Exposition on select Bible verses: Romans 15:3-13
[Romans 15] Verse 3: For Christ also pleased not Himself: but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached Thee fell upon Me—
Christ never “looked after” Himself: the whole world knows this!
Christ never “looked after” Himself: the whole world knows this!
“The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.”
Yet His whole life, from early morning till late at night, and often into the night, was occupied in ministry to others! The multitudes found out with joy that here was One whose whole business was
“going about doing good.”
The constant drawing upon Him by the multitudes,—upon His time, His love, His teaching, His healing, was a marvelous proof that they could count on the absolute absence of self-pleasing, in Him!
The Psalms, which give the inner heart-history of our Lord, reveal, (as, for instance, does the Sixty-ninth Psalm, from which Paul here quotes,—the great “Reproach”* Psalm), how difficult was our Lord’s path in a sinful, selfish, God-hating world. Yet it is written of Him:
“He pleased not Himself.”
*Let us follow this word, “reproach,” in this 69th Psalm and others:
Verse 7:
“For Thy sake I have borne reproach.”Verse 9:
“The reproaches of them that reproach Thee are fallen upon Me.”Verse 10:
“When I wept, and chastened My soul with fasting, that was to My reproach.”Verse 19:
“Thou knowest My reproach, and My shame, and My dishonor.”Verse 20:
“Reproach hath broken My heart.”
Our Lord upon the cross cries that He is a “reproach of men” (Ps. 22:6). In Ps. 31:11, as we find so carried out in the gospels:—
“I am become a reproach, Yea, unto My neighbors exceedingly, And a fear to Mine acquaintance”
; while in Ps. 109:22-25, He says He is “poor and needy.” heart-wounded, gone like a shadow, tossed up and down, weak through fasting. His flesh failing, “a reproach unto them.”
But it was always,
“For Thy sake I have borne reproach,”
—the reproaches that fell upon God—upon the Father, whose will and works Christ was doing, and whom man was learning the more to hate as “the beauty of Jehovah” was manifest more and more in Him. Now, if it were so with Christ, whose goodness was constantly reproached, shall we complain or stumble if even our good be evil spoken of? Let Christ dwell within us, as the Father dwelt in Christ, and let us cease from self-pleasing!
Verse 4: For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that through patience and through comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Note these four words that God has joined together:
“learning. . .patience. . .comfort of the Scriptures. . .hope”: “learning” is heart knowledge, as our Lord said:
“Every one that hath heard from the Father, and hath learned, cometh unto Me” (John 6:45).
“Patience” follows, for, knowing God, we can wait for Him to work. Next is
“comfort of the Scriptures.”
It is astonishing—something beyond human conception, this “comfort of the Scriptures”! We have all seen saints poor in purse, accounted nothing at all by men, and perhaps suffering constant physical pain, sad bereavement of loved ones, and complete lack of understanding by other professing Christians: yet comforted by poring over the Scriptures! Hearts happy and hopeful, despite it all! You can step from any state of earthly misery into the glorious halls of heavenly peace and comfort! Praise God for this!
“Be ye comforted,”
writes Paul in II Corinthians 13:11.
It is ever good to be going over God’s dealings, not only with Christ, but with His Old Testament saints; marking how He is continually bringing them into hard places, where they learn to trust Him more! Joseph, in prison for righteousness; David, anointed of God, but hunted for years “like a partridge in the mountains”; Jeremiah in the miry dungeon; the three in Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace, and Daniel in the den of lions: not to speak of the New Testament story—James and Stephen killed, the apostles in prison. You may ask, How does “hope” spring out of such trials? We do not ask such a question if we have learned the lesson of Romans Five:
“Knowing that tribulation worketh steadfastness; and steadfastness, approvedness; and approvedness, hope,”
—witnessed to by the shedding abroad of God’s love for us in our hearts! Therefore let us seek that comfort and hope which this verse tells us the Scriptures work in us if we patiently learn them. When we get thus learningly to verse 13 in this chapter, we shall find ourselves abounding in hope!
