Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 15:30
Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;
30. Now I beseech you, &c.] For similar requests for prayer, see 2Co 1:11; Eph 6:19; Col 4:3-4 ; 1Th 5:25; 2Th 3:1-2. For the language of the request (“ strive together, &c.”) cp. Col 2:1-2; Col 4:12.
the love of the Spirit ] i.e. the love of saints for saints, awakened by the Divine Spirit who “sheds abroad the love of God in their hearts.” The words admit the explanation: “the love which the Spirit bears to us;” but the want of a distinct Scripture parallel for such language makes it the less probable explanation. For a similar appeal at once to the Saviour’s Name and to holy spiritual affections, cp. Php 2:1; Php 2:5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For the Lord Jesus Christs sake – Greek, By or through dia our Lord Jesus Christ; It means probably out of love and regard to him; in order to promote his honor and glory, and to extend his kingdom among people. Paul desired to be delivered from the bands of the Jews, that he might promote the honor of Jesus Christ among the Gentiles.
And for the love of the Spirit – dia. By the mutual love and sympathy which the Spirit of God produces in the minds of all who are the friends of God. I beseech you now to manifest that love by praying earnestly for me.
That ye strive together with me – That you unite with me in earnest prayer. The word strive denotes intense agony or effort, such as was used by the wrestlers in the Greek games; and then the agony, or strong effort, which a man makes in prayer, who is earnestly desirous to be heard. The use of the word here denotes Pauls earnest desire that they should make an intense effort in their prayers that he might be delivered. Christians, though at a distance from each other, may unite their prayers for a common object. Christians everywhere should wrestle in prayer for the ministers of the gospel, that they may be kept from temptations; and especially for those who are engaged, as the apostle was, in arduous efforts among the pagan, that they may be kept from the many dangers to which they are exposed in their journeying in pagan lands.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rom 15:30-33
Now I beseech you that ye strive together with me in your prayers.
Pauls request for prayer
Observe–
I. The apostles request–that they would pray for him. Especially for–
1. His protection.
2. The success of his mission.
II. The arguments he uses.
1. For Christs sake; for the love of Christ, that His cause might be promoted, etc.
2. For the love of the Spirit, wrought in us, exhibited to us.
III. The anticipated result.
1. A prosperous journey to Rome.
2. The mutual joy and edification of all. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Pleading for prayer
The apostle of the Gentiles held a very useful and glorious office; but when we consider his struggles, we do not wonder that he was sometimes in great sorrow of heart. He was so now. So he wrote to his brethren to pray for him. Does it astonish you that a man so rich in grace should do so? It need not; for such always feel most their dependence upon Gods people. The larger a mans trade, the more he is dependent upon those around him. The apostle did a great business for his Lord, and he felt that he could not carry it on unless he had the co-operation of many helpers. He did not want what are called hands to work for him, but hearts to plead for him. In a great battle the generals name is mentioned; but what could he have done without the common soldiers? Wellington will always be associated with Waterloo; but, after all, it was a soldiers battle. Every minister is in much the same condition as Paul. In the text there is–
I. Prayer asked for. Here is–
1. A request to the people of God for prayer in general.
(1) He asks it for himself. It reminds us of Carey, who says, when he goes to India, I will go down into the pit, but brother Fuller and the rest of you must hold the rope. A man cannot be charged with egotism if he begs for personal support when he is labouring for others.
(2) He asks it of his brethren. He seems to say, Shew this token of your brotherhood. You cannot go up with me to Jerusalem, and share my danger, but you can by your prayers surround me with Divine protection.
(3) He asks them to agonise–that is the word, a reminder of the great agony in Gethsemane. The apostle felt that an agony alone was too bitter for him, and he therefore cries, I beseech you, etc. Now, as the disciples ought to have sympathised with the Saviour, but did not, I trust that the unfaithfulness to the Master will not be repeated upon His servants. When the uplifted hands of Moses are known to bring a blessing, Aaron and Hur must stay them up when they are seen to grow weary.
(4) He asks, for the Lord Jesus Christs sake. What an argument! As you cannot repay what you owe to Christ personally, repay it to His servant by your prayers. But he adds another argument. For the love of the Spirit. If the Spirit of God has indeed loved you and proved it by quickening and sanctifying you; if He has created a love in you, which is stronger than mere natural affection, then pray for me. Why do you think the apostle at that special time asked these brethren to pray for him so?
(a) He was going up to Jerusalem, and the Jews would seek to slay him; but he believed that God could overrule all things. We believe this; therefore let us pray that all opposition to His gospel may be overcome.
(b) He was afraid that the Jewish believers would be cold to him, and therefore prays that the Spirit may warm their hearts, so that the offerings from the Grecian Churches might foster a sense of hearty fellowship. Do you not also believe that there is not only a Providence that shapes our ends, but a secret influence which moulds mens hearts? Therefore we urge you to plead with God that we also may have acceptance with His people.
2. A statement of the apostles desires in detail. We should pray for something distinctly. Some prayers fail from want of precision. It is as if a regiment of soldiers should all fire off their guns anyhow. Paul gives his friends three things to pray for:
(1) That he might be delivered from them that did not believe in Judaea. He was delivered, but not in the manner he hoped for. Against all oppositions from without let us pray.
(2) That his service which he had for Jerusalem might be accepted of the saints. This also was granted.
(3) That he might come unto them with joy by the will of God; and might, with them, be refreshed. This petition also was heard, but not as Paul might have desired. He did come to them according to-the will of God, and may have been on his way to Spain, but certainly he was on his way to prison, as he had not purposed. Therefore pray for a blessing, and leave the way of its coming to the good Lord who knoweth all things.
II. The blessing given.
1. Paul, with all his anxiety to gain the prayers of his friends, cannot finish without a benediction upon them.
(1) Now the God of peace. What a blessed name! In the Old Testament He s the Lord of Hosts; but that is never the style in the New Testament.
(2) Be with you, not only peace be with you, but, better far, the source and fountain of peace. When the God of peace makes peace with Himself, and so keeps our minds at peace within, He also creates peace with one another.
(3) With you all, not with some of you, with Priscilla and Aquila, but with Mary, Amplias, etc. Unless all are at peace, none can be perfectly quiet. One brother who is quarrelsome can keep a whole Church in trouble.
2. Paul seems to imply that this will be the result of their prayer. If you will but strive together with me in your prayers, then the God of peace will be with you. We may view it as the reward of such prayer, or as a necessary condition and cause of true prayer. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Prayer besought for the ministry
I. The object of the apostles request–the prayers of the people. Observe the importunity of his spirit, and the fervency of his manner. Ministers need the prayers of their people, if we consider them–
1. As men. They are men of like passions with ourselves, and are surrounded by manifold temptations.
2. As Christians. They want refreshing with the same water, and stand in need of the same heavenly food as you do.
3. As officers of the Church–as stewards of the mysteries of God.
4. Their work–to negotiate matters with others on behalf of God.
5. Their danger. They are on a hill, and far more the objects of observation than others. A failure in an ordinary member is a serious matter, and is often attended with distress; but a failure in a minister is attended with more serious consequences.
6. Their responsibility.
II. The pleasing emergency on which he founds it.
1. For the Lord Jesus Christs sake. The honour of Christ is bound up with the success of the ministry of the gospel. So the apostle appealed for prayer, not for his own sake, though he might have put it upon that ground, but for his Masters.
2. For the love of the Spirit.
(1) The love which the Spirit has wrought in us. Love to God, to ministers, to souls, is but a feeling which has been wrought in us by the Holy Spirit.
(2) The love which the Spirit has to us. We are in the habit of underrating this love. We dwell on that of the Father, and the Son; but we seldom dwell on the love of the Spirit. And yet that love is most manifest. He strives with us, bears with us, checks us in our wanderings, and creates us anew.
III. The specific end which he had in view.
1. Mutual joy. Ministers sometimes come in fear and in sorrow.
2. Mutual improvement. That I with you may be refreshed. (J. Beaumont, M.A.)
The love of the Spirit.—
The love of the Spirit:–Consider
I. The import of the expression here used. It may mean either the love, of which the Spirit is the author in the heart of the believer; or the love of which the Spirit is Himself the object; or most probably, the love which the Spirit bears to them that believe.
II. the love of the Spirit as a motive to Christian obedience. The Spirit shows love, as much as the Father or the Son; and the love of the Spirit is as much a motive to duty as the grace of Christ itself. As the love of Christ is displayed chiefly in an external work, so the love of the Spirit is exhibited in His internal operation on the soul. In order to illustrate this love; consider–
1. The absence of anything on our part fitted to attract that Holy Agent. Not of works, but of His mercy, He saves us by the renewing of the Holy Spirit. That the Spirit of God should dwell in a holy mind may be well believed; but what manner of love was this which impelled the Spirit to inhabit such a mind as that of the natural man!
2. The fruits of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, etc., of what high value are these!
3. The happiness imparted by the Spirit. The word of promise has no power to comfort until it is applied by the Spirit of promise. If we abound in hope, it is through the power of the Holy Spirit. He is emphatically the Comforter; no true joy without His influence; and He is the grand and only preparation for eternal happiness.
4. This love is displayed in His continual operation on the heart, amidst so much opposition, and so much ingratitude.
III. Improvement. Surely we should–
1. Show returns of love to this Spirit of love.
2. Show ourselves meek and docile to such a Teacher and Guide, and prize His influence.
3. Vindicate His character from all low notions of His person, dignity, power and importance.
4. Pray in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, war after the Spirit. (R. Hall, M.A.)
The love of the Spirit
Consider this–
I. In the forms of its evidence.
1. The dictation of the Holy Scriptures. Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Had His influences been withholden, there would have been no Bible; and without the Bible think of the hopeless wretchedness in which we should have been plunged.
2. His teachings. For however incomparable the blessed Book may be of itself, yet in the spirituality of its particular meanings, it can only be understood and realised through the same power that produced it. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
3. His work in relation to the Saviour who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, anointed by Him and filled with Him without measure.
4. His offices which He fills, and the provisions which He makes for us, answering to the spiritual necessities of our nature. Convincing of sin, converting, witnessing, sanctifying, comforting, etc.
II. Its object. Not that His own happiness may be advanced by it, nor that it was forced into exercise by any worthiness of ours. No; as it sprung spontaneously out of the law of His own nature–for God is love–so it disinterestedly devoted itself to the promotion of our present and immortal good.
III. The effects it should produce.
1. Love begets love; and surely we should do Him all the honour we can.
2. A humble and unreserved dependence upon Him.
3. An excitement to our prayers.
4. A sincere purpose, an energetic endeavour, to avoid all that will vex and grieve the Holy Spirit.
5. A full display of the graces of the Spirit in our lives. (T. J. Judkin, M. A.)
The love of the Spirit
The Bible is emphatically a revelation, and not an argument; its teachings are dogmatic and absolute. You look in vain in the Bible for anything like an elaborate argumentation to prove the doctrine of the Trinity. The inspired writers everywhere take it for granted. Deny it, and there are profound mysteries which perplex us all. A truth also equally clear in the Scriptures is this, that the Three Persons of the Godhead are equally interested in the great scheme of human redemption.
