What does Romans 15:19 mean?

In the previous verse, Paul wrote about what Christ had accomplished through him to bring non-Jewish peoples to obedience to God. Christ had done this by word and deed. Now Paul adds to that explanation. Christ did this work by the power of signs and wonders and by the power of the Spirit of God.

Paul is continuing to show that he cannot take the credit for the transformation that has begun among the Gentile people through faith in Christ. God used supernatural miracles to convince Paul's listeners that his words and deeds were genuinely of heaven. These miracles included evidence of the Holy Spirit's power, especially when groups of people believed in Christ and received the Spirit.

Paul understood that none of the results of his ministry were his doing, but also that he was the one who showed up with the message of God's grace for the Gentiles. That is still the case with ministry today. Believers obey God by showing up to serve in whatever way He has made available, and then He provides the power to do the work. He sends. We go. He accomplishes His purpose through us.

Paul describes his ministry to this point in time in geographical terms. His travels reached from Jerusalem, where he began, to Illyricum, also known as Dalmatia, a region north and west of Macedonia, including part of modern-day Croatia.

In saying that he has fulfilled his ministry of delivering the gospel of Christ to all these places, Paul does not mean that no work remains to be done there. More likely, he means that he did in each place exactly what Christ gave Him to do.