5May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs 9so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written:
"Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing hymns to your name." 10Again, it says,
"Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people." 11And again,
"Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and sing praises to him, all you peoples." 12And again, Isaiah says,
"The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
the Gentiles will hope in him."
13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (NIV)
Main Points
1. Those Christians who are "stronger" (i.e. more confident of what their faith allows them to do) must not only limit their freedom for the sake of their "weaker" brothers and sisters, but also seek - in every way possible - to build them up in their faith (vv. 1-4).
- Jesus Christ is cited as an example to be followed here (Ps 69:9)- though He is the King of the universe, He was willing to pay our penalty to secure our salvation; how can we, then, fail to sacrifice a bit of our freedom for others?
A question arises: What relationship does "hope" (v. 4) have with the "building-up" of fellow Christians (vv. 1-2)? In Paul's mind there's an obvious connection between the two. What is it?
a) Even though our hope of future glory is secure (Rom 8:18-39), there is a sense in which we are called to strengthen this hope, and make it "sure", by growing in maturity and holiness (Heb 12:14; 1 Jn 3:3; 2 Pet 1:3-11)
b) One such way to grow in holiness, in order to make one's hope "sure", is to maintain a consistent, diligent pattern of helping God's people (Heb 6:10-11). So Paul may be implying that if Christians want to have the full assurance of hope in their future glory, they must build each other up.
c) Also, God desires a "spirit of unity" among His people so that they will worship Him with "one heart and mouth" (v. 5) for all eternity. What better way is there to work towards this than to seek the good of fellow Christians?
2. A reminder is given, for the last time, that "strong" Christians and "weak" Christians accept each other (v. 7).
- this is what truly brings praise to God (v. 7), whereas contempt of others dishonours Him (1 Jn 4:20; Jas 3:9-10).
3. In particular, Jew and Gentile believers need to accept each other because God's plan of salvation has always included both groups (vv. 7-12; see also 2 Sam 22:50; Ps 18:49; Deut. 32:43; Ps 117:1; Isa 11:10; Isa 52:15).
4. God will accomplish His purpose of building unity, joy and peace in His church (vv. 5, 13; see also Php 1:4-6; 1 Thes 5:23-25; Heb 13: 20-21)
