that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Parallel Translations
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that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
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that I shuld be the minister of Iesu Christ amonge the gentyls and shuld minister the gladde tydynges of God that the gentyls myght be an acceptable offerynge sanctyfied by the holy goost.
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That I should be the minister of Iesus Christ toward the Gentiles, ministring the Gospel of God, that the offering vp of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the holy Ghost.
Cross-references (35)
Passages linked to Romans 15:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Romans 11:13 For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry;
- Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God,
- Acts 9:15 But the Lord said to him, “Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel.
- Philippians 2:17 Yes, and if I am poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice, and rejoice with you all.
- 1 Timothy 1:11 according to the Good News of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
- 2 Timothy 1:11 For this I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
- Isaiah 66:19-20 “I will set a sign among them, and I will send those who escape of them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to far-away islands, who have not heard my fame, nor have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. They shall bring all your brothers out of all the nations for an offering to Yahweh, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says Yahweh, as the children of Israel bring their offering in a clean vessel into Yahweh’s house.
- Acts 20:24 But these things don’t count; nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to fully testify to the Good News of the grace of God.
- Romans 15:18 For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed,
- Romans 12:1-2 Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.
- 1 Timothy 2:7 to which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am telling the truth in Christ, not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
- Hebrews 13:16 But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
- Romans 8:26-27 In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered. He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit’s mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God.
- 1 Corinthians 4:1 So let a man think of us as Christ’s servants, and stewards of God’s mysteries.
- 2 Corinthians 5:20 We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
- Acts 13:2 As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them.”
- Acts 20:32 Now, brothers, I entrust you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build up, and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
- Acts 22:21 “He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you out far from here to the Gentiles.’”
- Acts 26:17-18 delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
- Romans 5:5 and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
- Romans 15:29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of the Good News of Christ.
- 1 Corinthians 3:5 Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed, and each as the Lord gave to him?
- 1 Corinthians 6:19 Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
- 2 Corinthians 8:5 This was not as we had expected, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God.
- 2 Corinthians 11:23 Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself.) I am more so: in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, and in deaths often.
- Galatians 2:7-8 but to the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the Good News for the uncircumcised, even as Peter with the Good News for the circumcised— for he who worked through Peter in the apostleship with the circumcised also worked through me with the Gentiles—
- Galatians 3:5 He therefore who supplies the Spirit to you and does miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?
- Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
- Ephesians 2:22–3:1 in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles,
- Philippians 4:18 But I have all things and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:2 but having suffered before and been shamefully treated, as you know, at Philippi, we grew bold in our God to tell you the Good News of God in much conflict.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and travail; for working night and day, that we might not burden any of you, we preached to you the Good News of God.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- 1 Peter 1:12 To them it was revealed, that they served not to themselves, but to you, in these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.
- 1 Peter 2:5 You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 16. Consecrating the gospel, etc. This rendering I prefer…
16. Consecrating the gospel, etc. This rendering I prefer to that which Erasmus in the first place adopts, that is, “Administering;” for nothing is more certain than that Paul here alludes to the holy mysteries which were performed by the priest. He then makes himself a chief priest or a priest in the ministration of the gospel, to offer up as a sacrifice the people whom he gained for God, and in this manner he labored in the holy mysteries of the gospel. And doubtless this is the priesthood of the Christian pastor, that is, to sacrifice men, as it were, to God, by bringing them to obey the gospel, and not, as the Papists have hitherto haughtily vaunted, by offering up Christ to reconcile men to God. He does not, however, give here the name of priests to the pastors of the Church simply as a perpetual title, but intending to commend the honor and power of the ministry, Paul availed himself of the opportunity of using this metaphor. Let then the preachers of the gospel have this end in view while discharging their office, even to offer up to God souls purified by faith.
What Erasmus afterwards puts down as being more correct, “sacrificing the gospel,” is not only improper but obscures also the meaning; for the gospel is, on the contrary, like a sword, by which the minister sacrifices men as victims to God.
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He adds that such sacrifices are acceptable to God; which is not only a commendation of the ministry, but also a singular consolation to those who surrender themselves to be thus consecrated. Now as the ancient victims were dedicated to God, having been externally sanctified and washed, so these victims are consecrated to the Lord by the Spirit of holiness, through whose power, inwardly working in them, they are separated from this world. For though the purity of the soul proceeds from faith in the word, yet as the voice of man is in itself inefficacious and lifeless, the work of cleansing really and properly belongs to the Spirit.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain By the offering up of the Gentiles, he meaneth…
By the offering up of the Gentiles, he meaneth the Gentiles themselves, whom he offered to God as a sacrifice.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 16 That I should be the minister of Jesus…
16 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.
