When Paul wanted the church to preach the gospel he preached the gospel to the church. This is one of the many lessons we can learn from the Apostle’s letter to the Romans. Paul’s passion was to bring about the obedience of faith among the nations. He desired to bring the gospel to places where Christ had not yet been named. He wanted the churches he planted to help him, support him, send him, and participate with him in this same mission. In order for this to happen the church had to be united together in the gospel. The means to bringing about this unity and pushing the church toward greater faithfulness in engaging the nations was by proclaiming over them the same gospel they were called to preach.
Paul had a rock solid conviction that the gospel was sufficient to bring about the obedience of faith and to persevere the same obedience that springs forth from faith. He helped them understand the utter importance and central place of the gospel in all of their thinking. He helped them understand how the gospel touches every sphere of life. He knew that the power of the gospel to save them was also the power of the gospel to free them and drive them to the lost. He knew that that same gospel should shape and instruct the way they go about engaging lost people. The result of all this and the larger purpose is that it brings the Triune God glory when the gospel goes forward and the fruit of the nations is offered to God.
The Apostle had many things he desired to accomplish in writing to the church in Rome. He desired to bring about unity among them for the sake of the nations to the glory of God. His strategy for accomplishing this was profoundly simple: “I am eager to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome” (Romans 1:15). The gospel is sufficient to produce what the gospel requires.