Verses 5 and 6: Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of one mind together according to Christ Jesus; that ye may with one accord, with one mouth, glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul asks here that the same God who gave to the Old Testament saints and to the apostles “endurance” and “comfort of the Scriptures,” may grant that we may be “like-minded, loving as brethren” (I Pet. 3:8). “Behold, how these Christians love one another!” was the amazed but constant testimony of paganism, yea, of Judaism, also, regarding believers in the early days of the Church. And this Spirit-wrought unity and tender affection is by far the greatest need amongst believers today. New “movements,” new “educational programs,” great contributions of funds—what are these worth while Christians are divided in mind, more in discord than accord? Such a state cannot “glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” “By this,” our Lord said,
“shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35).
And this accord, this unity, is not brought about by outward organization. There is, incited by the devil, a great cry that all professing Christians today “get together,” form themselves into a great “charitable” unity, inclusive of Romanists, Protestants, and well-intended Jews. Meanwhile, in answer to the earnest, persistent cry of God’s people that He would revive His Church, the real saints are being drawn more and more by His Word into the true fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Bible conferences, unsectarian Bible schools, gatherings and even leagues for prayer, and increasing intelligent fellowship with truly godly missionary effort, are the real sign that God is granting Paul’s desire that believers may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
People generally make one of two mistakes concerning Christian unity. First, that there must be absolute unanimity of opinion on all points of doctrine; and second, that there must be external unity of all so-called “Christian bodies.”
We have alluded to the second of these ideas as of Satanic origin, and deluded human consent. But now, as to the first, the desire of the apostle in verse 5, that the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus, does not have reference to opinions or views of doctrines, but does have reference to gracious dispositions of spirit; for God is not spoken of here as the God of wisdom and knowledge, but as the God of patience and of comfort. It is God’s acting in these blessed graces toward the saints that will enable them to be
“of one mind together according to Christ Jesus."
When the Spirit of God is freely operating among a company of believers, the eyes of all of them, first, are toward Christ Jesus. They are thinking of Him, of His love, of His service, and of what will please Him. They are conscious of their blessed place in Him. Then follow, naturally, patient dealing with one another, comforting one another. Some of the company may know much more truth than others; many may hold varying judgments or opinions concerning particular matters. But this does not at all touch their unity—their conscious unity, in Christ; and it does not in the slightest degree hinder their being of one mind, and working together with one accord, and, in the vivid words of Scripture, be with one mind together according to Christ Jesus.
Rome has undertaken to compel unity in both these evil senses (for she knows not the blessed unity of the Spirit): and rivers of martyrs’ blood have flowed because they dared to express an opinion contrary to the edicts of “the Church.” The doctrine, too, is constantly promulgated, that to be outside “Mother Church,” outside the fold of Rome, is to be without the pale of salvation!
Both these things are fearful perversions of the truth.
