Romans: The Glory of the Gospelಮಾದರಿ

Be What You Are

We’ve learned so much! For the past eight days, we’ve been immersed in the gospel, finding out how God justifies sinners and discovering what it means to be united to Christ by faith. So now what? How do these great realities impact our day-to-day lives? That’s what these next chapters in Romans teach us, how to apply these great doctrines of salvation. Here we see, first and foremost, what our union with Christ means for our relationship with God now, in the present. Life in Christ impacts everything about us. The apostle is going to show us how to thrive in our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ and how to reflect Christ to the unbelievers we encounter in everyday life. Overall, these chapters paint a comprehensive picture of holy living in service to the one who has given us everything, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We’ve picked up on some possible tensions in the Roman church—Jews and Gentile converts looking down on one another for both past and present differences in their spiritual lives. So for them, and for all of us in the church today, Paul places a strong emphasis on unity:

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:3–8, ESV)

As we learned earlier in our study, we don’t earn favor with God by keeping his law, but that doesn’t free us from the obligation to obey it. We keep it now not to earn his favor but because we already have it. Paul describes what Christian law-keeping looks like in Romans 13:9–10.

“You do you” is a polite way of offering acceptance to those whose choices differ from ours. Paul is advocating for something similar as he continues to show us how Christian love is lived out:

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:1–4, ESV)

Specifically in mind here are those gray areas, things in life that aren’t spelled out as black or white in Scripture. Theologians refer to such things as “secondary matters.” As we dig into what Paul is saying here, let’s remember what was going on in the church at Rome. The church was made up of Gentile Christians and Jews who had embraced Christ as Lord, but deeply entrenched customs and practices from their respective backgrounds hindered their fellowship. The Jews continued to observe some of the food laws that were required under the Old Testament covenant—not as a means of being saved but because, even though they were free from those laws, their consciences were bothered by eating those foods. Paul refers to them as “weak in faith.”

Paul gives the same guidance concerning the observance of Old Testament religious Holidays in Romans 14:5–12. Some believe that the “day” in 14:5 is the Sabbath, which God commanded his people to set apart for rest and worship. Keeping the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments, the moral law, which, unlike the old-covenant civil and ceremonial laws, was not abolished in Christ. For that reason, it’s more likely that Paul has in mind the observance of old-covenant ceremonies and feasts, which were civil and ceremonial. This view also ties in best with what Paul’s been saying about certain foods.

And now Paul gets to the heart of his lesson here in 14:13–19. How can those whose conscience allows them to enjoy all food demonstrate love to those whose conscience isn’t free? He has a clear message for both—those whose consciences are free and those whose consciences are bothered in 14:20–23.

Loving sacrificially is hard, even toward those for whom we feel lots of personal affection. We need some motivation to persevere, and as Paul ends this exhortation, he gives us just what we need:

For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,

and sing to your name.”

And again it is said,

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”

And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,

and let all the peoples extol him.”

And again Isaiah says,

“The root of Jesse will come,

even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;

in him will the Gentiles hope.”

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:8–13, ESV)

Reflection: Paul instructs, “If your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died” (Romans 14:15, ESV). Is there something you need to give up for the sake of conscience, whether your own or someone else’s? Consider why letting it go is difficult.