Christian Unity

In the Roman letter, Paul addressed the rift that had emerged between Jews and Gentiles. He based his plea on the fact that both were saved from their sins through the same gospel. As a result of that gospel, they should give up their own rights and serve the greater good of the whole church. They should accept one another despite their differences.

From the last half of chapter 15 through chapter 16, it seems Paul was having a hard time concluding this letter. He knew the Roman church was going to be tested, and he wanted to be sure he had taught everything that could be helpful. So Paul called upon the Christians to teach and admonish one another to be true to the faith:

Rom 15:14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

He was confident in their goodness and knowledge. Therefore he was confident they were able to instruct one another. Without the goodness, or without the knowledge, he would not have been so confident. Paul had provided them a thorough explanation of the grace they had received. Now it was up to them to teach one another.

Then Paul explained his future plans and his desire to come to Rome. Paul had never visited Rome before, though he obviously knew quite a few people in the church there. He intended to visit them after delivering the gifts from Macedonia and Achaia to the needy Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. Given that Paul had never been to Rome, it is striking how many Christians he knew there. He mentioned by name more than 25 people in chapter 16. For many of these people Paul offered a personal comment, something they had done or some virtue for which they were known. Not only did he know these people, but he knew something about the makeup of the various house churches. Paul was personally connected to this church despite never having visited. He cared about them.

After all the instruction about accepting one another, Paul felt the need to address another threat to their unity. He knew that there were some in Rome who would do harm to the church through false teaching. So he wrote:

Rom 16:17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.
Rom 16:18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

Paul’s instruction was to avoid people who cause division and create obstacles contrary to sound teaching. He called them to be alert to the danger and to avoid contributing in any way to the damage that such people might do.

Finally, Paul concluded by placing the church in God’s able hands. God would give them the strength they would need:

Rom 16:25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages
Rom 16:26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith —
Rom 16:27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Paul concluded where he began in Rom 1:5, speaking of the obedience of faith which was the goal of the gospel. This gospel was the mystery which was secret for long ages, but now disclosed by God’s command. That is the call to the church today. Because we have been considered righteous through faith, we should respond with obedient faith. We should put sin to death. We should accept one another with sincere love. And we should use our gifts to build one another up in the Lord. May God continue to help us as we serve Him in this way!

Beginning in chapter 12, Paul called the Roman Christians to live out an appropriate response to the grace of God found in the gospel. The culture of the church was to be neither Jewish nor Greek, Instead the Christians were to be transformed into a kind of assembly the world had never seen before. Jews and Greeks, who despised one another outside the church, were to embrace one another inside. Sincere love, devotion, sharing, and hospitality were to be characteristic of their relationships in the church.

Likewise, the church today must be a place of love and acceptance between all types of people. Instead of Jew and Gentile, the opposing groups involved more often might be black and white, rich and poor, urban and rural. The challenges might be based on nationality, or on differences in language and culture, or maybe even on style of music and worship. But the principle is the same. We must embrace all our brothers and sisters, even — especially — those who are different from us. We must show them sincere love. We must practice hospitality toward them.

In chapter 14, Paul expands this concept of acceptance to a new area. A growing challenge to the unity between Jews and Gentiles was their differing understanding of certain doctrinal teachings. These differences did not have to do with fundamentals of salvation–the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, his resurrection, repentance, baptism, and the forgiveness of sins. Instead their differences involved ceremonial questions like eating of meat and observance of special days. Paul’s instruction on this was very clear:

Rom 14:1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.

It is interesting to note whom he characterized as weak and who was strong. The weak brothers were those who considered certain foods unclean, and those who observed special days. The strong were those who recognized their freedom on these matters. Many of the Jews believed they were still obligated to follow the regulations of the Law regarding unclean foods, and to observe special days according to the Old Testament Law. The Gentiles realized this was not required of a Christian. It was the Jews, not the Gentiles, who were considered weak on these topics.

Why didn’t Paul just give them an official ruling on these subjects and leave it at that? Apparently the Holy Spirit chose instead to give us principles for deciding many similar disputes. If we would only follow those instructions, what a different church we would have today!

