Lesson 60: Romans 16:1-16

For 9 years I taught Science and Bible in a Private Christian Middle School. One of my responsibilities was to produce a helpful and accurate report card for each student at the end of every quarter of the School year. The academic part was no problem. I just averaged out the grades. However, when it came to the behavior part of the card, that was the real challenge. Students and parents would be personally influenced by the comments I made. It was important to be helpful as well as honest about shortcomings as well as strengths.

I was taught by our very gifted Principle to take a positive approach. When there were problems, we were told to point out what should be worked on, rather than just pointing out the things that were wrong. He also wanted us to find some positive behavior in each student to commend. With most of our students there were obvious strengths that could be encouraged. With some it was more of a challenge. Contrary to the common belief among students, teachers often have a sense of humor. In the privacy of the sanctum called the “teacher’s lounge” they imagined comments for some students along the lines of, “He makes spit-wads very well,” “Her insults toward others are amazingly creative,” or “Her concentration upon her task is so well developed that my attempts to teach do not seem to distract her from talking with her friends during class.”

Aside from a few attempts at humor, we accepted the policy as a serious challenge, not to be taken lightly. The Principle of our school supplied us with a list of Christian traits, fruits of the Holy Spirit, and commendable attributes to help us. It took thought, but we worked on it, we started to see some things we had been overlooking. We discovered that in some of those stubborn students were deep convictions and determination that needed directing rather than punishing. Some with problems submitting to authority may have had some basic skills that needed to be redirected and put to use in a more productive way. Some had leadership potential, or the ability to take a healthy critical look at things to make needed improvements. In some cases we got very nice responses from parents who perhaps saw the first positive and encouraging behavioral words on a report card they had seen in a very long time.

As an added dimension to the challenge this had to be done for every report card, for every student, 4 times every year. A teacher could not just write the same thing every time. Teachers started to look more carefully for the things God was doing in the lives of their students every day. The result was quite helpful to us as teachers, and encouraging to the students.

In Romans 16 we see examples of God at work in the lives of individual believers. Paul had taken notice of good things in others. He was not just wrapped up in his own work.

Romans 16:1, “I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea,”

By commending her, the Apostle was affirming that she had been a valuable and trustworthy person to him. He thought of her as a sister both to himself and to the Christians at Rome. He meant “sister” in the spiritual sense of being part of God’s redeemed family. Our union together in Christ is the single greatest thing we can have in common in this temporary world where we are called to live.

He calls her a servant of the church at Cenchrea (Κεγχρεαι). It was the port city of Corinth on its West side. Since Paul was in Corinth when he wrote this letter to the Romans, it is reasonable to think that Phoebe was the one who carried this letter to Rome for Paul.

In Cenchrea she was known as a servant of the church. The word translated as “servant” here is diakonon (διακονον), a form of the word also used for the office of Deacon. Some have assumed that she was an ordained Deacon or Deaconess. There is no evidence supporting that here. The word simply means one who serves. The word also became the title of the formal office of Deacon. Similarly, the ordinary word for any elderly person [presbuteros (πρεσβυτερος)] came to be used in a special sense for the ordained office of Elder.

The word “diakonos” was the one commonly used at that time for a person who served others. Paul used this word to describe Jesus as a servant to the circumcision in Romans 15:8. Others are often said to be servants in various ways using this same term.

When Jesus ended the Old Testament office of the Levites by his own sacrifice on the cross, God established the formal office of Deacon to carry out the priestly work of overseeing and distributing care to the needy.

In Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus he lays out the qualifications for office making it clear that ordained offices imply an element of headship and leadership in the areas where they function in the church, therefore they are specifically to be held by males in the church. In both Testaments, headship in the church was restricted to men. The restriction was not because men were better or more able. It was to represent the principle of Christ’s headship over the church as Paul pointed out concerning the role of male headship in Ephesians 5:22-33. Those who use Phoebe as the reason why women should be ordained to the office of Deacon read more into this passage than is really there. There is no indication that the reference here is to an ordained office in the church.

Women do have a place of special service in the church, but a person does not need to be ordained to do that. Lydia appears to have been the leader of a prayer circle, probably a group of devoted women. Phoebe clearly was recognized by the church as a valuable servant in some special sense. Women were specially set aside to minister to other women’s needs. The Bible never mentions any females being ordained as church officers.

