III. Occasion And Purpose

Paul aimed to preach the Gospel where Christ was not known. He had covered the eastern territories well. So he looked toward the west as his next mission field. He was planning a missionary journey to Spain (15:19-24) and was hoping that Rome would become his home base for this mission as Antioch had been for his missionary endeavors in the East. He wrote this epistle, systematically presenting the Gospel in order to win the support of the Romans.

Paul was about to go to Jerusalem to deliver the fund he had collected for the poor in Jerusalem. Before his departure, he was apprehensive about his own safety in Jerusalem (15:30-31). Probably he thought it good to have a systematic presentation of the Gospel he proclaimed, so that if he should die, the Gospel would be preserved.