paul desires that the Holy Spirit cause the souls of the Romans to be filled with all joy and peace by trusting in the Spirit’s teaching in the Scriptures was “in order that” their souls would prosper with confidence by means of the power of the Holy Spirit.
The personal pronoun su is used once again in a distributive sense meaning “each and every one of you” and refers to “each and every” member of the body of Christ in Rome without exception regardless of race, gender or social status.
“In hope” is composed of the preposition en (ἐν), “in” and the dative feminine singular form of the noun elpis (ἐλπίς) (el-pece), “hope.”
This is the second time that the noun elpis appears in Romans 15:13 and once again the word means “confidence” in one’s relationship with God.
It denotes a confidence that one has been blessed in the past and is being blessed in the present and will be blessed in the future.
In relation to the believer’s election to privilege in eternity past, elpis means “confidence” of being blessed in the future as a result of being elected to privilege in eternity past, which guarantees blessing in the present and in the future.
In relation to the believer’s present, elpis means “confident expectation” of blessing in relation to experiencing fellowship with the Trinity.
It is related to the blessing of having the character of Christ being formed in the believer through various adversities and undeserved suffering.
This blessing is related to deliverance experientially from the sin nature, Satan and his cosmic system and is also related to the immanency of the rapture, which if the believer lives his life in light of will result in joy and holy living, i.e. their sanctification.
Then, lastly, in relation to the believer’s future, elpis means “confidence” of being blessed in the future with a resurrection body and rewards for enduring undeserved suffering and faithful service.
The articular construction of the word defines this confidence more closely and emphasizes its divine quality and character since it is produced by faith in what the Spirit teaches in the Scriptures.
The preposition en is a marker of manner and elpis is a dative instrumental of manner meaning that it denotes the manner in which the action of the verb is accomplished and answers the question “how?”
The accompanying manner can be an action, attitude, emotion or circumstance.
Here in the purpose clause of Romans 15:13, the noun elpis and the preposition en denote the manner in which the action of the verb perisseuo is accomplished and answers the question as to how the souls of the Roman believers will prosper.
This accompanying manner is an attitude, namely confidence.
Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
“By the power of the Holy Spirit” is composed of the preposition en (ἕν), “by” and the dative neuter singular form of the noun dunamis (δύναμις) (thee-nah-meece), “power” and the genitive neuter singular form of the noun pneuma (πνεῦμα) (pa-nev-mah), “of the Spirit” and the genitive neuter singular form of the adjective hagios (ἅγιος) (eye-yoce), “Holy.”
In Romans 15:13, the noun dunamis refers to the exertion of the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit when the believer appropriates by faith what the Spirit says in the Word of God.
The word functions as the object of the preposition en and as a marker of means indicating the means by which the verbal action is accomplished, which in our context, is perisseuo.
Thus, this prepositional phrase indicates Paul desires that the Holy Spirit cause the souls of the Roman believers to be filled with all joy as well as peace by exercising faith in what the Spirit says in the Word of God in order that all of them would prosper with confidence “by means of” the Holy Spirit’s power.
In Romans 15:13, the noun pneuma refers of course to the third member of the Trinity, the Spirit and functions as a genitive of source indicating that this power originates in the essence or the character and nature of the Spirit.
In Romans 15:13, the adjective hagios is used to describe the third member of the Trinity, the Spirit and denotes the state of being holy, thus it refers to the holiness of the Spirit.
Romans 15:13, “Now, may God the Holy Spirit cause each and every one of you without exception to be filled with all joy as well as peace by exercising faith in order that each and every one of you without exception would prosper with that confidence, which is divine in quality and character by means of power originating from the Holy Spirit.” (My translation)
To summarize, Romans 15:13 completes the argument of the epistle. In this passage he shares with his readers the prayer he makes to the Father on their behalf that the Spirit will cause them all to be filled with all joy and peace by believing what the Spirit says in the Word of God.
Then, he presents the purpose of this prayer, which is that the souls of each and every one of the Roman believers would prosper with that confidence, which is divine in quality and character by the power of the Holy Spirit.