(14) And I myself also am persuaded of you, my hreihren, that ye uho are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admo- msh one another. Paul with his wonted modesty and mildness, apolo- gizes, as it were, for the plainness and ardour of his exhortations. They were given from bo want of confidence in the Roman Christians ; and they were not an unwarrantable assumption of authority on his part. The former of these ideas he presents in this verse, and the latter in the next. That ye also are full of goodness, i. e. of kind and conciliatory feelings : and filled with all knowledge, i. e. abundantly instructed on these sub- jects, so as to be able to instruct or admonish each other. It was, there- fore, no want of confidence in their disposition or ability to discharge their duties, that led him to write to them ; his real motive he states in the next verse.
(15) Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you, in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace given to me of God. It was rather to remind than to instruct them that the apos- tle wrote thus freely. The words in some sort may qualify the words more boldly, ' I have written somewhat too boldly.' How striking the blandness and humility of the great apostle ! The preceding exhorta- tions and instructions, for which he thus apologizes, are full of affection and heavenly wisdom. What a reproof is this for the arrogant and de- nunciatory addresses which so often are given by men who think they have Paul for an example ! These words (en some sort), however, may be connected with I have written ; the sense would then be, ' I have writ- ten in part (i. e. in some parts of my epistle) very boldly.' When a man acts the part of a monitor he should not only perform the duty properly, but he should, on some ground, have aright to assume this office. Paul, therefore, says that he reminded the Romans of their duty, because he was entitled to do so in virtue of his apostolical character; because of the grace given to me of God. Grace here, as appears from the context, signifies the apostleship, which Paul represents as a favour ; see ch. 1 : 5.
(16) That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. This is the explanation of the grace given to him of God ; it was the favour of being a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. Compare Eph. 3 : 8, " Unto me, who am the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." The word rendered minister means a public officer or servant ; see ch. 13 : 6, where it is applied to the civil magistrate. It is, how- ever, very frequently used (as is also the corresponding verb) of those who exercised the office of a priest, Deut. 10 : 8. Heb. 10 ; 11. As the whole of this verse is figurative, Paul no doubt had this force of the word in his mind when he called himself a minister, a sacred officer of Jesus Christ ; not a priest, in the proper sense of the term, for the ministers of the gospel are never so called in the New Testament, but merely in a