Titus 2:3-5 explains that the more spiritually mature women of the church are expected to carry out specific duties. Paul wrote, “the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things — that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.”

It is a tragic error to limit important Christian service to those holding an ordained office. All believers (women, men, and children) have a duty to serve diligently. It demeans the whole idea of every-member service in God’s Kingdom to imagine that a person who serves must be ordained. Those ordained are there as leaders in service as well as being doers of Christ’s work. The concept of ordination means a granting of church recognized authority in some particular area of Kingdom work. I respectfully disagree with those who defend ordaining women to the office of Deacon. To redefine the office and the process of ordination as something less than officially recognized headship in some area of church work, is to redefine those terms so that they have different meanings than the way they were used in Scripture.

Romans 16:2, “that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also.”

The church was to welcome Phoebe in a manner worthy of those clothed in the righteousness of Christ. All those redeemed are properly called saints. They were to accept her into the Roman congregation as a believer. They were to extend hospitality to her as a new person in a new community, and they were to aid her in whatever business she has to do there in Rome. To stir them to deep gratitude and respect, he told them how she had helped many including Paul himself.

Romans 16:3-5a, “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house. …”

Paul introduces us here to a wonderful Christian married couple who had worked with him. Priscilla and Aquila had been through a lot in recent years. They were among the Jews expelled from Rome by Emperor Claudius (Acts 18:2). In fleeing Rome, and by God’s providence, they settled in Corinth. There they met the Apostle Paul when he came there on his second missionary journey. They had something special in common with Paul, they were also tent-makers. They provided the Apostle a place to stay in their home while he was there. When Paul left Corinth to sail to Ephesus, Priscilla and Aquila moved there with him. It may have been there during the riots that they risked their lives for Paul.

When the Paul moved on they stayed in Ephesus. There they helped Apollos learn about Jesus, that he was the Messiah he had been expecting. When Paul returned to Ephesus he stayed more than two years with Aquila and Priscilla. At that time a church was meeting at their house (1 Corinthians 16:19).

When Paul wrote this letter to the Romans he was back in Corinth at the end of his 3rd journey. Priscilla and Aquila were back living in Rome and again had a church meeting in their house. So he commended these two to the Roman believers for their faithful and dedicated service.

Notice the qualities that Paul regarded highly in them.

Romans 16:5b-10, “… Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ. Greet Mary, who labored much for us. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. Greet Apelles, approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus.”

Andronicus and Junia are both male names. Paul calls them his “countrymen” or “kinsmen”. We do not know if they were actual relatives, or just that they were Jews as he was (as he used the term in 9:3) who specially acted as family to him. He calls them fellow-prisoners, but we cannot be sure which time they were in jail with him. Evidently they were looked upon by the Apostles as having an outstanding character. Paul mentions that they had become believers in Christ even before he did.

Curiously Paul mentions those of the house of Aristobulus, but does not greet Aristobulus directly. Some have speculated that he might have died, or was not there in Rome at the time. Some suspect that though his household had become believers, Aristobulus had not. We do not know. It is one of those unimportant but curious comments in the Bible.

Romans 16:11-13, “Greet Herodion, my countryman. Greet those who are of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, who have labored in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis, who labored much in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.

Rufus is called, “chosen in the Lord.” Few take the word “chosen” in the sense of God’s decree of election to save him from his lost condition. All those in this list were of the elect of the Lord. Perhaps he means chosen for special work as the word was used in Mark 15:21 in the sense that Simon of Cyrene was chosen for a special duty, to carry the cross of Jesus to Calvary. Simon there was the father of men named Alexander and Rufus. The name “Rufus” was not uncommon. Mark’s Gospel (believed written from Rome shortly after Romans) is the only Gospel that includes this information, so there could be a connection there. The Mother of Rufus had been motherly toward Paul, perhaps showing special care for him.

Romans 16:14-15,”Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren who are with them. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.”

Romans 16:16, “Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you.”