I. His restraining love. All men are everywhere wicked in heart and life, tyrannised over by the sin which dwells within them. They might be worse; men feel that they are not left to the uncontrolled power of the evil passions; they are conscious of an opposite power. Even savages and cannibals–the most degraded and ignorant of our race–testify that they are conscious of some power beside an evil one acting upon them. And hence the idea obtains in a large portion of the heathen world that there must be two divinities–a bad and a good divinity; and this is the only way in which they can account for the great truth of which they are conscious. It is not the mere fruit of fancy. And this is also true of ourselves. How many evils have been averted, how many bad passions have been restrained, how many schemes of wickedness have been overthrown by the direct action of the Holy Ghost on mens minds, no man can possibly tell. A gigantic scheme of wickedness is concocted by half-a-dozen persons; but previous to its consummation, one of the company has a strange sense of uneasiness which he cannot help, and he is restless by day and night. His wife or his nearest friend observes there is something on his mind. But the restlessness grows upon him, the man is miserable. Now, what ails the man? Who has caused him to stagger in his fiendish enterprise? No human voice reasoned with him; it is the Holy Ghost in love that acted directly without any human agency upon that mans conscience and heart. A man is studying to commit murder. The would-be murderer lies under the shadow of the tree waiting for his intended victim. By and by he hears the sounds of human footsteps–a strange irresolution paralyses him–and instead of springing forward to execute his purpose, he falls back powerless. Again I say, what ails the man? What has acted upon his mind? No human being has reasoned with him; but he is so acted upon by the direct agency of the Holy Ghost. Oh! just think for a moment what would have been the state of the world now if all the evil passions of men had been carried out to the utmost.
II. The love of the spirit convicting. The provisions of redemption are ample, and there is no want that we can feel, but what is filled by Christ Jesus. But there are difficulties that stand in the way. Man does not feel his need of these provisions, man is not conscious that he requires a Saviour, he does not entertain the same views of sin that God does, and he thinks he can do without redemption. Oh! he says, sin is only a harmless gratification of human passions, over which I am not responsible, which were born with me into the world. And so men do not see any grandeur and reality in the scheme of redemption. Man plays gaily and foolishly on the verge of an awful precipice in a blindfolded condition, and knows not the terrible death under his feet. If you would make him watchful, and to turn away from the verge of that danger, you must convince him there is danger. Man will never seek liberty until he is convinced of his bondage; he will never seek or appreciate the remedy until he is made conscious of his disease. Who is to awake his mind and give him this sight, and thus prepare him for the reception of mercy? It is the Holy Ghost, and He, out of love to us, has made suitable provision for bringing home to individual consciences the sense of sin and danger. He has embodied for us Gods thoughts, which man could never have discovered, and has raised up men to commit these thoughts to writing, and has raised up a succession of men to apply these truths. He does not, for instance, convince the drunkard of drunkenness, or the blasphemer of blasphemy. That is not the mode in which the Spirit operates on human consciences. But He convinces men of the sinfulness of their nature, that sin is in them; generally speaking, the light is shed inwardly, and the man sees himself, not his life, and he is horrified. If the Holy Ghost awakens within you a sense of sinfulness, He does not rest there, but reveals to you at the same time a remedy, and that you must perish, not because you have sinned, but because you reject the only Saviour from sin. It is a rough process, and God has rough mercies as well as tender mercies. But there is another difficulty in the way. Even when man is convinced of his sin and danger, Jesus is not the first remedy that he repairs to, as a rule. There is something so humiliating in being saved by another, that a man will try a variety of ways before he submits to Gods way. He will give up a bad habit, hope to reform himself, and thus divide the glory of salvation with Jesus by doing a little for himself; and it is the Holy Ghost who follows the sinner in his wanderings, drives him out of these false refuges. It is the love of the Holy Ghost, as though driving a man into the only path which will lead him into immortality and blessedness.
III. There is the forbearing love of the Spirit. A mother displays a vast amount towards her child, when she watches the sickly infant by day and by night. No doubt that is a high manifestation of love, because it is shown while the child is not capable of appreciating that affection, but it is not the highest. That child grows up to youth and manhood, and he becomes a profligate, and, not only neglectful, but positively cruel. She cannot cast him out of her heart, she yearns for him still, and nothing would rejoice the mother more than to see the lad return. And such is the love of the Holy Ghost. It is a love which survives ingratitude, insult, rebellion, blasphemy. He presents Himself to you again and again, not for the purpose of asking a gift, but of conferring one. If you were in a condition of temporal distress, and a neighbour heard of it who knew nothing about you, and out of pure benevolence offered to alleviate your sorrow, you would feel you were not capable of saying–I will not accept his offer, but prefer to remain in my condition. And if you did refuse his offer of assistance, the benefactor would not be very likely to offer himself another time. No, humanity would say, such a wretch as that deserves no relief; let him alone. And this is the conduct of some of you towards the Holy Ghost. His forbearance is Divine, but it has limits.
IV. His condescending love. Now the work of Christ has relation to the Lawgiver; the work of the Spirit has relation to the law breaker. Jesus Christ had to offer a demand to the satisfaction of the Lawgiver, but the Holy Spirit has to come and make the sinner willing to accept of the provision. The blessed Saviour had no difficulty in persuading the Father to accept of His substitution on behalf of humanity. But here lies a sad truth. When the Holy Ghost comes to man, He finds it difficult to persuade man to accept of the provisions of Christ, and yet He condescends to repeat His visit. You admire the condescension of a man like Howard, who penetrated distant countries, and exposed himself to rude insults, who entered hospitals and prisons, and visited the guilty and degraded. But what shall we say of the condescending love of the Holy Ghost, when we remember the theatre He has selected for His signal action, for His most powerful operations. It is a stupendous exhibition of the condescending love for that Spirit to come down and live for hundreds and thousands of years in the vilest place in the universe–the heart of humanity. (R. Roberts.)
That I may be delivered.
The propriety of prayer for temporal deliverance
How different is this from the language of Ignatius, who seemed rather to call for the prayers of his brethren, that he might be honoured with a crown of martyrdom, than to be preserved from his enemies. Christians ought to be willing to give their lives for Christ rather than deny Him or refuse to do any part of His known will. But it is not only lawful but dutiful to take every proper means for their deliverance out of danger. If even an apostle, in the cause of Christ, was so desirous of preserving life, what shall we think of those who profess a spirit of indifference respecting it, which would wantonly throw it away? (R. Haldane.)
Two important elements of ministerial comfort and success
I. Deliverance from them that believe not. Because–
1. They hate the truth.
2. Interpose difficulties.
3. Prevent success.
II. Acceptance with the Church. Because–
1. It encourages zeal.
2. Makes labour delightful.
3. Insures prosperity. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.–
The pastors incoming
(inaugural sermon):
I. On what grounds? I have come–by the will of God.
1. In planning his own movements, Paul exercised Christian common-sense. Thus his work was distinguished from that of Peter, etc. (Gal 2:9). Thus he abstained from Jerusalem and Corinth (2Co 1:23), and varied his plans. But he ever consulted the will of God, and found it sometimes identical with his own, and sometimes not (2Co 1:17; Act 16:7). He was sure he ought to see Rome (Act 19:20), and long desired it (Rom 15:23), and prayed for it (Rom 1:10; Rom 15:30). Yet he found that Gods will was different from his as to time and manner.
2. The will of God is that which He sees best to be done, or to be, for all creatures. Every star that shines is an embodied will of God. But there is a higher region of intelligence and love. Nature is blindly obedient. Far above it are the hosts that are little miniatures of God. Christ could ask for nothing more than that, as in heaven, so on earth, Gods will might be done.
3. Now, it is the privilege of a Christian not only to have the written will of God in general, but to be able also to ascertain Gods will as to our separate movements. This was afforded to Israel by the pillar of cloud and fire, and is not less so now. Let a man do three things–clear his heart of self-will; use his best judgment, aided by counsel; and pray. And is it presumptuous to believe that through the blended circumstances, the many counsels and prayers, I am here by the will of God?
II. With what purpose? Note–
1. The sphere within which the effect of the ministry is to be sought. The pastor aims at an effect on the spirit of man. When the six days have run you down; when your spirit is weary, dull, and almost without holy thought or desire, you need, and I hope, will find rest and refreshment here.
2. The identity of the preachers experience and his hearers. I preach not a Saviour that I do not need myself. With you I come to be refreshed; with the same nature and needs, and to the same supply. In this identity lies one of the chief charms of the ministry.
III. In what mood? With joy. There is in the responsibilities of the ministry much to oppress. Yet I do come with joy–
1. That there is such refreshment provided for weary souls.
2. That I am permitted the honour of ministering the same, and to stand in the happy relationship which never fails to rise out of a faithful ministry.
3. That the Lord Himself will be with us.
4. In hope of the final joy of the Lord. Conclusion: All this turns on one condition. Paul did not hope for it in his case apart from prayer (Rom 15:30-33). (S. Hebditch.)
Spiritual refreshment
I. Needed.
1. The Christian is often–
(1) Weary.
(2) Hungry.
(3) Thirsty.
2. This arises from–
(1) The labour and conflict of life.
(2) The worlds spiritual barrenness.
II. Provided.
1. In the means of grace–prayer, hearing, reading, singing, partaking of the Lords Supper, and in Christian fellowship (Pro 27:17).
2. By Christ Himself. Come unto Me, etc. (Psa 23:1-6; Mar 6:31).
III. Should be enjoyed.
1. The consequences of its enjoyment.
(1) Augmented strength.
(2) Invigorated courage.
(3) Happy feelings.
2. The consequences of its neglect.
(1) Feebleness.
(2) Fear.
(3) Misery. (J. W. Burn.)
Now the God of peace be with you all.—
The God of peace
Whatever may be the amount of agitation in the universe, there is one Being without one ripple upon the clear and fathomless river of His nature. Three things are implied in this. That there is nothing–
I. Malign in His nature. Wherever there is jealousy, wrath, or malice, there can be no peace. Malevolence in any form or degree is soul-disturbing. In whatever mind it exists it is like a tide in the ocean, producing eternal restlessness, But the Infinite heart is love.
II. Remorseful. Wherever conscience accuses of wrong there is no peace. Moral self-complaisance is essential to spirit peace. God has never done wrong, and His infinite conscience smiles upon Him and blesses Him with peace.
III. Apprehensive. Wherever there is a foreboding of evil, there is a mental disturbance. Fear is essentially an agitating principle. The Infinite has no fear. He is the absolute master of His position. (D. Thomas, D.D.)
The God of peace
I. His nature is peace.
II. His purpose is peace.
III. His presence secures peace.
1. In every heart.
2. Among Christian brethren.
3. From foes without.
4. Under all circumstances. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The God of peace
I. God is the original possessor of this blessing, in its eternal and infinite fulness. In the Divine nature all is in harmony, because all is perfect. Truth, justice, wisdom, and goodness, are in the nature of things consistent with themselves and with each other. If it were possible for the infinite nature to be swayed by storms of passion, and changed by course of time and events, for the hand that upholds all worlds to tremble–even the destruction of all worlds would be a less calamity than this. But this is the one grand impossibility; Though we believe not, He abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself. And since there is no discord, strife or change in His nature, these must arise from something contrary to it. He can have no delight in them. His works must reflect His character, and He must delight to fill and bless the hearts of His creatures with the image of His own Divine peace.