[Unfortunately, such is not confined to roman catholicism, but prevalent in protestantism. Thus, certain reformed pastors claim, e.g., "If you are not a member of and under the authority of a local church, you are outside the will of God." Or "If you don't attend church you're probably going to hell." Such claims not only show woeful ignorance of the church as revealed clearly in the New Testament but of salvation as well. No doubt underlying such is the equally un-Biblical notion generally taught in Reformed theology that believers are still under the Law. See, Romans 7 and Galatians 2 and 3
"After Judaism was set aside, we have no mention of any place of worship on earth for Christians; and we find that the people, and not the building, are spoken of as "the house of God." (Heb. 3:6; 1 Tim. 3:15.) This is, doubtless, because the character of the present dispensation is spiritual, and not fleshly as in Israel's time; and this is why we have not one word of instruction about clerical garments, or ecclesiastical decorations, or furniture. The Jewishness of Ritualism comes out in the awful denial that every believer in our Lord Jesus Christ is already "made nigh," "accepted in the Beloved," "complete in him which is the Head of all principality and power," and sealed with the Holy Ghost on receiving remission of sins. The sincere Ritualist is therefore struggling, and redoubling his efforts, hoping by-and-by to get near to God; and, like the Jew of old, who knew nothing better, he resorts to ordinances, imposing ceremonies, an earthly order of priesthood, a worldly sanctuary, and is adding perhaps Christ's work as a make-weight for all his deficiencies . . . . The Jewishness of Ritualism is also remarkably seen in its practically confounding priesthood and ministry, which the New Testament teaches to be two very different lines of truth. There all believers are spoken of as "priests," and ministry of the word is carried on by "evangelists," "teachers," "pastors," and other "gifts" from the ascended Christ. We read of no one there being humanly ordained to preach, nor is he introduced into his labours by human credentials, or official orders of any kind. He is responsible to the Lord. His being a minister of the word of God depends absolutely on his having received a gift from Christ. Nor is the idea of the minister, or pastor of a church, or even that of a member of a church found in scripture. The sacramental system is the fruit of trying to blend by human authority these two things — priesthood and ministry. Hence its totally false character. The assumption by any class of men being now in a kind of mediatorial position, like Moses, between God and His people, is not Christianity. The scripture ground of God's church, formed and energised by the Holy Ghost come down from heaven, and united to the Head there as members of His body has been entirely given up, and Jewish things embraced in order to attract the senses, and give importance and power to men." H. H. Snell: The Jewishness of Ritualism]
[Unfortunately, such is not confined to roman catholicism, but prevalent in protestantism. Thus, certain reformed pastors claim, e.g., "If you are not a member of and under the authority of a local church, you are outside the will of God." Or "If you don't attend church you're probably going to hell." Such claims not only show woeful ignorance of the church as revealed clearly in the New Testament but of salvation as well. No doubt underlying such is the equally un-Biblical notion generally taught in Reformed theology that believers are still under the Law. See, Romans 7 and Galatians 2 and 3
"After Judaism was set aside, we have no mention of any place of worship on earth for Christians; and we find that the people, and not the building, are spoken of as "the house of God." (Heb. 3:6; 1 Tim. 3:15.) This is, doubtless, because the character of the present dispensation is spiritual, and not fleshly as in Israel's time; and this is why we have not one word of instruction about clerical garments, or ecclesiastical decorations, or furniture. The Jewishness of Ritualism comes out in the awful denial that every believer in our Lord Jesus Christ is already "made nigh," "accepted in the Beloved," "complete in him which is the Head of all principality and power," and sealed with the Holy Ghost on receiving remission of sins. The sincere Ritualist is therefore struggling, and redoubling his efforts, hoping by-and-by to get near to God; and, like the Jew of old, who knew nothing better, he resorts to ordinances, imposing ceremonies, an earthly order of priesthood, a worldly sanctuary, and is adding perhaps Christ's work as a make-weight for all his deficiencies . . . . The Jewishness of Ritualism is also remarkably seen in its practically confounding priesthood and ministry, which the New Testament teaches to be two very different lines of truth. There all believers are spoken of as "priests," and ministry of the word is carried on by "evangelists," "teachers," "pastors," and other "gifts" from the ascended Christ. We read of no one there being humanly ordained to preach, nor is he introduced into his labours by human credentials, or official orders of any kind. He is responsible to the Lord. His being a minister of the word of God depends absolutely on his having received a gift from Christ. Nor is the idea of the minister, or pastor of a church, or even that of a member of a church found in scripture. The sacramental system is the fruit of trying to blend by human authority these two things — priesthood and ministry. Hence its totally false character. The assumption by any class of men being now in a kind of mediatorial position, like Moses, between God and His people, is not Christianity. The scripture ground of God's church, formed and energised by the Holy Ghost come down from heaven, and united to the Head there as members of His body has been entirely given up, and Jewish things embraced in order to attract the senses, and give importance and power to men." H. H. Snell: The Jewishness of Ritualism]
Verse 7: Wherefore receive ye one another, even as Christ received you, to the glory of God.