Before you get too alarmed about required kisses being exchanged, it is important to recognize a cultural reference as opposed to a cross-cultural mandate. The holy kiss is not a common practice in most American churches today. In our culture a kiss usually shows the more intimate love of a family or of a romantic partner. In some cultures, a kiss is a more general greeting like our handshake or friendly hug. In many early churches the members kissed one another as a regular greeting. It is still common in some other cultures, but would be quite foreign to most of us in North America. The greeting-kiss was given on the cheek or neck, nothing physically intimate about it. Men greeted men, and women greeted women this way when they met or passed friends on the streets.

The principle being recommended is that we should greet one another in the warmest and most appropriate manner our culture understands. We should show a sincere concern and respect for those God brings across our path and particularly into our church fellowship and worship.

Paul then delivered a greeting from the churches with which he had been personally in contact. It is our duty to extend encouragement as broadly as we are able. This is why we work together with sister churches who share our confidence in God’s word and promises. We are a community, a family, united in faith by the love of Christ.

Notice the kinds of things on Paul’s list:

1. The Apostle was able to appreciate things God had done directly in their lives. These are the works of providence and grace. God had worked in their lives to bring them to trust fully in the work of the Savior. Paul appreciated their place in the family of Christ, and how God had brought them into his life.

2. He also appreciated the work the individuals had done for God’s Kingdom and for Christ’s People. These were things that evidenced spiritual maturity, a valuable display of God’s grace at work in them. This was seen in their unselfish help, outstanding service, even in tender motherly care. Some had labored hard hosting a church in their home, becoming prisoners with Paul, or risking their lives for the sake of the Apostle and the work of God’s Kingdom.

What was most memorable and important to him was not their good looks, sharp clothes, good business deals, sharp wit, humor, honorable titles, or whatever at that time was thought of as being just plain cool. Certainly these attributes and skills are not evil. It is in fact commendable to have them. But Paul took time to look beyond the most visible things to notice the special way God had either prepared them by providence, or had worked graciously in their hearts. He saw what most directly demonstrated God’s love and redemption in them.

These are the things that really last. They are what we really need in our friends, and should encourage in them. It is more important that our friends are believers in God’s provisions and promises, than that they have great talents, riches, or hold high offices. It is far more important that they serve the church and its members diligently, than that they dress well, have natural good looks, or hold graduate degrees. It is more important that they take risks for and stand by one another through all the difficulties that come along, than that they have a good sense of humor, or share some hobby or career skill.

Though every little talent, skill, and blessing is useful and important, Paul remembered most the things that promoted Christian fellowship and growth.

This is how we need to behave toward one another as friends in the Lord. We should be encouraging, supporting, faithful brothers and sisters. We need to be available to give comfort and help when it is needed. We should be willing to take risks for the sake of the work of Christ and the advancing of his Kingdom. We should each be ready to stand together for the faith revealed in Scripture.

Here is a little project to work on as you pray for one another. As you think about those in your life, or as you pray for needs that come along, think of a qualities God is producing in each person’s life that show these kinds of things Paul noted about those he mentions in Romans 16. Imagine you need to find an encouraging behavior or quality in each one for a church report card. Do you see evidence of God’s grace in their life? Do you see qualities you would like to encourage in them and improve in yourself?

Of course none of us is without human weaknesses. Human perfection is a quality limited to the deluded. Do not be distracted by awareness of your own shortcomings and faults, and do not let those of others blind you to how God may be at work in them and using them for his glory. If we fail to see this larger picture, the fault may not be in the person we are looking at. Perhaps we are not looking carefully to behold God at work in the other person’s life. How sad the lessons we miss when we fail to look. What will the others think when they come to your name and try to see Christ at work in your life? Perhaps this exercise will stir us all to pray more for these qualities to be seen in us, rather than prayers about the weather and often unimportant circumstances. By the power of the risen Christ in us, we ought to be carefully cultivating the qualities of Christ in us, and to notice God’s work in others as they grow in grace.

Perhaps it will also improve our joy in the way we greet one another. Maybe it will help us to be less concerned about what we get from one another in our fellowship, and more concerned about what we give by showing these qualities God has worked in us, and by noticing the valuable work of God in them.

(The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

Lesson 55: Romans 15:13

When I was growing up, in our house the last of October was never celebrated with gross horrors, monsters, and demonic characters. Thoughts of pagan celebrations and witchcraft were far from our minds.

