May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus! (Romans 15.5-6, The Message)
INTRODUCTION
Paul devotes considerable space in his letter to the subject of unity among the members of the body of Christ. There is but one body of Christ—the body is made up of both strong and weak Christians. There is a component that enjoys a Jewish heritage and Gentiles who have found salvation through faith in Christ. Some, giving respect to their heritage, feel constrained to observe certain restrictions with respect to food, drink and the observance of the Sabbath; others, with their newly found freedom in Christ, acknowledge no such limitations. Christ has made peace between these two groups by breaking down the dividing wall of hostility. He did this by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, so that in himself he might create one man out of the two (Ephesians 2.14-16). For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then your are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise (Galatians 3.27-29; cp. Ephesians 4.1-7). When a church compartmentalizes itself into groups it fails properly to appreciate what it is that Christ has done and what he requires of his church: I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me (John 17.20-21). The lack of unity among believers leads to fragmentation and most certainly impedes its witness to the saving work of Jesus Christ.
THE MODEL OF CHRIST (15.1-6)
The strong Christians, that is, those who recognize their liberties in Christ, ought not to go about their business as though the feelings of their weaker brethren are of no consequence. To the contrary, because they are bound together in Christ, the attitudes and feelings of each group affects the other. Those who are the strongest are obliged to help those who are weaker. “This does not necessarily mean that the ‘strong’ are to adopt the scruples of the ‘weak.’ But what it does mean is that they are sympathetically to ‘enter into’ their attitudes, refrain from criticizing and judging them, and do what love would require toward them. Love demands that the ‘strong’ go beyond the distance implied in mere toleration: they are to treat the ‘weak’ as brothers and sisters” (Douglas Moo, Romans, p. 866). The Christian is to give deference to his neighbor. How can a believer claim to be fulfilling the law of love and fail to take into account the obvious sensibilities of his brother or sister? The Christian lives within the community of faith and is obligated to consider the needs of others before himself as Paul indicates in Galatians 6.2: Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (cp. Romans 12.3; Philippians 2.3; 1 Thessalonians 5.14). The question Christians should ask themselves is, “What is helpful for my sister or brother in the faith?” Paul makes reference to this principle when he writes about the believer’s speech: Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasions, that it may give grace to those who hear (Ephesians 4.29; cp. Colossians 3.12-17).
Christ himself is the model of this servant life-style. Paul has adopted this as his own modus vivendi and he frequently encourages others to do the same: Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ (1 Corinthians 10.32-11.1; cp. Philippians 3.17; 4.8-9; 1 Thessalonians 1.6). Paul introduces the words of the psalmist as the words of Jesus: “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me” (Psalm 69.9). That is to say, Christ bears reproaches and suffering that he has the power to stop, but his own well-being is not his foremost concern. By submitting to the reproaches of mankind Jesus was able to secure the salvation of all to whom the Father had given eternal life (John 17.2). By his obedience Jesus became the model for all Christian behavior.
Paul reminds his readers that the Old Testament Scriptures are the foundation of their faith and practice. Not only is it replete with promises about the coming Messiah but has been preserved in order to instruct the believer and to give him encouragement and hope. Those who have placed their hope in Christ should be encouraged by the Scriptures to persevere in their faith because that which was promised has come to pass. Knowing that God has fulfilled his promise to bring about the salvation of the Gentiles, the Christian may be assured that his life of service will also bring with it God’s eternal blessings. So then, Paul encourages the Christian to live his life in abandonment to God: Since we have these promises, believed, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7.1).
As God is patient with you, you ought to be forbearing and accepting of one another. Harmony within the community of faith is Paul’s prayer for the church in Rome. Such unity is a powerful witness to the transforming grace of the Holy Spirit. If God does not treat his children in a manner commensurate with their sins, then what right have they to be impatient with one another? Paul is not suggesting that the two groups resolve their different opinions and be of one mind. “He is, rather, asking God to give them, despite their differences of opinion, a common perspective and purpose. Paul’s concern is not, at least primarily, that the believers in Rome all hold the same opinion of these ‘matters indifferent’; but that they remain united in their devotion to the Lord Jesus and to his service in the world” (Moo, p. 871). Unity among Christians is important and Paul frequently goes to great lengths to cultivate a spirit of oneness among believers. I found that Ray Ortlund’s prayer based on Romans 15.1-6 captured the intent of Paul’s meaning.