Ver. 16. Ministering the gospel] Serving about holy things or doing sacred offices, as the priests under the law, to whom the apostle all along this verse alludes in an elegant allegory, ιερουργουντα λειτουργον; the ministry is a divine and heavenly function. All other callings are for the world, and draw to the world; but this, both in the preparation and execution, draweth to God, keepeth us with God, and to be ever mindful of the things of God.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain He proceeds to speak more particularly of his office…
He proceeds to speak more particularly of his office and calling, which he had mentioned more generally in the foregoing words.
The minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles: see the notes on Rom 11:13. See also Gal 2:7,8; 2Ti 1:11.
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Ministering the gospel of God; i.e. preaching of it. Some read it consecrating, or working, in the holy service of the gospel of God. It is an allusion to the work or office of the priests under the law. The Jews and Gentiles, they both boasted of their priesthood and sacrifices: the apostle therefore showeth, that its ministry was far more excellent, being not occupied in sacrificing of beasts, but in offering up living men to be a holy sacrifice to God.
That the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable: some understand it actively, that the Gentiles might, offer up themselves, as it is in Rom 12:1; or that they might offer up acceptable sacrifices to God, according to Mal 1:11. But it is better understood passively, that the apostle, converting them by his ministry, might present or offer them to God, as an acceptable oblation: see Isa 66:20.
Being sanctified by the Holy Ghost; not by any priest on earth, but even by the Holy Ghost himself; as the oblations of old had their external and legal purifyings, so this oblation is purified or
sanctified by the Holy Ghost.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain I have therefore whereof I may glory,.... Not in…
I have therefore whereof I may glory,.... Not in himself, for he that taught others not to glory in men, would not glory in himself; not in his carnal descent and fleshly privileges; nor in his knowledge of, and compliance with, the ceremonies of the law; nor in his legal, moral, and civil righteousness before God; nor in his gifts and attainments, as merited and procured by himself; nor in his labours in the ministry, and the success of it, as of himself: but
through Jesus Christ; or "in Jesus Christ", as read the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions; in what Christ was unto him, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption: he could boast of what he had from him, and through him, even of all spiritual blessings in him; and of a large measure of grace he had received from him; and of great and eminent gifts Christ had bestowed on him; he gloried in his cross, and boasted of a crucified Jesus, whom others despised; and whom he made the subject of his ministry, and took delight in preaching: and freely owned that all he did was through Christ strengthening him; and that all his success in his work was owing to him, and of this he had to glory: and which was
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in those things which pertain to God; not "with God", as the Syriac reads it; for though in some cases it may be lawful to glory before men, yet not before God, or in his presence: nor is it anything a man may glory in, not in his own things, but in the things of God; in things relating to the Gospel of God, to the pure preaching of it, to the furtherance and spread of it, and the recommending of it to others; to the worship and ordinances of God, and a spiritual attendance on them; to the grace of God, and the magnifying of that in the business of salvation; and to the glory of God, which ought to be the chief end of all actions, natural, moral, and religious, and whether private or public. The apostle has chiefly reference to his ministerial function, and the things of God relating to that, in which he was employed; see Heb 5:1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The offering up of the gentiles - As living…
The offering up of the gentiles - As living sacrifices.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. Ministering the Gospel of God] ιερουργουντα, Acting…
Verse 16. Ministering the Gospel of God] ιερουργουντα, Acting as a priest. Here is a plain allusion, says Dr. Whitby, to the Jewish sacrifices offered by the priest, and sanctified or made acceptable by the libamen offered with them; for he compares himself, in preaching the Gospel, to the priest performing his sacred functions-preparing his sacrifice to be offered. The Gentiles, converted by him and dedicated to the service of God, are his sacrifices and oblation. The Holy Spirit is the libamen poured upon this sacrifice, by which it was sanctified and rendered acceptable to God. The words of Isaiah, Isa 66:20, And they shall bring all your brethren for an OFFERING unto the Lord, out of all NATIONS, might have suggested the above idea to the mind of the apostle.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The minister - λειτουργὸν leitourgon. This is not the…
The minister - λειτουργὸν leitourgon. This is not the word which is commonly translated “minister” διάκονος diakonos. This word is properly appropriated to those who minister in public offices or the affairs of the state. In the New Testament it is applied mainly to the Levitical priesthood, who ministered and served at the altar; Heb 11:11. It is however applied to the ministers of the New Testament, as discharging “substantially” the same offices toward the church which were discharged by the Levitical priesthood; that is, as engaged in promoting the welfare of the church, occupied in holy things, etc.; Act 13:2, “as they “ministered” to the Lord and fasted,” etc. It is still used in a larger sense in Rom 15:27; 2Co 9:12.
