BUT I HAVE WRITTEN VERY BOLDLY TO YOU ON SOME POINTS: tolmeroteron de egrapsa (1SAAI) humin apo merous: (Hebrews 13:22; 1Peter 5:12; 1John 2:12, 13, 14; 5:13; Jude 1:3,4, 5)

Have written is epistolary aorist, a device whereby a first-century writer observes the courtesy of putting himself at the viewpoint of the recipient of the letter, viewing the writing of his letter which is a present occurrence to him, as a past event, which latter viewpoint the reader would have when receiving the letter. The reference is therefore to the contents of the letter to the Romans which he was then in the process of writing.

Written (1125) (grapho [word study]) from root graph- = primarily means to scratch on or engrave as on an ornament, reports, letters, etc; English = graph, graphic, etc) means to engrave or inscribe with a pen or stylus characters or letters on a surface which can be wood, wax, metal, leather, stone, parchment, dirt (John ), paper, etc. (Click to review all 191 uses of grapho in the NAS)

Very boldly (5112) (tolmeros from tolma = courage) pertains to having courage, boldness or confidence. The actual Greek word is the comparative of tolmeros, tomeroteron (Technically = adjective, normal, accusative, neuter, singular, comparative) which means more boldly, rather freely, a little boldly, with greater confidence and freedom and describes one particularly bold and daring.

Vincent says,

Not too boldly, but the more boldly because you are full of goodness.

Stedman makes an interesting comment...

Now, you would think that a church that was theologically knowledgeable, able to instruct and counsel one another in the deep problems of life, and filled with a spirit of goodness and compassion, would hardly need anything more said to them. Yet it is to that kind of a church that Paul addressed his letter to the Romans. (from An Adequate Ministry)

I've written you a letter, parts of which are rather bold, as a reminder to you.

Phillips renders it...

I have written to you with a certain frankness to refresh your minds with truths that you already know.

Stedman observes:

"In a sense, everyone who reads the letter to the Romans is taking a self-examination of his own spiritual effectiveness. I don't think a Sunday goes by but that someone says to me after a message, "You know, you were talking just to me this morning. In fact, I noticed that you kept looking right at me all the time you were talking." I must say that I have no awareness of picking out individuals at all as I am teaching through this book, but this is the phenomena which often occurs when the Spirit of God is taking the truth and bring it right home to the heart. You can't listen to the book of Romans honestly and openly without having this sense of being under examination yourself. I am sure that these first recipients of this letter had that feeling as the letter was read in the gathering in Rome." (Read full text - The Minister of Jesus Christ)

SO AS TO REMIND YOU AGAIN: os epanamimneskon (PAPMSN) humas: (1Timothy 4:6; 2Timothy 1:6; 2:14; Titus 3:1; 2Peter 1:12, 13, 14, 15; 3:1,2)

This was what Peter did as well (2Pe 1:12-note; 2Pe 3:1-2-note). A good teacher must keep in mind the opposing problems of familiarity and forgetfulness. Even for the best of minds with the sincerest devotion, that which is not kept familiar eventually will be forgotten.

Stedman comments:

"I saw a man the other day with a string around his finger. The string was to remind him of something. The fact that we so easily forget things is somehow built into our humanity and I think one of the greatest proofs of the fall of man is that we have such a hard time remembering what we want to remember, yet we so easily remember what we want to forget!... Living out in the world, as many of you are, working every day among non-Christians, it is so easy to be sucked into the attitudes of the world around. It is so easy to get the idea that life is designed to be a pleasant picnic, that we can work toward the day when we can retire and enjoy ourselves. I find that attitude prevalent among people everywhere, but that is not what the Bible says. The Bible says we are in the midst of a battle, a battle to the death, against a keen and crafty foe. He wants to discourage us and defeat us, and to make us feel angry and hostile. He knows how to do it, and he never lets up. This life is not designed to be a time of relaxing. There are times when we need recreation and vacations, when we can slow down a bit. But you never see the Apostle Paul talking about quitting the battle. You cannot quit, as long as life is there. So Paul tells us that we need to be reminded, day by day and week by week, that we are in a battle and that we have a crafty foe. This life is not all there is, by any means. This is school time, a training ground, where we are to learn our lessons. This life is getting us ready for the real thing that is yet to come." (Click full sermon)

BECAUSE OF THE GRACE OF GOD THAT WAS GIVEN TO ME FROM GOD: dia ten charin ten dotheisan (APPFSA) moi hupo tou theou: (Ro 1:5 12:3,6 1Cor 3:10, 15:10)

Grace (5485) (see word study charis)

Was given is aorist tense, which speaks of his receipt of this gift of grace at some point in time, specifically corresponding undoubtedly with his being set apart for the gospel (see Ro 1:1-note, Ro 1:5-note cf Act 9:1-16) could explain why Paul considers himself a debtor or under obligation (Ro 1:14-note).

