Unity Through Mutual Respect (15:1–13)
Paul now calls on the strong to imitate Christ in pleasing other people rather than
themselves (15:1–6).
He then climaxes his appeal for tolerance and mutual respect in the Roman Christian
community by calling on each group to “accept” the other and so fulfill the plan of
God, set forth in the Old Testament, to bring Jews and Gentiles together in one
people of God (15:7–13).
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak (15:1).
The word “strong” here comes from a Greek word that means “powerful” or
“capable”, while “weak” translates “incapable.”
The are those Christians, like Paul himself, who are “capable” of understanding that
their faith in Christ frees them from requirements of observing ritual aspects of the
law of Moses.
But others, with strong emotional ties perhaps to their Jewish upbringing, are not
“capable” of living out this freedom.
While Paul therefore shifts vocabulary here, he is continuing to address the same
issue as he did in chapter 14.
Each of us should please his neighbor for his good (15:2).
The unexpected use of the word “neighbor” reveals that Paul has the “love
command” of Leviticus 19:18 in mind: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Following the lead of Jesus (e.g Matt. 22:34–40),
● Paul finds in this command the essence of new covenant ethics ( Rom.
13:8–10).
An allusion to the command is especially appropriate in a context dealing with
tolerance toward fellow Christians, for the love command is preceded in Leviticus
19:18 by a prohibition of negative attitudes toward other Israelites:
● “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people.”
For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written, “The insults of those
who insult you have fallen on me” (Rom. 15:3).
Paul puts words from Psalm 69:9b on the lips of Jesus. The “you” in the quotation is
therefore God, while the “me” is Christ himself.
Language from Psalm 69 is often applied in the New Testament to the suffering of
Christ on the cross.
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Paul thus makes two points via this quotation.
(1) If Jesus could endure the insults of others, his followers should certainly be willing
to put up with the minor irritations occasioned by Christians with different
viewpoints.
(2) Jesus’ own suffering on the cross serves as the preeminent example of pleasing
others rather than oneself.
So that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might
have hope (15:4).
A perhaps preferable rendering is “through endurance and the comfort that comes
from the Scriptures.”
Paul seems to stray from his main point a bit here, writing more generally about the
sufferings that believers, following their Lord, are destined to experience.
In their midst, Paul reminds us, the Scriptures comfort us as we read about God’s
sovereign control of the world and his promises to his people.
Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the
promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his
mercy (15:8b–9a).
The ministry of Messiah (“Christ”) Jesus to Israel fulfills God’s promises to his people
and at the same time opens the way for Gentiles to be admitted into the people of
God.
Paul succinctly summarizes a key motif of the letter to the Romans.
But Paul has brought the language of “promise” and “fathers” together in Romans
9–11 (cf. 9:5 and 11:28) to refer to the things promised by God to the Jewish people
specifically.
As it is written (15:9).
Paul’s purpose is to confirm from Scripture that Gentiles were all along included in
God’s gracious promise to create and bless a people for his own name.
I will praise you among the Gentiles (15:9b).
These words come from Psalm 18:49 (or possibly 2 Sam. 22:50, which has these
identical words).
In this psalm, the speaker is David, who praises God for the victory that the Lord has
given him over the Gentile nations.
As he did in quoting Psalm 69 in Romans 15:3, Paul again puts these words of David
on the lips of Jesus.
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It is Messiah Jesus who has finally subdued the nations and brought them under the
benefits of his kingdom reign.
Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and sing praises to him, all you peoples (15:11).
In this case, Paul is probably drawn to these opening words from Psalm 117 because
verse 2 (the only other verse in this psalm) goes on to cite God’s “mercy” and “truth”
as reasons for the psalmist’s praise.
God’s “truth,” or “faithfulness,” demonstrated to Israel and his “mercy” revealed to
the Gentiles are the lead ideas that govern these quotations (15:8–9).
The Root of Jesse will spring up (15:12).
“Root” is a common messianic designation, usually found in conjunction with the
name David (see, e.g., Jer. 23:5; 33:15).
Paul’s Ministry and Travel Plans (15:14–33)
Paul typically closes his letters with some personal notes, referring to his own plans
and asking prayer for them.
Typical of Romans is the long elaboration of these points that we find in these
verses.
Paul rehearses his past travels in 15:14–21, focusing on his ministry among the
Gentiles.
In 15:22–29, he announces his future travel plans:
● to go to Spain via Jerusalem and Rome. He then requests prayer for the
collection he is bringing to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem in 15:30–33.
You yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to
instruct one another (15:14).