To the Gentiles - Compare Rom 1:5; Act 9:15.
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Ministering - ἱερουργοῦντα hierourgounta. Performing the function of a priest in respect to the gospel of God. The office of a “priest” was to offer sacrifice. Paul here retains the “language,” though without affirming or implying that the ministers of the New Testament were literally “priests” to offer sacrifice. The word used here occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. Its meaning here is to be determined from the connection. The question is, What is the “sacrifice” of which he speaks? It is the “offering up” - the sacrifice of the Gentiles. The Jewish sacrifices were abolished. The Messiah had fulfilled the design of their appointment, and they were to be done away. (See the Epistle to the Hebrews.) There was to be no further “literal” sacrifice. But now the “offerings” of the Gentiles were to be as acceptable as had been the offerings of the Jews. God made no distinction; and in speaking of these offerings, Paul used “figurative” language drawn from the Jewish rites. But assuredly he did not mean that the offerings of the Gentiles were “literal” sacrifices to expiate sins; nor did he mean that there was to be an order of men who were to be called “priests” under the New Testament. If this passage “did” prove that, it would prove that it should be confined to the “apostles,” for it is of them only that he uses it. The meaning is this: “Acting in the Christian church substantially as the priests did among the Jews; that is, endeavoring to secure the acceptableness of the offerings which the Gentiles make to God.”
That the offering up - The word here rendered “offering up” προσφορά prosphora commonly means “a sacrifice” or an “expiatory” offering, and is applied to Jewish sacrifices; Act 21:26; Act 24:17. It is also applied to the sacrifice which was made by our Lord Jesus Christ when he offered himself on the cross for the sins of people; Eph 5:2; Heb 10:10. It does not always mean “bloody” sacrifices, but is used to denote “any” offering to God; Heb 10:5, Heb 10:8,Heb 10:14, Heb 10:18. Hence, it is used in this large sense to denote the “offering” which the Gentiles who were converted to Christianity made of themselves; their “devoting” or dedicating themselves to God. The “language” is derived from the customs of the Jews; and the apostle represents himself “figuratively” as a priest presenting this offering to God.
Might be acceptable - Or, approved by God. This was in accordance with the prediction in Isa 66:20, “They shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations,” etc. This does not mean that it was by any merit of the apostle that this offering was to be rendered “acceptable”; but that he was appointed to prepare the way, so that “their” offering, as well as that of the “Jews,” might come up before God.
Being sanctified - That is, “the offering” being sanctified, or made holy. The sacrifice was “prepared” or made fit “to be” an offering, among the Jews, by salt, oil, or frankincense, according to the nature of the sacrifice; Lev 6:14, etc. In allusion to this, the apostle says that the offering of the Gentiles was rendered “holy,” or fit to be offered, by the converting and purifying influences of the Holy Spirit. They were prepared, not by salt and frankincense, but by the cleansing influences of God’s Spirit. The same idea, substantially, is expressed by the apostle Peter in Act 10:46; Act 11:17.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain that I should be the--rather, "a"
that I should be the--rather, "a"
minister--The word here used is commonly employed to express the office of the priesthood, from which accordingly the figurative language of the rest of the verse is taken.
