Paul's Gospel reached the Roman Empire through the Roman soldiers who guarded him during his house arrest in Rome and carried his message to their posts throughout the empire as they were rotated out.
While Paul was under house arrest in Rome, Roman soldiers guarded him around the clock. As each soldier finished his tour of duty, he was rotated to another assignment somewhere in the empire. Les Feldick teaches that virtually all of these guards left as believers and took the Gospel with them — which is how the message reached the far reaches of the empire and even Caesar's palace.
Acts 28:16 — Shows Paul dwelling in Rome with a soldier keeping him — the situation that put him in contact with rotating guards.
Titus 2:11 — Paul's own claim that the grace of God bringing salvation had appeared to all men, which Les connects to the Gospel's spread.
Philippians 4:22 — Mentions believers in Caesar's household, matching Les's point that Paul's guards reached even the emperor's palace.
Acts 28:28 — Records Paul's declaration that salvation was sent to the Gentiles and that they would hear it.
In Acts 28:16, the Bible records that when Paul finally arrived in Rome, 'the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him.' Paul was thus in daily contact with individual Roman soldiers. Later, writing to Titus, he declared that 'the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men' (Titus 2:11). In his letter to the Philippians, he sent greetings from 'they that are of Caesar's household' (Philippians 4:22), showing that believers had reached the highest levels of the Roman government. And in Acts 28:28, Paul told the Jewish leaders in Rome, 'Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.' These passages show the Gospel established in Rome and sent out to the Gentile world.
Les explains that the Gospel's rapid spread across the Roman Empire in Paul's lifetime becomes understandable when you remember that Paul spent two or three years under house arrest in Rome with Roman soldiers guarding him 24 hours a day. The Roman army rotated its soldiers in and out of duty assignments, and Les is almost confident that anybody who spent any time in Paul's house left as a believer. As those soldiers were reassigned to posts from one end of the empire to the other — some even into the emperor's palace — they carried the Gospel with them. For Les, this is how the whole then-known world heard the plan of salvation, and how Paul could write that grace had appeared to all men.
Les describes the practical mechanism: Roman soldiers guarded Paul in shifts — two, three, or four at a time — during his house arrest in Rome. The Roman army rotated its soldiers in places of duty, so each guard eventually left Paul's house for a new assignment. Les teaches that almost all of these men, after spending their tour of duty in Paul's presence, left as believers and took the message to their new posts across the empire — some even going right into the temple of the Emperor himself.
Les points out that Paul had no radio, television, or printed page, and only about thirty years of ministry — from his conversion around A.D. 37 to his death around A.D. 67. Yet Paul could write by inspiration that the whole then-known world, primarily the Roman Empire, had heard the plan of salvation. Les's answer is the rotation of Roman soldiers: as the guards who had been chained to Paul were moved to new places of service, they spread the Gospel ahead of him, which is also what made the early believers turn the then-known world upside down.
After spending a year and a half in prison in Caesarea, Paul appealed to Rome and was sent by ship, enduring a storm and shipwreck on the way. When he arrived, Acts 28:16 records that he was permitted to dwell by himself with a soldier who kept him. Les emphasizes that Paul entered the heart of the pagan Roman Empire under arrest, with Roman soldiers probably chained to him — the very situation that put him face-to-face with the men who would carry his Gospel across the empire.
Paul's Ministry Timeline and House Arrest
Les sets the scene: Paul had ministered to Gentiles for 23 years before reaching Rome, and wrote the prison epistles from house arrest — the setting in which the Gospel spread through his guards.
Rotated Guards Carried the Gospel
Les teaches that Roman soldiers were rotated out of Paul's house to the far reaches of the empire, that anyone who spent time in Paul's house left a believer, and that this ministry to his guards carried the plan of salvation to the whole then-known world.
The Rotation Mechanism Explained
Les poses the question of how the Gospel covered the Roman Empire in Paul's lifetime without modern media, and answers it with the Roman army's practice of rotating soldiers who guarded Paul 24 hours a day.
Guards Left as Believers and Reached the Emperor's Palace
Les credits Paul's guards with leaving their tours of duty as believers and moving to other places of service across the empire — even into the temple of the Emperor himself.
Paul's Appeal to Rome
Les provides background: Paul, after a year and a half in prison in Caesarea, appealed to Rome and entered the capital of the pagan empire without fear.
Rotation Spread the Gospel to All Men
Les connects the soldiers' rotation to the early believers turning the world upside down, and uses it to explain Paul's statement that the grace of God bringing salvation had appeared to all men.
Paul Under House Arrest With a Soldier
Les reads Acts 28:16, showing Paul dwelling by himself with a soldier keeping him — the arrangement that put him in constant contact with rotating Roman guards.
Salvation Sent to the Gentiles
Les notes that at Acts 28 Paul told the Jewish leaders that salvation was sent to the Gentiles and that they would hear it — the outcome of the Gospel's spread through the empire.
Acts 28:16: And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him.
Shows Paul under house arrest with a soldier keeping him — the situation that put him in daily contact with the guards Les says carried the Gospel.
Titus 2:11: For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Paul's statement that saving grace had appeared to all men, which Les connects to the Gospel's spread through the Roman Empire.
Philippians 4:22: All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household.
Shows believers in Caesar's household, matching Les's point that Paul's guards reached the emperor's palace.
Acts 28:28: Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
Records Paul's declaration that salvation was sent to the Gentiles, who would hear the message.
Les teaches that Roman soldiers were with Paul around the clock during his house arrest in Rome, and that anyone who spent time in Paul's house left as a believer. He explains that as these guards were rotated out, they carried what they had heard from Paul into their new places of service.
Les attributes this to the Roman army's practice of rotating soldiers. As guards completed their duty with Paul, they were reassigned across the empire and took the Gospel with them — some even reaching Caesar's palace. This is how Les explains Paul's ability to write that the whole then-known world had heard the plan of salvation.
In Titus 2:11 Paul wrote that the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Les teaches that this was fulfilled through the spread of the Gospel by Paul's former guards, so that the whole then-known world — primarily the Roman Empire — had heard the plan of salvation.
Watch the Teaching: Why Paul Is THE Apostle to the Gentiles — Romans 1 Explained