Romans 15:27

indeed they owe it to them: Gentile Christians owe their spiritual existence to God’s work among the Israelites (see 11:17–24).

I am on my way to Jerusalem to serve the saints there: During his third mission journey, Paul gathered donations from the Gentile churches. This was to help the Christians in Jerusalem and to unite the two groups of the first-century AD church (see also 1 Corinthians 16:1–2; 2 Corinthians 8–9).

This final section includes elements often found at the end of New Testament letters:

• a discussion of travel plans (15:14–29),

• requests for prayer (15:30–33),

• references to ministry partners (16:1–2, 21–23),

• greetings (16:3–16), and

• a short hymn of praise (16:25–27).

Only the warning about false teachers is a non-standard feature in this conclusion (16:17–19).