It was the time of year when we got to dress up as our favorite characters or heroes. What costume we chose was more important than the candy we expected to collect. My mom loved to help us put the outfits together. She spent loving hours sewing them into shapes never intended for the garments we started with.

I remember when long underwear was dyed blue and accessorized with red shorts, red snow boots, a cape, and a large emblem bearing the letter “S” sewn on the chest. That night I became a grown up: Superman. Sometimes it was Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, George Washington, a spaceman (this was before they were astronauts), a soldier, a New York Yankee, a Canadian Mountie, the great King Arthur, and a few others I can’t remember any more. The nice thing was that after the night of gathering treats, the costume was available for play until we either wore it out or outgrew it.

Children generally love to dress up. It is fun to have a hero to admire, to want to be like that image, to learn to copy his heroic ways. This is why it is so important that parents supply good role models for children. Those offered in the media are not usually examples of admirable qualities.

It was most of all fun to imagine you are a grown up. To be able and free to do more things, things that seemed more important. Of course pretending does not make a child really mature. This superman still scraped his knees and elbows. This soldier still ran home for lunch when his mother called him. Until they actually aged and experienced certain things they were just pretending.

We all start out our spiritual lives as children in Christ who need to grow up. In our study of Romans 15, we have seen so far that we need to bear up the weaknesses of brothers in Christ who are not yet strong spiritually. Like Christ we need to humble ourselves for the spiritual benefit of others.

However, to be able to help others we need to be mature ourselves. We have a wonderful role model in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just knowing about him, and imagining ourselves able, does not make us like him.

There is more to spiritual maturity than good intentions, words, and outward actions. Like children playing at being grown ups, pretending does not make it so. There must be a true growth inwardly, not just a costume of religious words or behaviors.

Our needy brothers who are weak in faith need mature believers to guide them, not pretenders dressed up to make it look as if they are able to help.

Paul was able to invite believers to follow his example to the degree that he also modeled Christ. That example began with a heart made secure in the confidence of the gospel promises.

The characteristics we need to help others do not spring up in us in full maturity right away. Christian growth begins in spiritual childhood. It matures all through this earthly part of our lives. Paul ends this section by turning our attention to the source of our own spiritual growth:

Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

What wonderful things! Most of lost humanity tries desperately to get them. There are many fake substitutes and deceptive paths that only lead to frustrations. As God’s children, we know he promises that we can grow in these good things. However, they do not come from outward circumstances as so many think. They are inner attitudes that must begin in the heart if they are to bring true joy and peace.

As we appreciate the promises made to us in Christ, and the fellowship God has with his people, we can make these rare treasures our own possessions. The joy we have is a sincere delight. As Peter puts it in 1 Peter 1:8, “… yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”

The peace God gives is an inner contentment. Paul wrote in Phil 4:7 about “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.”

These are the things David rejoiced over in Psalm 4. He thanked God saying in verses 7-8, “You have put gladness in my heart, More than in the season that their grain and wine increased. I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.”

Paul prayed that believers might be filled with this joy and peace. God’s covenant promise is not just that we enjoy these a little bit. He wants his children to be filled up with them, to have them dominate their lives.

This is the process of maturity we ought to be experiencing as believers. When we have but a little joy and peace, we ought to confidently ask for more. We should seek God to so fill us that they crowd out the despair, the dreariness of hopeless living.

The world tries to fill its people with empty and unsatisfying things. It imagines that peace and joy come only when all is going smoothly, when there are no challenges, when they have all the material things they can imagine. However, those ways of finding joy are the junk food of the soul. Instead of nourishing us with healthy contentment, it does us harm.

When we put our hope in the outward offerings of this fallen world we are bound to have a joy and peace that fleetingly comes and goes. It does not really satisfy when it’s there. It is more a distraction from the distorted reality that holds us in its grip, than a confident blessing.

When Christ makes us holy by his grace, and satisfies our heart with his promises, we have a foundation for joy and peace that carries us through the hardest of times. As Psalm 16:11 says to God, “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Here Paul joins these blessings with believing.
Faith is the means God works in us so that we can grasp the promises we have in Christ. It is that assurance, that we are accepted as holy in our Savior, that brings this joy and peace. Our guilt is covered by the atonement of the Savior. By his work we are made right with the Sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all that is. The opposites of joy and peace offered by the world are irrational and unsatisfying. How can the redeemed not rejoice and rest in this promised peace of God?

