Welcome One Another
Life Together in the Family of God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 43:47
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Text: Romans 15:1–7
Last week we began this series with the words of Jesus:
“Love one another.”
That is the foundation.
But love is never meant to remain an idea. Biblical love always finds expression. It does something. It moves toward people. It makes room for people.
And that brings us to the command before us today.
Romans 15:7 says:
7 Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.
There is the whole sermon in one verse.
Receive one another.
That is the command.
Just as Christ also received us.
That is the pattern.
To the glory of God.
That is the purpose.
And if we understand those three things, we will understand what Christian fellowship is supposed to look like.
Now when Paul says, “receive one another,” he is talking about far more than shaking somebody’s hand in the foyer.
You can shake a hand without opening your heart.
You can say, “We are glad you are here,” without ever making room for that person in your life.
The word Paul uses carries the idea of taking someone to yourself, accepting them into fellowship, bringing them near.
In other words, Paul is saying:
Do not keep at arm’s length the people Christ has brought near.
And that was especially important in Rome because the church was dealing with real differences among believers.
Romans 14 and 15 describe tension between believers Paul calls the strong and the weak.
Some believers understood their freedom in Christ.
Others still had sensitive consciences concerning certain foods and certain days.
One believer could eat with a clear conscience.
Another could not.
One regarded a certain day as significant.
Another regarded all days alike.
Now these were not disagreements about whether Jesus was Lord.
They were not disagreements about the resurrection.
They were not disagreements about salvation by grace.
These were matters of conscience.
And yet secondary matters were threatening primary fellowship.
That still happens.
Sometimes the greatest threat to church unity is not false doctrine.
Sometimes it is believers turning preferences into principles, opinions into absolutes, and personal convictions into tests of fellowship.
Paul says, in effect:
“Do not let what is secondary divide those whom Christ has united.”
And he begins in verse 1:
1 We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
The first truth is this:
MATURITY MAKES ROOM FOR WEAKNESS
MATURITY MAKES ROOM FOR WEAKNESS
Paul says:
“We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak.”
Notice something.
Strength brings responsibility.
Paul does not say:
“If you are strong, prove how strong you are.”
He does not say:
“If you understand Christian liberty, flaunt your liberty.”
He says:
If you are strong, help carry somebody who is not.
That is spiritual maturity.
There is a great difference between knowing more and being mature.
A person can know theology and still be impatient.
A person can quote Scripture and still be proud.
A person can understand Christian liberty and still use that liberty selfishly.
Maturity is not simply what you know.
Maturity is what you do with what you know.
Paul says the strong are to bear with the weak.
That word has the idea of carrying a burden.
It is not reluctant toleration.
It is patient support.
The mature Christian does not stand at a distance and say:
“Why can’t they get over this?”
The mature Christian says:
“How can I help them grow?”
That is what grace does.
There are people in every church at different stages of spiritual growth.
Some have been walking with Christ for fifty years.
Some were saved fifty days ago.
Some have been through deep trials.
Others are only beginning to learn how to trust God when life hurts.
Some have learned to distinguish biblical commands from personal convictions.
Others are still learning.
And Paul says:
Make room for growth.
Now that does not mean truth changes.
Truth never changes.
It does not mean sin is excused.
Sin is still sin.
It means we understand that sanctification is a process.
We do not demand that every believer be at the same place at the same time.
There is a difference between compromise and patience.
Compromise says:
“Truth does not matter.”
Patience says:
“Truth matters so much that I am willing to walk with you while you learn it.”
Then Paul adds:
“And not to please ourselves.”
There is the real issue.
Self.
Many church conflicts wear theological clothing, but underneath them you sometimes find a very simple problem:
I want what I want.
I want my way.
I want my preference.
I want things arranged around me.
But Christianity is not the enthronement of self.
It is the denial of self.
Jesus said:
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
The church is not built around the question:
“What pleases me?”
It is built around the question:
“What pleases Christ?”
