Probably about this same time was also written the Epistle to the Hebrews, which was addressed to the Jews of Judea and Jerusalem. In this letter the Apostle sets forth the immeasurable superiority of the New Law of Christ over the old Mosaic dispensation.
All this time the Christian Church at Rome was making rapid progress. With the zeal of St. Peter, and the eloquent teaching of St. Paul united in the great city, it was no wonder that the truth made its way even into the imperial court, for we find among the salutations of the Epistle to the Philippians, those of "Cæsar's household."
It was apparently through the influence of some of these more powerful disciples that, in the early part of the year 65, St. Paul was released from his imprisonment.
Very little information is given us in the Scriptures respecting the Apostle after this liberation. We gain our knowledge chiefly from his own letters to Timothy and to Titus, and from the traditions of the early Church.
Thus it appears that the first use the Apostle made of his liberty was to undertake new missions, and to visit those Churches to which he had already preached "Christ crucified."
Though no longer young, he was still full of zeal for God's glory, and we find him now journeying to Spain, which he mentions in the Epistle to the Romans. A contemporary author—Clement of Rome—tells us that "Paul was the herald of the Christian faith to the whole world, and penetrated even to the limits of the West."
Accompanied by Titus, the Apostle also went into the island of Crete. Taking a long voyage, he next visits Ephesus, passing thence to Macedonia. Titus had remained in Crete to watch over the newly founded Church, and with power to institute bishops and priests, and to him St. Paul writes an Epistle from Nicopolis, counselling him how to watch over the flock committed to his care. In this letter he speaks of remaining during the winter in this city, but he appears to have passed to Corinth, and thence to the Churches of Troas and Miletus, returning to Rome at the close of the year 66.