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Romans 15:27
ESV For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.
NIV 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.
NASB For they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to do them a service also in material things.
CSB Yes, they were pleased, and indeed are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual benefits, then they are obligated to minister to them in material needs.
NLT They were glad to do this because they feel they owe a real debt to them. Since the Gentiles received the spiritual blessings of the Good News from the believers in Jerusalem, they feel the least they can do in return is to help them financially.
KJV It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.

What does Romans 15:27 mean?

Before Paul can go to Rome to visit the believers there, he must deliver financial aid to the poor Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. He has been raising these funds from the Gentile Christians as he has traveled around his part of the world, especially on his third missionary journey.

He has reported that the funds he will be delivering next have come from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia. They have contributed of their own free will and have been pleased to do so, as Paul reports again in this verse. The New Testament emphasizes that giving should always come from a willing spirit and not as a burdensome obligation (2 Corinthians 9:7).

However, Paul does imply a certain measure of obligation in this case. These funds are coming from Gentile Christians to be delivered to Jewish believers. Paul writes that the Gentiles owe it to the Jewish Christians to share their material blessings. Why? Because the Gentiles have come to share in the spiritual blessings of the Jewish people. Through faith in Christ, the Gentiles have now received a permanent place in God's family, something once available only to God's chosen people Israel.

Though Paul has made clear in this letter that most Jewish people have so far rejected faith in Christ, Paul still sees Gentile Christians as being indebted to the Jews, in a sense. After all, Christ came through Israel and out of Israel's special, centuries-long relationship with God. It was God's plan all along to offer salvation to the Gentiles through the Jewish Messiah.
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