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Since he has fully covered the East with the Gospel, Paul now looks toward the West and wants to go to Spain to minister. He hopes that before he goes to Spain, he can spend some time in Rome to establish a closer relationship with the Roman Christians. He also hopes that the Roman church can become his home base for his missionary work in the West, as Antioch was in the East.
During his missionary work, Paul urged gentile Christians to contribute to a fund to assist the saints in Jerusalem. This fund is now ready. Paul is about to start the journey to Jerusalem to deliver it. On the eve of his departure, Paul has two apprehensions. He is concerned that this fund be received in the right spirit. This represents the love of gentile believers for the saints in Jerusalem. Through this Paul wants to promote unity between gentile and Jewish Christians. But the Jewish Christians, particularly the Judaizers, may misinterpret Paul’s intention and use it to promote their own cause. Second, he is concerned about his personal safety in Jerusalem. The Judaizers misunderstand and misinterpret his teaching on the law. They accuse him of desecrating the Mosaic Law. They may want to destroy him. Therefore, Paul requests the prayers of the Roman Christians. After he completes this mission, he will then come to Rome.