Peter said, “… you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8-9).

These qualities, along with the righteousness we have in Christ, are the essence of God’s Kingdom. Romans 14:17 says, “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

By pursuit of these blessings we are rendered able to help the weak. The helper must abound in these qualities. Without them we are no example to the immature. We will lack the genuine tender spirit of patience that is most effective as a tool of God.

The false hope of the world is all wrapped up in mere probabilities and possibilities. All hope that is not of God is based upon deception and is illusory. That kind of hope is just an empty wish for things that might be. Hope becomes more of an empty dream than a real confident hope.

We in Christ have a certainty based upon an implanted confidence in a divine promise. It arises by grace from the implanted joy and peace of the redeemed soul. It is not based upon good circumstances or any moral innocence we have to achieve on our own. Rather, this hope may come to the most despondent or the most wicked. It may be expected in the midst of the greatest calamity. Hebrews 6:19 “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast …”

If you were to have been there to witness the plea of the pagan thief about to be crucified for his crimes, what hope could you have given him? How could anyone imagine that in his situation he might find joy and peace that day? But when God transformed his heart and he turned in faith to Jesus on the cross beside him, he heard those words, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

If this convicted criminal could be given such abounding hope in his situation, how foolish and immature it is for us to doubt that this too can be our portion in the common things that trouble us every day?

1 Peter 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

God is the author of all true hope. He alone brings hope out of despair. He shifts the circumstances from the outward to the inward, and blesses us by grace in our knowledge of his sovereign mercy and omnipotent love. Nothing can fail if God himself has pledged these graces to his children.

It shows the whole Trinity at work. The Father gives it by his certain and unfailing eternal decree. In fact, there is no true blessing that is not the sovereign gift of God. James 1:17 reminds us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

He gives this to his children by the power of the Holy Spirit. The hope that abounds from true joy and peace are among the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). This is not a natural attribute of fallen persons. This is a supernatural assurance. This hope abounds to those who are redeemed by the finished work of God the Son.

The one who made us and who redeems us is properly called the God of Hope.

As Paul prays here for his readers, it shows that this is a proper thing for us to pray in faith. David, when he had sinned and lacked the abounding of inner peace and joy, prayed in Psalm 51:12, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

David then asked to be a help to the weak, once he was made strong again. In verses 13 of that same Psalm he wrote, “Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.”

Paul does not leave us with vague theological ideas or goals that frustrate. He promises rewarding success by the power of the Holy Spirit. Only then can we be able to help the weak as explained in the previous section of this letter.

It is wrong to separate all the elements in this verse. They work together. Joy and peace come from God by the faith he implants when we are redeemed by Christ. This joy and peace abound toward hope, because the God of hope has saved us and revealed his promises to us. He indwells us by his Holy Spirit to keep these promises growing in our souls.

Our part is to strive with all effort and the means of grace praying earnestly to abound in this way, studying the promises and examples of spiritual life in his word, giving thanks in regular worship of the God who saved us, and encouraging those who struggle to help them to grow to be Christ-like too.

God’s promise is that he will grant joy, peace, and hope to those he redeems by grace through Christ.

When God grants to us even the least taste of joy and peace, we are obligated to remember to humbly thank him for his unmeasurable gift. If we give the glory to our circumstances we rob God of his honor, and put created things on our altar of worship, instead of the one true God.

Our maturity in Christ is not a game of dress up. We are not to pretend and be satisfied with the trappings of religion. Instead we must put on Christ’s righteousness and copy his example by the real power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. We are to trust confidently in his promises to us. Then we must put our own maturity to work in encouraging other believers.

This is real maturity: that which grows in abundance of joy and peace, and abounds in hope for the glory of God.

(The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

Lesson 54: Romans 15:1-12

In the previous chapter, Paul was urging Christians to be considerate of the things that confuse or distract the less mature believers in the Church. Now in Chapter 15 he takes us to our motives and the things that might hinder us from dealing with the weaker ones among us.

