Romans 15:16
The priestly service of the gospel
- The gospel’s word εὐαγγέλιον euangelion · gospel
Original
Translations
to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.
for my being a servant of Jesus Christ to the nations, acting as priest in the good news of God, that the offering up of the nations may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
이 은혜는 곧 나로 이방인을 위하여 그리스도 예수의 일꾼이 되어 하나님의 복음의 제사장 직무를 하게 하사 이방인을 제물로 드리는 그것이 성령 안에서 거룩하게 되어 받으심직하게 하려 하심이라
이것은 내가 이방인들을 향한 예수 그리스도의 사역자가 되어 하나님의 복음을 제공함으로써 이방인들을 바치는 일이 성령님을 통해 거룩히 구별되어 주께서 받으실 만하게 하려 함이라.
Commentaries
Matthew Henry on Rom 15:14-21 as a whole
The apostle was persuaded that the Roman Christians were filled with a kind and affectionate spirit, as well as with knowledge. He had written to remind them of their duties and their dangers, because God had appointed him the minister of Christ to the Gentiles. …
Read the whole commentary →Wesley Rom 15:16
The offering up of the gentiles - As living sacrifices.
Read the whole commentary →
Note
From 15:14 Paul begins to close the letter. He is sure the Roman believers are full of goodness and knowledge, and yet he has written boldly on some points, he says, "because of the grace God has given me" (Romans 15:15). This verse says what that grace is.
to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:16The verse is full of the language of the temple. "Minister" is , from the family of words the Greek Old Testament uses for the service of priests and Levites. "Priestly service" translates , to serve as a priest, a present participle and a verb found nowhere else in the New Testament. Its object is in the accusative, the gospel of God. Paul calls his handling of the gospel a priest's work, and the offering, , is the Gentiles themselves.
What makes the offering acceptable is not washing or ritual but the Holy Spirit. "Sanctified" is a perfect passive participle: the Spirit has made it holy, and it stays so. Isaiah foresaw a day when brothers would be brought "from all the nations as a gift to the LORD" (Isaiah 66:20), and many commentators hear that picture behind Paul's words.
The versions take this verse differently. The King James Version has "ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable", a general word that leaves the priestly image to the noun "offering". The BSB brings it out: "in the priestly service of the gospel of God". The LSV is the most literal: "acting as priest in the good news of God". Each is faithful; the newer versions make visible what the Greek verb says.
Wesley's note on the offering up of the Gentiles is three words: "As living sacrifices" Wesley. It recalls Paul's appeal to offer "your bodies as living sacrifices" (Romans 12:1). Matthew Henry asks who made the offering: "Paul preached to them; but what made them sacrifices to God, was, their sanctification; not his work, but the work of the Holy Ghost" Matthew Henry.
When Paul wrote, the temple in Jerusalem was still standing and its sacrifices were offered every day; it was destroyed in AD 70. A man who knew that temple and its altar called the preaching of the gospel to the nations a priest's service.
In the picture of this verse, whoever hears the gospel and believes is an offering brought to God. What makes the offering acceptable, Paul says, is not the worth of the one offered but the Spirit who makes it holy.