II. God is the Author and Giver of peace.
1. Between Himself and His sinful creatures. The first announcement of the gospel was Peace on earth, its first invitation, Acquaint thyself with Him, and be at peace. The Word of God sounds, indeed, an awful note of alarm against those who are resting in a false peace. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. But this is only like the cry of fire! when you are asleep, and your roof is burning over you; or of breakers a-head! when your ship is driving on towards a lee shore. You are told your danger that you may escape it. If you will lay down your arms and fling open the gates to receive your King, He will enter, not as an Avenger or a Judge, but a Redeemer and Friend (Isa 1:19). Peace with Gods law, or in other words, freedom from condemnation, is the first blessing which the gospel offers. As soon as we believe in it, it is ours (1Jn 1:9; Rom 5:1). The cause of this exercise, of Gods pardoning mercy, is His love to His guilty child. And the end for which it is bestowed is to bring back the estranged heart, and fill it with love to Him. So the peace which God offers is not merely peace with the law, but peace with Himself.
2. God makes the heart at peace with itself. The carnal heart is at enmity not only with God, but with itself. Pleasure it may have, but not peace. Sin has destroyed the balance of our nature, which only the influence of Gods Spirit can either preserve or restore. The love of God being absent, the ruling affection of the soul is wanting. First, the word of Christ applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit, brings back God to the throne of the heart, and love to Him becomes the ruling affection. Next, this puts the law of God in a wholly new light. Its condemning terror being taken away by the blood of the Cross, we find that, instead of an enemy, it is a friend. So the schism between duty and inclination, law and love, conscience and will, is healed. Then, as nothing so divides the soul as the multitude of varying aims, and nothing so unites it as to have all its powers absorbed in one practical pursuit; the gospel gives us a single object, and that the noblest to live for–the glory of Christ; and a single hope, and that the most precious and certain–eternal life in inseparable union with Christ and His Church.
3. When the soul is thus at peace with God, and at peace with itself, it is comparatively an easy thing to keep it at peace in the midst of all outward causes of trouble. He could easily, if He pleased, keep us out of the reach of trouble; but He sees it fitter and happier to make us experience His power to give peace in the midst of it. He has given us our hope in Him as the anchor of the soul, and He will have it proved in the storm. And the greatest triumph of Divine peace is that which our Saviour promises, These things have I spoken unto you that in Me ye might have peace (Isa 26:3).
4. The fullest manifestation of Gods character as the God of peace is to be revealed and enjoyed hereafter. There is a world of peace. There remaineth a rest for the people of God. (E. R. Conder, D.D.)
The God of peace
Note—
I. The title. Mars amongst the heathens was called the god of war; Janus was worshipped in periods of strife; but our God styles Himself the God of peace. Although He permits war sometimes for necessary purposes, and has even styled Himself the Lord, mighty in battle, yet His holy mind abhors bloodshed. Peace is His delight.
1. This is so with all the Persons in the Trinity.
(1) God the Father is the God of peace, for He planned the great covenant of peace; He justifies, and thereby implants peace in the soul.
(2) God the Son is the God of peace; for He is our peace, etc. He makes peace between God and man, in the conscience and in the heart, and in the Church.
(3) The Holy Ghost is the God of peace. He of old brought peace out of confusion, by the brooding of His wings. So in dark chaotic souls He is the God of peace. When by earthly cares we are tossed about, He says, Peace be still. He it is who on the Sabbath-day brings His people into a state of serenity. And He shall be the God of peace at lifes latest hour, and land us save in heaven.
2. He is the God of peace because–
(1) He created nothing but peace. See if in the great harp of nature there is one string which when touched by its Maker giveth forth discord; see if the pipes of this great organ do not all play harmoniously! When God made the angels did He fashion one of them with the least ill-will in His bosom? Go into the Garden of Eden: there is nothing of tumult.
(2) He restores it. Nothing shows a man to be much fender of peace than when he seeks to make peace. Blessed are the peacemakers. God is the great Peacemaker. When Satan fell, there was war in heaven. God made peace there, for He smote Satan. But when man fell, God made peace not by His power, but by His mercy.
(3) He is the Preserver of peace.
(a) Whenever I see peace in the world, I ascribe it to God. So combustible are the materials here that I am ever apprehensive of war. Whence come wars and fightings? Come they not from your lusts? If, then, we desire peace between nations, let us seek it of God, who is the great Pacificator.
(b) There is an inward peace which God alone can keep. Is thy peace marred? Go to God, and He can say, Peace, be still; for He is the God of peace.
(4) He shall perfect and consummate it at last. There is war in the world now; but there is a time coming when there shall be peace on earth and throughout all Gods dominions.
II. The benediction.
1. Its necessity. Because there are enemies to peace always lurking in all societies.
(1) Error.
(2) Ambition. Diotrephes loveth to have the pre-eminence, and that fellow has spoiled many a happy Church.
(3) Anger.
(4) Pride.
(5) Envy.
2. Its appropriateness. We indeed ought to have peace amongst ourselves. Joseph said to his brethren when they were going home to his fathers house, See that ye fall not out by the way. Ye have all one father, ye are of one family. The way is rough; there are enemies to stop you. Keep together; stand by one another: defend each others character. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Peace with all
I. Whence it flows–from the God of peace.
II. How it is secured–by His presence.
III. What is the result–peace–
1. Within.
2. Without.
3. With all. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 30. For the love of the Spirit] By that love of God which the Holy Spirit sheds abroad in your hearts.
That ye strive together] That ye agonize with me. He felt that much depended on the success of his present mission to the Christians at Jerusalem, and their acceptance of the charitable contribution which he was bringing with him, in order to conciliate them to the reception of the Gentiles into the Church of God without obliging them to submit to circumcision.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In the conclusion, he commends himself to their prayers. This is usual with him in his other Epistles: see Eph 6:18-20; Col 4:3; 2Th 3:1; Heb 13:18.
I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christs sake: q.d. If not for my sake, yet for his sake, who is most dear to you.
And for the love of the Spirit: q.d. If you love the Spirit of God; or rather, if the grace of love be wrought in you by the Spirit, show it in this thing. This pathetical way of speaking is frequent with this apostle: see Rom 12:1; Phi 2:1.
That ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; that you strive as those that be in an agony; it is a military word: he bespeaks their earnest and importunate prayers in his behalf. Jacob prayed after this manner; so did Elijah, and Epaphras, Col 4:12. He prayed himself, and he desired them to join with him, and help him, as Aaron and Hur helped Moses.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
30. Now I beseech you, brethren, forthe Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spiritor,”by the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit”notthe love which the Spirit bears to us, but that love which He kindlesin the hearts of believers towards each other; that is “By thatSaviour whose name is alike dear to all of us and whose unsearchableriches I live only to proclaim, and by that love one to another whichthe blessed Spirit diffuses through all the brotherhood, making thelabors of Christ’s servants a matter of common interest to allIbeseech you.”
that ye strive together withme in your prayers to God for meimplying that he had hisgrounds for anxious fear in this matter.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now I beseech you, brethren,…. Having declared his intention of coming to them, and his confidence of it, he entreats an interest in their prayers; and which he urges from the consideration of their mutual relation as “brethren”; and therefore should love one another, and show it, among other things, by praying for each other to their common parent, in whom they have a joint interest, saying, as directed by Christ, “our Father which art in heaven”, Mt 5:45; thereby signifying, that they prayed not for themselves only, but for all the brethren, all the children of God: and this the apostle further urges,
for Christ’s sake; whose servant he was, and in whose cause he was engaged, whose Gospel he preached, and whose glory he sought; and therefore, if they had any regard for Christ, and the good of his interest, he beseeches them that they would pray for the continuance of his life and usefulness; since for him to live was for the good of the churches of Christ, though for him to die would be his own personal gain: and which he also stirs them up to,
for the love of the Spirit; meaning either the love of the Father, and of the Son, which was shed abroad in their hearts by the Spirit, which he had directed them into, and they had a comfortable sensation of; or that love to God, to Christ, and one another, which the Spirit of God had wrought in them in regeneration; or that love with which the Spirit of God equally loved them, as the Father, and the Son; and which he had shown in their conversion and sanctification, in applying all grace unto them, and indwelling in them as the Spirit of adoption, and as the earnest and pledge of the heavenly inheritance.
That ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. The apostle prayed for himself, as he had been wont to do ever since he was a converted man; but knowing well the force of united social prayer, he desires the assistance of others. He represents prayer as an agony, an holy conflict, and striving with God, a wrestling with him, as Jacob did, who held him, and would not let him go without the blessing, and had power with him, and prevailed. The phrase denotes the fervency of prayer, the strength, labour, and energy of it; see Col 4:12; and also intimates, that the apostle foresaw he should have a combat with many enemies where he was going, and should be in great danger by them; and therefore desires they would join him in the use of their spiritual armour, and in that particular part of it, prayer, which has been often used to good purpose against the enemies of the Gospel: he does not desire these Romans to beg the assistance of their senate or emperor: but to pray to God for him, and join with him in their prayers to him, who is a God hearing prayer, and able to save. The petitions he would have them put up to him, are as follow:
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Paul’s Desire for the Church’s Prayers. | A. D. 58. |
30 Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; 31 That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Juda; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints; 32 That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed. 33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Here we have, I. St. Paul’s desire of a share in the prayers of the Romans for him, expressed very earnestly, v. 30-32. Though Paul was a great apostle, yet he begged the prayers of the meanest Christians, not here only, but in several other of the epistles. He had prayed much for them, and this he desires as the return of his kindness. Interchanging prayers is an excellent token of the interchanging of loves. Paul speaks like one that knew himself, and would hereby teach us how to value the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous. How careful should we be lest we do any thing to forfeit our interest in the love and prayers of god’s praying people!
1. Observe why they must pray for him. He begs it with the greatest importunity. He might suspect they would forget him in their prayers, because they had no personal acquaintance with him, and therefore he urges it so closely, and begs it with the most affectionate obtestations, by all that is sacred and valuable: I beseech you, (1.) “For the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake. He is my Master, I am going about his work, and his glory is interested in the success of it: if you have any regard to Jesus Christ, and to his cause and kingdom, pray for me. You love Christ, and own Christ; for his sake then do me this kindness.” (2.) “For the love of the Spirit. As a proof and instance of that love which the Spirit works in the hearts of believers one to another, pray for me; as a fruit of that communion which we have one with another by the Spirit though we never saw one another. If ever you experienced the Spirit’s love to you, and would be found returning your love to the Spirit, be not wanting in this office of kindness.”
2. How they must pray for him: That you strive together. (1.) That you strive in prayer. We must put forth all that is within us in that duty; pray with fixedness, faith, and fervency; wrestle with God, as Jacob did; pray in praying, as Elias did (Jam. v. 17), and stir up ourselves to take hold on God (Isa. lxiv. 7); and this is not only when we are praying for ourselves, but when we are praying for our friends. True love to our brethren should make us as earnest for them as sense of our own need makes us for ourselves. (2.) That you strive together with me. When he begged their prayers for him, he did not intend thereby to excuse his praying for himself; no, “Strive together with me, who am wrestling with God daily, upon my own and my friends’ account.” He would have them to ply the same oar. Paul and these Romans were distant in place, and likely to be so, and yet they might join together in prayer; those who are put far asunder by the disposal of God’s providence may yet meet together at the throne of his grace. Those who beg the prayers of others must not neglect to pray for themselves.