In our fallen world we are surrounded with self-centered attitudes toward those who have different customs and tastes than we have. People get annoyed with others they label as immature, ignorant, or just plain stupid. They wish the bothersome ones would just go somewhere else and leave them alone. They take that “let them fend for themselves” attitude. The easy way out is to expect someone else to handle problems that disturb their comfort zone, or that would take away their own pleasures if they had to deal with them. In society in general some expect the government to develop an agency or program for those people. In the church they would rather leave those they look down upon to the Pastors, Elders, or Deacons.

There is a general lack of neighborly concern. People look to their own interests, to what makes them comfortable. They neglect the interests of those who have some maturing to do. Those classed that way tend to be shunned, degraded, or even mocked.

This whole section of Romans clarifies Biblical love, and how we should show it to all types of people.

Chapters 12 and 13 tell us to love God, our fellow Christians, even our enemies. It is God’s job to punish evil, not ours. In the state God has ordained our leaders to be the ones to execute his wrath upon breakers of the civil laws. The job of the individual is to overcome evil by doing good. Real love fulfills God’s holy law.

Chapter 14 explained how we are to love other believers who are not as mature in Christ. Some may not yet rightly understand what God has said about some matters. They may hold to principles not founded upon his word and promises. Areas of liberty within the bounds of God’s law should not be a cause for contempt or judgment of other believers. Those offended by things not specified in God’s word are called “weak”. Those who understand this liberty, and who exercise it for God’s glory, are the strong. However, they must not use their liberty in ways that offend the weaker believers.

Chapter 15 goes on to show that we must bear the weaknesses of others for their good.

Romans 15:1-2, “We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.”

The believer who better knows and appreciates God’s word has an awesome duty. The word “ought” points out the responsibility God places upon us. Galatians 6:2 says we are morally bound to “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ”

The duty commanded of us is to bear the weaknesses of believers who are not as strong as God by grace has made us. To “bear” [bastazo, (βασταζω)] is not just “to tolerate”, but to lift up and carry their load. We are to help them grow into spiritual maturity. The imagery of these words is that of a traveler who helps a weaker companion with his heavy load along on their journey together. So this is not about tolerating ignorance or minimizing error. It pictures us patiently avoiding offense while we help the brother along the way. We concern ourselves for them out of brotherly love in Christ.

Our motive is important too. Our actions should not be just to please ourselves. We are not to use our liberty irresponsibly, or in self-pride presuming that we are more mature. We should not help so that we appear stronger. It is never to be for praise or for pride. We are not to force others to conform to principles which are against their own consciences. Wrong motives in pleasing our weaker neighbor can be evil. Paul very humbly wrote in Galatians 1:10 that if he was trying to please men, he would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

We should bear others along to encourage them for their good and edification, for their spiritual well being and growth. We are to help them to be growing in understanding and in their walk with Christ.

Absolom was the son of King David. He coveted the power of his father’s throne. 2 Samuel 15:2-7 shows us how his motives were evil when he tried to “win the hearts of people”. He appeared to sympathize with those who came with problems. He complained with them about poor government. He made political promises. He convinced them that what they needed was someone like him in charge. He appeared to be helping the weak in the Kingdom, but he was really using them to gain power for himself. He “stole away the hearts of the men of Israel.” Politics has not changed much since that time.

Then Absolom staged a revolution, declared himself king, and condemned David as an enemy of the state. He tried to please his neighbor deceitfully, for self gain. God did not honor that kind of help. It condemned Absolom to certain and horrible judgment.

We are to bear the infirmities of others by serious consideration of their spiritual needs, not for the advancement of our own desires. Hebrews 10:24 says, “let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.” We are to encourage them in faith and fellowship, build them up, and help them grow stronger.

Paul followed this example himself when he was in Corinth, and later wrote to them in 1 Corinthians 10:33, “just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.”

This is why we should voluntarily set aside our own liberties for the sake of not offending others. We may have to swallow our pride, take some abuse, let others think what they will about us personally, so that God’s ways, not our own, become apparent.