Strong and weak believers alike are here exhorted to receive one another,—for God’s glory. This not only includes formal welcoming of other believers into the fellowship of the church, the Assembly of the Saints; but, what is far more and deeper, exercising constant careful love to one another;—and all this done with a view to the glory of God! For Christ received us to that end! As He says,
“All that which the Father giveth Me shall come unto Me; and him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out. For I am come down from Heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me” (John 6:37, 38).
It is Christ’s delight to welcome sinners, for that glorifies God; and there is joy in Heaven over it! Let there be like joy over our Christian love,—our “receiving” one another; for it glorifies God!
Verses 8 and 9: For I say that Christ hath been made a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, that He might confirm the promises unto the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy—
Here Paul defines in a single phrase our Lord’s character as a “minister,” in His earthly life: He was a “minister of the circumcision.” That is, He came “unto His own.” He said,
“I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” (Matt. 15:24).
Tell this to the ordinary professing Christian, and he regards you with amazement, if not with anger. When our Lord sent out the Twelve, in Matthew Ten, He said,
“Go not into any way of the Gentiles, and enter not into any city of the Samaritans: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Now people resent that, because of their sad ignorance—both of the Divine sovereignty, and revealed plan. So, the first thing to clear away in our minds is the uncertain or false teaching, about the mission of Christ on earth. He was made a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God; that He might confirm the promises unto the fathers.
Now we know that Christ came to declare the Father—to reveal God as He is. Also He came to give His life a ransom for many, to become
“the propitiation for the whole world.”
Thus He
“came not to be ministered unto, ‘but to minister.”
But, if we are to understand the story of His ministry, in the Gospels, we must remember that He was first a “minister of the circumcision,’ as the Jewish Messiah, fulfilling, “confirming” the Divine promises of the Old Testament to that nation. And what was this “ministry of the circumcision?
What was it meant to accomplish? Paul here says, It was for the sake of God’s truth, God’s faithfulness. His veracity,
“to confirm the promises that had been given to the fathers”
— Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was on God’s behalf, to show that when God makes commitments and promises, He forgets them not, but fulfils them. He had promised a Messiah to Israel, and He sent the Messiah.
But God had made no promises, no commitments, to the Gentiles [see Deut. 4:5-8; 33:1-5; Ps. 147:19-20]. Consequently, upon Israel’s rejection of their Messiah, mercy, sovereign mercy, flows out to us Gentiles: and for this we glorify God, for that is the purpose of this mercy—that God may be glorified.
The prophet Micah, in the last verse of his prophecy (7:19, 20), illustrates exactly this distinction between “the truth” of God toward Israel, and “the mercy” of God toward the Gentiles:
“Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob and the loving kindness [or, mercy] to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.”
To Jacob the blessings were announced by God (above that ladder of Genesis 28) with the words:
“I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac” (Gen. 28:13).
The birthright which Esau despised and forfeited, Jacob had; and the promises were to be fulfilled in faithfulness. But to Abraham it was sheer mercy. His father was a Chaldean idolater, and probably he had been so (Josh. 24:2, 3, 14, 15). But “the God of glory” appeared to him out of hand, without cause, right in the midst of Chaldean iniquity there at Ur. This was mercy (Acts 7:1). Jehovah “redeemed” Abraham (Isa. 29:22).
Now for the present a “hardening in part” has befallen Israel, “until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in,” as we saw in Chapter Eleven.
It is striking that in the present passage, Chapter 15:9-29, Gentiles are named ten times, the Gentile number! Five of these instances are from the Old Testament prophecies themselves. Let us study these quotations with especial attention:
9 Therefore will I give praise unto Thee among the Gentiles, And sing unto Thy Name (Ps. 18:49).
10 And again He saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with His people (Deut. 32:43).
11 And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; And let all the peoples praise Him (Ps. 117:1).
12 And again, Isaiah saith, There shall be the root of Jesse, And He that ariseth to rule over the Gentiles; On Him shall the Gentiles hope (Isa. 11:10).