O Father in heaven, I pray for the unity of your church. I do not ask for a thin, cheap unity made easy by a lack of strong convictions among believers, a unity of the sort we see at times among people in our relativistic society. That would be unworthy of your name. But I do ask for a unity which esteems the call of the gospel so highly that self is demoted for the common good. I ask for a unity which honors doctrine, a unity which follows the example of Christ, a unity agreeable with high Christian principle. We are not capable of this, dear God. We are too weak. We gravitate either toward a firm stand for doctrine alone or toward a soft relationalism without strong content. But to be like Jesus, who never compromised truth and who never violated the meaning of love—this takes us far beyond our capacities. O blessed Spirit, fill us moment by moment, lifting us up out of our natural littleness to a love worthy of the name. O Lord, translate the communion of saints from our creed into our hearts, that your church may with one voice lift great volumes of praise to your God and Father. In your holy name. Amen. (Romans 15.5-6, Ray Ortlund Jr., A Passion for God, p. 186)
CHRIST THE HOPE FOR ALL (15.7-13)
So then every believer ought to accept every other believer in Christ. The basis of this unqualified reception is that they themselves have been received by Christ. It is God’s purpose to bless both the Jews and the Gentiles and the unity that results from their common union in Christ is a visible demonstration of God’s glory. The love Christians have for one another produces unity in the church and is the final apologetic of the Christian faith.
Paul makes a solemn declaration: 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 (Romans 15.8, 9b). What God promised to Abraham, namely, that he would become the father of many nations (Genesis 17.4-5), is fulfilled in Christ: And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Ephesians 2.17-19). Paul supports his contention that the Gentiles, like the Jews, are the intended objects of God’s redemptive purposes by citing references to every part of the Old Testament Scriptures—the ‘writings’ (vv. 9b and 11), the ‘law’ (v. 10), and the ‘prophets’ (v. 12) (cp. Moo, p. 878). By this he accentuates the mercy of God which brings about the Gentiles’ salvation, thereby resulting in the praise of God’s glory.
As he did in 15.5-6, Paul punctuates his letter with a short prayer: Now may the God who imparts this hope to your hearts fill you all with an abundance of joy and peace as you live out your faith together, so that you grow vigorous with this irrepressible hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit (Ortlund, p. 189). The hope for both the Jews and the Gentiles is found in the root of Jesse manifest in the second person of the Triune God. The hope of the gospel is grounded in the limitless love of God; it does not stem from wishful thinking but is rooted in Christ’s atoning work. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6.19-20). The Christian knows the unsurpassing love of God that he has poured into the hearts of believers through the Holy Spirit whom he has given them (Romans 5.5; Ephesians 1.13-14). The Christian has forsaken his former way of life and embraced Christ. It is Paul’s prayer for the Roman believers that they may know the joy and peace that accompanies the Spirit-filled life. “Paul prays that God will fill his correspondents with all joy and peace. Joy is one of Paul’s great concepts, the term occurring in his writing 21 times whereas no other New Testament writing has it more than John’s nine times. It is linked with faith (Philippians 1:25) and is part of ‘the fruit of the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:22-23)” (Leon Morris, Romans, p. 506).
The peace to which Paul refers is the same peace promised to the disciples by Jesus in the upper room discourse: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world give do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid (John 14.27); and again, I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world (John 16.33). Of course, such peace is a result of having obtained that peace with God that come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5.1-2). Living by faith is the great theme of this epistle (The righteous shall life by faith, Romans 1.17), and in concert with this theme Paul reminds his readers to continue in their faith that in the Holy Spirit they may experience joy, peace and boundless hope in Christ.
