Paul's letter to the Romans can be dated with a good measure of certainty: some time between 56 and 57 AD.1 This sets it in the early days of emperor Nero; not yet the tyrant that he was later well-known to be, these were regarded as some of the best days in the Roman empire since Caesar Augustus' death.
Paul was at the end of his Third Missionary Journey. He had had more than three years of ministry in Ephesus, when the riots organized by the guild of silversmiths broke out (Acts 19:23-41). "When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said good-by and set out for Macedonia" (Acts 20:1). While he was in Ephesus, Paul had begun a fund for the church in Jerusalem. Now Paul was anxious to deliver this fund to the church in Jerusalem. But something else was already burning in his heart — the salvation of Spain, the western end of the Roman empire. This we know because he said as much in the letter he would now write to the church in Rome (15:2):
Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. 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. So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this fruit, I will go to Spain . . .
The church in Rome, however, was also very much in Paul's mind. Though he had not planted the church, they have been constantly been in his prayers and he had longed to fellowship with them (1:8-15):
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you. I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.
In the last part of his letter, Paul sends greetings to many persons. Among them were Priscilla and Aquila, the godly couple who had served with Paul in Corinth and Ephesus and who "risked their lives for me (Acts 18-19; Rom 16:4). It appears that soon after Paul had left for Jerusalem, the couple had returned to Rome, and were very much a part of the church. In addition to them, Paul sent greetings to "my dear friend Epenetus . . . Mary . . . Adronicus and Junias, my relatives who had been in prison with me . . . Ampliatus, whom I love in the Lord . . . Urbanus . . . my dear friend Stachys . . . Apelles . . . the household of Aristobulus . . . Herodion, my relative . . . the household of Narcissus . . . Tryphena and Tryphosa . . . my dear friend Persis . . . Rufus . . . and his mother who has been a mother to me . . . Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas . . . Philologus, Julia, Nerus and his sister, and Olympas . . ." Paul sure had very many endeared friends in a church he had never visited before. While many of them, like Priscilla and Aquila, may have been friends he had made elsewhere in his ministry, it remains a powerful testimony to the kind of person and pastor that Paul was. The personal dimension, certainly, loomed large in his plan to visit Rome.
From these observations we may conclude that the letter served primarily to notify the church in Rome of his intended visit. But, of course, a much shorter letter would have served such a purpose alone. Another reason explains both the length—it is the longest of Paul's letters, and, probably, for that reason placed at the beginning of the collection of his letters even though it is among the last he wrote—and the fact that it is the most involved theological exposition of the gospel that it is. His desire also "to have you assist me on my journey [to Spain], after I have enjoyed your company for a while" (15:24) means that the church in Rome should also have a clear understanding of what he represents. Paul's letter serves, then, also to lay out as clearly as possible what the gospel means to him and, therefore, be held accountable for the support that the church might give him.
So, Paul had prayed ernestly for the Romans and for long had longed to come visit them. In the end Paul did, but not in the way he had hoped. All we have of his desire to visit Rome is this letter, and what a blessed gift it has turned out to be!
Will N. Timmins, "Why Paul Wrote Romans: Putting the Pieces Together," Themelios 43.3 (2018): 387-404.html Click here for the Pdf version.
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, 2015