What Is Your Ambition in Life. (Romans 15: 14-33)

🎧 Welcome!

What drives you? Is it career success, personal fulfillment, or something deeper?

In today’s episode, we turn to Romans 15:14–33, where Paul shares a personal reflection near the end of his great theological letter. He reveals his own God-given ambition—not to build on another’s work, but to preach Christ where He was not yet known. Paul's words challenge us to consider our own goals in life and whether they are shaped by the gospel and empowered by the Spirit.

Join us as we explore:

• Why Paul reminds the Romans of what they already know
• What true Christian ambition looks like
• How Paul’s vision for mission shaped his life and travels
• How our daily faithfulness can become a spiritual offering to God

This episode invites you to reflect deeply: not just on what your ambition is, but what it could be in Christ.

Freedom to Learn
Championing school choice, defending parental rights, & exposing the harm caused by unions

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Chapters

• 10:45 [Ad] Freedom to Learn
• 11:27 (Cont.) What Is Your Ambition in Life. (Romans 15: 14-33)

Transcript

What Is Your Ambition in Life. (Romans 15: 14-33)

Transcript: 

What is your ambition? For many, that word conjures up grand schemes like becoming Prime Mnister or being a millionaire. 

Most of us are realistic, but we all have goals. A young athlete dreams of becoming a professional; students aim to graduate; a young couple, to buy a house.. 

What about you? Is it travel, a promotion, a dream house, getting married? It's likely everyone listening has some goal for the future. But could it be you've left out something vital?

We've been journeying through the book of Romans, and we're nearing its end. As Paul reaches the middle of chapter 15, he's concluding the main body of his letter. 

What we reach today is the point were he offers a personal word about himself before the greetings as the end  in chapter 16.

So, let's look at the latter half of Romans 15 and pay close attention to what Paul reveals about his personal ambition. Perhaps it can inspire us….

Please turn to Romans chapter 15, starting at verse 14. Paul writes:

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

14 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So, from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written:

“Those who were not told about him will see,

and those who have not heard will understand.”

22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.

Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome

23 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, 24 I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. 28 So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.

30 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31 Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favourably received by the Lord’s people there, 32 so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. 33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.

This passage clearly divides into two parts. In verses 14 to 21, Paul discusses the letter he has just written—the Book of Romans. In doing so, he mentions his travel plans, which leads to verses 22 to 33, where he details his impending visit to Rome.

He begins in verse 14 by expressing confidence in the Roman believers: they are "full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another." This directly relates to his instructions in chapters 14 and 15 about handling these  "doubtful things" and supporting a weaker brother or sister. 

Paul is saying, "I've told you the stronger should accommodate the weaker, and I'm confident you will do this because you have the necessary knowledge and character."

The stronger brother, by definition, has knowledge and goodness. "Goodness" indicates they had integrity to act on that knowledge. He’s confident they wouldn't destroy a weaker brother and could even admonish those stepping out of line.

It’s possible to have biblical knowledge without practical value, like the scholar Donald Grey Barnhouse once described how he knew biblical Aramaic academically but couldn't order coffee in the modern version of that language when visiting that part of the Middle East. 

Paul is confident this isn't the case for the Romans.

So why did he write so boldly?

"Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God." (Rom 15:15)

He wrote not because they were ignorant, but to remind them.

Repetition is a law of learning. We all need reminders, even of things we know and are capable of doing. Peter’s second epistle is a classic example of writing to remind believers of what they already know.

But here in v15b-16 Paul shifts to his own ministry. He writes because this ministry of reminding was given to him by God's grace, specifically "that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit."

Notice the Trinity woven in: grace from God, minister of Jesus Christ, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

He continues in verse 17, "Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God." His glory isn't in himself, but in what Christ accomplished through him (v. 18).

It is told that once when Michelangelo began to carve a huge and shapeless block of marble, he said that his aim was to release the angel imprisoned in the stone. Paul was like that. 

He did not want to knock a man knock someone down; he did not criticize to cause pain; he spoke with honesty and with sternness but always because he wished to enable a person to be what they could be and not yet attained yet.

The only glory that Paul claimed was that he was the servant of Christ. 