First, he called on them to stop passing judgment on one another. He gave this instruction to both parties in the disputes:

Rom 14:3 The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.
Rom 14:4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Then, he added the instruction to protect the conscience of the other party:

Rom 14:13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.

Rom 14:15 If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.

Rom 14:19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
Rom 14:20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.
Rom 14:21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.

Then he concluded by commanding them not to quarrel about these things, but to keep their opinions private. He also added a warning not to violate one’s own conscience:

Rom 14:22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.
Rom 14:23 But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

It is better to keep your convictions to yourself than to raise an issue. Paul did not just make a suggestion, but he gave a command. Keep it between yourself and God.

He placed the greater burden on the strong to protect the consciences of the weak:

Rom 15:1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

And he concluded where he began chapter 14, with a command to accept one another.

Rom 15:7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Paul could hardly have been more clear about how to handle controversial subjects in the church. But history testifies that the church has done a poor job of following this instruction. Churches have split over many topics less fundamental than the ones Paul used as illustrations. Paul’s examples were deeply held convictions of the Jews, bred into their culture over 1500 years. How hard must it have been for them to accept the Gentiles who ate pork and who treated Jewish special days just like any other day! Didn’t they realize the meaning of those days–days like passover, pentecost, feast of tabernacles, new moons, and jubilees? Why did they treat these days as if they had no meaning?

Paul also instructed the Gentiles about how to treat the Jews. The Gentiles were to accept the Jews despite their incomplete understanding of the gospel. Moreover, the Gentiles were to give up their rights when necessary rather than grieving their weaker Jewish brethren, or rather than causing their brothers to sin. The importance of the spiritual survival of a brother far outweighs the significance of his technical misunderstandings. Sometimes the strong brother might need to abstain from eating certain foods for the benefit of the weak. Sometimes, a strong brother might need to observe a special day to protect the conscience of another Christian. Sometimes, they needed to keep their opinions to themselves.

In comparison to the differences between Jews and Gentiles in first century Rome, many of our controversies seem trivial. But we usually defend our positions and draw our lines with equal conviction. Paul’s message to the Romans was to eliminate the quarrels and the drawing of lines. That is also the message of Romans to the modern church. We need to accept our brothers and sisters despite disagreements over disputable matters.

Rom 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.

“Therefore….” The pivotal word in the book of Romans introduces the twelfth chapter. The preceding eleven chapters answer the question, “Why?” In those chapters, Paul explains the gospel, providing the rationale and motivation for the Christian life. Then in the following chapters he exhorts us to live as God expects, in response to the gospel. God has provided richly for our salvation. Therefore, we should live in a certain way.

In particular, the Christians in Rome who first received Paul’s letter, were expected to respond in a certain way. Remember that they were experiencing tension between the Jews and the Gentiles in these increasingly Gentile churches in Rome. Paul wrote to address these tensions. Few differences in the church today can compare to the depth of difference between Jewish and Gentile Christians in the first century. A millenium and a half under the Mosaic Law had a profound effect on the very fiber of the heart and soul of the Jews. They had been bred to despise the nations around them. How could they now embrace these Gentiles?

Paul instructed these Roman Christians that they should offer their bodies as living sacrifices. They were no longer to live their lives from a self centered point of view, but to give themselves to God for His purposes. The gospel changed everything. They were not to conform to the world around them (neither to the heathen Gentile world nor to the Jewish world), but to have a new mind and a new outlook that transforms their lives. If they would do this, the Jew / Gentile friction in their church would vanish.

Jew and Gentile alike were to have a sober, humble view of themselves. Both groups equally, desperately needed the gospel. They were quite different from one another, yet were all part of the same body. They were a team. As the saying goes, there is no “I” in “team”. So whatever their individual gifts, they all were to be used for the good of the team, of the body. Those gifts do not belong to the individual, but to the body. God did not provide the gifts to stroke the ego of the individual, but to meet the needs of the body. We are gifted in order to serve.

He called upon them to love each other sincerely–both Jew and Gentile. They were to be devoted to one another like a family, because they are the family of God. He admonished them to honor one another, to be hospitable, to rejoice and to mourn with one another. And they were called to live in harmony with one another. Yes, even Jew and Gentile, even if they didn’t agree on everything. Even rich Gentiles and poor Jews were to associate harmoniously with one another.

