Romans 15:28-29 - Exposition

When therefore I have accomplished this, and sealed to them ( i.e. ratified and assured to them) this fruit, I will come away by you into Spain. And I know that when I come to you ( ὑμᾶς here is intended emphatically) I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of Christ. How different from his anticipations were the circumstances of his first visit to Rome we know from the Acts. So man proposes, but God disposes, and all for final good (cf. Philippians 1:12 , seq .). That he afterwards carried out his intention of visiting Spain cannot be alleged with certainty, though there is distinct evidence of an early tradition that he did so (Canon Muratori, Eusebius, Jerome, Theodoret. Cf. Clem. Romans, Ephesians 1:1-23 , who speaks of St. Paul having gone to "the boundaries of the West"). Certainly before the end of his detention at Rome he had given up any idea he might have had of going thence at once to Spain; for cf. Philippians 2:19 ; Philemon 1:22 ; which Epistles are believed, on good grounds, to have been written during that detention. Still, he may have gone during the interval between his release and his final captivity at Rome, during which the pastoral Epistles were probably written.

In what follows (verses 30-32) some apprehension of dangers attending his visit to Jerusalem, which might possibly thwart his intentions, already appears; sounding like an undertone allaying the confidence of the hope previously expressed. In the course of his progress to Jerusalem this apprehension appears to have grown upon him; for see Acts 20:22 , Acts 20:23 , Acts 20:28 ; Acts 21:4 , Acts 21:11-14 ). It may be here observed that such signs, evidently unintentional, of conflicting feelings in the letter, and such consistency between the letter and the narrative, are strong confirmations of the genuineness of both.