The word he uses is a good one. In ancient Greece there were certain state duties called liturgies which were sometimes laid upon and sometimes voluntarily, shouldered and carried by people who loved their country. There were five of these voluntary services which patriotic citizens used to undertake.

But the word always had this background of generous service being offered. Just as someone in the ancient days laid his fortune on the altar of the service of his beloved Athens, and counted it his only glory, so Paul laid his everything on the altar of the service of Christ and was proud to be the servant of his Master.

He elaborates: "For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient— in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum [modern-day Yugoslavia area] I have fully preached the gospel of Christ." 

He glories in Christ's work through him across the known world.

Then, the crux of his personal ambition (vv. 20-21):

And so, I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man's foundation, but as it is written, ‘To whom He was not announced, they shall see; And those who have not heard shall understand.’"

Paul's driving ambition was to preach Christ where He had never been named, quoting Isaiah 52:15. He wanted Christ to be seen through him, specifically where the gospel was new.

A little child once seeing stained glass windows of saints in his church was later asked what he thought a saint was He replied , a saint is "someone through whom the light shines." 

Paul saw himself, in the scheme of things, as an instrument in the hands of Christ. He did not talk of what he had done; but of what Christ had done with him. He never said of anything: "I did it." He always said: "Christ used me to do it." 

That was Paul's ambition. Like David Livingstone, who once wrote, “One day I heard of the smoke of a thousand villages where the gospel had never been preached in Africa and resolved to go there.

This ambition to reach the unreached is to be admired and imitated in ways that are relevant to the society in which we live and has a direct line of though reaching back to Paul here.

Paul saw his ministry as a sacred offering—he was not just spreading information, he was offering up people, redeemed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, to God Himself. And he did so not by his own power, but by the power of Christ working through him.

You may not be called to preach to the nations like Paul, but you are called. Your life, your witness, your words, your work—they matter. 

Like Paul, you have a part in God’s mission. And like Paul, you have the power of the Spirit to help you do it.

So today, walk in confidence. Be full of goodness, filled with knowledge, ready to encourage and build up others. And remember: your faithful obedience—right where you are—is an appropriate and as is describe here is a beautiful offering to God.

His declaration of his ambition launches Paul into the second part: Paul's planned visit to Rome.

He explains in verse 22 that this very ambition—preaching where Christ wasn't known—had "much hindered" him from coming to Rome. 

But now (v. 23), "no longer having a place [to stay] in these parts," and with a long-standing desire to visit them, he plans to come "whenever I journey to Spain" (v. 24).

His ambition is to reach Spain, an unreached territory, and he’d visit Rome en-route, hoping enjoying their fellowship there and offering practical help.

Experts say there were two possible reasons why he should wish to go there. 

First, Spain was at the very western end of Europe. It was in one sense the then limit of the civilized world, and the very fact that it was such would lure Paul would characteristically wish to take the good news of God so far that he could not take it farther.

Also, at this time Spain was experiencing a kind of blaze of genius. Many of the greatest men in the Empire were Spanish at that time. 

Like Lucan, the epic poet, Quintilian, the greatest teacher of oratory of this day, was also Spanish. 

Above all, Seneca, the greatest Stoic philosopher, who was first the guardian and afterwards the prime minister of Nero, was a Spaniard as well. 

It may well be that Paul was saying to himself that if only he could touch Spain for Christ tremendous things might happen.

But fist there's a detour (v. 25):

"But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints."

Why Jerusalem, where the gospel had already been preached as far back as Acts 2? He explains that he would like the believers in Macedonia and Achaia to contribute to the poor saints in Jerusalem.

He saw it as a debt: "For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in their material things." 

There is no doubt that that collection would be necessary. Experts tell us that in a city like Jerusalem much of the available employment at that time was connected with the Temple and its needs. 

All the priests and the Temple authorities were Sadducees, and the Sadducees were the supreme enemies of Jesus. It must therefore have happened that many people, when they became a Christian in Jerusalem, lost his job and were in desperate practical need. 

The help the younger churches could give was much needed.

This underlines a principle: that those who minister, particularly in the Word spiritually have a right to receive material support. 

Applied here, the Gentiles received the spiritual gospel through the Jews, so it was proper for them to give back materially. For us, today it means supporting your local church and the places where we are spiritually fed and receive our teaching in the Word of God.

