The Welcoming Arms of Christ in His Church

Introduction

There are two great ditches that the Church may fall into if not careful: heresy and schism. In reformed circles, we are very aware of heresy. We have the creeds and confessions, we teach the doctrines of Christ, the Trinity, and salvation in such a way as to avoid false teaching that leads us away from Christ. Many false gospels and false believers exist, and it is important that we strive for truth if we are to be saved.

But I fear that often our zeal against heresy has often had us fall into the opposite and equally dangerous error, which is schism. Schism is an ungodly divide and disunity in the Church. Historically, what is known as the Great Schism happened in 1054 AD and divided the Eastern Orthodox Church from the Roman Catholic Church. Both called each other heretics over the issue of the filioque as well as some other issues, such as whether communion should be taken with leavened or unleavened bread.

500 years later, Martin Luther the great protestant reformer questioned this schism. The filioque was the issue of whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from just the Father, or whether he proceeds from the Father and the Son. This question became a majour point in Luther’s argument for the reformation. How could someone be called a heretic and go to hell simply because of a difference in who the Spirit proceeds from. Does this issue really decide whether someone knows Christ and goes to heaven or whether they are eternally damned? He didn’t think so, and in time this lead him to the conviction that the Church of Christ does not exist in a human institution, such as the Roman papacy, but in those whose hearts believe the simple message of the Gospel.

Unfortunately today, many reformed protestants fall into the same trap. I have heard the word heresy thrown around much to liberally in our circles. False teaching is indeed a dangerous trap, but schism also poses a damning threat. We must seek the balance of avoiding both heresy and schism by emphasizing unity in the truth of the Gospel through true, Spirit-powered love.

Christ’s Mission to Israel

Paul has nearly reached the end of his letter. In fact, this passage and the next are the closing of the body of the letter. From there, Paul gives some personal updates and closes the letter with greetings to various saints in Rome.

How does Paul end such a great letter as the book of Romans? What concluding words does he have for us after so much theological depth?

In this book, the basic doctrines of the Gospel and their implications have been explained with clarity. We have seen God’s judgement on the rejection of general revelation by the gentiles and special revelation in God’s Word by the Jews. We have seen that this condemns all as sinners who are unable to truly love and obey God. This means that it is impossible to be saved by works, for no one does good works out of a true heart. However, faith in Christ is the justification of sinners to God. While under our father Adam we were born with a sinful nature, under the new Adam we are redeemed to life and to a new nature. We are thus saved by his grace through faith, just as Abraham was. This gift is not a result of works, but rather is a salvation apart from the law of works given by Moses. However, this does not mean Christians should keep sinning so that grace may abound. On the contrary, because we have been united with Christ both in his death and resurrection by faith, we are to give ourselves over to the will of God in the Holy Spirit he has given us. Those who truly know Christ will walk by the Spirit and not act as if they are still slaves to sin under the law, which awakens sin. Instead, we are slaves to righteousness in our unity with Christ.

But what about God’s covenant with the Jews? Did he abandon them? Not at all! Rather, he saved a remnant of the elect from among the Jews to establish the church; these would receive the promises of God with circumcised hearts while those whose hearts are not circumcised by faith are cut off from the promises just as uncircumcised Jews were cut off from Israel in the OT. However, there remains a way for them to be grafted back in if they repent. The Gentiles, then, are called to be grafted into the true people of God by faith, not circumcision and obedience to Jewish law. In this way, God is faithful despite the unfaithfulness of both Jew and Gentile so that no one may boast, and God’s promises to true Israel are kept.

The way this works out in the life of the Christian is a commitment to holiness, especially in love and service to one another as the true fulfillment of the law. We are not saved by works of the law, but salvation by grace through faith brings about a fulfillment of the purpose of the law since only then are we able to love the Lord with all our heart and love our neighbour as ourselves. This love for neighbour is demonstrated especially when there is disagreement in the church due to human weakness. Although Paul agrees with the strong Christians in the Church who know that they are free from food laws, he instructs them to bear with the weaknesses of those of weaker faith. They must take care that the freedom they have as a strong Christian does not cause them to trip up their weaker brothers, but rather they are to walk in humility and be willing to give up those freedom for love, though not for tyranny. This is practically how we walk in the Spirit: while the flesh seeks to satisfy itself, the Spirit lives in service to others.