TO BE A MINISTER OF CHRIST JESUS TO THE GENTILES: eis to einai (PAN) me leitourgon Christou Iesou eis ta ethne:  (For more insights into Paul's ministry to the Gentiles study the following cross references: Ro 15:18; 11:13; Acts 9:15; 13:2; 22:21; 26:17,18; 1Corinthians 3:5; 4:1; 2Corinthians 5:20; 2Corinthians 11:23; Galatians 2:7,8; Ephesians 3:1; Philippians 2:17; 1Timothy 2:7; 2Timothy 1:11)

Spurgeon...

Minister (3011) (leitourgos [word study] from léïtos = of the people [NIDNTT says it from "laos" = people] + érgon = work) is literally a worker of the people. In classical Greek leitourgos referred especially to persons performing public duties, or works of public use.

Kenneth Wuest explains that "minister" in this verse is not

the usual word... diakonos (servant), but leitourgos , used in secular life of a public minister, a servant of the state, in sacred things, of the priests of the Jerusalem Temple [Ed: used to describe the work of Christ our "Great High Priest in (Heb 8:2-note)]. Another source says this word originally meant someone who does public service at his own expense, but in Christian literature it came to be used of the service of god (cf same word translated "servants" - see Ro 13:6-note) Paul uses it here to speak of his ministry of preaching the gospel as a priestly ministry & of equal value and sacredness to the ministry of the priesthood of the OT." Thus the Christian ministry is seen as a priestly ministry which parallels Peter's teaching on who believers are in (1Pe 2:5-note, 1Pe 2:9-note). In the Septuagint   leitourgos was used in translating a technical term for priestly service to God. Luke employed the verbal form (leitourgeo [3008]) to describe the ministry of Paul and Barnabas at the church of Antioch (Acts 13:2). It was also used of the ministry of the Macedonian and Achaian Christians who gave to the poor in Jerusalem (Ro 15:27-note). Paul used the noun (leitourgos) in (Php 2:25-note) for the ministry of Epaphroditus to the Philippian saint. (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Studies in the Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans)

Hughes adds that..
 

"Paul could have used other words to describe himself. For example, he could have used the common term doulos to indicate a servant of Jesus Christ, or he could have used diakonos, which means “servant” or “minister.” But he chose leitourgos because he saw his missionary work like that of a priest offering sacred worship to God. Consonant with this, he saw his priestly offering not as a lamb or a grain offering, but as Gentile converts. As he expresses it in v16: “that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” Here we are exposed to Paul’s remarkable self-conception. Though he is involved in the dusty, mundane business of traveling the ancient world on foot, suffering from exposure, threats, beatings, and rejection, in his heart of hearts he sees himself in priestly garb in the Temple, lifting up the souls of men which then ascend as a sweet-smelling fragrance to Christ. Fully apprehended and appreciated, this is a dazzling picture." (Hughes, R. K. Romans: Righteousness from heaven. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books)

MINISTERING AS A PRIEST THE GOSPEL OF GOD: hierourgounta (PAPMSA) to euaggelion tou theou:  (Ro 15:29; 1:1; Acts 20:24; Galatians 3:5; 1Ths 2:2,9; 1Ti 1:11; 1Peter 1:12)

Ministering as a priest  (2418) (hierourgeo)  is used in the unusual way of referring to Christian service but not in connection with any liturgical practice but explicitly with the gospel of God. It is a striking way of affirming that the proclamation of the gospel originates with God and is "sacred".

Vines says "ministering as a priest" means

“to minister in priestly service” (from hieros [2413] sacred [24x in Acts] + ergon [2041] work) [and] is used by Paul metaphorically of his ministry of the Gospel. The offering connected with his priestly ministry is “the offering up of the Gentiles,” i.e., the presentation by Gentile converts of themselves to God."

(Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson )

Paul took very seriously his call to minister to the Gentiles (cf Rom 11:13, Gal 2:9). He never renounced his Jewish heritage, but on the other hand he was faithful to be God's minister to the Gentiles (cf Acts 22:21).

Denney explains,

“The offering which Paul conceives himself as presenting to God is the Gentile Church, and the priestly function in the exercise of which this offering is made is the preaching of the gospel.”

THAT MY OFFERING OF THE GENTILES MIGHT BECOME ACCEPTABLE SANCTIFIED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT: hina genetai (3SAMS) e prosphora ton ethnon euprosdektos, hegiasmene (RPPFSN) en pneumati hagio: (Ro 12:1,2; Isaiah 66:19,20; 2Corinthians 8:5; Philippians 2:17; 4:18; Hebrews 13:16; 1Peter 2:5) (Ro 5:5; 8:26,27; Acts 20:32; 1Corinthians 6:19; Ephesians 2:18,22; 1Thessalonians 5:23)

Gentiles are genitive of apposition, which means that the Gentiles themselves constitute the offering! What an “offering” that God wanted Paul to make: the offering of the Gentiles, of human lives. God wanted Paul to bring people to Him.

Offering (4376) (prosphora from prós = toward, before + phéro  = bring) literally means to bring before and not surprisingly is used most often in Hebrews which emphasizes Jesus the High Priest of our confession (other uses in Ac 21:26, Acts 24:17)

Prosphora is used in the Septuagint (LXX = Greek translation of the Hebrew OT) for the sacrifice offered on the altar and it means to carry or bring something or someone into the presence of another usually implying a transfer to the latter individual.

Prosphora thus clearly was part of the vocabulary of priestly worship and in the NT it was used of Christ’s sacrificial offering (Eph 5:2-note ; Heb10:10-note of His body).

Compare the similar idea of the presentation of the redeemed believer's body back to God (Who owns it anyway) as a living sacrifice (Ro 12:1-note).

In this verse Paul explains that his purpose for ministering the gospel of God was in order that the Gentiles might actually come to be an acceptable offering (to God) having been set apart from the profane world and unto a holy God by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

Acceptable (2144) (euprosdektos -- Ro 15:31-note, 1Pe 2:5-note, 2Cor 6:2) means well-accepted and conveys a strong affirmation of acceptability.

The OT knew of sacrifices that God would not accept (cf Isa 1:11ff-see notes) and Paul is distancing the offering of the Gentiles from such "worthless" offerings.

Compare to "acceptable" offering of our living sacrifice in (Romans 12:1) (note) and the "acceptable" will of God (Romans 12:2) (note). And they were "acceptable" because they were sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

What a radical transformation the gospel had worked in Paul mind. Before conversion he regarded the Gentiles as "unclean", but now he says they are sanctified or set apart! God's Spirit had taken the "unclean" vessels and made them "holy" vessels (saints).

Note that all three members of the Godhead are mentioned in this verse in the work of salvation.

Sanctified (37) (hagiazo [word study]  cf study on related hagios [word study]) (most often in Hebrews) and in simple terms means to devote something to the intended purpose for which it was made. Click for a more in depth discussion of the interrelationship of justification (past tense sanctification), sanctification (ongoing salvation), and glorification. 

Ray Stedman has an interesting explanation of sanctified writing that when...

You sit on a chair and you sanctify it; you use it for the purpose it was intended for. When you play an organ, you sanctify it; an organ was intended to be played. You don't attempt to type a letter with it -- that would be to use it in an unsanctified way -- but you play it. When you sanctify your shoes, you put them on your feet; that is what they were intended for. This is the simple meaning for sanctification" to put to the intended use." "You are not your own ..." -- you were never made to be your own, and, if you think you are your own and can run your own life, you are defeating the purpose for which you were created. "You are not your own, you are bought with a price." Therefore, acceptable service is simply to allow yourself to be available and at the disposal of the One who has the right to use you as he pleases, in the place that he pleases, and under the conditions that he chooses. That is being sanctified by the Holy Spirit." (Read full sermon The Minister of Jesus Christ)