So, after delivering this "fruit" in Jerusalem (v. 28), his plan is to go on via Rome to Spain (v. 29), confident he will "come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ."

He concludes with a prayer request (vv. 30-32): 

"Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me." He asks them to pray for three things:

·         "That I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe,"

·         "That my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,"

·         "That I may come to you with joy by the will of God and may be refreshed together with you." 

This is a great model for praying for missionaries: for their safety, the reception of their ministry, and their spiritual refreshment.

Prayer allows any believer to make their influence count to the ends of the earth... By praying in the spirit, the motivated believer can master time and space and have a share in the spiritual battle for the spread of the gospel across the whole world.

So, what Is your ambition?

The thread running through Romans 15:14-33 is Paul's ambition. His discussion of the letter and his visit both leads back to his core desire: to preach the gospel where it had never been preached.

Now, this passage isn't saying we must all become pioneer missionaries like Paul. However, Paul is meant to be seen as an example, and the clear implication is that all of us need some kind of spiritual goal, a spiritual ambition.

So, what is your aim spiritually? And what steps are you taking to reach it?

Your ambition could relate to prayer, like supporting local people who are struggling in the community in which you live. Or supporting missionaries worldwide. Or perhaps a specific ministry; I know a lady whose ambition is simply to encourage people through sending short encouraging emails and texts.

.

Personally, almost from my conversion, I’ve had spiritual goals. 

One has been to win people to Jesus Christ.

But I suppose my main one has always been to teach the whole counsel of God. I'm an ordinary person, but these ambitions drive me.

What is your ambition? You ought to have one, a spiritual ambition where you say, "Lord, by Your grace, this is what I want to do."

Some peoples spiritual goal is to give to the Lord's work. That’s a valid ambition it called the gift of giving! Sadly, that’s a plan that is often derailed when the focus switches too much to the gaining of the wealth rather than the giving.

However, there are countless possibilities.

Paul wrote this not at the start of his ministry but after covering much of the ancient world. Yet he said, "I'm running out of room, I gotta go find a space where they've never preached... all the way to Spain!" Tradition suggests he eventually made it there.

Again, not everyone has Paul's specific ambition. But I can't escape that this was his ambition, and it's a very good one.

Perhaps God would put it in the heart of someone listening to say, "I want to get the gospel to somewhere it is not at the moment.

Today it is possible to find such people in mutual interest group within our own communities. (Expand)

To reach people/someone, somewhere, who has never heard the true gospel.

However, this kind of ambition can be costly—your time, comfort, even your life. 

The preacher John Clifford told of his hearing from two missionaries who came to his university in London appealing for students to go to Africe and preach the gospel. One described easy the easy in Africa for someone of means, and no one volunteered. 

The next week, another missionary, worn from years in Persian as it was called in his day and Iraq, spoke: "I need men to go to Iran he said. But I want you to know it will shorten your life. It's hard. It's tough being a Christian there

But before you make up your mind,  I want you to know it will probably shorten your life. It's hard. It's tough. If you volunteer for this assignment,  I guarantee it'll shave years off your life. 

But we need six  men, six starwards to go to Persia. And John Clifford  said, six men volunteered, went to Iran that day.

But here's the question. What's  your ambition? And what price are you willing  to pay to accomplish it?

History suggests that such a call to sacrifice often sees a greater response.

Maybe that challenge, that costly ambition, isn't for everyone. But maybe, just maybe, it's yours.

This final section of Romans 15 is more than just personal travel plans or missionary strategy. It’s a window into a heart shaped by the gospel—a life lived for God’s glory, a life laid down in service, a life led by love, humility, and the Spirit's power.

So let me leave you with this encouragement:

Be people of gospel ambition. Like Paul, may your desire be to make Christ known—whether across the world or across the street.

Be people of prayerful dependence. Paul didn’t take the journey alone, and neither should we. Let’s carry one another in prayer as we pursue God’s will together.

Be people of peace and joy. As Paul said in verse 33, “Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.” That’s not just a closing benediction—it’s a living promise. As we live for Christ, in service, in sacrifice, in mission, and in love, the peace of God goes with us.

So what is your spiritual ambition?

Let Paul's example challenges us to define it and pursue it for God's glory.