Romans 15:27 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.

NIV: They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.

NASB: For they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to do them a service also in material things.

CSB: Yes, they were pleased, and indeed are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual benefits, then they are obligated to minister to them in material needs.

NLT: They were glad to do this because they feel they owe a real debt to them. Since the Gentiles received the spiritual blessings of the Good News from the believers in Jerusalem, they feel the least they can do in return is to help them financially.

KJV: It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.

NKJV: It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things.

Before Paul can go to Rome to visit the believers there, he must deliver financial aid to the poor Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. He has been raising these funds from the Gentile Christians as he has traveled around his part of the world, especially on his third missionary journey.

He has reported that the funds he will be delivering next have come from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia. They have contributed of their own free will and have been pleased to do so, as Paul reports again in this verse. The New Testament emphasizes that giving should always come from a willing spirit and not as a burdensome obligation (2 Corinthians 9:7).

However, Paul does imply a certain measure of obligation in this case. These funds are coming from Gentile Christians to be delivered to Jewish believers. Paul writes that the Gentiles owe it to the Jewish Christians to share their material blessings. Why? Because the Gentiles have come to share in the spiritual blessings of the Jewish people. Through faith in Christ, the Gentiles have now received a permanent place in God's family, something once available only to God's chosen people Israel.

Though Paul has made clear in this letter that most Jewish people have so far rejected faith in Christ, Paul still sees Gentile Christians as being indebted to the Jews, in a sense. After all, Christ came through Israel and out of Israel's special, centuries-long relationship with God. It was God's plan all along to offer salvation to the Gentiles through the Jewish Messiah.

Romans 15:22–33 describes Paul's plan to visit the Christians in Rome on his way to preaching the gospel in Spain. He has longed to see them for years. Before he comes, he must deliver a gift of financial aid from Gentile Christians to the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem. He asks his readers to wrestle with him in prayer about this trip. Paul especially hopes to be delivered from the unbelieving Jewish religious leaders who want to kill him, and that the Christian Jews will receive the gift he is bringing.

Romans 15 begins with Paul's encouragement to those strong in faith: to please other Christians before themselves so the church can be unified. Christ came to fulfill God's promises to Israel and about the Gentiles. Paul is satisfied with the faith and practice of the Roman Christians. His work of taking the gospel to unreached regions of Gentiles in his part of the world is completed, and he longs to come see them. First, he must deliver financial aid to Jerusalem, a trip about which he asks them to pray along with him.

Romans 15 concludes Paul's teaching that those strong in faith ought to sacrifice their own desires to live in harmony with other believers. Paul shows that God always planned to welcome the Gentile nations, and his mission is to introduce Gentiles to the message of salvation by faith in Christ. He longs to visit the Christians in Rome and plans to do so as soon as he delivers financial aid to poor Christian Jews in Jerusalem. He begins Romans 16 by greeting many friends and acquaintances in Rome by name, as part of a drawn-out ending to this letter.

The book of Romans is the New Testament's longest, most structured, and most detailed description of Christian theology. Paul lays out the core of the gospel message: salvation by grace alone through faith alone. His intent is to explain the good news of Jesus Christ in accurate and clear terms. As part of this effort, Paul addresses the conflicts between law and grace, between Jews and Gentiles, and between sin and righteousness. As is common in his writing, Paul closes out his letter with a series of practical applications.