Stedman goes on to add

"We continually need this reminder (sanctified by the Holy Spirit) because the philosophy of the flesh, the Adamic theory, is that we can do all things ourselves -- that we don't need God. We find this philosophy underlying almost all the activity of the world today. We get so proud over what we have created...We become so proud of it that we think we can do everything. And when we come to the place where we think that we can do everything, then we discover that God lets us go ahead on that basis, and we have no one upon whom we can rely except ourselves. It is a very disconcerting experience to suddenly find that we are alone on the bridge of the ship and that we have no one else to seek advice from. We have to control this tremendous vessel as it makes its way across the sea of life, and it is a frightening thing. That is why men who think that way always have, underneath, a sense of uncertainty and an awareness that they are not equipped, they are not able, they are not capable. We never were made to be -- that is the whole point. And the Christian life is simply one that has recognized what we were made to be, and is willing to be that. Paul says that this is "sanctified by the Holy Spirit," and the Spirit is ready to put that into practice. " (Read full sermon The Minister of Jesus Christ)

In faithful fulfillment of his unique apostolic calling, Paul’s supreme offering to God then was the Gentiles, who by virtue of the Holy Spirit’s power had been justified, sanctified and redeem, made holy by the blood of Christ and thus made acceptable for fellowship with the Father. Like Paul, every believer who is instrumental in winning a soul to Jesus Christ presents that convert, whether Jew or Gentile, as a priestly offering to the Lord. God is not after buildings, programs, money, equipment, etc. He is after the lives of people. This truth helps understand Paul's description of  the saints at Philippi that he was instrumental in winning to Christ:

"Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved." (Php 4:1-note)

In a similar exclamation in first Thessalonians we read Paul's description of the Thessalonian believers he to whom he had been privileged to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ...

"For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy." (1Th 2:19-20-note)

These Gentiles were his "acceptable offering" to the Lord as he faithfully carried out the priestly function of "ministering" the gospel of God. Let this awesome truth provoke us to be faithful witnesses like Paul.

In light of these passages, it is not surprising that Paul in prison with the time of his earthly departure drawing near writes that in his first defense although all deserted him...

"the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion's mouth." (2Ti 4:17-note)

G. Campbell Morgan has this comment:

THEREFORE IN CHRIST JESUS I HAVE FOUND REASON FOR BOASTING IN THINGS PERTAINING TO GOD: echo oun (1SPAI) oun (ten) kauchsin en Christo Iesou ta pros ton theon: (Ro 4:2; 2Corinthians 2:14, 15, 16; 3:4, 5, 6; 7:4; 11:16-30; 12:1,11-21)

And I think I have something to be proud of (through Christ, of course) in my work for God (Phillips)

So it is right for me to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God. (NLT)

Therefore introduces the "consequence". Because of this ministry of the gospel of God to the Gentiles & their reception of it and regeneration by the Holy Spirit into saints...Because of this wonderfully successful ministry among the Gentiles Paul says “I have a reason for boasting.” Paul always boasts of what God has done, not in his own human achievement.

Literally since "boasting" is a noun here, Paul says "I continually have boasting".

There is a legitimate boasting, a justified glorying ...Paul was proud of what he had done for God in Christ Jesus. So the key to understanding Paul's boastful attitude here is that is was "in Christ Jesus" & was not in himself or his abilities. Paul demonstrated this fact clearly, for he did not talk about himself nor about what he had done. He talked only about the things that pertained to God, only about the things wrought through Jesus Christ.

"Paul will glory only in what Christ has done through him. He is sure that Christ has done great things through him, and he is glad that he can draw attention to those things. But he is not trying to attract adulation. It is what Christ has done that is his theme." (Morris)

In terms of both the quantity and the quality of of his service—winning converts, starting churches, writing books of the Bible!—Paul certainly could have put together a very impressive resume. But he was not interested in bringing glory to himself. He knew that his apostleship as such was a gift of grace (v15b), that the gospel is the real power that saves (Ro 1:16-note; Ro 10:17-note), and that he owed his accomplishments to God’s power working through him (v19a).