And if Christ is pleased when I surrender a preference in order to help a weaker brother, then maturity says:
“I will surrender the preference.”
Now understand carefully what Paul is not saying.
He is not talking about compromising doctrine.
We do not surrender biblical truth for the sake of peace.
There are hills worth dying on.
But every hill is not Calvary.
There are matters on which Scripture has spoken clearly, and we stand without apology.
But there are other matters where faithful Christians may differ.
The mature believer learns to know the difference.
If we make every preference a doctrine, we will divide over everything.
If we make every doctrine a preference, we will stand for nothing.
The church needs conviction without contentiousness.
Truth without arrogance.
Strength with tenderness.
That is maturity.
Then Paul moves to verse 2:
2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.
Here is the second truth:
LOVE SEEKS THE OTHER PERSON’S GOOD
LOVE SEEKS THE OTHER PERSON’S GOOD
Paul is not teaching people-pleasing.
He tells us plainly what he means:
“For his good, leading to edification.”
The word edification means building up.
It comes from the language of construction.
So here is a good question to ask about every relationship in the church:
Am I helping build this person up, or am I tearing this person down?
That question reaches our words.
Our tone.
Our attitude.
Our criticism.
Our conversations.
Our reactions.
Before I say something, I should ask:
Will this build?
Before I repeat something, I should ask:
Will this build?
Before I insist on my preference, I should ask:
Will this help my brother or sister become more like Christ?
That is the biblical goal.
You see, church changes when we stop asking:
“What did I get out of it?”
And start asking:
“What did I put into someone else?”
Imagine if every member came to church on Sunday morning thinking:
“Who needs encouragement today?”
“Who looks discouraged?”
“Who is standing alone?”
“Who has been through a hard week?”
“Who can I pray with?”
“Who can I build up?”
That is church.
Church is not an audience gathered around a platform.
Church is a body caring for its members.
It is a family strengthening its own.
And then Paul gives us the supreme example.
Verse 3 says:
3 For even Christ did not please Himself;
That little word “even” is powerful.
Even Christ.
If anyone had the right to be served, it was Jesus.
If anyone had the right to demand comfort, it was Jesus.
If anyone had the right to say, “This is beneath Me,” it was Jesus.
But what did He do?
He came as a servant.
Mark 10:45 says:
45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
There is our pattern.
The Christian life is not shaped by the throne of self.
It is shaped by the cross of Christ.
When self says:
“Hold on to your rights,”
the cross says:
“Lay them down for the good of another.”
When self says:
“Make them accommodate you,”
the cross says:
“Serve them.”
When self says:
“Why should I put up with this?”
the cross says:
“Remember how patient Christ has been with you.”
And that brings us to the heart of this passage.
5 Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul is praying for unity.
But notice the kind of unity he is describing.
He is not describing uniformity.
There is a difference.
Uniformity says:
“Everybody must look alike, think alike, talk alike, and prefer the same things.”
Biblical unity says:
“We may differ in secondary things, but we are one in Christ.”
You can tie two cats together by their tails and throw them over a clothesline, but you have not created unity.
You have created union.
Biblical unity is something deeper.
It comes when believers are centered upon Jesus Christ.
When Christ is small in our thinking, our preferences become enormous.
But when Christ becomes great in our thinking, many of our differences begin to look very small.
That is why Paul says:
“According to Christ Jesus.”
Jesus is the center.
Jesus is the standard.
Jesus is the reason we belong together.
And what happens when a church becomes united around Christ?
Verse 6 says:
6 that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now we have reached the goal.
Not our comfort.
Not our reputation.
Not even our fellowship for fellowship’s sake.
The glory of God.
The reason unity matters is because God is glorified when redeemed people worship Him together.
Think about what the church is.
Different backgrounds.
Different generations.
Different personalities.
Different histories.
Different strengths.
Different weaknesses.
Yet one Lord.
One faith.
One Savior.
One gospel.
One family.
And with one mouth we praise one God.
That is not human organization.
That is gospel transformation.