Romans 15:3-6, “For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.’ For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We need to learn to bear the other’s burden by the example of our Savior. If ever one deserved glory and praise it was him. 2 Corinthians 8:9 says of Jesus, “Though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”

Jesus showed what humble service and care for others looked like. He knelt down and washed the feet of his disciples. He endured the ridicule of those unaware that they were degrading the one who made them, and who held their life and eternal destination in his hand. He laid aside the display of his eternal glory to come into this world to redeem sinners, to make children out of those who had most rebelliously offended his holy ways.

Following his usual method of appealing to Scripture to support his ideas, Paul quoted from Psalm 69:9, “Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.” David spoke those words as a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ. This verse is applied to Jesus directly in John 2:17. Jesus came to bare the infirmities of his people, for their benefit.

In 1 Peter 3:18 Peter said, “Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” Jesus bore the reproach of those who had offended the Father. He took up the moral burden for those he loved eternally.

Of course we are not able to bear another’s weakness as Jesus did. He took up their guilt! He redeemed the lost! We can’t do that. The lesson for us is that the strong should lay aside their privileges and honor for the moment, and should patiently put up with abuse and dishonor, so that they might help those who are in real spiritual need. If we neglect the example of Christ, if we are impatient or unkind to those who have yet to mature in Christ, we disrupt the peace of the church with our foolishly presumed maturity.

Here in Romans 15:4 we are reminded that God has preserved in Scripture important lessons from the past. As we learn God’s principles and cling to his promises in Christ, we are encouraged and made to persevere having a certain hope in God’s faithfulness to us. God, the almighty Creator, has redeemed a people for himself. All along he has been actively carrying out his covenant promises. He will indeed reward his people according to his riches in glory.

In verses 5 and 6 Paul forms his words as a prayer. He calls upon God to patiently and with comfort “give us the same mind among one another according to (the example of) Christ Jesus” (my own translation). He adds that this should be done not for our own advancement, but that together we would bring glory to God the Father in our thoughts and words.

God alone is the author of true unity and the graces of patience and encouragement. Being of the same mind does not mean always being of the same opinion. Our harmony is in our love for God’s glory and a diligent submission to his word. So our patience is not meant to include ignoring someone’s weaknesses, or tolerating error. It is to find kind ways to encourage the weaker brothers to grow in strength.

It is right and needful to look to God in prayer as you try to bear your brother’s burdens. We need to keep in mind that in ourselves we would fail being taken in by the sin of pride. As we dare to counsel we need to follow Paul’s advice to the Galatians in Galatians 6:1, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

All this is to be done in accord with Christ. That means agreeably with His will and example. To properly help our weaker neighbor we must know and submit prayerfully to the lessons taught about and by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 15:7-12, “Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. 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, 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.’ And again he says: ‘Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!’ And again: ‘Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!’ 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.’ “

For the sake of God’s glory, we must accept one another just as Jesus accepted us. Christ became a servant to all kinds of people. The original Greek word for “servant” here is diakonos (διακονος), the word later used for the office of Deacon. As our example, our Lord set aside the radiance of his glory and majesty while on earth to care for the weak among the Jews and the Gentiles alike. There was a lot of discrimination and bigotry in some places between those groups of believers. Paul used this prime example of our Savior to guide us in all matters of pride and prejudice.

Christ became a servant to the Circumcision (that is, to the Jew). They knew and hoped in the promises through meaning behind the priestly rituals and sacrifices. Jesus came to confirm that the promises of God to the Ancient Fathers had been fulfilled. Sadly, some of them still looked down upon Gentile believers as if the rituals still applied, and the promises were not yet completely fulfilled.

Christ also came for the Gentiles. They had not grown up with the words of the Prophets, and did not know the rituals which taught the promises of God’s Gracious Covenant. So to them he declared God’s mercy, his undeserved kindness in calling the unworthy, the unprepared.

This was a troublesome issue between these groups. Paul again used Scripture to show that his message was nothing new, nothing other than God’s eternal plan. The Jew, who still insisted on rejecting the Gentiles, was stopped cold in his weakness, and gently reminded about what God said in his holy word.

First he quoted from Psalm 18:49, “Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name.” Here David spoke in the midst of Gentiles, giving thanks to God. Paul showed that being among Gentiles is no hindrance to the worship of Jehovah.

