That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.
The hope is to come to the believers in Rome with gladness according to the will of God and to find mutual rest with them after labor in Judea carrying the gospel of Christ to those opposing Jesus as Saviour of the world. That glad visit and refreshing fellowship comes through Gentile Christians striving together in prayer to God for protection and blessing and for rescue from unbelievers, so the way is opened for reception of the gospel.
Guarding the door of the lips and speaking nothing unadvisedly belongs to this refreshing, meaning speaking no word that provokes a wrong act, refusing to hear talk about the sins of others, turning a deaf ear to criticism of God's children, never retaliating when spoken to harshly, and meeting provocation and faultfinding with silence. Kind, tender speech brings refreshing and blessing to the speaker's own heart, while contending stirs passions that take hard struggle to control. A quarrelsome, faultfinding disposition shuts one out of the city of God, so confession of sin, prayer for forgiveness, and conversion are required while keeping the eye fixed on Jesus, who lays open perils in order to deliver from them.
The hope is to come to the believers in Rome with gladness according to the will of God and to find mutual rest with them after labor in Judea carrying the gospel of Christ to those opposing Jesus as Saviour of the world. That glad visit and refreshing fellowship comes through Gentile Christians striving together in prayer to God for protection and blessing and for rescue from unbelievers, so the way is opened for reception of the gospel.
Guarding the door of the lips and speaking nothing unadvisedly belongs to this refreshing, meaning speaking no word that provokes a wrong act, refusing to hear talk about the sins of others, turning a deaf ear to criticism of God's children, never retaliating when spoken to harshly, and meeting provocation and faultfinding with silence. Kind, tender speech brings refreshing and blessing to the speaker's own heart, while contending stirs passions that take hard struggle to control. A quarrelsome, faultfinding disposition shuts one out of the city of God, so confession of sin, prayer for forgiveness, and conversion are required while keeping the eye fixed on Jesus, who lays open perils in order to deliver from them.