Now as Paul draws all his arguments to a close, what will he finish with? Some great theological discourse? Some deep truth about justification? Some clarity on the nature of Law and Grace? I’m sure many sitting in stuffy seminaries wish it were so, but no. Paul begins his final discourse with these word: “Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

See the pastoral heart of the Apostle which he displays here with great wisdom. His goal was not to write a systematic theology book for the Seminary of Rome, but a letter of Christian instruction based on the truth of the Gospel for the Church of Rome. Speaking as an Apostle to the Gentiles, he urges both Jew and Gentile, both strong and weak, both meat eater and vegetarian, to welcome one another as Christ welcomes them. All are sinners, that is an anthropological truth, and sinners are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, than is a theological truth. When understood, we see that Christ’s attitude towards his people is one of love and welcoming. We are united to Christ in his death and resurrection, that is a theological truth. Therefore, as sinners saved by grace through faith unto unity with Jesus Christ, anyone who believes these things must welcome one another. As difficult as it may be, as unlovable as they may be, this is what walking in the Spirit looks like. This glorifies God.

To Show God’s Faithfulness

First, it glorifies God because it shows his faithfulness. Paul tells us that Jesus chose to submit himself to the rules and customs of Second Temple Jewish life to fulfill God’s faithful love to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and all other OT believers. Jesus needed to be a Jew in order to fulfill promises made thousands of years before. Christ fulfilled the law because he fulfilled the promises on which the law was founded, and he became a sacrifice for our unfaithfulness to God’s law.

Jesus was the salvation of Israel, the hope of the chosen people descended from Abraham. God was glorified in this way because he showed his hesed, his loving faithfulness to his promises and covenants so often spoken of in the OT.

To Be Glorified Among the Nations

But beyond this, God is also glorified in the Gospel coming to the nations of the world; the gentiles. The Greek word is ethnos which is where we get the word English word ethnicity. Christ came to fulfill God’s promises to Israel so that his glory may be seen among the Gentiles. Here Paul quotes various passages from the OT. It is clear that God’s purpose for Israel was not that the rest of the world would go to hell except them, but rather that through his promises to them God may be glorified among the nations of the world. The plan of God was always global missions, which Paul displays in quoting 2 Sam 22:50, Deut 32:43 in the LXX which is likely more accurate than the Masoretic text here which the ESV follows, Ps 117:1 (where the nations are told to praise the LORD specifically because of his faithful love), and Isaiah 11:10 again in the LXX.

The Power of the Spirit in a Welcoming Church

What is amazing is God fulfilling his promises to Israel benefits the nations, and this is exactly what Isaiah and the author of Psalm 117 were getting at. The Jewish Messiah benefits the Gentiles, and the salvation of the Gentiles benefits the Jews. This point, which Paul made back in chapter 11, is exactly why the church of Rome must not divide into Jewish and Gentile camps.

Verse 13 gives us the outcome of a church that welcomes one another in Christ, and that is a filling of joy and peace in our faith that leads to hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is not a random jumble of nice-sounding words; Paul is giving us the end of his desire for their unity. If they are loving and welcoming to one another, they will experience the love of Christ together in the unity of the Spirit. This brings about that power which gives us hope. Your unity with other Christians, Christians you disagree with or have a hard time getting along with, is the means by which God sustains us with joy and peace leading to hope. A church where people are welcoming because of the love of Christ is a church full of peace and joy, and this is used by the Holy Spirit to bolster our hope. We are not welcoming indiscriminately, but to those with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit uses a love formed by common unity to bring us hope.

The Third person of the Trinity is the one at work here, building up the church through love that is self sacrificial and focused on the good of others. He produces in us a heart that seeks the good of our fellow believer above our own.

This is the special office and role of the third person of the Trinity. Notice that nowhere in the NT is the Holy Spirit prayed to. It is not at the name of the Holy Spirit that every knee will bow. He is not the one seated at the right hand of the Father. Why is that? Because his role in the economy of the Trinity is to lift up the Name of Jesus to the glory of the Father.

