Romans 15:1–13. Paul is still dealing with the strong and the weak, so we should not let the chapter break fool us. Romans 15:1 continues the argument of Romans 14.

But then Paul takes the discussion somewhere bigger. What begins with strong Christians bearing with weak Christians ends with Jews and Gentiles together glorifying God. That has been one of the great themes of Romans from the beginning.

CHRIST DID NOT PLEASE HIMSELF

Romans 15:1–13

Paul has just told Christians not to use their freedom in a way that harms another believer.

Now he says:

“We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”
— Romans 15:1

Notice that Paul includes himself among:

“the strong.”

So Paul does believe one side understands Christian freedom more accurately.

But what should the stronger Christian do with that better understanding?

Not:

Show everyone that I'm right.

Instead:

Bear with the weak.

STRENGTH CREATES RESPONSIBILITY

We sometimes think strength gives us more:

rights.

Paul thinks strength gives us more:

responsibility.

If I understand my freedom better than another Christian, that doesn't give me permission to disregard him.

It gives me an obligation to:

help him.

That's a very different way of thinking about Christian maturity.

The mature Christian doesn't ask only:

“What am I allowed to do?”

He asks:

“How can I use my freedom to help someone else?”

“NOT TO PLEASE OURSELVES”

Paul says the strong are:

“Not to please ourselves.”

That may be the heart of this whole section.

Christian freedom can become selfish.

I know I can do it.

I like doing it.

Nobody has the right to stop me.

Paul asks us to think differently.

The question isn't always:

“What do I want?”

Sometimes love asks:

“What does my brother need?”

PLEASE YOUR NEIGHBOR—BUT FOR A PURPOSE

Paul continues:

“Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.”
— Romans 15:2

Paul isn't teaching people-pleasing.

He doesn't mean:

Do whatever keeps everybody happy.

He gives two qualifications.

For his:

good.

And:

to build him up.

Sometimes doing what is genuinely good for someone will not please that person at all.

Paul's goal is:

spiritual good.

THEN PAUL POINTS TO CHRIST

Why should Christians live this way?

“For Christ did not please himself.”
— Romans 15:3

There is our model.

Jesus possessed every right.

Yet His life was not organized around:

His own comfort.

He gave Himself for others.

Paul then quotes Psalm 69:

“The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”

Christ accepted suffering rather than living simply to please Himself.

If that is how our Lord lived, His people should learn to live the same way.

WHY DOES PAUL QUOTE THE OLD TESTAMENT?

Paul pauses to explain something important:

“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction.”
— Romans 15:4

That is a significant statement about how Christians should read the Old Testament.

It was written long before the Roman Christians lived.

Yet Paul says it was written:

“For our instruction.”

Christians are not under the Mosaic covenant as Israel was.

But that certainly doesn't mean:

The Old Testament has nothing to teach Christians.

Paul has been using it throughout Romans.

THE SCRIPTURES GIVE HOPE

Paul continues:

“That through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

The Scriptures don't merely give us:

information.

They produce:

endurance.

encouragement.

And:

hope.

We read what God has done.

We see His faithfulness.

We watch people struggle, fail, trust, endure, and sometimes suffer.

And we learn:

God remains faithful.

That gives us reason to keep going.

SCRIPTURE SHOULD PRODUCE ENDURANCE

This is worth thinking about.

If our Bible study merely makes us better at:

winning arguments,

something is missing.

Paul says Scripture should help us:

endure.

Bible knowledge that makes us proud but doesn't help us remain faithful under pressure hasn't accomplished everything Scripture was intended to accomplish.

Good study should produce:

hope.

THEN PAUL PRAYS FOR UNITY

Paul says:

“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus.”
— Romans 15:5

Notice where endurance and encouragement ultimately come from.

Verse 4 speaks of:

the Scriptures.

Verse 5 speaks of:

God.

There is no conflict.

God encourages His people:

through His Word.

WHY DOES UNITY MATTER?

Paul continues:

“That together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
— Romans 15:6

There is the goal.

Not merely:

Everybody gets along.

Christian unity has a greater purpose:

God is glorified.

Different people.

Different backgrounds.

Different consciences.

Yet:

one voice.

“WELCOME ONE ANOTHER”

Then Paul returns to the word that began Romans 14:

“Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”
— Romans 15:7

Romans 14:1:

“Welcome him.”

Romans 15:7:

“Welcome one another.”

Why?

Because:

Christ welcomed you.

That changes the standard.

The question isn't:

“Does this person meet all my personal requirements?”

It is:

“How did Christ receive me?”

NOW PAUL RETURNS TO JEW AND GENTILE

Paul suddenly widens the discussion:

“For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised...”
— Romans 15:8

Why?

“To show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs.”

There is Israel again.

Abraham.

Isaac.

Jacob.

The promises.

Christ's coming demonstrated that:

God keeps His word.

The gospel did not mean God's promises to Israel had failed.

Paul has already spent Romans 9–11 explaining that.

BUT THE STORY DOESN'T STOP WITH ISRAEL

Paul continues:

“And in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.”
— Romans 15:9

There it is again.

