Romans 15:8-27

PAUL'S PREVIOUS MINISTRY

8 Contrast the two ministries of Christ and Paul (16). Christ was the Servant of the Circumcision. Paul was a minister for the nations. Christ confirms the patriarchal promises. Paul acts as a priest in the evangel of God. Christ never went outside the land of Israel. He was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Paul, on the contrary, was not called until he had left the land of Israel. He was sent to the Uncircumcision. It is of the utmost importance that we recognize these distinctive ministries, for the distinction has been virtually ignored. Christ is taken as the minister to the nations and Paul is forgotten. Yet throughout the Lord's public life He emphasized the fact that His mission was to Israel exclusively. A few proselytes, indeed, received blessing, but they were counted as one with the favored nation. The Syro-Phoenician woman had to take the place of an outcast before she could get a crumb from Israel's board. Paul is a direct contrast to all this. Later he describes himself as the apostle of the nations (2Ti_1:11). He made an agreement with Peter and John that they should go to the Circumcision while he went to the nations (Gal_2:9). He was severed from the rest in order to fulfill this ministry. As a result all the truth for the nations at the present time comes only through the apostle Paul. Those who wish to be established in present truth should master his epistles, especially Ephesians. After they have learned the mysteries or secrets in his writings and scaled the heights to which he alone can guide them, they never will be tempted to descend to the level which is found in our Lord's earthly ministry and in its continuation by the twelve, as recorded in the book of Acts and in the epistles from their pens.

9 Mercy for the nations "with His people" is not in force now, for His people are not blessed. We are blessed because of their defection. In the millennial age, however, the nations will be abundantly blessed through the restored nation of Israel, with Christ on the throne.

16 While the priests at Jerusalem still offered the sacrifices according to the law, their ministrations were not acceptable to God, for they had rejected the true Lamb of God. God had no pleasure in the blood of slain beasts, for the hearts of the offerers were far from Him. Is it not a marvel how God, in His wisdom, finds true worshipers among the despised aliens, who offer themselves as living sacrifices well pleasing to Him? In spirit, Paul's ministry among the nations takes the place of the divine ritual at Jerusalem. He officiates as a priest. Though not sanctified by the altar at Jerusalem, they were hallowed by the holy Spirit. So it ought to be today. Though the temple worship has ceased, it is our privilege so to walk as to be a sweet savor of Christ.

17 Paul labored more than all of the other apostles, and, before this crisis in his ministry, performed greater miracles than the rest. In Acts, every sign in the first part, by Peter, is duplicated in the last part, by Paul. This ministry he has now completed.

19 The completion of the proclamation of the evangel of Christ marks the central crisis in Paul's ministries. The first was his severance from the rest at Antioch. The last was at Rome, and was followed by the writing of his prison epistles. This crisis lies between, after the completion of his Antioch commission, and is marked by the expression of his desire to go to Rome. In Acts his previous ministry is declared to be fulfilled (Act_19:21). In Corinthians he would henceforth know no one after the flesh. He had been proclaiming Christ after the flesh-as Israel's Messiah-but he would now do so no longer (2Co_5:16). It is at this crisis also that the conciliation is first revealed (2Co_5:17-20).

His second ministry was concerned with justification (Act_13:39). After this crisis, his third ministry is characterized by conciliation, which is first set forth in the fifth to the eighth Chapter s of this epistle in its individual aspect, and in the eleventh chapter, in its national aspect. His final ministry was carried on at Rome, which he plans to visit at this crisis. It was carried on almost entirely by means of the Perfection Epistles.