Then he quoted Moses in Deuteronomy 32:43, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people.”

Next Paul quoted Psalm 117:1, “Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!”

Following this he quoted Isaiah 11:10 which said, “… in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious.” Then in verse 12 Isaiah said that Jehovah, “… will set up a banner for the nations, And will assemble the outcasts of Israel…”

Charles Hodge says that Paul’s quote from Isaiah is an “explicit prediction of the dominion of the Messiah over other nations besides the Jews. … From the decayed and fallen house of David one should arise whose dominion should embrace all nations.”

This was the example of Jesus Christ. The weak Jews and Gentiles in the early church were offended with one another because of a poor understanding of how Christ set them free from the priestly rituals. Yet, in spite of these immature weaknesses, Jesus came as a servant to redeem both of them, and to adopt them together into one family of God, to be one church on earth for their Creator’s glory.

By this example we ought to accept one another for God’s glory. Some may look down upon those who are slow in adopting certain outward customs. Those who come together in the church family may have grown up with different backgrounds. Some may seem to us to speak a bit more crudely. They may dress either less or more stylishly, or even more strangely than the current customs of a group of believers. They may not have learned to see how God’s law applies to particular areas of their lives. They may differ in political views about how best to promote what honors God in society. Some may eat foods that others will not eat, or drink drinks some abstain from, or celebrate holidays differently. But we need to learn that our union in Christ is a union in which we are to grow together. We are to be like a family where the members love each other and work together. We need to be patient and tolerant as we help one another to mature and to conform to a more biblical view of life here on earth.

This does not mean there are no right or wrong answers. The Gentiles were right in being able to eat some things the Jews still would not eat. They were not bound to the holy days of the priestly rituals. The Jews were wrong if they insisted upon these forms of the Covenant as if they were unfulfilled. The Jews were right in warning against the customs that had pagan origins which the Gentiles brought with them when they became Christians. In that way many of the Gentiles were wrong.

We should never compromise or hide God’s revealed truth, nor should we ignore direct violations of God’s moral principles. However, there are areas of less immediate clarity where we need to learn together with patience. The strong are called upon to become meek and kind for the promoting of peace in the church. They are to become servants, persevering in patient kindness for the sake of our brothers in Christ

We are one Covenant People, one family, gathered by grace out of diverse cultures and backgrounds. We have been given one clear word of truth by which together we submissively test all we believe and do.

For the sake of one another, we must be willing to set aside any comforts, schedules, material possessions, goals, or pastimes that stand in the way of helping other believes grow in the Christian Faith. We do it out of love with real concern for the weaker among us who need to mature in Christ.

One of the strongest things we can do is to admit we are also weak as we try to help others, and we should remember to give all the credit to our Savior for whatever strength we have.

That is a radical idea for this self-indulgent world in which we live today. What changes would such an attitude make in your home? in your friendships? If we grew in this attitude of being here to encourage and to serve those around us in the church, as if they were truly brothers in our family, how many more would be with us in regular worship, in Sunday School, in our gatherings for prayer, and for Bible studies?

What a change that would make in our whole society if all who really trusted in the Savior learned to love patiently as faithful representatives of Christ!

We are duty bound to help the weaker among us to become stronger. We are to persevere with them even if in their immaturity they are annoying. Yet, we are not to condescend to them, not to despise them, not to offend them, as we attempt to be a help to them.

The “it takes a village” attitude of humanistic socialism produces classes of experts and inferiors. It strives to preserve the weaknesses of each group, and resists conforming to God’s standards. Biblical Christianity should make classes disappear. Though some will have less than others, it should not make them feel like they are lesser people who can simply depend upon others who present themselves as better people. Just as some of the Jews were wrong in looking down upon the Gentile converts, we should be careful not to become prideful or arrogant. Appreciating the differences in the way God provides for us and gifts us, we should remain equal members together in the family of God. As servants we are called upon by our Creator to help all those he redeemed to grow in Christ and in the knowledge of his word. We are all lost sinners, undeserving of blessings but by God’s grace.

Rather than leaving those who annoy us to “fend for themselves,” or sending them off to find help elsewhere, we need to show compassion and patience to help them grow in Christ. This is family behavior. This is what honors the God who saved us.

(The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)