Mercy.

Christ confirms God's promises to the patriarchs.

And Gentiles glorify God for:

mercy.

Jew and Gentile are being brought together in God's saving purpose.

This isn't a new subject.

It is one of the central subjects of:

Romans.

THEN PAUL PILES UP OLD TESTAMENT QUOTATIONS

Paul doesn't merely assert that Gentiles belong in God's plan.

He proves it from:

Scripture.

First:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.”

Then:

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”

Then:

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.”

And finally Isaiah:

“The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.”

Paul reaches across different parts of Israel's Scriptures.

The message keeps appearing:

The Gentiles were always part of God's purpose.

THIS WASN'T PLAN B

That's important.

Gentile salvation wasn't something God invented after Israel rejected Christ.

Paul has just quoted Israel's own Scriptures showing Gentiles:

praising God,

rejoicing with God's people,

and

hoping in the Messiah.

The plan was there all along.

That takes us back to Abraham.

God promised:

“In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Israel had an enormously important role.

Through Israel came:

the promises,

the Scriptures,

and ultimately:

the Messiah.

But the goal always reached beyond one nation.

THE ROOT OF JESSE RULES THE GENTILES

Paul's final quotation comes from Isaiah 11:

“The root of Jesse will come...to rule the Gentiles.”

Jesse was David's father.

So this is:

Davidic

and

Messianic

language.

Jesus, the descendant of David, rules:

the Gentiles.

And Paul says:

“In him will the Gentiles hope.”

That is happening already.

Gentiles in Rome are placing their hope in Israel's Messiah.

The promised King is already gathering people from:

the nations.

NOTICE WHAT PAUL DOES WITH ISAIAH 11

This is especially interesting because Isaiah 11 is sometimes treated primarily as a description of a future earthly millennium.

But look at what Paul does with it.

He quotes Isaiah 11 and applies it to:

Gentiles presently hoping in Christ.

That doesn't answer every question about Isaiah's prophecy.

But it gives us something very important.

An inspired apostle tells us that Isaiah's promise about the root of Jesse ruling the Gentiles is being fulfilled in:

Christ and the Gentile mission.

That interpretation deserves to control our reading before we construct another timetable around Isaiah 11.

LET THE NEW TESTAMENT SHOW US HOW IT USES THE OLD

This is exactly the kind of passage that helps us learn:

how to study prophecy.

Don't begin with:

“What does this sound like to me?”

Ask:

“How does the New Testament use it?”

Paul reads Isaiah 11 and sees:

Jesus.

Gentiles.

Messianic rule.

And:

hope.

That's valuable evidence.

Let:

Paul explain Isaiah.

PAUL ENDS WITH ANOTHER PRAYER

Paul concludes:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.”
— Romans 15:13

Notice:

in believing.

Joy and peace are connected with:

faith.

Then:

“So that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Paul began this section talking about:

hope through the Scriptures.

He ends with:

abounding in hope.

Hope surrounds the whole paragraph.

LOOK AT THE MOVEMENT OF THE PASSAGE

Paul begins with:

The strong bearing with the weak.

Then:

Christ did not please Himself.

Then:

Scripture produces endurance and hope.

Then:

Christians glorify God together.

Then:

Welcome one another.

Then:

Christ fulfills God's promises to Israel.

Then:

Gentiles glorify God for mercy.

Then:

the nations hope in the Messiah.

A disagreement over food and days has led Paul all the way back to:

God's great plan of redemption.

Why?

Because the person sitting across from you isn't merely:

someone who disagrees with you.

He may be someone:

Christ welcomed.

READ PAUL BEFORE READING A SYSTEM INTO PAUL

This paragraph brings together several themes we have been following through Romans.

God keeps His promises.

Israel had a special role in God's plan.

Gentiles were always intended to share the blessing.

Christ is the fulfillment.

Jew and Gentile are brought together in Him.

And therefore Christians should:

“Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you.”

Theology and fellowship belong together.

If our theology about grace makes us unwilling to show grace to another Christian, we haven't followed Paul's argument far enough.

BEFORE YOU LEAVE

Ask the text:

What should the strong do with the weak?

“Bear with” them.

What should Christians not live merely to do?

“Please ourselves.”

Who is our model?

“Christ did not please himself.”

Why were the Old Testament Scriptures written?

“For our instruction.”

What can Scripture produce?

Endurance.

Encouragement.

Hope.

How should Christians receive one another?

“As Christ has welcomed you.”

Did Christ fulfill God's promises to Israel?

Yes.

Were Gentiles an afterthought?

No. Paul proves from Israel's Scriptures that the nations were always included in God's purpose.

Where do the Gentiles place their hope?

“In Him.”

Paul has now largely completed his theological and practical teaching.

From here the letter becomes more personal.

Paul explains his ministry, why he has written so boldly, where he has been preaching, and something particularly interesting:

Why hadn't Paul visited Rome before now?

He tells us.

NEXT: WHY PAUL HAD NOT YET VISITED ROME

Romans 15:14–24

TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.

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