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. 7 Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. ~ Romans 15:5-7
Today, we return to our study of Romans 15 where the Apostle Paul is instructing us about what it looks like for us to assume the role of the servant of the Lord. This just underscores that we can not be the servants to anyone else unless we are learning to be the servant of the Lord. In fact, the effectiveness of our servanthood is predicated upon the degree to which we are learning to be the servants of the Lord.
In v.5-6 of today's passage we read, "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."
Today's passage comes at the end of a section that deals with disagreement between the strong and the weak. At this point the Apostle Paul teaches us a very important principles that is a huge part of the solution needed. He teaches us this principle by praying. He prays that since our God is the God of patience and comfort, and as we encounter friction with other believers, we must rely on God through prayer for the solution. The word translated "patience" can also be translated "endurance." And, the word translated "comfort" is better translated "encouragement."
These two qualities along with others are what are needed in order to resolve the conflicts which arise among believers who disagree from time to time. And, we must be given to prayer for these qualities to triumph in the context of our disagreements. When we depend upon our human resources we miss the culture of God which is what is needed in order to deal with the problem. When we depend upon our human resources we find ourselves not equal to the task. The self life in this case is way to inept for the task at hand.
It is only when we depend upon the God of endurance and encouragement that we know the victory the Lord Jesus garnered for us at the cross. The goal of the Apostle's prayer here is harmony among believers who are encountering differences among themselves. Among other characteristics of the Lord Himself, these two qualities cause our sanctification to progress. And, unlike our justification, our sanctification is the process whereby the Lord is changing our souls which are made up of our minds, wills and emotions.
In v.7 of today's passage we read, "Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God."
Part of our sanctification is dealing with our unredeemed flesh. Coupled with a theology that will never be perfect this side of heaven, we must be on the lookout of justifying an incorrect theology. When we have a warped understanding of our sanctification, we believe that it is about a better us. When this is the case, we do not give hope to others. In fact, the opposite happens. As we present to people a life that is perfect and without problems, they wonder why their lives are so messed up. And in reality, we are all in the same boat. Our hope only comes from a Savior who has rescued us, and is rescuing us on a day by day basis. As we allow others to peer into our broken and flawed lives, and they see the Savior at work, it is then that they gain hope. Light only shines through the cracked crevices of our lives.
In Romans 1:16-17 we find the thesis statement for the whole book of Romans. It reads, "16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'"
The goal of this prayer by the Apostle is unity among believers who disagree on an issue so that God would be glorified. Clearly the basis of our acceptance of one another is the fact that while we were the enemies of God, He chose to enter our world in order to redeem us. Augustine once said, "The cross was a pulpit in which Christ preached his love to the world."
The Greek word for "receive" includes the idea of friendship, of acceptance. Often we are not moved to exhibit such teaching because typically our lives reflect a ladder-centered version of the Christian faith rather than a cross-centered one. Chad Bird once framed up this idea well when he said, "One rung at a time, we ascend from being immoral to moral, bad to good, unholy to holy. The closer we climb to Jesus on the cross-ladder, the more he blesses us. All he asks is that we give it our best shot."
On the other hand, the grace of God moves us to cry out for more grace because it enables us to see that we are the most needy of all. And, it is from this posture, the posture of a grateful servant that we love others for who they are rather than what they can do for us. If we think somehow that we earn God's favor, it will be subtly embedded in us to require others to perform in such a way for us to accept them naturally. This is why the work of God's grace is so important in our lives. We must be careful to not put limits on God's grace in our lives because it will be reflected in the way we treat others, especially those with whom we disagree.
