Romans 1:13-15 - Eager to preach the gospel

1:13

Paul was the great apostle who had the lead role on taking the gospel to the Gentiles. Yet he had not yet visited Rome. This could have had various effects on the attitudes of the Roman Christians to Paul. Some may have resented him, with “he never bothers to come here” attitude, some may have considered him to be a remote figure, this bigwig who they don’t know at all, others may have considered him to be rather aloof. Paul is at pains to dispel any negative or wary attitudes that they might have. We need to appreciate the value of meeting face-to-face with people, especially in this age of increasing virtual communication. Paul’s not having visited Rome was not for lack of wanting to, but because circumstances had not allowed it. Paul had as much desire to reap harvest among the Romans as he had among the rest of the Gentiles.

1:14,15

The Gentile world tended to be split into Greeks and barbarians, with the term barbarian being used in a rather pejorative way, implying a lack of education and sophistication. So the “wise and the foolish” is really just saying the same thing. Now why does Paul say this here? The Romans certainly would not consider themselves as barbarians. Maybe Paul is subtly saying that the Romans should not have any pride about their position of living in the capital of the Roman Empire.

Whatever the case, Paul is keen to preach to the gospel to them. Now it would seem natural to take this as preaching to the church, so the gospel is not just for preaching to the unconverted, but to the converts as well. We all need to grow in the faith.