Rom. 15:13-16 - Paul’s ministry

13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
14 And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.
15 But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God,
16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

We Have Hope, Joy, and Peace by the Power of the Holy Spirit

V. 13 - This verse is a bridge between the discussion of Christian community and the windup of the letter.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” - Paul’s prayer for them. God gives us hope for eternal life and eternity with Him. We have the joy of knowing Jesus and the peace with God and the peace of God. (See: Phil 4:7, 9; Col 1:20-23)

“You will abound in hope” - The hope is not generated by our efforts, but is a gift of God through the Holy Spirit. Paul is praying the believers will not have ‘just a little bit’, but they will be overflowing with hope. We can face each day with no diminution of hope.

“by the power of the Holy Spirit.” - One of the big difference between Judaism and Christianity is that Christians have the Holy Spirit. When you read through the Old Testament, you will see that the Holy Spirit is given in only a limited number of instances. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit for all who believe in Him. “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7) And, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,” (John 15:26) Jesus asks the Father to give us the Holy Spirit; “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;” (John 14:16) The Holy Spirit will lead us, guide us, teach us what we need to know to live as Christians. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” (John 14:26)

V. 14 - “you yourselves are full of goodness... all knowledge” - Paul sees that his prayer for them is being fulfilled even as he writes this letter to them. They should be filled with hope, joy, and peace by the power of the Holy Spirit (vs. 13), and he sees it happening.

“Admonish one another” - Not knowledge for knowledge’s sake, nor goodness for that warm, fuzzy feeling, nor peace - but all of these are so that they can help each other grow in Christ. Our faith in Christ is very personal - your faith cannot save your neighbor. It can only save you! At the same time, Christianity is not a solitary faith. Can you imagine getting to heaven, look around and say, “Hey! What are all these people doing here? I thought it was just me!” You know better. Christianity is a community of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The community is to come together and worship Him, and help each other, and encourage each other, and teach, preach and build up each other. (See: Heb. 10:24-25)

V. 15 - “I have written very boldly to you” - Paul takes the responsibility of teaching and admonishing seriously (see his letters: all of his letters, all 13, about half of the NT). He has every reason to be proud of what he has done. That is not the message from Paul here. Paul is writing to them because the grace of God has given Paul all.

V. 16 - “minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles” - Paul, a devout Jew, a learned fervent Jew, was called by God to go to those who did not know God. It might be easy to say the Jews did not know God, either. While in reality that may have been true, at least the Jews had the revelation of God to them. The Gentiles did not have this revelation directly to them, They had the witness of the Jews to reveal God to them.

God’s choice of Paul gave the Gentiles a witness who could explain, in marvelous detail, how God revealed Himself to the world. He could explain the reason for the Law - not to kill lots of animals in sacrifices, but to teach and show us we needed God. We need God’s grace. We need His forgiveness.

“Ministering as a priest the gospel of God” - Not a priest of the Jewish Covenant Law, performing the duties of that priesthood, but serving Jesus Christ by spreading the Good News. Not all Jews could become a priest in the Judaism, only Levites.  Reading Leviticus, chapters 21 and 22, we see the priests were “sons of Aaron”, Moses’ brother - all Levites. God chose the Levites as priests - the priests were to be holy to the Lord. Earlier the Lord said that all first born were His, holy to Him. But God was gracious, and separated the tribe of Levi to be priests, so that the first-born males of each household would not be taken from the families. The Levites did not get a portion of land as did the other tribes. They did not get land, because their portion was the Lord. They got to serve Him in the community and in the tabernacle. 

“ My offering of the Gentiles” - What a wonderful image! The Levitical priests performed the sacrificial and offering rituals. The priests offered up the lamb to God, the ox, the grain to God in the tabernacle or temple. Part of the priests’ job was to verify the animal being offered to God was pure, unblemished, and thereby acceptable to be sacrificed.

Paul may be praying, “Here, O Lord, are the Gentiles that have come to believe in You because of You working in and through me. They have trusted You, Lord. They have trusted the message given them through me. May I have done Your will, and their faith in You is acceptable, May they be sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit. They are sealed by the Holy Spirit. To God be the glory!”

I understand those are my words, not Paul’s, but hope they express the flavor of what he wrote.

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Rom. 15:7-12 - Praise among Gentiles

7 Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.
8 For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers,
9 and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written, "THEREFORE I WILL GIVE PRAISE TO YOU AMONG THE GENTILES, AND I WILL SING TO YOUR NAME."
10 Again he says, "REJOICE, O GENTILES, WITH HIS PEOPLE."
11 And again, "PRAISE THE LORD ALL YOU GENTILES, AND LET ALL THE PEOPLES PRAISE HIM."
12 Again Isaiah says, "THERE SHALL COME THE ROOT OF JESSE, AND HE WHO ARISES TO RULE OVER THE GENTILES, IN HIM SHALL THE GENTILES HOPE."

 

Servant to Both Jews and Gentiles

V. 7 - “Therefore, accept one another” - None have an advantage on another with respect to salvation - neither of us has earned it. Christ has gifted us eternal life. Christ has brought us into the presence of God, blameless and without blemish. (See: Eph 5:27; Phil 2:15; Col 1:22; Jude 1:24). As noted in verses 1-6 above, don’t let peripheral issues like food, or holy days, or festivals, etc., break down any fellowship of the believers.

V. 8 - “Christ has become a servant to the circumcision” - Jesus was sent first to the Jews. His service? To bring them back to God. They thought they were God’s own people. They did not recognize their sin and rebellion created a gap (actually, the gap was always there: a chasm of sin that no man can bridge or cross. They were so blinded by their pride they could not see the gap!). Jesus offered the clear and safe path to the throne room of God Almighty.