Now think that this is the person of the Trinity who dwells in you; whose work is to lift up the glory of Christ and the Father. In no way is he lesser than them in glory, dignity, power, or divinity. Yet he serves meekly behind the scenes to lift them up. Is it any mystery, then, that Christians who are filled with the Spirit are to live in such a way towards one another? We see the image of the Father in our fellow human beings, we see the image of Christ in our fellow Christians, and will we lift up ourselves? Is this not a violation of the work of he who dwells in you? Just as Christ came not to do his will but the will of the Father, the Spirit came not to lift up his own holy Name but the Name of Jesus Christ. Can we, then, go against the Spirit’s work and lift up ourselves rather than our fellow Christians in whom we see the image of Father and Son?

Being a welcoming church is not often theologically based in our minds beyond a vague notion that we should be loving. However, friendliness after church isn’t necessarily love. Love lowers itself to see the person you love exalted. Love gives up our rights for the good of our brother or sister. Love forgives sins and endures wrong. Love seeks out ways to serve another person and sacrifices time and resources to accomplish that service. Love does not quarrel. Love puts more weight on serving the church than theological precision, although theology is vitally important! Love embraces the Arminian, the Presbyterian, the Lutheran, the Anglican, and anyone else who is a true follower of Jesus Christ despite important theological distinctions. Love is not boastful anymore than the Spirit does not boast of himself but rather boasts of the Son. Love suffers and endures. Love listens and empathizes; it weeps with those who weep rather than throwing quick-fix advice. Love warns and disciplines. Love gently and patiently corrects. Love hears correction without resentment or hardheartedness. Love excommunicates the wolves for the sake of the sheep. Love preaches boldly against false teachers and yet has tender patience with those who are weak in their faith. Love denies the flesh. Love takes up the cross. Love feeds the hungry and clothes the needy. Love shares the Gospel even when it is awkward and socially taboo. Love prays with urgency and fasting. Love is not something a Christian feels or even something a Christian does. Love is a way of living in which self-interest is set aside in order to show the compassion, tenderness, affections, and sacrifice of Christ. True faith in Christ, the faith of a disciples, produces hope in the unseen Kingdom as we saw this morning. That hope causes the Christian, by the Spirit, to embody the heart of Christ in love towards one another. To love in such a way is to be perfectly united with Christ, and it is to such lovers that Christ gives his Kingdom.

So, to be a welcoming church is simply to abide in love. If, after reading this wonderfully rich letter of theological truth, you are not motivated to love more, you have completely missed the point. Justification by grace through faith is the experience of God’s love. Walking in the Spirit rather than the flesh means walking in love for Christ and his people rather than love for self. The unity of Jew and Gentile in chapters 9-11 is mean to bring love between the two. In a word, the book of Romans is essentially a theology of Christian love.

Conclusion

But what does this love look like? How can we tell if we are a welcoming church? A welcoming church is full of welcoming, that is loving, people. So ask yourself, when was the last time showing love to a fellow member cost you something? I mean cost you something difficult, hard, something that made you feel the weight of the cross on your back? The reason that yoke is easy is because, once we embrace the yoke of the cross, an impossible weight for any in their own strength, we become free of worldly cares and worries and the presence of Christ makes such weight easy to bear. Still, love costs you something. The more it costs, the more loving it is. But the cost is not hard because great sacrifices done in true love from the heart is not felt because of the great hope and affection that fills the loving heart. Love must be exercised even where it is not returned, this is the essence of Jesus teaching to give to those who cannot repay. Someone leaves a church because they didn’t feel welcomed or loved. But did the dare to be the first to show such love? Perhaps their sacrifice of love would convict others to show the same love. Let our love as a church begin in our own hearts, in our affections and actions towards one another, based solidly on the truth that Christ loved us as gave himself up for us so that we may bear that same cross for others and for his great Name. In such an age as ours where the love of many grows cold, let us resolve that here, at Faith Baptist Church, there will be a warm refuge from the blizzard of hatred and alienation out in the world. In that way we may truly display the holiness, purity, and glory of the Kingdom of God and the compassionate heart of King Jesus.