A Long Letter from Corinth in Winter

A letter sent to a Rome he had never seen

Corinth · c. AD 57 · Acts 20:2–3 · Rom 15:22–33

Story

Paul came to Greece and stayed there three months. He had once written to the church in Corinth that he might spend the winter with them. In Corinth, Gaius, a local man Paul had baptized, welcomed him and looked after the whole church. There Paul wrote a long letter to the believers in Rome, a city he had never yet visited. A brother named Tertius wrote down Paul's words.

Paul wrote that he had wanted to come to Rome for many years, but the way had been blocked again and again. Now he was on his way to Jerusalem, carrying a gift collected by the believers in Macedonia and Achaia for the poor among God's people there. When that was done, he said, he would pass through Rome and go on to Spain, at the far west. Paul wrote that the gospel is the power of God that saves everyone who believes.

Paul asked, “Pray with me that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea.” At the end of the letter he asked them to welcome Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchreae. Phoebe was probably the one who carried this letter to Rome. When Paul was about to sail for Syria, some Jews made a plot against him, so he decided to go back through Macedonia.

Words of the Lord and of Paul

I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God that saves everyone who believes.

Neither death nor life, neither things present nor things to come, can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When I go to Spain, I hope to see you on the way, and first to enjoy your company for a while.

I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.

The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: Acts 20:2–3 · Rom 15:22–33

Background

Pause and Reflect