3. What they must beg of God for him. He mentions particulars; for, in praying both for ourselves and for our friends, it is good to be particular. What wilt thou that I shall do for thee? So says Christ, when he holds out the golden sceptre. Though he knows our state and wants perfectly, he will know them from us. He recommends himself to their prayers, with reference to three things:– (1.) The dangers which he was exposed to: That I may be delivered from those that do not believe in Judea. The unbelieving Jews were the most violent enemies Paul had and most enraged against him, and some prospect he had of trouble from them in this journey; and therefore they must pray that God would deliver him. We may, and must, pray against persecution. This prayer was answered in several remarkable deliverances of Paul, recorded Acts xxi., xxii., xxiii., and xxiv. (2.) His services: Pray that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints. Why, was there any danger that it would not be accepted? Can money be otherwise than acceptable to the poor? Yes, there was some ground of suspicion in this case; for Paul was the apostle of the Gentiles, and as the unbelieving Jews looked spitefully at him, which was their wickedness, so those that believed were shy of him upon that account, which was their weakness. He does not say, “Let them choose whether they will accept it or no; if they will not, it shall be better bestowed;” but, “Pray that it may be accepted.” As God must be sought unto for the restraining of the ill will of our enemies, so also for the preserving and increasing of the good will of our friends; for God has the hearts both of the one and of the other in his hands. (3.) His journey to them. To engage their prayers for him, he interests them in his concerns (v. 32): That I may come unto you with joy. If his present journey to Jerusalem proved unsuccessful, his intended journey to Rome would be uncomfortable. If he should not do good, and prosper, in one visit, he thought he should have small joy of the next: may come with joy, by the will of God. All our joy depends upon the will of God. The comfort of the creature is in every thing according to the disposal of the Creator.
II. Here is another prayer of the apostle for them (v. 33): Now the God of peace be with you all, Amen. The Lord of hosts, the God of battle, is the God of peace, the author and lover of peace. He describes God under this title here, because of the divisions among them, to recommend peace to them; if God be the God of peace, let us be men of peace. The Old-Testament blessing was, Peace be with you; now, The god of peace be with you. Those who have the fountain cannot want any of the streams. With you all; both weak and strong. To dispose them to a nearer union, he puts them altogether in this prayer. Those who are united in the blessing of God should be united in affection one to another.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
By (). The intermediate agents of the exhortation (the Lord Jesus and the love of the Spirit) as is used after in 12:1.
That ye strive together with me ( ). First aorist middle infinitive of , old compound verb, only here in N.T., direct object of , and with associative instrumental case , the simplex , occurring in Col 4:12 of the prayers of Epaphras. For Christ’s agony in prayer see Matt 26:42; Luke 22:44.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Strive together [] . The simple verb is used of contending in the games, and implies strenuous effort. Here earnest prayer.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Now I beseech you, brethren,” (paraklo de humas, adelphoi) “Now I beseech you all, brethren”; I exhort or call you alongside to motivate you or appeal to you all as flesh brothers, yea, as brethren in Christ, 2Co 5:17; Joh 13:35.
2) “For the Lord Jesus Christs sake,” (dia tou kuriou hemon lesou Christou) “Through our Lord Jesus Christ,” on the basis of what he has done for us and is doing for us and will do for us in the future, Heb 13:5; Php_4:19; For the witness of Jesus Christ, Act 1:8; 1Jn 2:2.
3) “And for the love of the Spirit,” (kai dia tes agapes tou pneumatos) “And through the love of the spirit,” by means, instrument, or agency of love that the spirit of God has shed abroad in your hearts, Rom 5:5; Rom 8:14-16; Col 1:8; Gal 5:22.
4) “That ye strive together with me in your prayers,” (sunagonisasthai moi en tois proseuchais) “To strive with me continually in (the) prayers of you”; Earnestly join your church-prayer efforts with mine regarding the desires of my ministry for you and others in Jerusalem, Judea, and Spain, especially at this time, 2Co 1:11; Col 4:12; 2Th 3:1-2.
5) “To God for me,” (huper emou pros ton theon) “To or toward God on behalf of me,” or on my behalf. Christians are specifically to pray one for another, Jas 5:16; Luk 18:1.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
30. Now I beseech you, etc. It is well known from many passages how much ill-will prevailed against Paul in his own nation on account of false reports, as though he taught a departure from Moses. He knew how much calumnies might avail to oppress the innocent, especially among those who are carried away by inconsiderate zeal. Added also to this, was the testimony of the Spirit, recorded in Act 20:23; by which he was forewarned, that bonds and afflictions awaited him at Jerusalem. The more danger then he perceived, the more he was moved: hence it was, that he was so solicitous to commend his safety to the Churches; nor let us wonder, that he was anxious about his life, in which he knew so much danger to the Church was involved.
He then shows how grieved his godly mind was, by the earnest protestation he makes, in which he adds to the name of the Lord, the love of the Spirit, by which the saints ought to embrace one another. But though in so great a fear, he yet continued to proceed; nor did he so dread danger, but that he was prepared willingly to meet it. At the same time he had recourse to the remedies given him by God; for he solicited the aid of the Church, so that being helped by its prayers, he might find comfort, according to the Lord’s promise, —
“
Where two or three shall assemble in my name, there in the midst of them am I,” (Mat 18:20😉
and,
“
Whatsoever they agree in on earth, they shall obtain in heaven,” (Mat 18:19.)
And lest no one should think it an unmeaning commendation, he besought them both by Christ and by the love of the Spirit. The love of the Spirit is that by which Christ joins us together; for it is not that of the flesh, nor of the world, but is from his Spirit, who is the bond of our unity.
Since then it is so great a favor from God to be helped by the prayers of the faithful, that even Paul, a most choice instrument of God, did not think it right to neglect this privilege, how great must be our stupidity, if we, who are abject and worthless creatures, disregard it? But to take a handle from such passages for the purpose of maintaining the intercessions of dead saints, is an instance of extreme effrontery. (465)
That ye strive together with me, (466) etc. [ Erasmus ] has not given an unsuitable rendering, “That ye help me laboring:” but, as the Greek word, used by Paul, has more force, I have preferred to give a literal rendering: for by the word strive, or contend, he alludes to the difficulties by which he was oppressed, and by bidding them to assist in this contest, he shows how the godly ought to pray for their brethren, that they are to assume their person, as though they were placed in the same difficulties; and he also intimates the effect which they have; for he who commends his brother to the Lord, by taking to himself a part of his distress, do so far relieve him. And indeed if our strength is derived from prayer to God, we can in no better way confirm our brethren, than by praying to God for them.
(465) [ Scott ] quotes the following from [ Whitby ], — “If Paul, saith [ Estius ], might desire the prayers of the Romans, why might not the Romans desire the prayers of Paul? I answer, they might desire his prayers, as he did theirs, by a letter directed to him to pray for them. He adds, If they might desire his prayers for them when living, why not when dead and reigning with Christ? I answer, Because they could direct no epistle to him, or in any other way acquaint him with their mind.” — Ed.
(466) “ Ut concertetis mihi,” συναγωνίσασθαί μοι; “ ut mecum certetis — that ye strive with me,” — [ Beza ]; “ ut mecum laboretis — that ye labor with me,” — Tremelius, from the Syriac. Literally it is, “that ye agonize with me.” It is an allusion, says [ Grotius ], to Jacob’s wrestling with the angel. Gen 32:24. A strenuous and earnest supplication is intended. [ Pareus ] says, that it is a metaphor taken from warfare, when a soldier comes to the help of another: but rather from the games, when there is a striving for the prize. He would have the Romans to make a similar strenuous effort for him in prayer to God. The word ἀγὼν, is an agonistic and not a military term. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES
Rom. 15:30.If Paul, saith Esthasis, might desire the prayers of the Romans, why might not the Romans desire the prayers or Paul? I answer, They might desire his prayers as he did theirs, by an epistle directed to him to pray for them. He adds, If they might desire his prayers whilst living, why not when dead and regning with Christ? I answer, Because then they could direct no epistle to him, or any other way acquaint him with their mind. Hence Elijah, about to be taken up into heaven, speaks to Elisha thus: Ask what I shall do for thee before I am taken away from thee? We do not say that such desires for the prayers of departed saints are injurions to the interession of Christ, but that they are idolatrous, implying that creatures are omniscient, omnipresent, and have the knowledge of the heart (Dr. Whitby).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Rom. 15:30-33
St. Paul was not self-assertive.It has been affirmed that St. Paul was self-assertive (as we say). No proofs are attempted to establish the declaration. Our reading of this epistle has not tended to make us accept the accusation. These verses do not appear to make valid the affirmation.
I. It is not the act of the self-assertive to beseech the prayers of others.Self-assertion, we are told, is the presumptuous assertion of ones self or claims. Presumptive assertion does not condescend to the language of humble entreaty. Imagine a Napoleon beseeching for the prayers of his officers and soldiers. Imagine a pope turned a suppliant to the worshipping faithful. Imagine the Pharisee beseeching the publican to strive together with him in his prayers. Prayer is a strife, not against God, but against ourselves and against the powers of evil. Intercessory prayer is a method of mutual helpfulness. This is generated and strengthened for the sake of Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit. The love of (belonging to) the Spirit, embracing perhaps the two ideas
(1) felt by, and
(2) inspired by, the Holy Spirit.
II. It is not the act of the self-assertive to contemplate dangers.Arrogance may frown on the unbeliever, and scouts the idea that its service will not be accepted. Paul contemplates dangers, and does not expect a career of uninterrupted triumph. Deliverance is to be expected, not from the might of his own genius, but from the help of the Omnipotent. While St. Paul does not go out of his way to borrow troubles from the future, he seeks defence against the coming danger which is probable. His fears not groundless. Fears do not prevent the performance of duty. He does not start back, saying there are lions in the way.
III. It is not the act of the self-assertive to recognise a controlling will.This is not the language of modern presumption. By the will of God. Does the expression rule in commerce, in politics, science, or even religion to the extent that it ought? Too oft we pray for Gods help in our plans, but are not careful to inquire if they be in accordance with the divine will. Are our visits undertaken in submission to the divine will? Do we seek for joy and refreshment in accordance with the divine will? Do we thus seek even for spiritual joy and refreshment?
IV. It is in accordance with the acts of our apostle to conclude with a suitable prayer.Now the God of peace be with you all. The God of peace, as:
1. Dwelling in peace. Let us try to think of the sublime calm in which the Infinite reposes. Throughout the unthinkable past of a vast eternity God dwelt in peace. All the parts of His divine nature moved in unison; there were no conflicting forces. A true conception of the law of right and a will to carry out that law were seen working together. The natural and moral attributes of God were in harmonious adjustment. God is to and for Himself all-sufficient, therefore ineffable peace. Godlikeness supposes a reaching-up to the possession of such a peace in our degree and measure.