“on behalf of the truth of God” - God loves you and wants to save you. “Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! Why should you die, O house of Israel?'” (Eze 33:11). That is the truth of God - He wants us to respond to His offer to save us! God does not coerce; He only woos. “For I know what I have planned for you,' says the LORD. 'I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope. When you call out to me and come to me in prayer, I will hear your prayers. When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul, I will make myself available to you,' says the LORD.” (Jer 29:11-14)

“to confirm the promises given to the fathers” - Promises to Adam, Noah, Abraham, and David (to name a few).

V. 9 - “and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy” - Jesus came as a servant for both the Jews and the Gentiles. Prophecies concerning the Gentiles: Isa. 60:1-14; Hos. 1:10, 2:23; Amos 9:12; Matt. 12:21, 22:2-14.

“As it is written” - Quoted from 2 Sam 22:50, Psa 18:49. - God is merciful - forgiving our sin and bringing us into His presence with great joy.

V. 10 - Quoted from Deut 32:43 - Who are those rejoicing? The Gentiles (that’s you and me) who believe in Christ as Lord and Savior.

V. 11 - Quoted from Psa 117:1 - Let everyone and everything sing praises to God for His mercy to us.

V. 12 - Quoted from Isa 11:10 - We were hopeless in our sin. He has saved us. We have hope.

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Rom. 15:4-6 - God gives perseverance

4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
5 Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,
6 so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Glorify Our Lord Jesus Christ

V. 4 - “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction” - What was written? A Messiah would come, provided by the Lord. (Gen 3:15, 12:2-3, 15:4-6; Isa 7:14, 11:1-5, 11:10;, e.g.) The Messiah would suffer for our sin. (See: Isa 52:13-53:12) He will be exalted. (Isa 53:10-11) These are not “secret knowledges”, only to be known by a chosen few. However, if you choose not to believe in Jesus as Lord, you will ‘blow off’ the scripture. It will seem silly to you.

“We might have hope” - The scriptures, written over hundreds of years - from Moses to Peter, John and Paul (about 1450 BC to 60 AD) - portray the Lord’s promise and fulfillment of same to bring mankind back into a personal relationship with Him. Christ came that we might have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10) Christ promised we would have peace with God in this life, and also the life to come. Paul emphasizes that if peace in this life is all there is, our faith is pitiful. The best and greatest is yet to come. (See: 1 Cor 15:12-20)

V. 5 - “Perseverance and encouragement” - These words are repeated (verses 4 and 5). Hope and praise. Hope for us, and praise for Jesus Christ. God gives us the strength to go on when faced with trials and persecution, and builds us up at the same time.

“grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus” - God, through the Holy Spirit, gives us the perseverance and encouragement to withstand the attacks from Satan upon the believer. The ‘same mind’ is not urging ‘uni-think’ or ‘hive-mind’ type of surrendering self. We are not little robots, all programmed the same, obeying the imprinted commands. “Love one another” is the same mind Paul is urging. (See: John 13:34-35, 15:12, 17; Rom 12:10, 13:8; Gal 5:3; Eph 4:2; 1 Thes 3:12, 4:9; 2 Thes 1:3; Heb 10:24; 1 Pet 1:22, 4:8; 1 John 3:23, 4:7, 11-12; 2 John 1:5)

Why? Because God first loved us! (John 3:16; Rom 5:8; 1 John 3:1, 4:19)

V. 6 - “so that with one accord“ - That we all may sing out, “Praise the Lord!” And it will go on forever! (See: Rev 4:8-11, 5:8-10)

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Romans 15:1-3 - Don’t Work to Please Yourself

Outline Romans 15
15:1-3 - Not to please self
15:4-6 - God gives perserverance
15:7-13 - Praise among Gentiles
15:14-21 - Paul’s ministry
15:22-29 - Paul’s journey
15:30-33 - Strive with me

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1 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.
2 Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification.
3 For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, "THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU FELL ON ME."

B.O.L.O.

V. 1 - “Now we who are strong” - This verse emphasizes the principle Paul has been preaching in the preceding verses (Rom 14:1-23). The focus is on the well-being of those around you, rather than yourself. (See: Phil 2:3-4) Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luk 19:10) He humbled Himself, became a human, and died in order for those who believe may live eternally. (Phil 2:5-8)

“Bear the weaknesses...” - For example: If it does not bother you to eat meat, and you know your friend is offended by the same - Don’t eat meat when you are eating with them. This is not saying that either eating meat or not eating meat is better or worse than the other.

V. 2 - “Each of us is to please his neighbor” - Be on the lookout (“B.O.L.O.”) for your fellow believers. Be confident that your behavior won’t lead them to doubt their faith or commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ!

V. 3 - “For even Christ did not please Himself“ - Jesus became a human for us, in order to accomplish God’s grander purpose for us. He said, “My Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will." (Matt 26:39) This verse ends with a quote from Psa 69:9. God’s judgement against sin fell upon the one and only sinless person. If people are offended by me as a believer, then God’s reputation is besmirched. May it never be! If my behavior causes another believer, or someone interested in God’s message of salvation, to question their belief or to reject Jesus. Shame on me! May it never be!

The psalmist says it best: “Let none who rely on you be disgraced because of me, O sovereign LORD and king! Let none who seek you be ashamed because of me, O God of Israel!” (Psa 69:6)
Another side of this quote is that those who hate God and Jesus will express their hatred and anger out on Christian believers. Persecution of Christians is similar to that which has followed that of the Jews. Persecution of believers is not the emphasis here, but disdain for Christ easily feeds the desire to denigrate Jesus and His followers. 

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