Romans 15:14

Commendation of the Christian maturity of the Roman believers: yet St Paul writes to them with the authority of the commissioned and laborious Apostle of the Gentiles

14. And Lit., and better, Now; the word of transition.

I myself also i.e. as well as others, by whom "your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world;" (Romans 1:8).

In this verse and the next we have an echo, as it were, of Romans 1:8; Romans 1:11-12; Romans 1:15. What St Paul says here is in no insincere diplomatic compliment, but the well-grounded conviction of his mind as to the Roman Christians as a body. And it is quite in harmony with the substance and tone of the Epistle, which is evidently written for those who were no novices in Christian doctrine, and who were also comparatively free from such faults of Christian practice as defiled, for instance, the Corinthian Church. He wrote to them as he had written just because they were in a state of spiritual vigour and maturity. Perhaps too, he instinctively expressesthis conviction the more strongly, because he is writing to the Church of the imperial Metropolis, the mighty Centre of influence. See on Romans 1:15.

ye also As truly as your Teacher can be.

full Lit. brimful. Same word as Romans 1:29.

goodness Same word as Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 5:9; 2 Thessalonians 1:11. It is "excellence" in a wide sense.