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of Jesus Christ--"Christ Jesus," according to the true reading.
to the Gentiles--a further proof that the Epistle was addressed to a Gentile church. (See on Rom 1:13).
ministering the gospel of God--As the word here is a still more priestly one, it should be rendered, "ministering as a priest in the Gospel of God."
that the offering up of the Gentiles--as an oblation to God, in their converted character.
might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost--the end to which the ancient offerings typically looked.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 16. The minister—Rather, the priest. Being a different Greek…
16. The minister—Rather, the priest. Being a different Greek word from that rendered minister in Rom_15:8 and elsewhere, it should have been differently rendered. By a grand figure the apostle here makes himself a priest under Christ the high priest, to perform a sacrifice in which the offering to God is the Gentile nations. There is a difference, important to be noticed, between a priest and a minister. A priest is a sacrificer and offerer of victims upon an altar; a minister of the New Testament is purely a preacher and a servitor for the spiritual interests of the people. The Church of Rome, which makes the appalling claim to sacrifice the real body of Christ on the altar in the mass, claims also that her minister is a priest. Whereas Protestantism maintains that Christ, having offered the final sacrifice once for all, (Heb_10:10,) is the sole and eternal priest of the new covenant. Yet as consecrating themselves a living sacrifice unto God the entire Church is in a figure not only a chosen generation, but a royal priesthood. (1Pe_2:9.)
To the Gentiles—As the twelve were specifically the apostles of the twelve tribes, so it is the stupendous mission of this one minister to be the apostle of all the nations of the earth. The bridge from one to the other is his living person. At the thought his imagination kindles as he seems to himself to be approaching the altar on which he shall consecrate the Gentile world through Christ to the living God.
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Sanctified by the Holy Ghost— The victim upon the Jewish altar was fitted for the offering by salt or oil or frankincense. But this living offering is consecrated by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. the minister] The Gr. word (not the same…
16. the minister] The Gr. word (not the same as that in e.g. Rom_15:8,) is the original of our word liturgy; and is the same as in Rom_13:6; Php_2:25; Heb_1:7; Heb_8:2; &c. The word in Biblical Greek has a frequent sacerdotal reference; which is certainly present here, as the rest of the verse shews. For the word rendered “ministering” just below is lit. “doing priest’s-work with;” and it is followed, in the next clause, by “the offering-up of the Gentiles.” The whole passage is strikingly pictorial and figurative; representing the Gospel as the sacerdotal rule; the Apostle as the sacrificing priest; and the converts from heathenism as the victims of the sacrifice. A passage of somewhat similar imagery is Php_2:17, where the Gr. of “service” is kindred to the Gr. of “minister” here. There (in Bp Lightfoot’s words) “the Philippians are the priests; their faith (or their good works springing from their faith) is the sacrifice; St Paul’s life-blood the accompanying libation.”
It is clear that the Apostle here speaks of himself as a Sacrificer in a sense wholly figurative; and this passage and Rom_1:9 (where see note,) are the only examples of his application of the sacrificial idea, in even a figurative sense, to himself. Dr Hodge remarks that we here see the true nature of the priesthood which belongs to the Christian ministry: “It is by the preaching of the Gospel to bring men to offer themselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.” See Rom_12:1.
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the offering up of the Gentiles] i.e. the offering which consists of the Gentiles; the Gentiles, as “yielding themselves to God” to be His dedicated servants. For the phraseology, cp. Heb_10:10.
being sanctified by the Holy Ghost] Lit. having been sanctified in the Holy Ghost. His Divine grace was, so to speak, the water in which the sacrifice was washed; it alone made the self-dedication real, and therefore acceptable.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (16) Minister . . . ministering.—These are two different…
(16) Minister . . . ministering.—These are two different words in the Greek, but allied in their signification. Both refer originally to the liturgical service of the Temple; the first to the whole of the functions both of the priests and Levites, the second to the special function of the priests in the offering of sacrifice. St. Paul is a “minister of Jesus Christ;” i.e., his sacred office was given to him by Christ; it was Christ who appointed and ordained him to it; and his special duty as a priest of the gospel was to see that the Church of the Gentiles, whom it fell to him to present as a sacrifice to God, should be fit for such a sacrifice, made holy by the indwelling Spirit, and therefore acceptable to Him to whom it was offered.
To the Gentiles.—Strictly, in reference to the Gentiles. The branch, or department of the Christian ministry specially allotted to St. Paul was the evangelisation of the Gentiles.
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Ministering the gospel of God.—Serving the gospel of God as a priest stands at the altar in the service of the tabernacle. The offering which the priest is thus to present is the Gentile Church.
The offering up of the Gentiles.—Not “that which the Gentiles offer,” but “the offering which the Gentiles are;” the sacrifice which they themselves form and constitute.
