"Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God." Romans 15v5-7
As always, God Himself is our example. He refers to the God of patience, the God of hope, and the God of peace in chapter 15v5-33, and again the God of peace in chapter 16v20. Whilst discussing these things with my good friend and brother James Neilson, he mentioned that he saw some parallels with the Old Testament patriarchs.
- The God of hope reminds us of Abraham, who left his native country in the hope that God would give him another. In the course of time he understood that the fulfillment of this divine promise would be way into the future.
- In the God of peace he sees the patriarch Isaac who learned to live in peace with all his neighbours and was able to dig wells for the blessing of his people.
- In the God of patience and consolation he sees God's dealings with Jacob. Over a 20 - 30 year period God suffered long the ways of Jacob, his waywardness, his deceit, his manipulation of circumstances; God suffered long his ways until at the last we find Jacob leaning on his staff and worshipping God.
In all these wonderful stories of the Old Testament we find the ways of God. Throughout Old Testament history the phrase was repeated "I am the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob." The patriarchs God is our God. The days are different, the circumstances are different, but God remains the same. The point of Paul's appeal is that we should instill into our souls the nature of the God who has saved us. He says we are to be "likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus. In other words, he is appealing for the essential unity of all believers . In the face of diversity, where some are weak and some are strong, we are being asked to have patience the one toward the other. The God who had patience with Jacob, with all his errant ways, wants us to have patience with each other. The long suffering of God is something to behold as we read the narratives of scripture. Paul has already referred to this in Romans chapter 2v4 where he speaks of the "goodness and forbearance and long suffering of God". In the same chapter he expects that those who are saved will live by "patient continuance in well doing."
We must keep focus on the big picture and not allow relatively trivial things to divide us. The glorious truths that unite us are far greater than anything that would divide us, and Paul defines this unity as follows; " that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God." He says, not only with one mouth, but with one mind. It is possible for us to glorify God with one mouth in public, but hold a mental diversity towards one another such that it brings disunity. Paul adds here " Even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. " When we understand the awesome glory of who God is, and what He has done for us all, the minor differences will seem to be nothing.
Paul concludes " wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God." There is no doubt that our attitude to each other, that our relationships with each other fall far short of this standard. Romans chapter 15v7 is a general principle not merely linked to the immediate context but to our attitude towards all believers, in all situations. "Receive ye one another as Christ also received us." That is the standard. In what circumstances did Christ receive us? He received us when we placed our faith in Him and in His work for eternity. We do well to ask ourselves this question; are our practices and our attitude towards our fellow brethren in Christ in line with such a standard? There was disunity at Rome, mainly because of cultural differences; there is disunity today mainly because of sectarian differences. The glory of God is at stake. An unbelieving world cannot be expected to understand our differences. The Lord Jesus Himself made a direct link between essential unity in the church and success in the preaching of the gospel (John 17v21 and v23). If we consider what now follows in the rest of the epistle, which is the global proclamation of the gospel to all nations, the apostle is reminding us here of the absolute need for a public display of unity to that end.
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