There are three remarkable points about these passages:
I
They are selected from the three great divisions of the Scripture: the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luke 24:44).
II
There is a progress in the selections.
1. Christ Himself gives praise unto God from among the Gentiles. The quotation is from Psalm 18:49, where David becomes a distinct type of Christ, David’s coming Seed, as see next verse. See also Psalm 22:22, where, after the awful description of the cross in the first part of that Psalm (verses 1-21)—the Divine forsaking, pierced hands and feet, parted garments—the Lord begins thus the resurrection praise:
“I will declare Thy name unto My brethren: In the midst of the assembly will I praise Thee.”
This “assembly” began, of course, with those Jewish believers in that upper room, to whom He first appeared; but that “assembly” shortly included Gentiles (Acts 10 and on). But we note here in Romans 15:9 that Christ Himself is celebrating Jehovah’s work,—giving praise “among the Gentiles.”
2. Verse 10: The next step is, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with His people. Now, in Scripture, “His people” are always Israel; and, for awhile, as we find in the Acts, the Gentiles were “rejoicing with His people”: it was with Jerusalem as the center, and the apostles and elders there recognized even by Paul, even after preaching to the Gentiles had begun (Acts 15).
3. Verse 11: The next passage calls for direct praise from the Gentiles, with no distinct notice taken of Israel as a people; for the Greek reads: Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and let all the peoples [plural] praise Him (as the R.V. correctly translates).
III
Verse 12: There is a looking forward to the Millennial reign in the quotation from Isaiah 11:10: the Root of Jesse, He that ariseth to rule over the Gentiles. On Him [who shall thus reign] shall the Gentiles hope. Gentiles, thank God, may now freely “hope,” and look to Him who will rule all the earth, during the Millennium. All nations then will be directly dependent upon the Lord, enthroned in the Millennial temple at Jerusalem. How blessed is the Gentile who now learns to “hope in Christ” (Eph. 1:12) before He “arises to reign”! Verily there will be a reward!
As Paul says in II Timothy 2:8:
“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the Seed of David, according to my gospel.”
How few Christians connect their Savior with David! They remember Romans 1:4, but not 1:3. So they forget His royal earthly claims!
In this passage we saw (in verse 8) a setting forth of Christ as a “minister of the circumcision”; but this ministry was duly accomplished. It did not extend to the Gentiles, for no promises had been made to the Gentiles. Consequently, Gentiles are brought under Divine “mercy,” and “hope” in Christ, wholly apart from Jewish connections; though recognizing our Lord’s past and future ministry to the circumcision.
Verse 13: Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Look at this great thirteenth verse: how it blossoms out before us! Here is a verse packed full!
1. The name here given to God thrills our hearts: The God of Hope. Hope looks forward with exultation for ever and ever! We remember Chapter 5:2:
“We rejoice in hope of the glory of God”
; and Chapter 12:12: “rejoicing in hope”; and also that hope, along with faith and love, abides forever, for God will be opening up new treasures of grace to us through all the ages to come! See Ephesians 2:7.
God is called the “God of peace” in Romans 15:33; 16:20; and in Philippians 4:9, I Thessalonians 5:23, II Thessalonians 3:16, Hebrews 13:20; and, of course, peace is fundamental: Christ made peace by the blood of His cross. But we are not to be content with peace alone. Many would stop at Romans 5:1,
“Being justified by faith, we have peace with God.”
But in this present verse God speaks as the God of hope; and He wants us filled with all joy as well as peace, so as to be abounding in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Now, if God is the God of hope, looking forward with expectancy and delight to the certain, glorious things of the future, then a dejected, depressed, discouraged saint of His is yielding to a spirit directly contrary to His will, which is, for each of us, that we abound in hope.