2. Imparting peace. True peace comes not from the inward but the outward. Divine peace is from above. The worldling tries to work peace from within; the true-hearted seeks peace from without. As the God of peace dwells in His people, so peace is imparted. He gives it by the indwelling of Christ, who is the Prince of peace; by the operation of the Holy Spirit, who is the sweet dove of peace; by the rearrangement of the inner nature, which is the forerunner of peace if it is to be permanent. Human peace a reflection of the divine and the result of divine working in the soul.
3. A guardian power. The God of peace guards and protects, hence St. Pauls prayer. A better guard than armed men, than armour-plated vessels, than impregnable castles. Divine peace guards:
(1) from the fevers of earthly strifes;
(2) from the rough tossings of ambition;
(3) from the cankering worry of over-anxiety;
(4) from the intrusion of dread forebodings;
(5) and from the onslaughts of scepticism. A peace, which is not the peace of Christ, is often rudely disturbed; for it is but a dream and a slumber, in the midst of volcanic powers, which are employing the time in gathering up their energies for a more awful conflict. But the peace of God cannot be rudely disturbed; safely guarded are those amongst whom dwells the God of peace.
Rom. 15:4; Rom. 15:12. A doctrine of hope.The two verses are so consecutive in thought that I may omit the intervening words, and take them together as giving us a doctrine of hope. It is hope not limited by the horizon of this life, but one that passes beyond it, a hope full of immortality. We need such a doctrine. Which of us is satisfied with the world as it is, and with ourselves as we are? Certainly there is cause enough for those dissatisfactions, longings, and imaginings which are common to mankind, but which wait for some promise and some power to transmute them into hope. Is there such a promise and power? I allege the two verses of the text, which speak of God as the God of hope. The first points to the Scriptures as written that we might have hope; the second represents the actual creation of this hope as the effect of faith, in the power of the Holy Ghost. Our thoughts are thus turned to the Bible and to ourselves.
I. The Bible is the book of hope.From Genesis to Revelation it is progress, preparation, expectation, a consecutive course in which things that are become conditions and pledges of things that are to be. There is a sound of events approaching. There are steps in the distance; they draw nearer. Some one is coming. The book is a continuous advent; it is the word of the God of hope. So He shows Himself even at the moment of the Fall. There is tenderness in the tones of judgment, and the sentence on the enemy is made a promise to our race. Already it is known that some time, some how, there shall be a reversal of the victory of evil. The cause of hope has begun. How is it carried on? I answer, By a threefold method, consisting of verbal promise, historic fact, and moral preparation. It is not through any one of these, but through the three taken together, that the Bible is the book of hope. I will note them first in the Old Testament, then in the New.
1. In the Old Testament. Firstly, there is the line of spoken prophecy from the first promise to the father of the faithful, of blessing to all nations, to the last word of the last prophet. Secondly, we see that this course of prophecy is interwoven with a course of history. The progressive words are heard amid progressive facts. Thirdly, the gradual elevation of hope is due to something more than verbal prophecy and historic fact. It is due to the moral and spiritual education which is all the time going on. The hope of the promise made of God unto the fathers: to which the twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come (Act. 26:6-7). So spake one who knew well what was the hope of Israel, and was then asserting that its fulfilment had begun. It had begun, and that was all. I pass
2. To the New Testament as presenting the second stage in the history of hope, that in which our own lives are cast. The Christ had come; but He was gone, and to all appearance had left the world as it was. The course of hope had therefore to begin again, conducted as before by promises, by facts, and by preparations of heart.
(1) The words of promise are become more numerous, more ample, and more plain. They are ever on the lips of the Lord; angels utter them as He ascends; apostles proclaim them for doctrine, warning, exhortation, and comfort, and repeat them as personal anticipations of triumph and joy.
(2) Then, as to the facts. If the gospel history be taken for true, for what did all this prepare? What shall be the end of a history which is thus begun and broken off abruptly at the moment of success? If there be any sequence in things, the first advent ensures the second.
(3) Still stronger in the New Testament is the argument from moral and spiritual preparation. We know the moral effect proper to the gospel, which appears in the epistles, which has been realised in all ages, and is realised in countless instances at this day. It is a high education of conscience and of the sentiments which govern life. It is an elevation and refinement of a mans feeling for truth and righteousness, for purity and charity. It is something which includes these, and is more than thesea tone and temper which we call holy, not of this world, caught from the mind of Christ. It appears in a lively sense of immortality, a kindred with things eternal in aspiring to the likeness of God, in habitual converse with God, in fellowship with the Father and the Son. Now, apart from all the prophecy, is not this state of heart a prophecy itself? If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable. If you have lost confidence in the Scriptures as the word of God, you may propose to yourself what you will, but you have lost the title-deeds of hope. You have lost and cannot replace them. If you search the world, no other charter can be found.
II. The text directs us not to the frustration of hope, but to its fulfilment.Speaks of powers which create hope, not of influences which destroy it. The God of hope fill you, etc. That is a prayer for personal experience, and an account of how it is attained. Hope, it says, is the product of believing; abounding in hope of joy and peace in believing, and all through the power of the Holy Ghost.
1. Hope must be the effect of believing if it is to enter the region of the unseen. There we have nothing to go by but the word of One who knoweth all. Revelation discovers things future, and faith becomes hope in the act of looking towards them. Here faith is presented as a state of mind antecedent to hope, and out of which hope arises. But that depends on the things believed, and the manner of believing them. But what are the things believed in our case? They are a gospelgood tidings. They are the facts of the manifestation of the Son of God for man, and in their bearing on ourselves they are a revelation that He has loved us, and given Himself for us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and reconciled us to God, and redeemed us for His own possession, and given us a right in His merits, and a participation in His life, and a present union with Himself, wrought by the Spirit and sealed by the sacraments.
2. Certainly these are things to cause joy and peace in believing,joy in the first apprehension, and fresh emotion of gladness in every fresh apprehension of them; and peace as the permanent habit of a mind at rest, independent of all movements of emotion.
3. Yet in all this process there is something more than the word of God and the thoughts of manit is through the power of the Holy Ghost. He it is who generates the faith which believes and raises it into the hope which expects. That is not to be forgotten by us who live in the dispensation of the Spirit. The recognition of it is not fulfilled by the recital of an article in the creed, or the confession of a mysterious doctrine, but by a conscious dependence, an habitual appeal which gives a new character to the inward life, and an experience of light, counsel, and comfort which come by the word, but by something more than the word, a something far more deeply interfused, a Spirit mingling with our spirit, a communion of the Holy Ghost. If, then, these experiences are by this power, we must look for them in that way; and as God is true we may expect them according to our need.Canon Bernard.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Rom. 15:30-33
The verses are authentic.The authenticity of Rom. 15:30-33 is acknowledged by Lucht. Volkmar admits only that of Rom. 15:33, adding the first two verses of chap. 16. We have seen how little weight belongs to the objections raised by Baur and those critics to the authenticity of chap. 15 in general; we have not therefore to return to them. As to the opinions formerly given out by Semler and Paulus, according to which this whole chapter is only a particular leaf intended by the apostle either for the persons saluted in chap. 16 or for the most enlightened members of the Church of Rome, they are now abandoned. The apostle was no friend of religious aristocracies, as we have seen in chap. 12, and he would have done nothing to favour such a tendency. Besides, what is there in this chapter which could not be read with advantage by the whole Church? We have proved the intimate connection between the first part of the chapter and the subject treated in chap. 14, as well as the connection between the second part and the epistle as a whole, more particularly the preface (Rom. 1:1-15). The style and ideas are in all points in keeping with what one would expect from the pen of Paul. As Hilgenfeld says: It is impossible in this offhand way to reject chaps. 15 and 16.; the Epistle to the Romans cannot have closed with Rom. 14:23, unless it remained without a conclusion. M. Reuss expresses himself to the same effect; and we have pleasure in quoting the following lines from him in closing this subject: The lessons contained in the first half of the text (chap. 15.) are absolutely harmonious with those of the previous chapter and of the parallel passages of other epistles, and the statement of the apostles plans is the most natural expression of his mind and antecedents, as well as the reflection of the situation of the moment. There is not the slightest trace of the aim of a forged composition, nor certainly of the possibility that the epistle closed with chap. 14.Godet.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(30) The love of the Spiriti.e., the love inspired in them by the Spiritflowing from the Spirit.
Strive together with me.Second my own earnest entreaties.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
30. Your prayers Solemn fore-boding already existed in the apostle’s heart in view of his journey to Jerusalem. (See notes on Act 21:1; Act 21:13.) No prescience was bestowed by inspiration what the result would be. Yet protected he would feel himself if he knew that he went forth panoplied in the prayers of his Roman brethren. He might be on the shores of Syria, and they in the prayer room at Rome, but no distance could affect the power of their faithful and living intercession. Prayer is a telegraph that disregards space.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Now I plead with you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judaea, and that my ministration which I have for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,’
This plea, in the context of the whole letter, makes clear (as do the details in chapter 16) that there is no outstanding leading figure in the church at Rome at this time. Here he addresses his plea to ‘adelphoi’ (brothers and sisters) which may indicate the plurality of bishops and deacons, or simply the church as a whole. There would in fact be no single overall Bishop in Rome for another hundred years, something confirmed by the opening words in the letter of Clement dating around 95 AD.
He pleads with them ‘by our LORD Jesus Christ and by the love shed abroad in their hearts by the Spirit’ (Rom 5:5) that they strive together (the word is a strong one – ‘agonise together’) in their prayers for God to him as he seeks to fulfil his ministry in Jerusalem. Possibly he is aware of evil spiritual forces at work. He is concerned about two things, firstly to be delivered from his antagonists (‘those who are disobedient’ i.e. disobedient to the Messiah) in Judaea, and secondly to present the gift of the Gentile churches to the church in Jerusalem in a way which will be acceptable to them. There were still elements in the Jerusalem church who were suspicious of the liberties offered to the Gentiles. As we know, the former fear would be realised, whilst his ministry to the saints would on the whole be successful.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rom 15:30. And for the love of the Spirit “By that love, which is the genuine fruit of the Spirit.” Some would explain this of the love which the Spirit of God bears to us, or the affection which we owe to that gracious Person. The words rendered strive together with me, signify, “That you join your utmost strength and fervency with mine; as those who fight and struggle together in the public games, or in the field of battle.” See Elsner’s Observat. vol. 2: p. 65.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rom 15:30-31 . Even now (comp. Act 20:22-23 ; Act 21:10 ff.) Paul anticipates that persecutions await him in Judaea on the part of the unbelieving ( , inobedientium , who refuse the ; comp. Rom 11:30-31 ; Joh 3:36 ; Act 15:2 ); but even on the part of the Palestinian Christians ( . ), he is not sure of a good reception for his , because he, the anti-Judaic apostle (comp. Rom 10:21 ; Act 21:21 ), had set on foot and conducted a Gentile -Christian collection. Hence the addition of the exhortation ( ) to the readers, subjoined by the continuative , and how urgent and fervent!
] belonging to .: by means of a moving reference to Christ, as Rom 12:1 , 2Co 10:1 .
The . is the love wrought by the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22 ); it Paul calls in specially by way of inciting his readers to compliance.
