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8 Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: “For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, and sing to Your name.” 10 And again he says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!” 11 And again: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!” 12 And again, Isaiah says: “There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope.” ~ Romans 15:8-12
Today, we continue our study of Romans 15 where the Apostle Paul is nailing down the purpose of the book of Romans; that we might know what a servant of the Lord looks like in every day life. In context, the Apostle has been instructing us on how to be a servant to those with whom we disagree. But, these words in today's passage are applicable to any context that God has called us to.
In v.8-9 of today's passage we read, "8 Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: “For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, and sing to Your name.”
At the time that the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the church in Rome, the Jews held the Gentiles in contempt. In fact, they called them dogs. They would have nothing to do with them. The Jews even regarded it as sinful to go into a Gentile's house and they would never dream of eating a meal with a Gentile. They regarded them with utter contempt. And, of course, since the Jews felt that way about the Gentiles, the Gentiles returned the favor right back in kind. The Gentiles hated the Jews. This is where modern anti-semitism was born. These were opposing factions who hated one another, and would have nothing to do with one another.
This brings up a very important point: God holds us, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, responsible to love people, period. I have always struggled to understand those who say they are God's children and they have contempt in their hearts for sinners. Many in the church feel justified when they hate on groups that are different than they. Having experienced the grace and mercy of God for ourselves, we should be the very first to be gracious and merciful to everyone we meet, especially those who are not in the faith.
It is obvious this is why the Apostle wrote this letter. He wrote it to remind the believers in Rome of their incredible opportunity to offer something quite different to the unsaved. This is why the Apostle Paul wrote these words: "Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God."
"The circumcision" was another name for the Jews. And, the Lord healed the huge wound that existed between the Jews and the Gentiles by laying down His life and granting the Jew access to the truth of God and to confirm the promises that God had made to them so long ago.
From the very first promise that God uttered to Abraham, He had the Gentiles in mind for salvation as well. According to the Scriptures, the very reason why God called Abraham and the nation Israel was to form an earthly people through whom He could then send salvation and spiritual light to the Gentiles.
In v.10-12 of today's passage we read, "10 And again he says: 'Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!' 11 And again: 'Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!' 12 And again, Isaiah says: 'There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope.'"
In these verses the Apostle includes quotations from the Psalms, the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament whose writers all remind their readers that the answer to all of our problems, especially when we are at odds with other believers is to worship God. It was once said, "Praise is preoccupation with our blessings, prayer is preoccupation with our needs and worship is preoccupation with our God."
The idea that the Apostle is giving us here is this: Be so enamored with God that we worship Him. Worship is not something that we just do on Sunday morning, worship is ascribing worth to someone, and we ascribe worth to God best when we allow Him to define us most. And, our worship of God enables us to see the massiveness of His grace and mercy toward us. In so doing, our hearts will become so big for others that we embrace them as God has embraced us. Worship is not about us and our circumstances; worship is about God and who He is. Worship is essentially about being defined by Him and being His servant.
Our passage today ends with the word hope. The book with the third most references to hope in the Bible is this letter of Paul to the Romans. Without hope life is meaningless. We must all face it, we live in a very shaky and hopeless world. However, as people of incredible hope, we must cling to the God who has clung on to us through the cross of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The question is not, will God keep His promises, He has kept all of them as evidenced in today's passage. The question is, will we build our lives upon the God of the Bible and His promises? We choose to build our lives upon the promises of God because His Word is unbreakable. As a result, with our hope firmly placed in the God of the Bible, we love people as they are and we choose to be the servants of God.
