The Epistle of Paul The Book of Romans series: Learning to be rooted and established in The Cross of Christ
Paul continues to express his prayers
Romans 1:10 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.
Paul continues to express his prayers for the church at Rome in this verse, the phrase "making request" in the Greek is δέομαι déomai, deh'-om-ahee and it means to beg (as binding oneself), i.e. petition:—beseech, pray (to), make request.
Paul knew and understood that everything we receive comes from what Jesus has done and paid for on the Cross and is the only source for everything we could ever want or need, as well as the Grace of God which comes through the Cross of Christ.
All in all Jesus is the fullness of the Grace of God!
As Paul mentioned in verse 9, "making his request always in his prayers", he seeks the Lord about everything and even in this case a privilege of ministering to the Church at Rome.
In Acts chapter 20 and 28 records the journey of Paul and it was very prosperous Spiritually but not prosperous in other ways.
There are some who misapply this verse to mean that it is God's will for His children to always prosper and to be in good health, which could give credence to the belief in a health and wealth gospel however the writer is conveying nothing more than a wish to Gaius that this letter might find him well and in good health.
In 3 John 1:2, John speaks in similarity to what Paul is stating here in this verse, John is not stating that prosperity and wealth should be considered the important priorities of one's life.
There are several words in this verse that are mistranslated in the KJV, for instance the preposition peri in the Greek should be rendered "concerning" or "about" rather than "above".
In the Greek, the verb euchomai, merely expresses a wish, not the promise of an Apostle to a fellow believer.
The word translated “prosper” is euodousthai a present infinitive from euodo essentially this word means to have a good and safe journey throughout one's life, as referring back to Romans 1:10 and also refers to the same in 1 Corinthians 16:2, Paul used it in regards to God's benevolence towards Christians.
Although it is translated “as God hath prospered him”, one should except the idea that prospering does not necessarily mean to gain riches.
Rather, one should understand that the Lord will make sufficient provisions for the believer's material needs, and the idea of wealth should not be interpreted here.
The third word of importance in this verse is hugiainein which means "to be healthy" Likewise, this is not a guarantee that Gaius is going to be healthy, but simply A wish.
Romans 15:23, 32; 1 Thessalonians 3:10; James 4:15; 1 John 4:1
Comments