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Ambrosiaster

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 1,043 passages across 16 books

On Romans

321–340 of 359
Romans 15:3

For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

In the sixtyeighth Psalm [lxx] the Savior says that he did not come to please himself but God the Father. For because he said: “I did not come down from heaven to do my will but the will of him who sent me,” the Jews objected and put him to death as a sinner. Therefore the psalmist puts himself in Christ’s place and says: “The reproaches of those who reproached thee fell on me.” Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.

Romans 15:5

Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:

As if he had been sent for their salvation, the apostle charges the people with a good wish, praying that God may grant them a common understanding of his wisdom according to Christ Jesus, so that they may be wise in the teaching of Christ. For then they will be able to please God by following the example of the Lord, who said: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man should lay down his life for his friends” and his brethren, and with one voice and one confession magnify God the Father in Christ.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 15:9

And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.

It is written in the seventeenth psalm [LXX] that the Gentiles will be admitted to the grace of God in order to receive salvation. For this is the voice of Christ, which predicted what would happen in the future.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 15:11

And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.

God long ago decreed in Psalm 116 that by the intervention of his mercy Jews and Gentiles would be united. The Gentiles would be granted grace to become fellow heirs with the Jews, who by the grace of God were long ago named as his people. While the Jews were noble, the Gentiles were ignoble, but now by God’s mercy the Gentiles have been made noble as well, so that all may rejoice together by acknowledging the truth.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 15:12

And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

In order to give the Gentiles greater assurance and a surer hope, Paul backs up God’s decree with many examples.Why is Christ said to be from the root of Jesse and not from the root of Boaz, a righteous man, or of Obed? It is because he is said to be the Son of David on account of the kingdom, and just as he was born of God to be king, so also he was born of David according to the flesh. Therefore, the root of Jesse is the tree of David, which bore fruit on the branch which is the Virgin Mary, who gave birth to Christ.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 15:14

And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

These are words of encouragement. By praising them he is exhorting them to better understanding and behavior. For one who sees himself praised develops the works he has been given, so that the things which are said might be true. Therefore he did not say that they should teach one another but that they should exhort one another. Exhortation normally occurs when it becomes clear that something is undermining the mind or that it has grown slack. The rest is clear and needs no explanation.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 15:15

Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God,

Paul says he has been given authority by the grace of God, to embolden him to write to all the Gentiles, exhorting and confirming their calling in Christ, so that he might show his concern in the service of the gospel as a teacher of the Gentiles and so that their sacrifice might be reckoned acceptable because of their sanctification in the Holy Spirit. For whatever is offered with a pure faith and a sober mind is purified by the Holy Spirit.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 15:17

I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God.

Believing and serving Christ Jesus with a pure conscience, Paul has made himself worthy in the sight of God the Father, to the point that he can say that there is nothing which Christ has not done through him for the encouragement of the Gentiles, by using him to perform signs and wonders that their power might support the preaching of the gospel.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 15:20

Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation:

It was not without reason that Paul says that he tried to preach in places where Christ had not been named. For he knew that false apostles went about sharing Christ in ways which were wrong in order to ensnare the people by some other teaching under the name of Christ, which was then very difficult to put right afterward. Therefore he wanted to get there first, in order to preach the right message.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 15:21

But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.

Paul says that he was always quick to fill the Gentiles with the truth of the gospel, so that their understanding of the true Son of God might be correct and unshakable.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 15:22

For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you.

Here Paul explains what he has already mentioned at the beginning of the epistle and excuses himself by saying that although he wanted to come to them, he was obliged to shut out the wicked teachings of the false apostles.… These false apostles would have found the journey to Rome difficult, so Paul thought that it would do no harm if he postponed his visit for a while.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 15:25

But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.

Paul wants the Romans to understand that they ought to be concerned with this sort of thing, for those who live because of mercy and who are justified before God ought to show their devotion to their brothers.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 15:27

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

In this way the believers among the Jews would rejoice at God’s providential saving of the Gentiles through their ministry. For these Gentiles, by giving themselves completely to the service of God and not caring at all about the things of this world, offered an example of good behavior to believers. Then too, the apostle wants us to be sympathetic and merciful so that we might feel obliged to give alms and to do good works with a willing heart, because whoever hopes for mercy from God must be merciful, in order to prove that he has some reason for his hope. For if a man is merciful, how much more is God! For this is the payment or reward, that those who receive mercy should be merciful. As the Lord said: “Blessed are the merciful, for God will be merciful to them.”

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 15:29

And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

“The fullness of the blessing” refers to the miracles through which the blessing is confirmed.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

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;

Paul asks for their prayers … not because he deserves them but because he is following the principle that the church ought to pray for its pastor. For when many ordinary people come together and agree they become great, and the prayers of many cannot be ignored. Therefore, if the Romans want to see the apostle, let them pray earnestly that he may be set free so that they may receive him in the joy of brotherly love.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 15:32

That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.

Because Paul’s mind is dedicated to delivering the gifts, he wants their mind to respond to him by the judgment of God so that, having understood his love for them, they might with one accord give thanks to God on his behalf. For he was a great blessing to them, in that by his ministry many were made happy and are now praising God.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 15:33

Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

The God of peace is Christ, who said: “My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you.” This is what he prays for them, knowing that the Lord said: “Behold I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” Paul therefore wants them to be the kind of people in whom the Lord Jesus Christ dwells, who has shown them that all the discord caused by human sin has been taken away and who has given them what is true, that they may live peacefully in that truth.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 16:2

That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.

Paul praises Phoebe as highly as he does because the more she appears to be an excellent person in the sight of others, the more she will receive the help owed to her in love.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 16:3

Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:

These were Jews who, after they believed, became coworkers with the apostle because they had believed correctly and were thus able to persuade others to accept the right faith. Apollos, for example, although he was learned in the Scriptures, was nevertheless taught the way of the Lord more correctly by them. This is why Paul calls them his fellow workers “in Christ Jesus.”

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

Romans 16:5

Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.

Paul mentions Epaenetus’s claim to fame, in order to show that important people believe and turn to the faith and in order to invite the leaders of the Romans to accept Christ, and if they have already done so, to become humble.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

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