In our current series, I want us to make this move in a way that puts the magnificence of Jesus on display. We have used Romans 15:1-7 as our home-base for the series, then we’ve connected some dots to this text to help us best understand how to be prepared to move. Let me connect some of these dots we’ve covered:
Romans 15:1 & Romans 15:4: “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of weak, and not to please ourselves.” Verse 4: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
We correlated these passages with Isaiah 58:6–12, in which God expresses to us His form of fasting and worship. Paul refers to the Scriptures and to what was written in former days. He does not mention Isaiah 58. However, this serves a potential example of what he could mean. In Isaiah 58, God directs us as His people to promote the good of our neighbor, which thereby results in strengthening our relationship with our Lord. It also serves as a means of our joy and lifts our weary heads! I grip this passage for dear life and it always proves true, Highland.
Romans 15:2: “Let each of us please our neighbor, to build him up; for as it is written, ‘ the reproaches that fell on you, fell on me.’
We first looked at Psalm 69:9, where Paul’s quoting comes from in the Old Testament. Its meaning points to the fact that Jesus loves us in a way in which He absorbs our disapproval and bears it for us, in His body, and, though He was sinless, makes us right with God. He affords us forgiveness and kinship in His name. This plays out in relationship with the Lord by us loving and caring for our enemies, that we might build them up, as our neighbors.
Romans 15:5: “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This passage, as we’ve seen, toggles back and forth with Colossians 3, the entire chapter really, but we’ve honed in on verses 3:12–16. We’ve looked at the evidence of being renewed: being holy and beloved – this is our identity in Christ. Our new nature’s then demonstrated in the fact that we, before repentance, are critical in nature. After repentance, we then, by way of the Holy Ghost, become compassionate in nature, like Jesus (Matthew 9:36). The fruits of the Holy Spirit are then able to pour forth from our lives, as we remain submissive to the holiness of God’s Spirit.
Then, we’ve also honed in on the word bear – how we must endure with those in our lives – in a way that, through our relationship with the Lord, we can navigate the exhaustion and endure, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Last Sunday, we looked at an insertion that is the spine of the entire passage:.. ‘in accord with Jesus.’ Not, in accord with social or political views; in accord with doctrinal positions. It’s not even written as in accord with the teachings of Jesus, but in accord with the person, the one and only Son of God is, Who embodies holiness and righteousness.
Understanding this, Highland, as the Lord is placing us within this new position of strength, let us be grateful for the Lord’s provision but also understand the proper posture we must maintain as His people. This series seeks to highlight these three ways we maintain this heart-posture:
putting on display the magnificence of jesus
Seek the good of our neighbor
Pursue unity with one another
Fix our gaze on His glory
