Romans 15:18-19 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;
We get a further glimpse into Paul’s motive in his ministry and mission. He gave his life to getting the gospel out to the Gentiles. But he does not take credit for any accomplishments because it was Christ who gave Paul the ability to do this. Paul was only the mouthpiece for Christ. What does it take to allow Christ to work through us like this? If this letter is any indicator, it requires the obedience of faith. We must trust completely in Christ and follow through with this faith by living the new sanctified (made holy) life by the power of the Holy Spirit. We must let God in Christ transform us, our thinking, our world view, and our source of orienting strength so that the Holy Spirit was guide and empower us. This is basic Christian theology. Paul lived out his message. Christ was the source of Paul’s effectiveness. Paul lists here word and deed: what he said and what he did. The deeds included signs and wonders. Paul experienced miracles through his ministry. The book of Acts records some of these. He gives the eastern range of Jerusalem and the western range of the province of Illyricum. We also want to come to the end of our life and say “I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ.” This will be the greatest claim of our life. That does not mean we have to be a great apostle like Paul and travel the world. We just need to be faithful wherever we are: in our families, home, jobs, community, wherever we are at this time. Paul is reflecting on his ministry, not in a boastful way, but to give a personal example of ministry faithfulness. His focus has been the Gentiles who are part of God’s plan through the gospel. This letter has shown that both Jews and Gentiles are participants in this good news by faith.
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