“Seeing I have received this office from God and am appointed a minister of the Gospel to the Gentiles, I have confidence and rejoice.” Since in the previous verses Paul has asserted his divine appointment as an apostle, he shows, in this and the following verses, that the assertion was well founded, as God had crowned his labors with success and sealed his ministry with signs and wonders. Therefore, he was entitled as a minister of God to exhort and admonish his brothers with the boldness and authority which he had used in this letter.

Things pertaining to God (ta pros ton theon) means "with reference to what concerns God". A technical phrase in Jewish liturgical language to denote the functions of worship (Heb 2:17-note, Heb 5:1-note).

Hughes provides examples of a similar mindset in other great saints:

That is the way it has been for the great missionary hearts that have followed in Paul’s footsteps as well.

Raymond Lull, the brave missionary to the Moslems, lived by this famous refrain: “I have one passion—it is He, it is He.”

Charles Wesley sang, “Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find.”

It was said by Alexander Whyte of his long Saturday walks with Marcus Dods, “Whatever we started off with in our conversations, we soon made across country, somehow, to Jesus of Nazareth.”

“We preach always Him,” said Martin Luther; “this may seem a limited and monotonous subject, likely to be soon exhausted, but we are never at the end of it.”

FOR I WILL NOT (dare) PRESUME TO SPEAK OF ANYTHING EXCEPT WHAT CHRIST HAS ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH ME : ou gar tolmeso (1SFAI) ti lalein (PAN) on ou kateirgasato (3SAMI) Christos di emou: (Proverbs 25:14; 2Corinthians 10:13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18; 11:31; 12:6; Jude 1:9) (what Christ: Mark 16:20; Acts 14:27; 15:4,12; 21:19; Gal 2:8; 1Corinthians 3:6, 7, 8, 9; 2Corinthians 3:1, 2, 3; 6:1)

"If any part of my ministry does not stem from God's work through me, I don't even want to talk about it. I have nothing to say about it. It isn't even worth mentioning."

I will not talk about anything I did myself. I will talk only about what Christ has done through me. Paul is totally dependent upon Jesus Christ for ministry (initiation & empowerment & effect). He was learned that the strength and power of the ministry did not rest in his background, or his training, or his abilities in any sense. He had learned to reckon upon the indwelling life of Jesus Christ and to know that God can use any man, any woman, any person, any human being, that all God wants is a vessel, no matter what it may be like, and that God can, if that vessel is available to Him, manifest through it all the marvelous power of his ministry and life. This is the secret! That's worth presuming to speak about!

And so Paul did in fact teach that there was a proper "boasting" (2Cor 12:5, 9; Gal 6:14; 1Cor 1:31) . When you meet a man or a woman who is willing to trust God to work through them, there is no limit to what God can do. This is the secret of Paul's ministry. It's as if Paul pictures himself as a conduit, through which the power of God can flow unimpeded. No wonder Paul even boasted about his weaknesses for when he was weak the power of Christ was perfected in him (2Co 12:9-note; 2Cor 12:10-note).

Accomplished (2716) (katergazomai [word study])means to work out fully and thoroughly, to accomplish or achieve an end, to finish or carry something to its conclusion. To work so as to bring something to fulfillment or successful completion and implies doing something with thoroughness. It means to do that from which something results. This verb always means to complete the effort and the work begun.

Katergazomai - 22x in NT, 11x in Romans - Ro 1:27; 2:9; 4:15; 5:3; 7:8, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20; 15:18; 1 Cor 5:3; 2 Cor 4:17; 5:5; 7:10, 11; 9:11; 12:12; Eph 6:13; Phil 2:12; Jas 1:3; 1 Pet 4:3

Katergazomai conveys the idea of achieving an end, of carrying out to conclusion or until finished. Katergazomai describes not the spirit in which the work is done, but the aim and issue—"carry through" and so it represents the full and final bringing of an enterprise to a successful conclusion.

Roman scholar Strabo (who wrote in Greek and lived about sixty years before Christ) gives us insight into the word’s meaning, using katergazomai to describe extraction of silver from mines.

William Barclay says that katergazomai 

In Ro 5:3 Paul teaches that we can

"exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about (or accomplishes) perseverance".  (Romans 5:3-note)

In Philippians 2:12  Paul exhorts the Philippian believers to

work out (katergazomai in the present imperative = as the pattern of your life, the general direction [not perfection!]) your salvation with fear and trembling", i.e., bring your salvation to completion "for it is God Who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (see note)

In (2Co 4:17) Paul tells us that

"momentary, light affliction is producing (or accomplishing or achieving the end) for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison"

In (2Co 7:10)  Paul uses katergazomai twice to contrast what is accomplished by godly vs worldly sorrow

"For the sorrow that is according to the will of God PRODUCES a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world PRODUCES death."  