. .] to contend along with me in the prayers which you make, hence: in your prayers. A very correct gloss is (after .) in codd. and VSS.; not one disfiguring the sense , as Reiche thinks, who explains: in my prayer . So also Ewald. Paul might certainly, according to the sympathy of the fellowship of love, claim the joint striving of the readers in his prayers; but , which would otherwise be superfluous, points most naturally to the conclusion that the are those of the readers ; comp. 2Co 1:11 ; Col 4:12 . The is closely, and without the article, attached to (similarly to , Col 1:9 , et al .) in the prayers which you address to God for me (for my welfare). Fervent prayer is a striving of the inner man against the hostile or dangerous powers, which it is sought to avert or overcome, and for the aims, which it is sought to attain. Comp. on Col. l.c.
. . .] Aim of the joint striving: in order that I may be delivered from , etc. See on Mat 6:13 . It did not pass into fulfilment; even now the counsel of his Lord, Act 9:16 , was to be accomplished.
. .] my rendering of service destined for Jerusalem . See Rom 15:25-26 . Comp. 2Co 8:4 ; 2Co 9:1 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1926
PRAYER FOR MINISTERS
Rom 15:30. I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christs sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.
LITTLE do men imagine how great is the efficacy of intercession [Note: If this were a subject for Trinity Sunday, the exordium might be to this effect: We might well expect that the doctrine of the Trinity, if really true, would not merely be mentioned in two or three distinct passages of Holy Scripture, but that it would pervade the whole Scriptures, as it were, in an incidental way. And so we find it;e. g. the Text.]. They seem to think it presumptuous for one man to hope that he shall prevail with God in behalf of another. And doubtless it would be presumptuous, on a supposition that the intercessor conceived he should prevail by any power or goodness of his own. But, when God has enjoined intercession as a duty, and appointed it as a means of bestowing his blessing upon men, it is highly becoming in us to obey his mandate, and to seek his blessing in his appointed way. There is no man who may not he benefited by another in this way. A beggar may bring down blessings on the greatest monarch; and a very child in grace, upon the most eminent saint. St. Paul, conscious of this, frequently requested his brethren to pray for him [Note: Eph 6:19-20. 2Co 1:10-11.]. In the passage before us, he seems to speak as if his whole welfare depended on the prayers of others; so urgent is he in his request that they would plead in his behalf at the throne of grace. In my remarks upon this request of his, I shall notice,
I.
Its extreme urgency
Language can scarcely express greater urgency than is here manifested in the Apostles request. Observe,
1.
The object of his request
[Brethren, pray for me. He was now in peculiar circumstances. He was going up to Jerusalem, to carry to the saints there that relief which he had collected for their necessities. But the Jews there were exceedingly enraged against him, on account of his going to the Gentiles. The very saints themselves also were greatly prejudiced against him on this account: for they could not yet see that the Mosaic law was abolished; and, consequently, could not understand how he should so neglect, and discourage, the observance of it. And from this extreme irritation of all parties against him, he could not but apprehend that his life was in danger, and that his labours for the welfare of mankind would be brought to a close before he had accomplished the projects which he had formed. He therefore says, Pray for me, that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Juda; and that my service, which I have for Jerusalem, may be accepted of the saints, that I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed. In a word, he desired them to pray for the preservation of his life, the success of his labours, and the extension of his usefulness in the world. Now these are objects for which every minister needs a remembrance in the prayers of his brethren, and which justly call for their most earnest importunity in his behalf.]
2.
The manner in which he urged it
[He besought them: and to give the greater weight to his entreaty, he enforced it with the most powerful motives that he could possibly suggest. I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christs sake, and for the love of the Spirit. Now what was there which they did not owe to the Lord Jesus Christ, who had come down from heaven for them, and redeemed them to God by his blood? And what anxiety were they not bound to manifest for HIS interests, which are so essentially connected with the labours of his servants, and the prosperity of his Church? For his sake, therefore, he entreated them to intercede for them, that his work might be carried forward, and his name be glorified. For the love of the Spirit, also, he desired their prayers. By this expression, I do not understand either their love towards the Holy Spirit, or the Spirits love towards them. I understand him, rather, as urging them by the consideration of that love which they professed to feel towards all the members of Christs mystical body, which was the common bond of union between them, and which was infused by the Holy Spirit into every soul wherein he dwelt. I understand it as though the Apostle had said, I entreat you by that fellowship of the Spirit [Note: Php 2:1.] which ye profess, and which of necessity will manifest itself by love, shew me this greatest possible act of kindness, by interceding for me at the throne of grace.
But the manner in which he desires them to pray is yet further remarkable, in that it breathes the very same ardour of mind as is expressed in his importunity. He intimates that he himself was extremely urgent in prayer with God for himself: and then he desires their concurrence with him in these his supplications. The term which he makes use of is taken from the contests that were maintained in the Grecian games, where every one put forth his utmost strength in order to obtain the victory. I beseech you, strive together with me in your prayer to God for me: be not content with offering a few lukewarm petitions; but wrestle with Almighty God, even as Jacob did, and rest not till you have obtained for me the desired blessings.]
To justify the Apostle in making this request, I will proceed to point out,
II.
Its reasonableness
The Apostle, from the first moment of his conversion, had lived only for God and for the souls of men
[This appears from the history of the Church, and from all the epistles which he wrote: He counted not his life deal to him, so that he might but finish his course with joy, and fulfil the ministry which he had received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God.
Now, though we are far from comparing any minister of the present day with him, yet we must say, that every faithful minister, according to the grace given to him, is like-minded with the Apostle in this particular. Ministers, who feel in any measure the obligations of their ordination vows, give themselves up wholly to their ministry, and wait on it as their one employment through life. They direct all their studies, and all their labours, to this one object. Allured by no hopes, deterred by no fears, discouraged by no difficulties or disappointments, onward they go, accounting the conversion of one soul an ample recompence for all that they can either do, or suffer, for the attainment of it.]
He might well, therefore, claim from them an interest in their prayers
[Certainly the Apostles request was reasonable in this view: and certainly every faithful minister has a right to expect the same favour at the hands of his people. It is the least that they can do for him; and, I may add, it is the greatest thing which one human being can do for another. The minister, in his exertions for his people, exposes himself to all the hostility of an ungodly world: but the people, in praying for him, transact with God alone the business in which they are engaged. For them he can only embrace such opportunities as may be afforded him after much labour, and travail, and danger: whereas they have access to God at all times, and in all places, without any other difficulty than what arises from the deadness and carnality of their own hearts. To refuse him, therefore, this mark of their love, would be base in the extreme.]
But, to enter more fully into it, I must proceed to mark,
III.
Its importance
The welfare of the Church, humanly speaking, depended on the preservation of the Apostles life: and in like manner does it depend on the continuance and efficiency of every ministers labours. We would not magnify ourselves, brethren; for it would ill become us to do so: but we may, and must, magnify our office; and, in this view, we may be permitted to say, that you yourselves are interested in the welfare of your ministers. If they be truly faithful and laborious, as they ought to be, your welfare is deeply interested in,
1.
The continuance of their lives
[Doubtless God can raise up others in the place of those whom he removes. But, humanly speaking, the spiritual prosperity of any people is intimately connected with the continuance of a pious minister amongst them. Who that sees places, where religion once flourished, now left in darkness, and immersed in all the vanities of an ungodly world, must not take up a lamentation over them, and bewail the removal of the candlestick from amongst them! We need only look to the seven Churches of Asia, in confirmation of this melancholy truth. Or perhaps we may come nearer home, and survey it in towns and villages within the sphere of our own observation. In truth, as if the labours of pious ministers were no better than a noxious pestilence, it is the aim of many to place in their room such pastors as shall defeat to the uttermost all the efforts of their lives, and bring back the people to a state of ignorance, carelessness, and indifference. I must say, therefore, that they who have profited by the labours of any minister are deeply interested in his continuance amongst them.]
2.
The prosperity of their souls
[A pious minister, if he relapse into a carnal and worldly state, will soon shew it in his ministrations. A neglect of his duties will ensue; and a lukewarmness will pervade all his labours. The people will catch his spirit, and languish together with him, and soon relapse into formality. On the other hand, if his soul flourish, there will be an unction upon his word; and it will go forth with power, and will reach the hearts of multitudes. He will be crying to God in secret, and will bring with him a blessing wherever he goes. Being blessed in his own soul, he will be a blessing to all around him. I say, then, that the people are interested, deeply interested, in the prosperity of his soul. He is a vessel in which the golden oil is treasured up; and from which it passes, in the golden pipes of ordinances, to every lamp. If he be destitute, their light will decay: if he be full, they will burn the brighter, and God will be the more glorified in them.
If, then, the people would enjoy much of God themselves, they should pray for their minister; who, under God, is the medium of communication between God and them.]
Application
And now, methinks, I might well address to you the words of the Apostle in my own behalf
[For surely, if not circumstanced as he was in relation to bodily dangers, we are all exposed to dangers from our great adversary, who, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour; and consequently we need, as much as ever the Apostle did, your intercessions with God, that we may be delivered from all the assaults of Satan, and be preserved blameless to the end. Nor can our efforts, how multiplied soever they may be, produce any good effect without Gods special blessing. If ever we be mutually refreshed by our intercourse with each other, either in public or private, it must be through the out-pouring of his Spirit upon our souls. I hope, too, that I may say, I have some claim to your good offices in this respect.]
But, waving that part of my subject, I will remind you of your obligations to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to the Holy Spirit
[Where would you have been, if the Lord Jesus Christ had not come down from heaven to expiate you guilt, and to work out a righteousness for you by his own obedience unto death? Or what would still have been your state, if the Holy Spirit had not opened your eyes, and sealed instruction upon your souls? You would, all, without exception, have been in darkness and the shadow of death, under the guilt of all your sins, and obnoxious to the wrath of an offended God. What spark of love would you have had in your hearts to the Saviour and to the members of his mystical body, if it had not been kindled there by the Holy Spirit? And if your ears had not been opened by that Divine Agent, you would have been as deaf to the motives here urged, as if the Lord Jesus Christ and his Church had no claim upon you whatever. Then I say to you, Be sensible of your obligations to every person in the ever-blessed Trinity; and be ready to shew your gratitude and love, by every exertion in your power for the honour of your God, and for the benefit of his Church and people.]
Above all, I would call upon you to engage in prayer, with all possible earnestness, for your own souls
[If you ought to strive, as if you were wrestling for your life, in behalf of others, what exertions should you not make for yourselves? Be assured, it is not a few lukewarm petitions that God expects from you; nor are such addresses to the Deity at all suited to your state. You are sinners before God: you are exposed to his everlasting displeasure: you have all the powers of darkness leagued together for your destruction. It is but a little time that is allotted to you for the obtaining of mercy, and for working out your salvation: and it is by prayer alone that you can obtain deliverance from your enemies, or strength to fulfil the will of God. You must ask, if you would have; and seek, if you would find; and knock, if you would have the door of mercy opened to you. I entreat you, then, to be in earnest: yea, I beseech you, for the Lord Jesus Christs sake, and for your own souls sake, to strive with God in prayer: and never to let him go, till you have obtained from him the desired blessing. Plead with him for mercy through the Redeemers blood; plead with him for a more abundant effusion of his Spirit upon your souls; plead with him, if he have begun the good work within you, to carry it on, and perfect it to the end. Then shall all these blessings descend upon you, and God be glorified in your everlasting salvation.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; (31) That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints; (32) That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed. (33) Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
There is somewhat very sweet and gracious in this earnest appeal of Paul to the Church. He was closing up his Epistle, which contained in its bosom, more or less, all the great leading truths of the Gospel of Christ. He had shewn them, the momentous doctrines of the Church, in which he himself was established, and which he affectionately recommended to them. And now in the end, he leaves the whole impression upon their minds, under the grace of God, in this sweet form of words: Now I beseech you brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. And he adds, that he seeks an interest in their prayers, to be delivered from the enemies of the truth, and to be made a blessing to the friends: and that coming to them by the will of God, both himself and them might be mutually refreshed. And he prays the God of peace to be with them all. Amen.