When someone treated them wrong (and surely someone had done so), they were not to take revenge. Instead they were to respond to evil with good–even between a Jew and a Gentile.

Then he instructed them about submission to their government. Keep in mind, this was the same Roman government that, less than a decade later, would put Paul and Peter to death. Nero was emperor. Yet Paul commanded them to obey the Roman laws, to pay their taxes, and to give proper respect to the government. Both Jew and Gentile were to submit respectfully to the Roman government. That would be especially hard for the Jews, who had always resented their Roman overlords.

Paul then referred back to the Mosaic Law to remind them to love one another. He helped the Jews to see that love for the Gentiles was right, even in the Jewish law. He called them to leave the deeds of darkness. Time was short! They must be ready to meet their maker.

With this preparation, he then turned to address the specific conflicts between Jew and Gentile in the Roman church. Next time: Accept one another!

Having completed his description of the Gospel of righteousness through faith, Paul turned to the plight of the Jews. The Jews reading this letter may have misconstrued Paul’s point, and concluded that the Jews had been rejected and were without hope. Paul anticipated that confusion and corrected it in chapters 9-11.

Chapters 9-11 contain some particularly difficult concepts and have spawned many controversies. In the following explanation I will attempt to avoid the deepest pits of controversy and present the essence of what Paul was saying.

The main question being addressed in this section is, “What about God’s promises to Abraham regarding his descendents?” To answer that question, Paul clarified the promises and explained that the Jews are not excluded from the Gospel. In fact he explains that there is great hope for the Jews to turn to Jesus. Paul’s argument can be divided into five parts:

1) Not all descendents of Abraham were to receive the promise.
2) God has the right to choose whom he will bless.
3) The relationship of the Gospel to the Jew
4) The relationship of the Gospel to the Gentile
5) The salvation of Israel

Let’s look at these five parts to Paul’s argument:

1) Not all descendents of Abraham were to receive the promise. From the time of Abraham on, it has been clear that not all the descendents of Abraham were to receive the promise. Clearly the promise did not apply to Ishmael, for example. Nor did it apply to all the descendents of Isaac (consider Esau). God chose to deliver the promise through Isaac, and through Jacob, for his own reasons. (Rom 9:1-13)

A key verse in understanding Rom 9-11 is

Rom 9:6 It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

This verse states the basic truth which Paul proceeds to prove in the remainder of chapters 9-11. God’s promises to Abraham will not fail through the Gospel. The key to understanding that is the statement that “not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.”

2) God has the right to choose whom he will bless. As the creator, God has the right to choose Isaac rather than Ishmael, and Jacob rather than Esau. Neither choice was based on righteousness of one versus the other. It was simply a choice God had the right to make.

Paul illustrates with the example of Pharaoh.

Rom 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
Rom 9:18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

Note that God was not unjust in choosing to harden Pharaoh. Pharaoh was not innocent in the matter. He was stubborn from the beginning (Ex 3:19). He had an unyielding heart (Ex 7:14). Three times it is said that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Ex 8:15, 8:32, 9:34). So Pharaoh was guilty, and God was justified in what he did.

3) The relationship of the Gospel to the Jew. In Romans 10 Paul turned his attention to the salvation of the Jew, and the obstacles the Jew must overcome. In verses 5-13 he contrasted the Law with the Gospel. The law required obedience: “The man who does these things will live by them.”

Under Law, it was in the hands of man to achieve righteousness (and of course man failed). But under the Gospel, God did things we could not do for ourselves. We could not ascend into heaven to bring Christ down. We could not descend into the grave to raise Christ from the dead. Instead, the requirements on us are things that we can do. We must confess Jesus as Lord, and believe that God raised him from the dead. Those are things we can do. In the Gospel, God placed salvation within our reach. Note, Paul did not enumerate every requirement for salvation here–just the fundamental ones that lead to the others. Believing and making Jesus Lord result in repentance and a life of obedience (including the initial obedience to being baptized.) Still, like the items Paul did name, the other items are all within our reach.

