ople depend on the
apostle for spiritual gifts, so he depends on the people for spiritual
encouragement. He must live by the experience of their spiritual
growth. 'I desire,' he says, 'to come to you that I may impart unto
you some spiritual gift, to the end that ye may be established' (built
up and made strong in the faith). And then he interprets:--that is 'in
order that I with you may be encouraged[2] among you, each of us by the
other's faith, both yours and mine.'

Then he goes on to tell them why he in particular is bound to come to
them, though hitherto he had been hindered by circumstances. It is
because he is 'a debtor.' St. Paul was the Apostle, not of the Jews,
but of the Gentiles. Therefore he is in debt to all the Gentiles till
he has given them the gospel, and more particularly to the centre of
the Gentile world, to Rome. And he would owe no man anything. He
would have no unsatisfied creditors. He will pay his debt therefore to
the Roman Christians. 'I am a debtor,' he says, 'both to Greeks and to
barbarians'--that is to all the Gentiles, whether they were of Greek
race or not. And {57} the Greeks were so identified with civilization
or education that this leads him on to say, 'I am a debtor both to the
educated and to the uneducated.' This general debt includes Rome. It
was natural to include the dwellers at Rome under the head of Greeks,
for it was through the medium of Greek that St. Paul made his appeal to
them. And, in fact, the Christians at Rome were, for the first two
hundred and fifty years or more of the Church's life, a Greek-speaking
people--a Greek colony in the Latin city. Only towards the end of the
third century did the Roman Church become latinized in language and
spirit. St. Paul then is a debtor to these Greek-speaking dwellers at
Rome. 'So as much as in me is I am ready to preach the gospel to you
also that are in Rome.'

But the name of Rome was, as he thought of it, a name of awe. It
brought in upon his mind the tremendous undertaking that lay before him
and before the Christian Church as they found themselves confronted
with this vast imperial organization, which might at any time lay its
iron hand upon them to stop their progress. Therefore he adds that,
even in view of Rome, he has courage in his heart: 'for I am not
ashamed of the gospel,' even under the shadow {58} of the mighty name,
and though it was 'to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks
foolishn