Every word in this address of the Apostle hath signification. It is Paul, the prisoner of Christ for the Gentiles, which thus beseecheth the Church. And though by his Apostolical authority, he might have commanded what he requests: yet he rather makes it the subject of entreaty. We behold him as on the knee of supplication appearing before them. And, to enforce what he entreated yet more, he adds the endearing name of brethren. Now j Church as to give himself for it; and in whose sight, every individual member of his mystical body was alike dear. And as the love of the Holy Ghost, became the grand cementing cause of all union, and all joy and peace in believing, whereby the brethren were made blessed in the enjoyment of God the Father’s favor, and God the Son’s grace; the Apostle brings this also into the account, as forming together the full assurance of divine mercy. Reader! do not overlook the affection of Paul for the Church; neither the earnestness of his labors for them. But yet more particularly mark, where the Apostle placed his great confidence, and from whence alone he looked for success. His services could only be blessed of God, and accepted of men, when he came to them by the will of God, and God refreshed them together. And the Apostle closeth in prayer, that the God of peace might be with them, in proof of it. The God of peace, is a comprehensive expression, to denote the Covenant of peace in Christ, in which all the Persons of the Godhead have concurred. And where this is, all other Covenant blessings follow, and the Amen, or verily, as one of the names of Christ, is added, as the signing, sealing, and delivery of deeds, to confirm the free-grace deed of God in Christ. He that blesseth himself in the earth, shall bless himself in the God of truth; that is, Christ, the Amen, Isa 15:9 . And the blessing in heaven, is confirmed in the same way, in the blessing of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, both in heaven and earth, Rev 3:14 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
30 Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;
Ver. 30. For the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake ] This is one of those passages in St Paul, than the which there can nothing possibly be imagined more grave, divine, excellent, saith Beza.
That ye strive together ] Even to an agony, as the word imports. Spiritual beggary is the hardest and richest of all trades, as one said. Learn of this great apostle to beg prayers with all earnestness. Pray for me, I say, pray for me, I say, quoth father Latimer. Pray for me, pray for me, for God’s sake pray for me, said blessed Bradford.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
30 32. ] . . . ., the love shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost ; a love which teaches us to look not only on our own things, but on the things of others.
.] “Ipse oret oportet, qui alios vult orare secum. Orare, agon est, prsertim ubi homines resistunt.” Bengel.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 15:30 . . In spite of the confident tone of Rom 15:29 , Paul is very conscious of the uncertainties and perils which lie ahead of him, and with the he turns to this aspect of his situation. (which W. H. bracket) is an appeal to their Christian sympathy. . . For in this sense see Rom 12:1 . The Romans and Paul were alike servants of this Lord, and His name was a motive to the Romans to sympathise with Paul in all that he had to encounter in Christ’s service. , the love wrought in Christian hearts by the Spirit of God (Gal 5:22 ) is another motive of the same kind. , . is found here only in the N.T., but and in a spiritual sense are found in each of the groups into which the Pauline epistles are usually divided. What Paul asks is that they should join him in striving with all their might in wrestling as it were against the hostile forces which would frustrate his apostolic work. Cf. Just. Mart., Apol. , ii., 13: . in Luk 22:44 seems to denote awful fear rather than intense striving. is not otiose: Paul felt how much it was worth to have God appealed to on his behalf.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rom 15:30-33
30Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, 31that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints; 32so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company. 33Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Rom 15:30 “I urge you. . .to strive together with me” These are strong Greek terms. The first is also used in Rom 12:1. The second is used of Jesus’ struggle in Gethsemane. Paul sensed a deep need for prayer for himself and his gospel ministry (cf. 2Co 1:11; Eph 6:18-20; Col 4:3; 1Th 5:25; 2Th 3:1). His experience in Jerusalem proved to be difficult (cf. Rom 15:31). He arrived in Rome, but not in the way he had envisioned. See Special Topic: Intercessory Prayer at Rom 9:3.
Rom 15:30-33 Paul’s prayer expresses three desires.
1. that he might be delivered from his enemies in Judah (cf. Act 20:22-23)
2. that the gift from the Gentile churches would be received well by the church in Jerusalem (cf. Act 15:1 ff; Act 21:17 ff)
3. that he might then come visit Rome on his way to Spain
Rom 15:30 “to strive together with me” This term is used only here in the NT. It is a compound of sun (together with) and agnizomai (to contend, to fight, to strive earnestly, cf. 1Co 9:25; Col 1:29; Col 4:12; 1Ti 4:10; 1Ti 6:12). This strong infinitive calls on the Roman church to aggressively agonize with Paul in prayer about the reception of the Gentile offering by the mother church in Jerusalem.
Rom 15:31 “who are disobedient” This refers to the Jewish opposition or possibly the Judaizers, but not the church in general (cf. Rom 11:30-31).
Rom 15:32 Paul’s prayer ends with two more requests: (1) he might come to them in joy and (2) he might have a time of rest with them (aorist middle [deponent] subjunctive of sunanapauomai, only here in the NT, but used in Isa 11:6. Paul quoted Isa 11:1; Isa 11:10 in Rom 15:12). Paul needs a time of quiet rest and recuperation among mature believers (cf. 2Co 4:7-12; 2Co 6:3-10; 2Co 11:23-33)! He did not get it, however. Arrest and trials and years in prison awaited him in Palestine.
This verse has many manuscript variants.
Rom 15:33 “the God of peace” This is a wonderful title for God (cf. Rom 16:20; 2Co 13:11; Php 4:9; 1Th 5:23; 2Th 3:16; Heb 13:20).
“Amen” See Special Topic at Rom 1:25.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
beseech. App-134.
for . . . sake, for. App-104. Rom 15:1.
love. App-135.
Spirit. App-101.
strive together with. Greek. sunagonizomai. Only here.
your. Omit.
prayers. App-134.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
30-32.] . . . ., the love shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost;-a love which teaches us to look not only on our own things, but on the things of others.
.] Ipse oret oportet, qui alios vult orare secum. Orare, agon est, prsertim ubi homines resistunt. Bengel.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 15:30. , Lord) He exhorts them by the name of the Lord; comp. by [for] the love, immediately after.-, love) The love of the Spirit is most widely extended; it brings home [it makes a matter of interest] to thee, even what might seem to belong to another.- , to strive with me) He himself must pray, who wishes others to pray with him, Act 8:24; Act 8:22. Prayer is a striving, or contest, especially when men resist. Paul is the only one of the apostles, who asks for himself the prayers of believers. He does this moreover generally at the conclusion of his epistles, but not indiscriminately so in all. For he does not so write to those, whom he treats as sons, with the dignity of a father, or even with severity, for example, Timothy, Titus, the Corinthians, the Galatians, as he does to those, whom he treats as his equals with the deferential regard of a brother, for example, the Thessalonians, Ephesians, Colossians (with whom he had not been), and therefore so also the Romans and likewise the Hebrews. It [the request for their prayers] is introduced with great elegance at 2Co 1:11; Php 1:19; Phm 1:22.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 15:30
Rom 15:30
Now I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;-In this Paul expresses his confidence in the efficacy of the prayers of the brethren. He continually, in labors and dangers in which he was exposed, felt the need of and asked the prayers of his brethren in his behalf. He besought them, as they loved the Lord Jesus Christ and his cause and were moved by the love the Spirit inspired in their hearts, to pray for him. The Spirit aroused love in their hearts by teaching the love Jesus had shown them. If Paul, the inspired apostle, felt the need of the prayers of the brethren in his behalf and for the furtherance of his work, how much more should Christians feel the need of receiving and offering prayers one for another!
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
for the: 2Co 4:5, 2Co 4:11, 2Co 12:10, 1Ti 6:13, 1Ti 6:14, 2Ti 4:1
and for: Psa 143:10, Phi 2:1
that: Gen 32:24-29, 2Co 1:11, Eph 6:19, Col 2:1, Col 4:12, 1Th 5:25, 2Th 3:1
Reciprocal: Exo 10:17 – and entreat Jdg 7:24 – sent 2Sa 24:23 – The Lord Neh 9:20 – good Son 5:8 – if ye Dan 2:18 – they would Luk 11:8 – because of Rom 1:10 – request Rom 12:1 – beseech 1Co 1:10 – by the Col 1:8 – General Col 1:29 – striving Col 4:3 – praying 1Th 3:10 – praying 2Ti 1:4 – desiring Phm 1:22 – through Heb 13:18 – Pray
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
:30
Rom 15:30. Paul here teaches that the prayers of disciples in behalf of each other are one means of having a part in their labors for the Lord.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 15:30. Now I beseech you, brethren. This fervent exhortation is the natural expression of his confidence in them and of the anticipation he has respecting what awaits him at Jerusalem (comp. Act 20:22; Act 21:10, etc.)
By our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit. For is incorrect in both cases; through is the literal sense, with the same force as in chap. Rom 12:1, presenting a motive. Love of the Spirit is that affection wrought by the Holy Spirit. Between Paul and the mass of his readers personally unknown to him, only such a love could be urged as a motive. It is more extended than personal affection.
That ye strive together with me (the figure is that of a contest in the games) in your prayers, etc. Your brings out the force of the article; the possessive pronoun, though found in some authorities, must be rejected.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here, in the close of the epistle, our apostle most affectionately recommends himself the the prayers of the Christian Romans unto whom he wrote: I beseech you, brethren, strive, &c.
Where observe, 1. The apostle’s courteous compellation, brethren. There is a threefold brotherhood which the scripture takes notice of:
(1.) Betwixt Christ and believers, He is not ashamed to call them brethren. Heb 2:11.
(2.) Betwixt believers themselves, they are brethren by grace, Love the brotherhood, 1Pe 2:17; that is, the collective body of believers.
(3.) Betwixt the ministers of Christ and their beloved people there is also a brotherhood, I John your brother; Rev 1:9; teaching the ministers of the gospel to carry it towards their people with love and gentleness, and the people to make reciprocal returns of love and affection.
Observe, 2. The manner of the apostle’s request: it is by way of supplication and entreaty; I beseech you, brethren. Though as an apostle he might have enjoined them, yet for love-sake he rather entreats them.
Observe, 3. The request itself, that they strive together in their prayers for him: the original word signifies to strive together as wrestlers do, who exert all their power and might in that bodily exercise.
Observe, 4. Our apostle’s sincerity, and holy ingenuity in this request which he made unto them: he desires them to strive with him in their prayers to God for him. He doth not, with some, beg the prayers of others, and neglect to pray for himself, but is willing to draw with them in the same yoke.