But was the Gospel really within the reach of the Jew? The Jews could not protest that they had not heard, that no one preached to them, or that God did not send a messenger to them. Quite clearly God had placed the gospel within their reach also.

However, a Jew might have protested that they did not understand the message. But that just puts them on the same level as the Gentiles, who had not understood about God since the creation of the world (Rom 1:18-32). So at the present time, God has not forgotten about the Jews, any more than he had forgotten about the Gentiles in the previous era.

Note that the Gospel was first preached to the Jews, and that the first converts were Jewish. However, that was a small minority of Jews. By the time Paul was writing, it appeared that the church was becoming dominated by Gentiles, even in Rome. As Paul continued, he warned the Gentiles not to become overconfident as a result. The disadvantage of the Jew was not intended to be a permanent situation.

4) The relationship of the Gospel to the Gentile. The Gentile Christians were being grafted into a Jewish olive tree–a tree from which most of the Jewish branches had been cut off. Paul warned these Gentiles not to boast over the branches that had been cut off. If the Gentiles did not remain humble, they could easily be cut off as well. The Gentiles had every bit as much need of forgiveness as the Jews. God grafted them in as an act of kindness, because of their belief. They could just as easily be cut off again, if they do not remain in the kindness of God.

God also loves the Jews, and has not given up on them. They are being disciplined for a time, to entice them to turn to Christ. The Gentiles must be careful not to take pleasure in the discipline of the Jews. God does not approve when we gloat over those whom he is disciplining.

5) The salvation of Israel. Paul explained that the Gentiles now hold the advantage for a time, in order to entice the Jews to believe.

Rom 11:25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
Rom 11:26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
Rom 11:27 And this is my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”
Rom 11:28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs,
Rom 11:29 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.
Rom 11:30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience,
Rom 11:31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you.
Rom 11:32 For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

Just as not all Gentiles who ever lived are saved, not all Jews are saved either. But in the end, the whole olive tree will be saved. God is delaying that day so that as many as possible may be grafted in, both Jews and Gentiles.

Rom 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
Rom 11:34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
Rom 11:35 “Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?”
Rom 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Next time: What does all this mean for the life of the Christian?

By the end of Romans 8, Paul had shown that

• Jews and Gentiles alike are lost in sin and unable to attain righteousness on their own.
• the Law was not capable of producing righteousness in sinful man.
• the Gospel solves every difficulty of sinful man, so that by faith we can fully meet the righteous requirements of God
• we can put to death the misdeeds of the body through the Spirit living in us.

Then Paul turned his attention to the blessings God will bestow on us now that we have been justified by faith.

Rom 8:28-30 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Those who respond to the Gospel with the obedience that comes from faith (Rom 1:5) have been called according to the purpose of God. God had a purpose, from the beginning of time (1 Cor 2:7; Eph 1:4), to provide these blessings to us through Christ. God knew before the beginning of time. He foreknew that we would be saved. And therefore by deliberate decision he predestined that we would be conformed the the image of Jesus, and adopted as sons and daughters of God. So at just the right time, he called us and justified us.

And he glorified us. “Glorified!” It is stated as a fact already accomplished. Being adopted into God’s family is a glorious status, and we already have been given that status. Yet we know that the ultimate fulfillment of this glory is yet to come. While we wait for that, we can delight in our privileged access to our Father, the creator and ruler of heaven and earth!

Rom 8:31-32 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

God has already proven his great love for us. He has proven his glorious plans for us. We have nothing to fear. We have every reason to rejoice!

Rom 8:33-34 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died–more than that, who was raised to life–is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Do not believe Satan’s lies. There is no one left with the right to bring a charge against us. Would God? Of course not. He is the one who justified us! Would Jesus? Surely not! He is the one who died for us! And he is the one who is now interceding on our behalf! The only remaining accuser is Satan, and he stands condemned. There is truly no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!

Rom 8:35-37 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

We will still face troubles in this world. But again, do not believe Satan’s lies. Those troubles do not change our glorified status as beloved children of God. In fact, our very suffering will ultimately result in our benefit!

Rom 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The bottom line: God loves us! What a marvelous array of gifts God has given to us through Jesus!