Romans 15:1-13 Study

Verses 1-6

After his chapter on honoring your weaker-in-faith brothers and sisters in Christ, Paul is going to adjust course to what is his overall prayer, hope, and desire for the Roman church: unity. Not just unity, but harmony. Paul wanted to see this church explosive for the Gospel. So this chapter is dedicated to unity in the church. He begins by addressing the stronger brothers and sisters in the church:

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 15

Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves. 2 Each one of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

This is an obligation on our part. We must bear the weaknesses of those who are weak. But he doesn’t stop there. Paul doesn’t stop at addressing what we need to do, he then goes on to our intentions behind it. We cannot be bearing the weaknesses of those who are weak in faith for ourselves.

Yes, this is possible. Anything can be done for the sake of pride, to show off our “righteousness.”

When you bear the weaknesses of your brother, do so gently, lovingly, and quietly. This is not for others to know so that you can look good. Paul tells us to please our neighbor for our neighbor’s good to build him up. This is not for us.

Then Paul points to our example, our measure of faith, Christ and how He did this too.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 15

For even Christ did not please himself. On the contrary, as it is written, The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me., 4 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.

He says it bluntly: Christ did not please Himself. Jesus’s entire life and three years of ministry, He did almost nothing to please Himself. He poured out and poured out and poured out. Paul then quotes Psalm 69 that says because the zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those reproaching you have fallen on me.

David is writing about how he is bearing the insults of the Lord on himself because he loves the Lord. Paul quotes it saying that Jesus Himself bore the insults of His Father on Himself. He lives His life only seeking to please His Father. Paul is saying that we as well must be willing to bear the insults of others, namely our Lord Jesus.

He then gives us good instruction regarding the Old Testament:

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 15

4 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.

This Psalm where David spoke of bearing God’s insults on himself was written to encourage us to endure and press on. The Scriptures provide that encouragement for us, even when it is confusing. We should always look for the encouragement in the Scriptures for us, as God intends to encourage us with it.

Paul finishes this first section by saying a prayer, a benediction, for the Roman church:

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 15

5 Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice.

These are Paul’s two main desires for the church:

They live in harmony as a church

They glorify God together

People can be unified on a sinful premise. Paul wants their unity to be grounded in giving glory to their Creator. He sees this as the most important part of the church. If the church is failing at being unified under Christ, then the church is not functioning as it should. Something is certainly off with their congregation.

Verses 7-13

And so, Paul presses further into his desire for the Roman church to glorify God together and live harmoniously. In this section he will speak more to the Jews about the Gentiles, as the Jews were likely still having a lot of trouble being unified with these Gentiles.

He first implores the church to welcome one another.

Remember, this church had just undergone some major change. It was mostly occupied by Jewish Christians. But then the emperor saw the Jews as the problem with much of the unrest in Rome, so he removed them all. This left the church of Rome empty, only to be filled with believing Gentiles. So the Gentile church grew and grew within Rome until a few years later when that Emperor died and the Jewish Christians came back. This led to a very confused church filled with Jews and Gentiles who did not particularly like one another.

In response to this, Paul says that they need to welcome one another! And once again we see an example of Christ:

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 15

7 Therefore welcome one another, just as Christ also welcomed you, to the glory of God. 8 For I say that Christ became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises to the fathers, 9 and so that Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy.

Jesus Christ, the Lord over all things, welcomed us into His presence. He went further and blessed us by dwelling within us. He is our example, we must imitate Him.

But Paul says more then about Christ’s purposes. He says that Jesus was a servant of the Jews for the sake of God’s truth.

What does this mean? This is simply how God brought Christ about. He was a Jew Himself. Him coming as a Jew fulfilled prophecies from the Scriptures.

Ultimately, though, we see Christ came so that Gentiles may be saved as well. Paul says Gentiles being saved fulfills Scripture. He then gives four examples:

Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles, and I will sing praise to your name.

This verse is either from 2 Samuel 22:50 or Psalm 18:49. Both of which were from David, so either way David said it. David stated that he would glorify God among the nations. This was not just Jews, but all the peoples of the world!

2. Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people

At the end of Moses’s life, he sang a beautiful song praising God and at the end of the song he sings of nations, jew and Gentile, singing together, rejoicing, in their salvation from the Lord

3. Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let the peoples praise Him

In one of the shortest Psalms, the psalmist wrote that all the peoples, all the nations, all the Gentiles will praise the Lord.

4. The root of Jesse will appear, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; the Gentiles will hope in Him

This is a prophecy of the Messiah coming from the line of Jesse aka David’s dad. Isaiah prophesies that the Gentiles will be ruled by the Messiah and they will hope in Him.

Something interesting to note here is that all the original texts Paul is quoting actually say “nations” in Hebrew but Paul says the word for Gentiles in the Greek instead. He is trying to emphasize that these prophecies are not just about a certain nation, but all nations: Jew and Gentile.

And Paul finishes this section with yet another prayer, or benediction, for the Roman church:

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 15

13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

A few things to note from this benediction:

Our God is a God a HOPE

God can fill us with joy and peace

Hope comes from the Holy Spirit