Observe, 5. A double argument which the apostle makes use of, to enforce his supplication and request;
(1.) For the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, for the sake of him who is so dear both to you and me.
(2.) For the love of the Spirit: that is, if the grace of love be wrought in you by the Holy Spirit of God, show it by your fervent prayer for all saints in general, and for myself a minister of Jesus Christ in particular.
Observe, 6. The particulars concerning which he desires their supplications;
1. For preservation in his journey to Judea; that the unbelieving Jews, which were prejudiced against him, might have no power to hurt him.
2. That his person and his performance for the poor saints at Jerusalem, might find acceptance with the Christian Jews, to whom he was not over acceptable; he therefore begs their prayers, that the believing Jews at Jerusalem might be reconciled both to the believing Gentiles that sent this alms, and also to himself that brought it: That my service for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints.
3. That he might have a prosperous journey to them by the will of God.
Where note, How much it is our duty always, and in all things, to refer ourselves, our intentions and actions, to the pleasure and providence, to the wisdom and will, of God.
And observe, lastly, the special reason why he was so desirous to visit and come unto them, that he might be refreshed with them, and by them; that the company and conversation of each other may be to their mutual refreshment and satisfaction: That I may come unto you with joy, by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Rom 15:30-33. Now I beseech you for the Lord Jesus Christs sake That is, by all which he has done for you; and for the love of the Spirit That is, by the love to God, and Christ, and his saints and servants, which is the fruit of the Spirit: that ye strive , that you agonize together with me; or, as Doddridge renders it, that you join your utmost strength with mine In your prayers to God for me; the original expression being derived from a word which signifies exerting the greatest strength and agility, such as the combatants exerted in the Grecian games. They must pray for themselves, who would have others strive together with them in prayer. Of all the apostles, Paul alone is recorded as desiring the prayers of the faithful for himself; and this he generally does in the conclusions of his epistles; yet not without making a difference. For, he speaks in one manner to them whom he treats as his children, with the gravity, or even severity of a father, such as Timothy, Titus, the Corinthians, and Galatians; in another, to them whom he treats rather like equals, such as the Romans, Ephesians, Thessalonians, Colossians, Hebrews. That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea The unbelieving Jews at Jerusalem had got notice of Pauls success in converting the Gentiles, to whom he preached salvation, without requiring them to obey the law of Moses. And being falsely informed that he taught all the Jews which were among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, &c., (Act 21:21,) they were exceedingly enraged against him. Of this the apostle being well apprized, and knowing of what importance the preservation of his life was to the church, is thus urgent in his requests for the continued, fervent prayers of the brethren at Rome, that he might be preserved from the power of these enemies of Christ and his servants; and that his service in making the collections might be well received by the saints there. These were evidently the grand reasons why he was so earnest in desiring the prayers of the faithful for him; for, had his own personal safety alone been the object of his solicitude, independent of the prosperity of Gods work, and the salvation of the souls of the Gentiles, he doubtless would have desired to depart, and be with Christ, which he knew would be far better than remaining longer in the body, in this world of sin and sorrow. That I may come unto you with joy As the apostle proposed to visit the Romans after delivering the collections at Jerusalem, he earnestly wished that that service might be acceptable to the brethren there; because, if it was well received, it would have great influence in producing that happy union of the Jews with the Gentiles, which he had so much at heart to accomplish, and make him come to Rome in great joy. But how much he was disappointed in his generous design, and in what disadvantageous circumstances he came to Rome, the history of the Acts informs us. See chap. 21.-26. Now the God of peace Who is at peace with us, being reconciled to us in Christ, and causes us to know, by experience, that the fruit of the Spirit is peace, even a peace passing understanding, be with you all Whether I am present or absent. Amen.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vv. 30-32. Now I exhort you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me before God for me in your prayers, that I may be delivered from the disobedient in Judea, and that this aid which I have for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints; that coming with joy among you by the will of God, I may with you find rest.
The might be adversative (but); it would thus express the contrasted impressions which we have just indicated. But it is better to take it simply as progressive: now. The form of address: brethren, which the Vatic. wrongly rejects, makes a pressing appeal to the sympathy of the readers. This appeal is addressed in the name of Christ Himself, whom Paul serves, then of the affection by which he feels himself bound to the Romans by the operation of the Holy Spirit. The love of the Spirit is opposed to that which exists between persons who know one another personally; who have seen my face in the flesh, as Paul himself says, Col 2:1 (in opposition to Rom 1:8).
The request so solemnly prefaced is one for a common struggle; for there are hostile powers to be combated (Rom 15:31). The two phrases: for me (in my behalf) and before God, are often joined to the substantive : your prayers for me before God. But would not the regimen before God connected with the word prayers be superfluous, and would not the expression your prayers for me imply a thing which Paul has no right to assume: viz. that they make prayer for him continually? The two regimens, therefore, depend rather on the verb strive. To strive before God, whose arm can alone cover the apostle in this journey with an impenetrable buckler; and by your prayers, since they are the efficacious means of moving this almighty arm.
The phrase: with me, reminds the Romans how he is himself striving for the same end.
Vv. 31. The enemies to be removed are, above all, the unbelieving Jews. It is to them the first that refers; the second intimates that there are other adversaries within the church itself; they are those thousands of Jews who have believed, Act 21:20-21, and who have been filled with prejudices against Paul’s person and work. All those hearts must be prepared by God Himself to receive well the offering which is about to be brought them. The reading (offering of a present) instead of (service), in the Vatic. and the Greco-Lats., seems to me probable enough, considering the rareness of the expression.
The kind of anxiety which breathes throughout this whole passage is in keeping with the painful presentiments felt by all the churches about this journey to Jerusalem, and which found utterance shortly afterward by the mouth of the prophets wherever Paul stopped (Act 20:22-23; Act 21:4 et seq., 11 et seq.).
Vv. 32. If with A C we read: that coming ()…I may find rest (), the two clauses: with joy and by the will of God, might refer to the principal verb: that I may find rest. But it seems to me that this relation is unnatural, for the idea of joy is already contained in that of finding rest, and the will of God more naturally determines the matter of arriving than that of resting. It is therefore preferable to apply these two clauses to the idea of coming. Of the two readings or …, the former is more in keeping with the simplicity of the apostle’s style; the latter, more elegant, seems to be an Alexandrine correction.
We think we see the apostle, after happily finishing his mission in Palestine, embarking full of joy and guided by the will of God, then arriving at Rome there to rest his weary heart among his brethren in the joy of the common salvation, and to recover new strength for a new work.
The reading By the will of God is preferable to all the others: Paul ordinarily rises to God whenever the subject involved is providential dispensations.
Vv. 33. The God of peace be with you all! Amen.
The apostle’s heart seems constrained, in proportion as he approaches the end, to transform every particular subject he touches into a prayer or request. The special prayer contained in this verse is suggested to him by his conviction of the hostilities and dangers lying before himself, and by the need of soon being in full peace in the midst of his readers.
The authenticity of the word , amen, is doubtful. It is found, no doubt, in most of the Mjj., but it is wanting in three of them, and it is easier to explain its addition by copyists than its omission.
The authenticity of Rom 15:30-33 is acknowledged by Lucht. Volkmar admits only that of Rom 15:33, adding the first two verses of chap. 16. We have seen how little weight belongs to the objections raised by Baur and those critics to the authenticity of chap. 15 in general; we have not therefore to return to them. As to the opinions formerly given out by Semler and Paulus, according to which this whole chapter is only a particular leaf intended by the apostle either for the persons saluted in chap. 16, or for the most enlightened members of the church of Rome, they are now abandoned. The apostle was no friend of religious aristocracies, as we have seen in chap. 12; and he would have done nothing to favor such a tendency. Besides, what is there in this chapter which could not be read with advantage by the whole church? We have proved the intimate connection between the first part of the chapter and the subject treated in chap. 14, as well as the connection between the second part and the Epistle as a whole, more particularly the preface, Rom 1:1-15. The style and ideas are in all points in keeping with what one would expect from the pen of Paul. As Hilgenfeld says: It is impossible in this offhand way to reject chaps. 15 and 16; the Epistle to the Romans cannot have closed with Rom 14:23, unless it remained without a conclusion. M. Reuss expresses himself to the same effect, and we have pleasure in quoting the following lines from him in closing this subject: The lessons contained in the first half of the text (chap. 15) are absolutely harmonious with those of the previous chapter, and of the parallel passages of other Epistles, and the statement of the apostle’s plans is the most natural expression of his mind and antecedents, as well as the reflection of the situation of the moment. There is not the slightest trace of the aim of a forged composition, nor certainly of the possibility that the Epistle closed with chap. 14.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Now I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me [Paul appeals to no natural love such as is provoked by environment, propinquity, social or fleshly ties, but to a love induced by the Spirit of God toward one whose face they had never seen. As Christ has power over you, and the Spirit prompts love within you, pray with me and for me. The word “strive” suggests the force of opposing spiritual powers which resist the accomplishment of the things prayed for, and the necessity of ardent prayer to overcome it. The prayer was granted, but by other means than those praying anticipated. With Paul position raised no presumption: neither visions, revelations, miraculous gifts, inspiration nor apostleship lifted him above praying for their prayers. “Spiritual beggary,” says Trapp, “is the hardest and richest of all trades. Learn with Paul to beg prayer with all earnestness. ‘Pray for me, I say; pray for me, I say,’ quoth Father Latimer. ‘Pray for me, pray for me, for God’s sake pray for me,’ said blessed Bradford”];
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Rom 15:30-33. The Danger Threatening at Jerusalem.Whether or not Paul had already heard of the plot referred to in Act 20:3, he foresaw peril to his life from the disobedient (cf. Rom 2:8, Rom 11:30 f.) in Judaforebodings sadly verified (see Acts 20).
Rom 15:30 f. He therefore implores the intense prayers of his brothers, as men loyal to Christ and having His loving Spirit (cf. Php 2:1, Gal 5:22). They must pray for his safety, and that his service may be favourably received at Jerusalem.
Rom 15:32. After that, he will joyfully, if God so will, find refreshment in their society. The latter prayer was quite fulfilled (Acts 21); the former so far answered that Paul escaped with his life from Jerusalem, and ultimately reached Rome.
Rom 15:33. The God of peace be with you all; with variations, Pauls habitual invocation, often marking the close of his letters (cf. 2Co 13:11, Gal 6:16; also 1Pe 5:14); see Introd. 4.The (well-attested) Amen strengthens the presumption of finality at this point.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
15:30 Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the {t} love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in [your] prayers to God for me;
(t) For the mutual union, with which the Holy Spirit has united our hearts and minds together.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. Future plans 15:30-33
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Paul drew attention to the great need he felt for his readers’ prayers by using the same term he did when appealing for them to dedicate themselves to God (Rom 12:1). He exhorted them on the basis of their relationship with Jesus Christ and the love that the Holy Spirit inspires. He realized that in view of the spiritual forces antagonistic to his ministry energetic praying was necessary (cf. Eph 6:18-20; 2Co 1:10-11).
". . . our praying must not be a casual experience that has no heart or earnestness. We should put as much fervor into our praying as a wrestler does into his wrestling!" [Note: Wiersbe, 1:565.]
"A Christian’s intercession is a means of sharing in the ministry of others." [Note: Witmer, p. 498.]