Romans 15.16a-The Father Gave Paul The Gift Of Apostleship In Order To Be A Servant Of Christ Jesus To The Gentiles
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday June 2, 2010
Romans: Romans 15:16a-The Father Gave Paul The Gift Of Apostleship In Order To Be A Servant Of Christ Jesus To The Gentiles
Lesson # 513
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 15:14.
This evening we will begin a study of Romans 15:16 by noting that Paul reveals to the Christians in Rome that the Father gave him the spiritual gift of apostleship for the purpose of being a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.
Tomorrow we will complete the verse by noting that he served the gospel of God like a priest in order that his offering of the Gentiles would become acceptable to the Father because they’ve been sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:14, “And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.”
Romans 15:15, “But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God.”
Romans 15:16, “To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
“To be” is composed of the preposition eis (εἰς) (eece), “to” and the accusative neuter singular form of the definite article ho (ὁ() (owe) and the present active infinitive form of the verb eimi (εἰμί) (ee-mee), “be.”
The verb eimi means, “to belong to a particular class of individuals” in the human race that is identified by the expression, “a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.”
The articular infinitive form of the verb eimi is governed by the preposition eis and functions as an infinitive of purpose indicating that the Father assigned to Paul the gift of apostleship “in order that” he would be a public servant of Christ Jesus for the Gentiles.
Not translated is the accusative first person singular form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ) (eh-go), which emphasizes that Paul is a minister of God for the Gentiles.
“A minister” is the accusative masculine singular form of the noun leitourgos (λειτουργός) (lee-tor-ah-goce), which is used by Paul to describe himself as one who has beencommissioned by God to not only to serve Him but also the Gentiles and specifically, “regenerate” Gentiles such as those whom he is writing to.
The word was used in the ancient world to describe doing a service of special importance, thus it describes one who is highly respected and honored by his fellow citizens.
It is a word that emphasizes service that is performed not only on behalf of God but also for one’s fellow human beings.
So the word speaks of one who is a public servant.
Therefore, in Romans 15:16, the word has a double sense in that it describes Paul as a public servant who serves both God and regenerate Gentiles whom Paul has been delegated authority and power over by God.
It describes Paul as a public servant on behalf of God and the Gentiles.
The word describes Paul’s service of communicating the gospel on behalf of God and the Gentiles as a priestly duty as indicated by the verb hierourgeo, “ministering as a priest.”
Now, this noun leitourgos and the verb hierourgeo are not describing Paul communicating the gospel to unsaved Gentiles so that they can receive the forgiveness of sins and eternal life but rather they describe his service to born-again or regenerate Gentiles.
This is indicated by the context since Paul is providing an explanation as to why he wrote rather boldly in some parts of the main argument to the Roman Christians.
In Romans 15:15, he reveals that he wrote boldly because of the grace, i.e. spiritual gift of apostleship given to him by the Father.
Now, in Romans 15:16, he says that the purpose of the Father giving him this gift was so that he could be a public servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.
So because he is explaining to the Roman Christians the manner in which he wrote to them in the main argument of this epistle and why and was not writing to those who were unsaved, we know that Paul is speaking of his ministry to regenerate Gentiles.
In Romans 15:16, the noun leitourgos is figurative language to describe Paul’s service to the Lord and his Gentile Christian readers.
Both this noun and the verb hierourgeo, which means “to serve as a priest”, picture Paul as a priest and the gospel is the means by which he offers his acceptable sacrifice to the Father, which is regenerate Gentiles.
“To the Gentiles” is composed of the preposition eis (εἰς) (eece), “to” and the articular accusative neuter plural form of the noun ethnos (ἒθνος) (eff-noce), “the Gentiles.”
The noun ethnos means “the Gentiles” and is used in contrast to the Jews and thus refers to all those individuals who are “not” of Jewish racial descent and thus “not” members of the covenant people of God, Israel.
The preposition eis is a marker of persons benefited by an event with the implication of something directed toward them indicating that the Father assigned the spiritual gift of apostleship to Paul in order that he would be a servant of Christ Jesus “on behalf of” or “for the benefit of” the Gentiles.
In Romans 1:5a, Paul communicates to the believers in Rome that through the Lord Jesus Christ, he has received grace and apostleship in order to minister to the Gentiles.
In Romans 1:5b, the apostle Paul teaches that the purpose for which the Lord gave him the spiritual gift of apostleship was to bring about among the Gentiles the faith, which produces obedience to God.
In Romans 11:13, Paul addresses specifically his Gentile Christian readers in Rome and expresses the fact that he takes great pride in his ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles.
The apostle Paul was called as an apostle to the Gentiles by the Lord Himself and not the other apostles (See Acts 9:15; 22:21; Romans 11:13; 15:16; Galatians 1:15-16; 2:2, 7-9; Ephesians 3:1; 1 Timothy 2:7).
The Lord Jesus Christ commanded His disciples to present the gospel to all the nations, both Israel and the Gentile nations (See Matthew 24:14; 28:19) since He came to save both Israel and the Gentiles (Luke 2:32).
To summarize, thus far our study of Romans 15:16, Paul reveals to the Christians in Rome that the Father gave him the spiritual gift of apostleship for the purpose of being a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.
Next, we will note that he served the gospel of God like a priest in order that his offering of the Gentiles would become acceptable to the Father because they’ve been sanctified by the Holy Spirit.