James uses this word to describe what is accomplished when our faith is tested (Jas 1:3) "knowing that the testing of your faith PRODUCES endurance."

This brief word study should help understand what Paul means when he describes "what Christ has accomplished through" him.

Paul was simply God's "chosen instrument (vessel)" (Acts 9:15), His "vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work." (2Ti 2:21-note)

And so we understand that the Gentile converts were wrought by Christ, not by Paul. Christ used Paul’s “words and deeds” to reach the converts, but it was Christ who worked in their hearts to convict and convert them. Paul took no credit for himself. Lest he be misunderstood, he immediately explained, I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me. In other words, he was not boasting in what he had accomplished as an apostle but only in what Christ had accomplished through him. In both of his letters to the church at Corinth, Paul admonished the immature and proud believers there: “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1Co1:31 2Co 10:17). Believers as God's ministers have NO right to take credit for ANY spiritual effect we have had, but every right to boast in what He Himself (and only Him) has done through us.

The people God chooses & uses to accomplish His will are His instruments (see Acts 9:15 Jn 15:16), His masterpiece "created IN Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ep 2:10-note). Therefore no Christian can or should take personal credit for what God does through him. To do so would be as ludicrous as Leonardo da Vinci's brush taking credit for the Mona Lisa!

RESULTING IN THE OBEDIENCE OF THE GENTILES BY WORD AND DEED: di emou eis hupakoen ethnon logo kai ergo: (Ro 1:5; 6:17; 16:26; Matthew 28:18, 19, 20; Acts 26:20; 2Corinthians 10:4,5; Hebrews 5:9; 11:8) (by word: Colossians 3:17; 2Thessalonians 2:17; James 1:22; 1John 3:18)

NIV "By what I have said and done" = Paul's example

The preposition "eis" is used here to introduce a purpose so that what was done was done with a view to producing obedience from the Gentiles.

Obedience (5218) (hupakoe [word study] from hupó = under + akoúo = hear) (see the 6 uses in Romans) literally means "hearing under", that is, listening from a subordinate position in which compliance with what is said is expected and intended.  Hupakoe speaks of the one hearing as being under the authority of some one else. Thus, hupakoe comes to mean compliance (disposition to yield to another) with the demands or requests of someone over us. Obedience is submission or hearkening to a command. Obedience is the carrying out the word and will of another person, especially the will of God.

Hodge adds

"The obedience of the Gentiles is their belief of the Gospel. To obey the Gospel is to receive it, for it commands belief." (Hodge, Charles: Commentary on Romans. Ages Classic Commentaries)

If one is not obedient  then it would be advisable to ponder Paul's warning in (2Co 13:5). Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is never alone. A lifestyle of continual disobedience is cause to doubt whether one has ever truly become a new creation in Christ (2Co 5:17 cp Gal 5:19, 20, 21-see notes Gal 5:19; 20; 21; 1Co 6:9, 10, 11).

Paul’s preaching resulted in the genuine obedience of the Gentiles. The gospel not only calls men to faith in Christ as Savior but to obedience to Him as Lord. (Ro 1:5-note, Ro 16:19-note, Ro 16:26-note).

In Romans 6:17 (note) Paul reminded believers in Rome “that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed”. In that context, obedience from the heart is a synonym for saving faith.

"By word and deed" speak of Paul's personal integrity. Paul preached to the Gentiles by word and deed.

Hodge agrees that "by word & deed" applies to Paul not to the "obedience of the Gentiles" and the (NKJV) translation favors this meaning translating it as

"things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient".

The NIV translates it in a similar way as

"except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done".

The NLT paraphrases it in a similar way:

"I have brought the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I lived before them."

Paul's life was totally consistent with his message, without hypocrisy or self righteousness. There is no greater deterrent to the work of God than a disparity in the life of a preacher between the message he proclaims and the life he lives. What one's lips profess, the life must project.

Hughes gives an interesting analogy: