Romans 15.19a-Through The Power Of The Spirit, Christ Performed Signs And Wonders Among The Gentiles Through Paul
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday June 13, 2010
Romans: Romans 15:19a-Through The Power Of The Spirit, Christ Performed Signs And Wonders Among The Gentiles Through Paul
Lesson # 518
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 15:14.
This morning, we will begin a study of Romans 15:19a and in this passage Paul writes that by the power of the Spirit, Christ performed signs and wonders among the Gentiles through Paul.
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.”
Romans 15:17, “Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God.”
Romans 15:18, “For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed.”
Romans 15:19, “In the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”
Romans 15:19 continues the description of the means by which Christ brought about the obedience of the Gentiles through Paul’s ministry.
The two prepositional phrases “in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit” define for the reader the prepositional phrase “by word and deed” at the end of verse 18.
“In the power” emphasizes that divine omnipotence was the means by which Christ brought about through Paul the obedience of the Gentiles to the gospel and also produced the signs that Christ accomplished through Paul among the Gentiles.
“Signs and wonders” is composed of the genitive neuter plural form of the noun semeion (σημεῖον) (see-me-own), “signs” and the “adjunctive” use of the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “and” and the genitive neuter plural form of the noun teras (τέρας) (the-rahs), “wonders.”
When used together of the miracles of Christ and His apostles, the noun teras speaks of the supernatural character of a miracle whereas semeion describes the miracles as “confirmation” of God’s miraculous power present in the person who performed the miracle and served as “proof” of their divine authority.
In the Septuagint, these two words appear together in relation to the events of the Exodus of Israel (Exodus 7:3, 9; 11:9, 10, Deuteronomy 4:34; 6:22; 7:19; 11:3; 26:8, 46; 29:2; 34:11; Nehemiah 9:10; Psalm 77:43; 104:27; 134:9).
These two words appear together in Acts 7:36 in relation to the miracles the Lord performed through Moses.
They are used together in relation to the miracles of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:22) as well as in relation to the miracles accomplished by the apostles in His name (Acts 2:43; 4:30; 5:12; 6:8), including Paul (Acts 14:3; 15:12).
They are used together by Paul to describe his ministry in Acts 15:1-12 and 2 Corinthians 12:12.
2 Corinthians 12:12, “Indeed, the signs of an apostle were performed among you with great perseverance by signs and wonders and powerful deeds.” (NET Bible)
The following is a list of miracles performed by the Lord Jesus Christ through the apostle Paul by the power of the Spirit: (1) The blinding of Elymas (Acts 13:10-11) (2) Healing of a cripple (Acts 14:8-10) (3) Miracles in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-12) (4) Raising of Eutychus (Acts 20:1-12) (5) Miracles at Malta (Acts 28:1-10).
The gift of miracles mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:28 was a temporary “sign” gift that was given to the apostles to establish their authority as coming from God and was an instrument used to draw the unsaved to hear the message of the gospel and functioned only during the pre-canon period of the church age (1 Cor. 13:8, 10).
In Romans 15:19, the noun semeion refers to the miraculous events contrary to the usual course of nature performed by the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit through Paul among the Gentiles that were intended to confirm that Paul was delegated authority by God to speak for Him.
These miracles were intended to get the attention of the Gentiles and to “confirm” and demonstrate to them the authority of an apostle delegated to Paul by the Father and the Son with a view to the Gentiles giving his gospel message a hearing and exercising faith in Christ.
Semeion in Romans 15:19 denotes that the miracles that Christ performed through Paul among the Gentiles through the power of the Holy Spirit were “confirmation” of the authority delegated to Paul by the Lord Jesus Christ and served as “proof” that he spoke for Christ and the Father so as to lead the Gentiles to faith in Christ.
The noun teras also refers to the miraculous events contrary to the usual course of nature performed by the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit through Paul among the Gentiles but from the perspective that it describes the supernatural character and nature of these miracles.
It speaks of a miracle from the perspective that it is designed by God to fill the witnesses and beneficiaries of the miracles with “wonder” in the sense of being filled with admiration for God and amazement and awe of Him.
The miracle is designed to reach into the heart of the witnesses to the miracle and beneficiary of the miracle and shake them up so that it overwhelms them with an emotion that is a mixture of gratitude, adoration, reverence, fear and love for Him.
Romans 15:19, “In the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”
“In the power” indicates that the power of the Holy Spirit was “the means by which” the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished through Paul all those words and actions including miracles that led to the Gentiles obeying the gospel.
It is related to the expression “by word and deed” in Romans 15:18b describing the power of the Holy Spirit as the means by which Christ accomplished through Paul all those words and actions that led to the Gentiles obeying the gospel.
It denotes that the power of the Holy Spirit was responsible for the miracles, “the signs and wonders,” that Christ performed through Paul among the Gentiles resulting in them giving the gospel a hearing and obeying it.
It also indicates that the power of the Holy Spirit was responsible for all those words and actions that Christ performed through Paul that led to Gentile obedience to the gospel.
This indicates that the power of the Holy Spirit was responsible for every word and action that Christ accomplished through Paul that led to Gentile obedience to the gospel and not just the miracles.
The prepositional phrase “in the power of the Spirit” makes crystal clear that the power of the Holy Spirit was responsible for the success of Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles.