The Fullness of the Blessing of Christ (Romans 15:29)

Have you recently used the phrase “the fullness of the blessing of Christ”? Probably not. What does it mean? And, to use it in the sense that it has in Romans 15:29, how does one come “in” it to someone else?

In context, Paul has just ended the body of his letter (Romans 1:16–15:13) and clarified his role as an apostle and thus the reason for boldness in his letter (Romans 15:14–21). Next, in our passage, he updates his readers about his travel plans (Romans 15:22–29). Having completed his current objectives for ministry (Romans 15:22-23; cf. 15:18–21), he hoped to visit the Romans (Romans 15:22–24), but only after delivering a financial gift to the poor among the saints in Jerusalem during a time of famine (Romans 15:25–29). Then he would come to the Roman believers “in the fullness of the blessing of Christ” (Romans 15:29). But again, what does this phrase mean?

“Fullness” describes the “completion” or “sum total” of something,¹ and that something in this context is “the blessing.” What, then, was the nature of this blessing?

Some manuscripts indicate the content of this blessing as that “of the gospel of Christ” (e.g., KJV), and other manuscripts have the shorter and simpler “of Christ” (e.g., NASB). Either way, the context deals with Paul’s gospel ministry, so all the blessing that believers share together is thanks to Christ and stems from the gospel.

If that’s still murky, Romans 1:8–15 fills in the cracks. Notice the parallels between the two passages. First, Paul expressed his desire to come to the Romans by the will of God (Romans 1:10; 15:32). Second, he explained his delay in terms of his ministry to the Gentiles (Romans 1:13–14; 15:22–24). Third, in asking “to be helped” financially in his travels (Romans 15:24),² it seems Paul earlier alluded to the same by hoping to “reap some harvest” among the Romans (Romans 1:13). Finally, when we look for something like “the fullness of the blessing of Christ,” the best match seems to be that Paul wanted to “impart… some spiritual gift to strengthen” them, that is, to preach the gospel for their benefit (Romans 1:11, 15).³

So, Paul’s coming “in the fullness of the blessing of Christ” is his rich description of coming to share with them the fullness of his ministry from Christ—his preaching, teaching, fellowship, and any other blessing that he could give. More than that, however, Paul clarified his desire to preach with wanting to “be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith” (Romans 1:12), so perhaps “the fullness of the blessing of Christ” extended to how the Romans would bless him as well.

Now that we understand this wonderful phrase a bit better, perhaps we could use it more frequently and pray that we might often come to one another in the fullness of the blessing of Christ!

—

David Huffstutler is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Rockford, IL. He blogs here, where this article first appeared. It is republished here by permission.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

1. BDAG, s.v., πλήρωμα. BDAG cites Romans 15:29. [↩]
2. This word is regularly used in the NT for the tangible support of missionaries. See its use as various forms of “send,” “accompany,” “help,” and “speed” in Acts 15:3; 20:38; 21:5; 1 Cor 16:6, 11; 2 Cor 1:15; Titus 3:13; 3 John 6. [↩]
3. A helpful quote comes from William Hendriksen, Exposition of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans (New Testament Commentary: Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981), 495: “In view of 15:24 and also of 1:11, 12, 13b, 15, he must have had in mind such blessings as the joy of meeting and conversing with one another, his preaching in their midst, their listening to the apostle’s report about divine blessings in other congregations, together planning the trip to Spain, etc.” [↩]