Then Paul brings everything together in verse 7:
7 Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.
And here is the final truth:
GRACE RECEIVES AS CHRIST RECEIVED US
GRACE RECEIVES AS CHRIST RECEIVED US
Paul does not simply say:
“Be friendly.”
He says:
“Receive one another, just as Christ also received us.”
Now that raises the most important question in the passage.
How did Christ receive us?
Did Christ receive us after we cleaned ourselves up?
No.
Did Christ receive us because we deserved it?
No.
Did Christ receive us because we were spiritually impressive?
No.
Romans 5:8 says:
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Christ received sinners.
Christ received the guilty.
Christ received people who could not make themselves worthy.
He received us by grace.
And Paul says:
That is how you are to receive one another.
Now bring that into the church.
When someone walks through those doors, we should not first ask:
“Are they like me?”
“Do they dress like me?”
“Do they have my background?”
“Do they understand how we do things?”
There ought to be something in the heart of this church that says:
“There is room here for you to hear about Jesus.”
“There is room here for you to ask questions.”
“There is room here for you to grow.”
And if you belong to Christ:
“There is room here for you in this family.”
And church, there is a difference between being friendly and being welcoming.
A friendly church says:
“Good morning.”
A welcoming church says:
“Come sit with me.”
A friendly church shakes a hand.
A welcoming church learns a name.
A friendly church notices a visitor.
A welcoming church makes room for them.
A friendly church says:
“Glad you came.”
A welcoming church says:
“How can I help you belong?”
That is the difference.
We must be careful that church does not become a collection of circles so tight that nobody else can get in.
Longtime members with longtime members.
Young families with young families.
Older adults with older adults.
And newcomers left standing on the edge.
The gospel breaks those walls down.
The church ought to be one of the few places where a teenager can know an eighty-year-old saint.
Where a young family can learn from an older couple.
Where widows are family.
Where singles are family.
Where people from completely different backgrounds can sit at the same table and call one another brother and sister.
Why?
Because the thing that unites us is greater than the things that distinguish us.
Jesus Christ received us.
Now let me add something important.
Welcoming people does not mean affirming everything about them.
Jesus welcomed sinners, but He never affirmed sin.
Grace is not permission to remain unchanged.
Grace brings us to Christ, and Christ transforms us.
So a biblical church should have two things open at the same time:
Open arms and an open Bible.
We say:
“Come.”
But we also say:
“Come to Christ.”
We welcome people where they are.
But we love them too much to tell them they can stay where they are.
That is grace and truth.
That is Christlike welcome.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
Let me bring this down to one personal question.
Is there room in your life for another believer?
Not just someone who is easy to love.
Not just someone your age.
Not just someone with your personality.
Not just someone who agrees with you on everything.
Is there room for someone who is still growing?
Someone who needs patience?
Someone who may need your encouragement?
Someone who may never be able to do anything for you in return?
Because that is how Christ received us.
We brought Him nothing but our sin.
And He gave us everything.
He gave His life.
He bore our judgment.
He rose from the grave.
And through repentance and faith, He receives sinners into the family of God.
That is the gospel.
And if Christ has opened His arms to us, how can we keep our arms closed to one another?
Last week Jesus said:
Love one another.
Today Paul tells us what love does:
Love makes room.
Love bears with weakness.
Love builds up.
Love lays down self.
Love pursues unity.
Love receives others the way Christ received us.
So here is the word for The Ridge today:
Make room.
Make room in your pew.
Make room at your table.
Make room in your schedule.
Make room in your prayers.
Make room in your life.
And most of all, make room in your heart for the brothers and sisters Christ has placed around you.
Because when a church receives one another the way Christ received us, something wonderful happens.
The strong help the weak.
The lonely find family.
The newcomer finds a place.
The growing believer finds patience.
And together, with one mind and one mouth, we glorify God.
“Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.”
May that be true of us.
May we be a church with an open Bible, open hearts, and room for one another.
And may God receive all the glory.
