Romans 15
15
1 But we who are stronger must bear with the feebleness of the weak, and not so as to please ourselves.
2 Each one of you should please his neighbor unto good, for edification.
3 For even Christ did not please himself, but as it was written: "The reproaches of those who reproached you fell upon me."
4 For whatever was written, was written to teach us, so that, through patience and the consolation of the Scriptures, we might have hope.
5 So may the God of patience and solace grant you to be of one mind toward one another, in accord with Jesus Christ,
6 so that, together with one mouth, you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 For this reason, accept one another, just as Christ also has accepted you, in the honor of God.
8 For I declare that Christ Jesus was the minister of circumcision because of the truth of God, so as to confirm the promises to the fathers,
9 and that the Gentiles are to honor God because of his mercy, just as it was written: "Because of this, I will confess you among the Gentiles, O Lord, and I will sing to your name."
10 And again, he says: "Rejoice, O Gentiles, along with his people."
11 And again: "All Gentiles, praise the Lord; and all peoples, magnify him."
12 And again, Isaiah says: "There shall be a root of Jesse, and he shall rise up to rule the Gentiles, and in him the Gentiles shall hope."
13 So may the God of hope fill you with every joy and with peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope and in the virtue of the Holy Spirit.
14 But I am also certain about you, my brothers, that you also have been filled with love, completed with all knowledge, so that you are able to admonish one another.
15 But I have written to you, brothers, more boldly than to the others, as if calling you to mind again, because of the grace which has been given to me from God,
16 so that I may be a minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles, sanctifying the Gospel of God, in order that the oblation of the Gentiles may be made acceptable and may be sanctified in the Holy Spirit.
17 Therefore, I have glory in Christ Jesus before God.
18 So I dare not speak of any of those things which Christ does not effect through me, unto the obedience of the Gentiles, in word and deed,
19 with the power of signs and wonders, by power of the Holy Spirit. For in this way, from Jerusalem, throughout its surroundings, as far as Illyricum, I have replenished the Gospel of Christ.
20 And so I have preached this Gospel, not where Christ was known by name, lest I build upon the foundation of another,
21 but just as it was written: "Those to whom he was not announced shall perceive, and those who have not heard shall understand."
22 Because of this also, I was greatly hindered in coming to you, and I have been prevented until the present time.
23 Yet truly now, having no other destination in these regions, and having already had a great desire to come to you over the past many years,
24 when I begin to set out on my journey to Spain, I hope that, as I pass by, I may see you, and I may be guided from there by you, after first having borne some fruit among you.
25 But next I will set out for Jerusalem, to minister to the saints.
26 For those of Macedonia and Achaia have decided to make a collection for those of the poor among the saints who are at Jerusalem.
27 And this has pleased them, because they are in their debt. For, since the Gentiles have become partakers of their spiritual things, they also ought to minister to them in worldly things.
28 Therefore, when I have completed this task, and have consigned to them this fruit, I shall set out, by way of you, to Spain.
29 And I know that when I come to you I shall arrive with an abundance of the blessings of the Gospel of Christ.
30 Therefore, I beg you, brothers, through our Lord Jesus Christ and though the love of the Holy Spirit, that you assist me with your prayers to God on my behalf,
31 so that I may be freed from the unfaithful who are in Judea, and so that the oblation of my service may be acceptable to the saints in Jerusalem.
32 So may I come to you with joy, through the will of God, and so may I be refreshed with you.
33 And may the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
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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.