Romans 15:1We are always under the rule of loving one another as Christ loved us. We don’t try to bring another person down because of their beliefs. If I have a friend who is a vegetarian because they think that God would have them eat a vegetarian diet or baptize by sprinkling then I must not work at talking them out of it. That assumes that they do not begin to teach this practice as a spiritual discipline or law. We don’t even need to try to figure out who the weak and who the strong are in a given difference of opinion. We just acknowledge God and move on.
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Romans 15:2-7Notice that we are not just putting up with some yahoo teaching a bunch of rules to be holy, such as don’t chew gum, wear black pants to church, always wear a tie to church, don’t mow your grass on Sunday, etc. We are being sensitive for Christ’s sake to build up our brothers and sisters. If they begin to teach a law that isn’t in Scripture then you must object. You can’t be building up your neighbor if you allow them to teach false doctrine. On the other hand, if they want to practice some discipline such as vegetarianism or a particular means of Baptism that is within the bounds of Scripture then we need to keep our mouths shut. We live a life of service and even if someone criticizes you for the way you live then you keep your mouth shut. You serve Christ so Scripture is your guide and we want to live in harmony with each other. We are commanded to live in harmony with each other. We clearly don’t want to break Christian fellowship with others over anything that is not an essential of the faith. I wish that fewer who call themselves Christian actually were these days. Many are on the far side of the essentials of the faith these days. When it comes to our justification and the atonement of Christ we can’t ignore and compromise. When someone starts to teach that you must do something that is outside the moral law of God to be righteous then we have to object. These days the confusion is so great that some folks get in arguments of nonessential doctrines such as the frequency of communion or the mode of baptism and welcome someone into fellowship who may believe that Jesus was a great moral teacher but doesn’t believe in an atonement or payment for sins on the Cross.
Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
Romans 15:8-13
For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.”
And again it is said,“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”
And again,“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.”
And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.”
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the
power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Remembering that Paul is speaking to a mixed congregation of believers who are ethnically Jewish and gentile, I love the progression of Christ’s service to the circumcised, fulfilling the promises given to the patriarchs, and pouring out God’s blessings on the Gentiles. It is a blessing that we now enjoy all the blessings of God’s promises to the patriarchs and now, by adoption, they are our patriarchs in a sense that is more real than for unbelieving ethnic Israel.
God gives us hope because of His promises for heaven. Remember too that this hope is not wishful thinking. This hope is based on an expectation that rests on the faithfulness of God. This hope that is based on believing should produce joy and peace. Notice that we have a brief prayer that we can adapt for ourselves and others here.
Romans 15:14-15Paul begins his salutation here. He encourages those in leadership that they are able to teach and aware of the Gospel. Paul also mentions that he has a special call to minister to the Gentiles and that he ministers the Gospel so that we can offer ourselves to God as we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit (and nothing more).
I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:17-21
In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s
foundation, but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will
see, and those who have never heard will understand.”
Spoken like a true apostle. He went where God said to go. Although completely Jewish, Paul was sent by God to the Gentiles. Paul knows how he did it because he knows that he didn’t do it but that Christ accomplished great things through him.
Romans 15:22Paul wanted to see them but he’d been busy starting fellowships everywhere the Holy Spirit lead him. Spain was a serious trip for someone in Paul’s day but he was ready to go. It sounds like he may have made it to Spain and preached there.
This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 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. When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of
Christ.
Romans 15:30-33Eventually, Paul was imprisoned and martyred by decapitation but not before finishing the course God had set before him and not before he wrote a significant portion of Scripture.
I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment