Chapter 35—Salvation to the Jews
This chapter is based on the
Epistle to the Romans
.
After many unavoidable delays, Paul at last reached Corinth, the
scene of so much anxious labor in the past, and for a time the object
of deep solicitude. He found that many of the early believers still
regarded him with affection as the one who had first borne to them the
light of the gospel. As he greeted these disciples and saw the evidences
of their fidelity and zeal he rejoiced that his work in Corinth had not
been in vain.
The Corinthian believers, once so prone to lose sight of their high
calling in Christ, had developed strength of Christian character. Their
words and acts revealed the transforming power of the grace of God,
and they were now a strong force for good in that center of heathenism
and superstition. In the society of his beloved companions and these
faithful converts the apostle’s worn and troubled spirit found rest.
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During his sojourn at Corinth, Paul found time to look forward to
new and wider fields of service. His contemplated journey to Rome
especially occupied his thoughts. To see the Christian faith firmly
established at the great center of the known world was one of his
dearest hopes and most cherished plans. A church had already been
established in Rome, and the apostle desired to secure the co-operation
of the believers there in the work to be accomplished in Italy and
in other countries. To prepare the way for his labors among these
brethren, many of whom were as yet strangers to him, he sent them
a letter announcing his purpose of visiting Rome and his hope of
planting the standard of the cross in Spain.
In his epistle to the Romans, Paul set forth the great principles
of the gospel. He stated his position on the questions which were
agitating the Jewish and the Gentile churches, and showed that the
hopes and promises which had once belonged especially to the Jews
were now offered to the Gentiles also.
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