Putting Others First
We have come to the end of Paul’s letter to the church at Rome. In this last section, Paul continues the theme he began in 12:3 – For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. Instead of just looking at ourselves – how can we benefit? what can God do for us? what rights do I have? look at how strong I am! – we see we are a body of Christ. Each of us has specific purpose(s) to lift up the rest of the body. Each part of the body is important and needed. We encourage each other to continue to grow and we help each other along. Here, Paul shows us how to help those who are weaker in their faith.
Vs 1-6 Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves. Each one of us must please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even the Messiah did not please Himself. On the contrary, as it is written, The insults of those who insult You have fallen on Me. For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures. Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement allow you to live in harmony with one another, according to the command of Christ Jesus, so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with a united mind and voice.
Paul gives us a very strong message – those who are strong in the faith have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength. Interestingly, the Greek word for obligation is opheiló, which means to owe, and refers to being morally and legally required to pay a debt or meet the obligation. This isn’t just something we might want to do, it’s something we are morally obligated to do. And what is that obligation we owe? To bear the weakness of those without strength. The Greek word for bear is bastazó, which means to take up or carry. We are not people who only look after ourselves. Our “rights” are set aside for the good of the body of Christ. Our wants are set aside to pursue a higher calling – that is to lift up the body of Christ. We stop thinking about what I can get from all of this and, instead, think of how we can help others come to a deeper walk with Christ.
Christ is our example – he went willingly to the cross. He didn’t set out to please Himself. If that had been the case, he could have stayed in Nazareth and continued to thrive in that community. Instead, Christ put aside His own comfort and followed His Father. He was insulted, almost killed in his home town, gave up the comforts of home and, finally walked the path to the cross. All of this He did because God so loved the world… What we often overlook is the hard choice Christ made in the garden; Going a little farther, He fell face down and prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” I don’t think we consider the fact that Christ didn’t necessarily desire to go through the excruciating pain the path to the cross was going to take Him – no man would! BUT – He set aside His wants and endured the insults, pain, and death so we might have salvation.
Paul says it best in Philippians 2:1-5: If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal. Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus… This does not mean we give in to the inclinations of the weak. In other words, we don’t compromise when it comes to morality. Paul certainly has a lot to say about that in many of his letters. We do not compromise for the purpose of “peace keeping,” nor do we waiver from righteousness. Instead, we are to bear them up to strengthen them and help them stand firm in the faith. We help them walk on the path of righteousness.
So, Paul’s prayer is for us to “live in harmony with one another, according to the command of Christ Jesus.” The word for harmony is actually two words – auto phroneó. They mean to have the same understanding. We are to have the same understanding – be of one body – going in the same direction. If we think about the body – the eyes and feet can’t do something contrary to one another. If the feet go one direction and the eyes look somewhere else it could spell disaster, or at least bumping into something. In music, when two, or more, instruments do not play in harmony it leaves the listener unhappy, or, if you’re a music teacher, with a headache! In the same way, the body of Christ must be moving in the same understanding – in harmony. This is to glorify God with a united mind and voice. I know from several experiences, when the church is not of the same mind, the watching world has a negative view of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must be a body of Christ moving in the same direction, being of the same mind – that is the mind of Christ.
Vs 7-13 Therefore accept one another, just as the Messiah also accepted you, to the glory of God. For I say that the Messiah became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises to the fathers, and so that Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy. As it is written: Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles, and I will sing psalms to Your name. Again it says: Rejoice, you Gentiles, with His people. And again: Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; all the peoples should praise Him! And again, Isaiah says: The root of Jesse will appear, the One who rises to rule the Gentiles; the Gentiles will hope in Him. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Instead, we are to accept one another, just as the Messiah also accepted you. There are so many examples in scripture of how Christ accepted people. Here are just a few examples: Zacchaeus, the Samaritan woman at the well, the blind and deaf, the 10 lepers, Peter (even after he denied Jesus)… When I was a little girl, we use to sing the song Just As I Am for the invitation at every revival. We plead with Christ to accept us just as we are – sin and all – knowing He is the only way we can be cleansed and made righteous. We are to accept others in that same way. Again, this is not an invitation to accept the sin – Christ always said go and sin no more. We are to accept the sinner and help lead them to a place where they seek the forgiveness Christ offers. Christ’s walk and life of acceptance and forgiveness resulted in the world being able to come to faith – Jews and Gentiles. Because of God’s amazing grace, all can come to Him and be empowered with the Holy Spirit.
