Romans 15 reminds me that a good father gives his son the confidence to walk away from a foolish fight. Conviction, knowledge and experience produce assurance; that certainty allows us to turn the other check to insults while standing firm against attack. There are things that are worth fighting to protect, but too many battles are escalated because of pride. Today’s chapter is about seeking peace. Paul continues his lesson on yielding. “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves”. This strength implies helping to carry the load. It is a humble, controlled restraint “for their good, to build them up”. Not with false flattery, but with true concern for the other person. Real strength does not need to put others down. Paul explains “Christ did not please Himself” and we are to follow that example. Scripture was “written to teach… that through endurance … we might have hope”. That is, unwavering trust that God will keep His promises. Paul prays for the weary, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude”. Endurance to ignore taunts in order to demonstrate His excellence. Paul notes that our strength comes from our unified purpose. Not boasting in ourselves, but “with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father”. Unity in Gratitude is an uplifting thing.
This leads to the central focus of Paul’s ministry, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God”. I came to Christ fully aware of my past. God accepted my prayer and forgave my sins. I received His unrestrained mercy and I am to extend that same mercy to others. I did not have to earn God’s favor. The promise of atonement that was given to the Jews was completed in Christ, “that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy”. His mercy allows me to see past the pain in others and offer hope. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him”. Friend, are you still lacking peace?
The chapter closes with a message for those without the benefit of having a good father at home. Spending time in God’s Word makes us more like Him. As a result, Paul tells these believers “you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another”. So many are full of rage because something is missing. They lash out and blame in reaction. Paul’s solution is to point people to the Savior. Paul’s message is clear; I am to extend grace “because of the grace God gave me”. Paul took this message of hope into the Gentile world, “so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit”. For more than twenty years Paul lead “the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done”. It takes time to invest in other people. Forgiveness is free, but maturity continues to learn. Paul could have stayed comfortably in Jerusalem with his fellow Jewish believers, but he explains the heart of a missionary; “my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation”. Paul explains that he is now returning to Jerusalem with an offering from the Gentiles. “For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings”. God’s grace unifies, and it also freely gives back. Paul’s greatest joy was in seeing those he mentored grow and prosper. He became a spiritual Father to many, and he ends his letter expressing the desire to join them again; “that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed”. My friend, is it time to stop fighting and seek peace? I can tell you with confident assurance that you too will be refreshed if you seek forgiveness from the Giver of mercy. “The God of peace be with you all. Amen”.