Without suggesting that Paul indulges in insincere flattery, he may here be using a
popular ancient literary device, the captatio benevolentiae, an expression of
confidence in his readers.
Ancient writers frequently used such flattery of their readers to gain adherence for
their ideas.
A minister of Christ Jesus… with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of
God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God,
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sanctified by the Holy Spirit (15:16).
It is important to note that they are metaphors. Paul does not consider himself a
“priest” but compares his gospel ministry of proclamation in word and deed to the
ministry of a priest.
The word “minister” itself, at the beginning of the verse, probably has priestly
connotations.
REFLECTIONS
PAUL IDENTIFIES THE GENTILES themselves as the offering he hopes
to make to God (15:16).
He reminds us that people are what ministry is all about. We can easily
become preoccupied with the programs we administer, the subject
matter that we are teaching, the books we are writing.
We can forget that the purpose of programs, classes, and books is the
formation of strong Christians, sanctified, and therefore an acceptable
offering to God.
Paul is probably reflecting here Isaiah’s prediction of an influx of Gentiles into God’s
kingdom on the Day of the Lord in Isaiah 66:19–20:
“I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the
nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and
Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory.
They will proclaim my glory among the nations. And they will bring all your brothers,
from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the
LORD—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the
LORD. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the
temple of the LORD in ceremonially clean vessels.”
Paul reflects here the typical New Testament eschatological transformation of the
sacrificial system of the Old Testament:
● Animal sacrifices are replaced by obedient Christians (cf. 12:1 and comments)
and the praise they offer God (cf. Heb. 13:15), and the priest is replaced by
Christian ministers.
By the power of signs and miracles (15:19).
“Signs and miracles” (or the more usual rendering “signs and wonders”; is standard
biblical terminology for miracles.
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The phrase occurs particularly often in the account of the Exodus (15 of the 29
occurrences of the phrase refer to the Exodus events); see, for example,
Deuteronomy 4:34: “Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of
another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty
hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things
the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?”
From Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum (15:19).
Paul probably chooses Jerusalem as the starting point for his ministry because it was
the center of Judaism.
Both Paul (Gal. 1:18–19, 22) and Luke (Acts 9:26–30; cf. 26:20) affirm Paul’s ministry
in Jerusalem. Why Paul chooses Illyricum is harder to say, since neither he nor Luke
ever explicitly indicate that Paul ministered there.
But Illyricum, the Roman province covering the area today known as northern
Albania and much of Yugoslavia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, was located on the
Egnatian Way, a road that Paul traveled as he preached the gospel in Phillipi and
Thessalonica.
Considering, then, Paul’s preference of sticking to well-traveled Roman roads, he
may well have preached in Illyricum during the movements mentioned in Acts
20:1–2.
When I go to Spain (15:24).
Rome fully organized Spain as a province only in Paul’s lifetime.
Why did Paul choose Spain as the next target of his pioneer church-planting
ministry?
● It may be simply because it was a relatively new “Romanized” area.
● But it may also be that Paul thought of Spain as identical to the Old
Testament “Tarshish,” the “ends of the earth” that Isaiah predicted would be
the culmination of God’s eschatological work among the Gentiles (see Isa.
66:19, quoted above).
Whether Paul ever got to Spain is not clear. If, as we think, the Pastoral Letters were
written after Paul’s release from his first Roman imprisonment (Acts 28), it is
perhaps unlikely; for these letters reveal Paul back in the eastern Mediterranean.
To have you assist me on my journey (15:24).
Paul makes clear that he expects the Romans to offer him material assistance for his
plans to evangelize Spain.
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In the service of the saints there (15:25).
Here and in the following verses Paul refers to his famous “collection” for the
impoverished Jerusalem Christians.
During his third missionary journey, Paul gathered money from his Gentile churches
to be sent as an offering to Jerusalem.
Paul saw this collection not only as a practical demonstration of Christian charity,
but also as an opportunity to close the growing rift between Gentile and Jewish
Christians.
Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution (15:26).
Paul refers to the churches he planted in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea (all in the
Roman province of Macedonia) and in Corinth (in Achaia).
The poor among the saints (15:26).
This phrase can also be translated “the poor who are the saints”.
In this case the word “poor” is a technical description of the righteous ones.
After I… have made sure that they have received this fruit (15:28).
Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, will accompany the collection to Jerusalem to
ensure its integrity and interpret its significance.
Join me in my struggle (15:30).
Paul probably reflects the Jewish use of the word “struggle” to depict the spiritual
striving of the righteous in this world.
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