2. It is God Himself alone who can fill us with all joy and peace, making us to abound in hope. We cannot transform ourselves!
3. It is by the power of the indwelling Spirit that we are to “abound in hope.” Some human beings are naturally introspective and gloomy. Others are naturally jovial and buoyant: but the joy in which we as believers are to abound does not in any wise flow from nature, but from the direct, inworking energy of the Holy Ghost. Some of the most naturally “happy” people of the world, “have been thrown into desperate trouble of soul either by the Spirit’s convicting them of their sin, or, perhaps, by the withdrawal of natural supports on a death-bed without hope; while some of those whose tendency was discouragement and despondency almost to hopelessness have, “by the power of the Holy Ghost,” been filled with all joy and peace, and have abounded in hope day by day and hour by hour!
4. It is in a believing heart that these blessed results are brought about. When asked by the Jews in the Sixth of John, “What must we do that we may work the works of God?” our Lord replied, “This is the WORK of God [the one thing He asks of you], that ye BELIEVE on Him whom He hath sent.” The “believing” of Romans 15:13 is, of course, that
“living by faith in the Son of God”
of which Paul speaks in Galatians 2:20. It is stepping out on the facts God reveals about us; and learning to live the life of trust.
The verse we are considering is the highest development of Christian experience revealed in this great, fundamental Epistle of Romans. Deeper things will be elsewhere unfolded,—as, for instance, the Indwelling Christ of Ephesians 3:14 to 21. But, as Jude 20 tells us, we must
“build up ourselves on our most holy faith.”
Paul declares that the “law” that prevails in this dispensation is a
“law of faith” (Rom. 3:27)
; and that the obedience into which we are called is the obedience of faith (Rom. 1:5; 16:26).
5. It is the will of God that you and I—all believers—be
“filled with all joy and peace in believing,”
—blessed spiritual state! that we may
“abound in hope in the power of the Holy Ghost.”
Some are content if they merely find the way of salvation through faith in the blood of Christ. They are much given to talk about being “saved by grace,” but they are not much exercised about holy living. A second class of believers become deeply exercised as to a life of “victory over sin.” These, of course, if instructed aright, accept the wondrous fact that they died with Christ, and are now on resurrection ground, freed from sin, and from that which gave sin its power,—the Law. A third class go further, to the Twelfth of Romans, and enter on true Christian service, by presenting their bodies a living sacrifice to God; and discovering thereby His good, acceptable, and perfect will for them—whatever measure of faith He may give them, and to whatever gift or peculiar service He may call them. But here, in this great fountain of water in Chapter 15.13, we find that a daily, hourly life
“filled with all joy and peace in believing, abounding in hope,”
is the normal state for every one who is in Christ!
It will not do for us to make excuses for ourselves: God is the God of hope! His yearning is to fill you and me with all joy and peace, if we will just launch out and believe. Others just as unworthy as we have believed; we will never become “more worthy” of believing. “This poor earth is a wrecked vessel,” as Moody used to say. Man is drifting on into the night, and judgment is coming. All the more, then, may the God of hope fill YOU with all joy and peace in believing, that YOU may abound in hope!
Many cherish their doubts [sadly, there are many professing Christians, even in positions of leadership, that encourage believers to doubt], even adducing them as a proof of their humility, which is sad indeed. As Charles F. Deems used to say, “Believe your beliefs, and doubt your doubts; most people believe their doubts, and doubt their beliefs.” You can believe. What a wonderful thing to be among those (sadly few!) believers who are filled with all joy and peace, and abound in hope!
We can enter into the benefit of our great apostle Paul’s benedictory prayer in this matter:
“Now the God of hope fill you”
—for Paul yearned over, prayed over, and had effectual prayer, even, for “those that had not seen his face in the flesh” (Col. 2:1); and we may assume that God will answer this mighty believing prayer of his on our behalf. And our Great High Priest, who moved Paul to pray, is at God’s right hand, making constant intercession for us!"