Vs 14-21 My brothers, I myself am convinced about you that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. Nevertheless, I have written to remind you more boldly on some points because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of God’s good news. My purpose is that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore I have reason to boast in Christ Jesus regarding what pertains to God. For I would not dare say anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed, by the power of miraculous signs and wonders, and by the power of God’s Spirit. As a result, I have fully proclaimed the good news about the Messiah from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum. My aim is to evangelize where Christ has not been named, so that I will not build on someone else’s foundation, but, as it is written: Those who were not told about Him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.
As Paul begins to wrap up his letter, he reminds the church at Rome of why he wrote this letter in the first place. His desire is to remind them of some very important points: 1) salvation is through faith not works lest any man should boast 2) we are all part of the body of Christ 3) we must consider others as more than we consider ourselves, and 4) we must be of the same mind – which is the mind of Christ. Paul has been called to be a minister to the Gentiles. He wants them to be obedient and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Because of his calling, he has gone from Jerusalem to Illyricum. I looked this up to see how far Paul traveled. It was pretty astounding! Illyricum is probably modern day Albania, so, Paul traveled over 1700 miles preaching the gospel. And he wasn’t done. His wanted to go on to Rome – another 460 miles. (May I remind you Paul was walking!) Also, in the words of Star Trek, Paul wanted to go where no gospel had gone before! In my experience, I have encountered 3 pretty distinct preaching/teaching ministries. There are church planters, those who start new churches; church builders, those who take the new church and build it up; and then those I call church carriers, they carry on the ministry throughout the church’s life. Each are essential to the body of Christ and some pastors can do more than one of these. Paul was a church planter. He loved to go into a new place and start new churches. There were others who would come behind him to build and carry while he continued to keep up with the churches, writing letters to encourage, teach and, at times, correct. He also trained and mentored many leaders of the church. I have been blessed over the years to watch my father do all of the above. We have been a part of the new plants, the building and the carrying of many churches. He has even been a part of a couple rescue operations – trying to revive churches that had, for all intensive purposes, died. He is unique in his ability to do what is needed for each individual church. Most of us have been gifted in particular areas to minister to the body of Christ. In whatever way you are gifted, use those gifts in a way that uplifts the body of Christ. In this way, you will glorify God!
I have not printed verses 22-33 here – they show that Paul’s activity as a planter of new churches throughout the region is the reason for his not being able to come to Rome up to this point. He has finished his work though, and plans to travel to Spain. On the way, he wants to stop in to see them. He ends this portion of the letter with: by God’s will, I may come to you with joy and be refreshed together with you. The God of peace be with all of you. Amen.
As we head into chapter 16, you will notice I have also left all verses 1-16. These verses contain a list of people Paul wants to introduce and greet. I will also briefly address a bit of “controversy”. It seems as if this letter ended at the end of chapter 15 and this next chapter is an extension of forgotten notes. Some have even said chapter 16 was not originally a part of the letter to the church at Rome, but intended for another church. That may be, as it seems Paul ends the letter in 15:33. Nevertheless, it is now a part of the letter so we will explore the few verses in chapter 16 to close this book out. I start with verse 17…
16:17-18 Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause dissensions and obstacles contrary to the doctrine you have learned. Avoid them, for such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites. They deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting with smooth talk and flattering words.
This has been a warning to many of Paul’s churches. It is so easy to allow dissensions and obstacles in the church. Some of these may be in the form of what we may call church traditions. We ask “why do we do this??” And the answer we get is, “because we’ve always done it this way.” Have you heard that before? I have. Then there are those people – there always seems to be one in every church – who seem to cause strife in the church. They are negative or discouraging. They don’t like the way we worship or that the youth or children are too loud or the way the preacher preaches… Then there are those who set out to deceive. These are the people Paul is addressing here. They speak with flowery speech and their aim is to destroy. We must look out for all of these and reject anything that is contrary to scripture.
Vs 19-20; 25-27 The report of your obedience has reached everyone. Therefore I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise about what is good, yet innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you… Now to Him who has power to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation about Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept silent for long ages but now revealed and made known through the prophetic Scriptures, according to the command of the eternal God to advance the obedience of faith among all nations to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ to Him be the glory forever! Amen.
And now we come to the final Amen. I hope the trip we’ve taken through the book of Romans has been uplifting, encouraging and informative. I know I’ve learned a lot! In closing, may we remember, it is by grace that we have been saved and not by works. We are to be the people of God who considers others more than we consider ourselves. We are to conduct ourselves as a body of Christ. And, we are to remember this: we are not to conform to the things of this age, instead, we are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind – having the mind of Christ in all things – so we will know the good, pleasing and perfect will of God.
Bible Study Blog 