Sunday School Notes: Romans 15:4-6

⁴ For as much as was written before was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we may have hope. ⁵ And may the God of endurance and encouragement give to you the same mind among one another according to Christ Jesus, ⁶ so that you may glorify unanimously with one mouth the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul just quoted Psalm 69:9, words of David that he believes are descriptive of Jesus. This leads Paul into a brief excursus on the place of the Scriptures (which for him and his readers was the Old Testament) in the life of the church. Why did Paul quote this passage in the context of pleasing one’s neighbor and seeking his edification, even over one’s own well-being?

To begin with, in the context of the letter and the situation in the Roman church, citing the Old Testament is a good way to affirm the place of the Gentile within the “tree” of God’s people (see Romans 11). These Scriptures, once the sole property of the Jews, are now part of the church’s heritage, thanks to the fact that Gentile believers are placed within the same lineage. Abraham is now our father in the faith too. So these inspired writings are applicable to both Jew and Gentile, even given the fact that there are portions that have been fulfilled in Christ. The ceremonial aspect of the Old Testament, while no longer imposed upon God’s New Covenant people, still speak to us of God’s majesty and holiness. They also point toward the Messiah, so we learn about Christ, his kingly and priestly offices, and his role as the sacrificial offering that takes away our sin. There is so much in these rituals that speak to us of the Savior, that it is worthwhile for God’s people to study them, even if we are not obligated to practice them.

As for the judicial codes, particularly in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, in these we see the holiness of God. We also get a sense of the scope of our failure to live up to God’s holiness. Some of these codes have ceremonial or cultural relevance to the people of Israel as they define themselves as a nation apart from their pagan neighbors. But even in this, we see how God wants His people to be set apart from the rest of the world. Again, the details may not apply to us, but the spirit certainly does. Then there are codes that touch upon creation ordinances, things that God has set forth from eternity regarding how people are to function. These ordinances are set out in the Moral Law, or The Ten Commandments. They cover our relationship to God, His uniqueness, and our obligation to set aside a day to worship Him. These immutable laws also touch upon marriage, theft, murder, and other fundamental principles of social interaction. Where the legal codes of Leviticus and Deuteronomy intersect with these, then we need to pay particular attention because these are not mere cultural mandates.

So the Old Testament is still very relevant to New Covenant believers. It was the Scripture of the early church, and clearly, from the number of times Paul has cited it in this letter alone, still considered God’s abiding truth, and profitable for the church.

In particular, Paul says that the Scriptures were written for our instruction, and to give us hope by means of endurance and encouragement. I’ve already touched on the ways the Scriptures instruct us with regard to God’s promises, His justice, His character, and so forth. And in the fact that God shows Himself to be faithful to His promises, and long-suffering with His people, we have hope that God will show the same grace and patience with us in our failings, and in His dealings with us.

This leads us to endurance, or perseverance, especially when times are tough. I don’t think the Roman church has had to undergo any severe persecution by this time. Any persecution against the church by Roman authorities was still localized and spotty–nothing official or organized, at it would later become. Most of the persecution outside of Jerusalem and Judea would come from disgruntled pagans, or officials concerned about public order (as we see in Acts). The saints in predominantly Jewish areas probably suffered more at the hands of the Jewish authorities–again, as we see in Acts. This is something we’ll touch on again later in this chapter. Nevertheless, the Christians in these areas would still have difficult times: heretics creeping in, disputes among the brethren, and a certain amount of hostility from the world. By reading of the experiences of the Old Testament saints, the church is encouraged to stay the course, and to persevere, knowing the Lord is in control and ultimately with them to the end. His sovereignty and faithfulness shine throughout the Scriptures as a beacon of hope to believers everywhere in all times.

Verses 5 and 6 are a prayer that also acts as an exhortation to the Roman church. Paul keys off the words “steadfastness” or “endurance” and “encouragement” he has just been discussing, praying that the God of steadfastness and encouragement with give them the same mind according to Christ Jesus. Notice that the unity of mind Paul wants the church to have is something that God gives to them. This is a unity that cannot be conjured up in a committee meeting, or by exercise of will; it is a gift of God. And it must be, because it is the same mind “according to Christ Jesus.” I understand this to define the kind of same-mindedness Paul is speaking of. It’s not a complete unity on all issues. We notice that while Paul has indicated his agreement with the “strong” over the “weak,” he hasn’t told the weak to “get with the program” and agree with the strong. His admonitions have been centered on the attitudes of both parties, and his concern is more over the way they treat each other rather than the issue at hand. Paul’s point here is that when it comes to the things of Christ, the central aspects of the gospel–that is, the essential truths of the faith–we are to have complete unity. Since faith in Christ is God-given, it makes sense that a unity on gospel truth can only happen at God’s initiation. While the church can agree to disagree, and respectfully discuss secondary issues, when it comes to the core elements of the faith, there should be complete agreement.

Paul concludes the prayer by stating his desire that the church glorify God “unanimously, with one mouth.” The word he uses for “unanimously” is also used in Acts 1:14 and 2:46 of the first church. The purpose of unity is not to show everyone who’s right and who’s wrong, or to somehow win an argument. As we’ve said all along, it’s always about God and His glory. It’s never about us. And again, the unanimity is on the essentials, the thing “according to Christ Jesus,” the gospel, not issues of food or ceremonial days, or dancing, or the color of the carpet in the sanctuary, or what instrumentation you use in the worship service, or whatever other issues you might think of.

The last line of the prayer may cause concern, so I addressed it. Paul refers to God as “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The KJV renders this “the God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” possibly trying to avoid a theological issue: if Jesus is God, how can he have a God? Is this statement a denial of the divinity of Christ, or an undermining of the Trinity? First, the rendering offered by most modern translations (“God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”) is most likely the correct understanding. I won’t go into the grammatical reasons, but I will be happy to discuss in the comments if you want to get into that. Next, I offered these three reasons why this statement is neither a denial of the divinity of Christ, nor a denial of the Trinity:

1. God the Son has a Father. If you understand the doctrine of the Trinity, you understand that there is an eternal relationship between God the Father and God the Son. These titles pertain not to importance or power, but to the way these persons relate to one another and their function within the Godhead. In theological terms, we’re talking about the “economical Trinity,” since we are discussing how the Persons of the Trinity organize themselves (“economic” comes from the Greek oikos, “house,” and relates to household management).
2. Jesus was not an atheist. In his perfect example of how humanity should live, devotion to God was central. As perfect man, we should expect that he would worship perfectly, and, of course, he would pray to God, and recognize his heavenly Father in his prayers.
3. Jesus himself made declarations (such as the quotation of Psalm 22 on the cross, and his post-resurrection words to Mary in John 20:17) that refer to God as “my God.” This is only to be expected from someone who is not only 100% divine, but also 100% human.

We’ll continue next time starting at verse 7.