Publication
Richmond, VA: Whittet & Shepperson, Publishers and Printers, 1904. [An address reprinted from The Union Seminary Magazine, 15 (1904) 163-174.
Physical description
14 p.; 24 cm
Notes
Opening words:
"For I am a debtor both to the Greeks and also to the Barbarians; both to the wise and to the unwise."--Romans i. 14.
In these words Paul professes the sense of an obligation the like to which many professing Christians seem never to feel. He professes the sense of an obligation to impart the gospel to all peoples and to all classes of all peoples.
He owes the giving of the gospel to them. The words preceding our text, and the words following it, make it clear that the thing owed--the thing he has in mind when he says, "I am a debtor"--is the giving of the gospel. Before penning the text, he wrote to the Roman Christians that he had longed to see them, that he might impart unto them some spiritual gift to the end that they might be established, that he and they might be comforted together, by the mutual faith both of them and him; and that he had longed to have some fruits among them also, even as among other Gentiles. Having uttered the text, he writes, "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome also." Hence, some of the best commentators, as Drs. Hodge and Shedd, supply the word evangelisasthai--which means to preach the gospel--after the word debtor. I am a debtor to preach the gospel; or, I am under obligation to preach the gospel both to the Greeks, and also to the barbarians.
When Paul declares his obligation to preach the gospel to the Greeks, and also to the barbarians, he makes a division of peoples, for the purpose of including all, that was common amongst the Greeks of the classic age. The Eleatic stranger in Plato's Statesman says, "In this part of the world, they cut off the Greeks as one species, and all the other species of mankind they include under the single name of 'barbarians'." Paul is under obligations to preach the gospel to all peoples according to opportunity, to the Greeks and to the not-Greeks. He is to preach also to the wise, to those who are cultured and learned; and he is to preach to the unwise, to the simple, to those who are without culture and without learning. He is to preach to all peoples; he is to preach to all classes of all peoples. In short, he professes here, his obligation to give the gospel to all the world as far as opportunity offers.
It ought to be a profitable thing for us, my brethren, to consider the grounds of this obligation which Paul professes as resting on him; to consider how he responded to it; to raise the question as to whether a similar obligation rests upon us; and, if that be true, to consider the further question, as to how we are responding to the obligation resting upon us.
"For I am a debtor both to the Greeks and also to the Barbarians; both to the wise and to the unwise."--Romans i. 14.
In these words Paul professes the sense of an obligation the like to which many professing Christians seem never to feel. He professes the sense of an obligation to impart the gospel to all peoples and to all classes of all peoples.
He owes the giving of the gospel to them. The words preceding our text, and the words following it, make it clear that the thing owed--the thing he has in mind when he says, "I am a debtor"--is the giving of the gospel. Before penning the text, he wrote to the Roman Christians that he had longed to see them, that he might impart unto them some spiritual gift to the end that they might be established, that he and they might be comforted together, by the mutual faith both of them and him; and that he had longed to have some fruits among them also, even as among other Gentiles. Having uttered the text, he writes, "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome also." Hence, some of the best commentators, as Drs. Hodge and Shedd, supply the word evangelisasthai--which means to preach the gospel--after the word debtor. I am a debtor to preach the gospel; or, I am under obligation to preach the gospel both to the Greeks, and also to the barbarians.
When Paul declares his obligation to preach the gospel to the Greeks, and also to the barbarians, he makes a division of peoples, for the purpose of including all, that was common amongst the Greeks of the classic age. The Eleatic stranger in Plato's Statesman says, "In this part of the world, they cut off the Greeks as one species, and all the other species of mankind they include under the single name of 'barbarians'." Paul is under obligations to preach the gospel to all peoples according to opportunity, to the Greeks and to the not-Greeks. He is to preach also to the wise, to those who are cultured and learned; and he is to preach to the unwise, to the simple, to those who are without culture and without learning. He is to preach to all peoples; he is to preach to all classes of all peoples. In short, he professes here, his obligation to give the gospel to all the world as far as opportunity offers.
It ought to be a profitable thing for us, my brethren, to consider the grounds of this obligation which Paul professes as resting on him; to consider how he responded to it; to raise the question as to whether a similar obligation rests upon us; and, if that be true, to consider the further question, as to how we are responding to the obligation resting upon us.