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Romans 15:14-21 Exploring ETR

Paul Talks About His Work

Romans 15:14-21 My brothers and sisters, I know without a doubt that you are full of goodness and have all the knowledge you need. So you are certainly able to counsel each other. 

But I have written to you very openly about some things that I wanted you to remember. I did this because God gave me this special gift: 

to be a servant of Christ Jesus for those who are not Jews. I serve like a priest whose duty it is to tell God’s Good News. He gave me this work so that you non-Jewish people could be an offering that he will accept—an offering made holy by the Holy Spirit.

That is why I feel so good about what I have done for God in my service to Christ Jesus. 


I will not talk about anything I did myself. I will talk only about what Christ has done with me in leading the non-Jewish people to obey God. They have obeyed him because of what I have said and done. 


And they obeyed him because of the power of the miraculous signs and wonders that happened—all because of the power of God’s Spirit. I have told people the Good News about Christ in every place from Jerusalem to Illyricum. And so I have finished that part of my work. 


I always want to tell the Good News in places where people have never heard of Christ. I do this because I don’t want to build on the work that someone else has already started. 


But as the Scriptures say, “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard about him will understand.” 


Paul’s Prayer

Ephesians 1:15-19 That is why I always remember you in my prayers and thank God for you.

I have done this ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people. 

I always pray to the great and glorious Father, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that he will give you the Spirit, who will let you know truths about God and help you understand them, so that you will know him better.

I pray that God will open your minds to see his truth. Then you will know the hope that he has chosen us to have. You will know that the blessings God has promised his holy people are rich and glorious. 


And you will know that God’s power is very great for us who believe. It is the same as the mighty power 

Romans 11:13-14 Now I am speaking to you people who are not Jews. I am an apostle to the non-Jewish people. So while I have that work, I will do the best I can. 

I hope I can make my own people jealous. That way, maybe I can help some of them to be saved. 

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 Brothers and sisters, God chose you to be his. Think about that! Not many of you were wise in the way the world judges wisdom. Not many of you had great influence, and not many of you came from important families. 

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 

And God chose what the world thinks is not important—what the world hates and thinks is nothing. He chose these to destroy what the world thinks is important. 

God did this so that no one can stand before him and boast about anything. 

It is God who has made you part of Christ Jesus. And Christ has become for us wisdom from God. He is the reason we are right with God and pure enough to be in his presence. Christ is the one who set us free from sin. 

So, as the Scriptures say, “Whoever boasts should boast only about the Lord.”