Righteousness shared with others
So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written:
“Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”
22This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.
We need to be careful not to miss the importance of the little introductory word so. The original term could also be translated “consequently” or “as a result.” The apostle is saying, As a result of what Christ has done through me, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. Paul is not bragging; he is simply giving credit where credit is due, namely, to God. Under God, Paul has been able to accomplish remarkable things. He has “fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ” from Jerusalem to Illyricum. Paul is here including the whole northeastern seaboard of the Mediterranean. From Jerusalem, where the New Testament church started on Pentecost, Paul has carried the message in a northwesterly direction as far as Illyricum, which is the modern area of Albania and Yugoslavia.
Acts gives us no record of Paul’s having worked in Illyricum, so perhaps his words here are best understood as saying that he took the gospel from Jerusalem up to the borders of Illyricum. Note how the geographical progress of the gospel corresponds to the marching orders Christ gave his disciples before his ascension: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
When Paul says, “I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ [from Jerusalem to Illyricum],” that doesn’t mean he did all the preaching himself, or that he personally shared the message with each convert. Paul’s pattern was to go to the major urban centers and plant the gospel there. Like spokes coming from the hub of a wheel, Paul’s coworkers would then fan out from the city into the neighboring countryside. Ephesus serves as a good example of the Pauline missionary methodology. After Paul and his Christian group were expelled from the synagogue in Ephesus, he held daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. Although this activity took place solely within the city, Luke still can say, “This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:10).*
* Colosse was one of the cities in the province of Asia most likely evangelized from Ephesus. Paul apparently didn’t know the Colossian congregation personally, because in his letter to them he speaks of his having “heard of” their faith in Christ (1:4). Epaphras was the founder of their congregation, not Paul, for Paul writes, “You learned it [the gospel] from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit” (1:7,8).
When the NIV translates Paul as saying, “It has always been my ambition . . . ,” it could seem as though Paul is following his own inclination and setting up his own game plan. Such is not the case.
Recall that on his second missionary journey, when he wanted to go to Ephesus, Paul was “kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia” (Acts 16:6). And “when they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to” (verse 7). Instead, Paul and his partners were led by the “Macedonian call” to go into Europe.
Recall also that Paul thought of himself as an “ambassador” for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). An ambassador does not speak for himself. He does not choose his own time or place. Rather, he is totally committed to representing the interests of his superior. Hence instead of assuming personal ambition as Paul’s motivation, we do better to see Paul’s approach as reflecting a directive from God that caused him to strive earnestly “to preach the gospel where Christ was not known.” The apostle then immediately adds the reason for using this mode of operation in his work: “so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Rather, as it is written: ‘Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.’”
In telling us of the limitation God has placed on his ministry, the apostle is not complaining or being defensive. This approach, after all, has resulted in the fulfillment of what Isaiah already foretold regarding the successful outcome of the Suffering Servant’s work: “What they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand” (Isaiah 52:15).
Paul’s remark, however, does provide an explanation as to why he has been so long in coming to Rome. First of all, the Roman church rested largely on the work of others: to use Paul’s picture, it had been built “on someone else’s foundation.” Thus, it technically could be viewed as falling outside of Paul’s assignment.
But a more compelling reason for Paul’s delay was that, until now, there had been major areas not yet served with the gospel that required Paul’s attention first. “This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you,” he explains. That situation has now changed.