27 Romans 15:1-13
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Romans
15:1-3
1We then
who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to
please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbour
for his good, leading to edification. 3 For
even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of
those who reproached You fell on Me.”
After having
explained the importance of considering the feelings of those weak in their
faith, Paul then goes on to add, that we need to also bear with the weaknesses
of those who are weak in the faith, and not seek to please ourselves alone. A
strong person is not supposed to look down on those who are weak, but to rather
help them wherever possible – that’s real love.
We need to make a
resolve in our hearts that we will please our neighbour for his good, and thereby
give rise to him being edified or strengthened in his faith. If every one of us
resolved to help everyone else, what a wonderful Church we’d have globally.
It’s only because we each seek our own good, and don’t always consider the
weaknesses of others, that selfishness has taken centre stage, and edification
of the global church is not taking place as it should.
Paul goes on to say
that Jesus is our model, whose lifestyle we should seek to emulate. He then
quotes a verse from Psalm 69:9,
where David prophesied about Jesus taking upon Himself the reproaches that were
directed to God. While on the earth, Jesus did not seek to please Himself, but
instead, He chose to take upon Himself the reproaches or insults that people
hurled at God. Jesus chose to take those insults upon Himself, so as to give
the entire world an opportunity to be saved from the penalty of sin forever. So
Paul seems to be reminding us that if our Lord and Master Jesus, was willing to
bear insults, so as to save us, we too need to be willing to bear with one
another’s weaknesses, and not be impatient with them or judgmental of them.
Romans
15:4-6
4 For whatever
things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the
patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. 5 Now
may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one
another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 that you
may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
After
quoting an Old Testament scripture, Paul goes on to say that those scriptures
were written earlier, so that we could learn lessons of life from them. By
reading these scriptures, we develop patience as we go through difficult times,
we get comforted and encouraged as we strive on, and more so, we develop the
hope and assurance that all will be well eventually.
Paul
then prays that the believers will be blessed with patience and comfort, not
just from the Scriptures, but by God Himself, and that this would result in
them being considerate of one another, or like-minded towards one another, just
as Jesus desired for them to live. Furthermore, he prays that they would be so
united in mind that together, by the way they live, they would bring glory to
God the Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ. Only God can work out such unity,
provided we want it ourselves. Merely desiring unity without the help of God is
futile, but having God in our lives, and not working toward it won’t help us
achieve it either.
Romans
15:7-9
7 Therefore receive
one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. 8 Now
I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for
the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the
fathers, 9 and that the Gentiles might glorify
God for His mercy, as it is written: “For this reason I will
confess to You among the Gentiles, and sing to Your name.”
We
need to learn (or relearn) to welcome, accept, receive and be understanding of
one another, and take Jesus as our role model, because He accepted and welcomed
us into His family, and thereby brought glory to God.
Jesus
came to serve the circumcision (the Jews), as He proclaimed the truth about God
to them, and thereby fulfilled the promises made to the patriarchs (fathers of
the Jewish faith). Jesus also came to do something else – to open wide the door
for the Gentiles too to be saved, and therefore glorify God for His mercy on
them as well.
Paul
then begins to quote various Old Testament Scriptures that actually announced
that the Gentiles would be saved, which means this was not an after-thought of
God, but a plan He had a long time ago. He begins by quoting from 2 Samuel 22:50, which is repeated
verbatim in Psalm 18:49. “For this reason I will confess to You among
the Gentiles, and sing to Your name.” In this verse he quotes David as
looking forward to the mercy that would be shown to the Gentiles, and for that
reason he would, in anticipation, proclaim God to the Gentiles, and sing
praises to God’s name.
Romans
15:10-13
10 And
again he says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with
His people!” 11 And again: “Praise the Lord, all
you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!” 12 And
again, Isaiah says: “There shall be a
root of Jesse; and He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the
Gentiles shall hope.” 13 Now may the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul
then quotes from Deuteronomy 32:43,
where Moses writes about the Gentiles rejoicing along with the people of God –
the Jews – again that’s an indicator that the Gentiles too would be saved. He
further quotes Ps.117:1, where the
Psalmist writes in this 2-verse Psalm, telling the Gentiles to praise and
glorify God. David too was prophesying about the Gentiles being saved. He then
quotes from Isaiah 11:1 & 10
where the prophet Isaiah prophesied about Jesus, described as the root of Jesse
(the father of David), and says that He will reign over the Gentiles, and they
will put their hope (assurance) and confidence in Him. So Paul is explaining in
great detail the fact that the saving of the Gentiles was not at all an
after-thought of God, but was part of His plan to save the whole world.
He
then blesses the believers in Rome, and prays that the God who gives this hope
(assurance) to the Gentiles, would also fill them with both joy and peace, as
they believe in Jesus, and that they might be filled with hope that comes by
the power of the Holy Spirit. Notice how Paul mentions the power of the Holy
Spirit – we need to remember that we don’t have the power we need to serve the
Lord, except through His Holy Spirit. This is something we have, to a large
extent neglected in some denominations, and misunderstood in certain others. We
need to have a good Biblical understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit in
our lives as believers.
Through
the above 13 verses, Paul seems to be reminding the believers who are strong in
their faith, to bear with the reservations of new believers, especially those
from Gentile backgrounds, as their faith could be weak, and to do all we can to
help them, and not do anything that might hinder their growth in their
new-found faith in Jesus.
If you were blessed by this study, please share it with others
God bless you, and have a good day or night.
Michael Collins
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