Romans 15
15
Concerning Service to Others
1We who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak and not please ourselves. # Ro 14:1; 1Th 5:14 2Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. # Ro 14:19; 1Co 10:24 3For even Christ did not please Himself. # Jn 5:30 But as it is written, “The insults of those who insulted You fell on Me.” # Ps 69:9 # 15:3 Ps 69:9. 4For whatever was previously written was written for our instruction, # Ro 4:23–24; 1Co 10:11 so that through perseverance and encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
5Now may the God of perseverance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, # Ro 12:16; 1Co 1:10 6so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. # Jn 20:17; Eph 1:3
The Gospel for Jews and Gentiles
7Therefore welcome one another, just as Christ also welcomed us, for the glory of God. 8Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God, # Mt 15:24 to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs, # 2Co 1:20 9and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written:
“For this reason I will acknowledge You among the Gentiles,
and I will sing praises to Your name.” # 2Sa 22:50; Ps 18:49 # 15:9 Ps 18:49.
10He also says:
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!” # Dt 32:43 # 15:10 Dt 32:43.
11And again:
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
let all the peoples praise Him.” # Ps 117:1 # 15:11 Ps 117:1.
12And again Isaiah says:
“There shall be a Root of Jesse;
He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles,
in Him shall the Gentiles hope.” # Isa 11:10; Mt 12:21 # 15:12 Isa 11:10.
13Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit. # Ro 12:12; 14:17
Paul’s Missionary Commission
14Now I myself am persuaded concerning you, my brothers, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, # 1Co 8:1, 7 and also able to instruct one another. 15Nevertheless, brothers, I have written even more boldly to you on some points, to remind you, because of the grace that is given to me from God, # Ro 1:5; 12:3 16that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, # Ac 9:15; Ro 11:13 in the priestly service of the gospel of God, # Php 2:17 so that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
17In Christ Jesus therefore I have reason to boast in my service to God. # Php 3:3; Heb 5:1 18For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, # Ac 15:12; 21:19 19by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, # Ac 22:17–21; 2Co 12:12 so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20So I have strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, so that I should not build on another man’s foundation. # 2Co 10:13–16 21But as it is written:
“To whom He was not announced, they shall see;
and those who have not heard shall understand.” # Isa 52:15 # 15:21 Isa 52:15.
Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome
22For this reason also I was often hindered from coming to you. # Ro 1:13 23But now, no longer having a place in these regions, and having a great desire for many years to come to you, # Ac 19:21; Ro 15:32 24whenever I go to Spain, I shall come to you, for I hope to see you when I pass through and to be helped on my way there by you, # Ac 15:3; Ro 15:28 when I have first enjoyed your company for a little while. 25But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. # Ac 24:17 26For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. 27It has pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, they also ought to minister to them in material things. # 1Co 9:11; Gal 6:6 28Therefore, when I have completed this and have given this blessing to them, I shall come by way of you to Spain, # Ro 15:24 29and I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.
30Now I ask you, brothers, through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, # 2Co 1:11; Col 4:12 31that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, # 2Th 3:2 and that my ministry for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, # 2Co 8:4 32so that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, # Ac 18:21 and may be refreshed together with you. # 1Co 16:18 33Now the God of peace be with you all. # Ro 16:20; 2Co 13:11; Php 4:9 Amen.
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The Holy Bible, Modern English Version
Copyright © 2024, 2017, 2014 by United Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.
Romans 15
15
1-2Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”
3-6That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!
7-13So reach out and welcome one another to God’s glory. Jesus did it; now you do it! Jesus, staying true to God’s purposes, reached out in a special way to the Jewish insiders so that the old ancestral promises would come true for them. As a result, the non-Jewish outsiders have been able to experience mercy and to show appreciation to God. Just think of all the Scriptures that will come true in what we do! For instance:
Then I’ll join outsiders in a hymn-sing;
I’ll sing to your name!
And this one:
Outsiders and insiders, rejoice together!
And again:
People of all nations, celebrate God!
All colors and races, give hearty praise!
And Isaiah’s word:
There’s the root of our ancestor Jesse,
breaking through the earth and growing tree tall,
Tall enough for everyone everywhere to see and take hope!
Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!
* * *
14-16Personally, I’ve been completely satisfied with who you are and what you are doing. You seem to me to be well-motivated and well-instructed, quite capable of guiding and advising one another. So, my dear friends, don’t take my rather bold and blunt language as criticism. It’s not criticism. I’m simply underlining how very much I need your help in carrying out this highly focused assignment God gave me, this priestly and gospel work of serving the spiritual needs of the non-Jewish outsiders so they can be presented as an acceptable offering to God, made whole and holy by God’s Holy Spirit.
17-21Looking back over what has been accomplished and what I have observed, I must say I am most pleased—in the context of Jesus, I’d even say proud, but only in that context. I have no interest in giving you a chatty account of my adventures, only the wondrously powerful and transformingly present words and deeds of Christ in me that triggered a believing response among the outsiders. In such ways I have trailblazed a preaching of the Message of Jesus all the way from Jerusalem far into northwestern Greece. This has all been pioneer work, bringing the Message only into those places where Jesus was not yet known and worshiped. My text has been,
Those who were never told of him—
they’ll see him!
Those who’ve never heard of him—
they’ll get the message!
* * *
22-24And that’s why it has taken me so long to finally get around to coming to you. But now that there is no more pioneering work to be done in these parts, and since I have looked forward to seeing you for many years, I’m planning my visit. I’m headed for Spain, and expect to stop off on the way to enjoy a good visit with you, and eventually have you send me off with God’s blessing.
25-29First, though, I’m going to Jerusalem to deliver a relief offering to the followers of Jesus there. The Greeks—all the way from the Macedonians in the north to the Achaians in the south—decided they wanted to take up a collection for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem. They were happy to do this, but it was also their duty. Seeing that they got in on all the spiritual gifts that flowed out of the Jerusalem community so generously, it is only right that they do what they can to relieve their poverty. As soon as I have done this—personally handed over this “fruit basket”—I’m off to Spain, with a stopover with you in Rome. My hope is that my visit with you is going to be one of Christ’s more extravagant blessings.
30-33I have one request, dear friends: Pray for me. Pray strenuously with and for me—to God the Father, through the power of our Master Jesus, through the love of the Spirit—that I will be delivered from the lions’ den of unbelievers in Judea. Pray also that my relief offering to the Jerusalem believers will be accepted in the spirit in which it is given. Then, God willing, I’ll be on my way to you with a light and eager heart, looking forward to being refreshed by your company. God’s peace be with all of you. Oh, yes!
* * *
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.