Sanctified by the Holy Ghost.—Rather, consecrated in the Holy Ghost. The sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost overshadows, as it were, the Church, encloses and embraces it on every side.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain That I should be the minister (leitourgon) of Jesus…
That I should be the minister (leitourgon) of Jesus Christ unto the Gentiles, ministering (leitourgounta) the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified in the Holy Ghost. As to the words leitourgo and leutourgein , see on Rom_13:6; and on latreuw, latreia on Rom_1:9 and Rom_12:1. Here they are evidently used in their sacrificial meaning, but applied metaphorically; the "acceptable offering" which Paul offers to God is that of the Gentiles whom he brings to the faith. "The preaching of the gospel he calls a sacrificial service (ierourgian), and genuine faith an acceptable offering" (Theodoret). "This is my priesthood, to preach and to proclaim" (Chrysostom); cf. Php_2:17.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 16. That I should be a minister to the…
16. That I should be a minister to the Gentiles. This is the grace just referred to. Ministering. The Greek reads, “Ministering in sacrifice.” The figure is that of Paul, as a priest, bringing the converted Gentiles as offerings, which are placed upon the altar of God and dedicated to his service. This offering, the Gentiles, is made acceptable through the gospel, they being sanctified, set apart, by the Holy Spirit. See Rom. 8:1, 2.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 16. “That I am the minister of Christ unto…
16. “That I am the minister of Christ unto the Gentiles, preaching the gospel of God in order that the offering of the Gentiles may be well pleasing, having been sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” Paul is very particular here to remind them of his calling and apostolical authority in behalf of the Gentiles, Jesus in His glory having appeared to him a second time while he was praying in the temple at Jerusalem during his first visit to the holy metropolis after his conversion (Act 23:17), and notifying him that his own consanguinity will not receive his message, and at the same time commissioning him to the great Gentile world. Paul is powerful and emphatic in all of his deliverances on sanctification, here positively specifying that the only way the Gentiles can be well pleasing to God is through the sanctification of the Holy Ghost, thus emphasizing and enforcing this great climacteric truth everywhere recognizable in God’s Word, showing up the fact that none can stand with impunity before the divine majesty, till thoroughly expurgated from all sin actual and original, and through the complete sanctification of the Holy Spirit delivered from all the penal consequences of transgression.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain that I should be a minister of Christ Jesus…
that I should be a minister of Christ Jesus unto the Gentiles [I have not carefully weighed my words as a stranger should, but have used some measure of boldness because it is my duty to so speak as your apostle commissioned by God's grace. "As though he said, 'I did not snatch the honor for myself, nor rush upon it first, but God laid this upon me, and that by way of grace, not a setting apart a worthy person to this office. Be not therefore offended, for it is not I that rise up against you, but God that has laid this upon me'"-Chrysostom], ministering [Greek, "ministering in sacrifice." He speaks in metaphor, assuming to himself the office of priest] the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit . [Christians are nowhere in the New Testament spoken of as literal priests, yet the idea of priestly sacrifice is forcefully used in a figurative way. (Comp. Rom_12:1 ; Phi_2:17 ) Paul here speaks of himself metaphorically as a priest, not of the Levitical order with its material temple and tangible altar, but as pertaining to the gospel with its spiritual cleansing in Christ. As priests offered many offerings at the great festivals, so Paul, as apostle to the Gentiles, came before God in the festal hour or time of the glad tidings or the gospel of salvation, with the multitudinous offering of the myriads of the Gentiles. As carnal offerings were first cleansed by water before being offered, so these Gentiles, as victims of grace, were first made acceptable offerings by being cleansed by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, after which they offered themselves as daily sacrifices. Compare his metaphor to that used by Isaiah in describing the final gathering of Israel ( Isa_66:19-20 ). At Rom_12:1 the apostle began by exhorting members of the Roman church to offer themselves as living sacrifices. He then proceeded to elaborate the things wherein self-sacrifice was demanded of them. Now in the verse before us he presents himself as a priest presiding officially over their sacrifice and presenting it to God, which was, figuratively speaking, his duty as apostle to the Gentiles.]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 15:16 special messenger: The Greek word (leitourgos, “servant” or…
15:16 special messenger: The Greek word (leitourgos, “servant” or “minister”) could refer to almost any kind of servant, but Jews often applied the word to priests. Paul probably chose this word to emphasize the priestly nature of his ministry. • to you Gentiles: Paul stresses the Gentile flavor of the church in Rome (see also 1:6-7). This does not mean that there were no Jews in the church (see 16:3-16), but Gentiles had become the majority. • present you as an acceptable offering to God: Paul was fulfilling Isa 66:19-20.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.