Title: Imitate Christ / Romans 15:1-13
Contents
From Romans 14:1 to 15:13, there is a long record on the issue of conscience.
To summarize the contents, the first is ‘Do not judge others’ and the second is ‘Do not test others’. And the third is to ‘be conformed to Christ’. It can be said that today's title is the conclusion of what I have said so far.
There are many things that believers want, but the most important thing among them is to imitate Christ, not anything else. It is to imitate the character of Christ.
Philippians 2:5 says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” In fact, if you just imitate Christ, you will have nothing more to hope for as a saint.
Our Lord delights in forgiving one another. He loves his brothers, but he delights in fraternal kindness and respect for one another. We will have to imitate this.
That's right. As long as you imitate Christ, there is no problem with those who are weak in faith or those who are strong. It doesn't matter who doesn't have it or who has it.
As long as you imitate Christ, ‘Do nothing out of strife or vanity, but in lowliness of mind each considers others better than himself. And not only tomorrow, but also helping others to fill the joy of Christ. Therefore, all we need to do is to imitate Christ.
1. It is something we should strive for.
In a nutshell, it means that you must first work for the good of your brother.
In verses 1-3 we read, “We who are strong ought to bear the weakness of the weak, and not to please ourselves, but let each of us please his neighbor, but for the good and for the edification, for Christ did not please himself. ...” he said.
Believers must take responsibility for the weaknesses of those who are weaker or weaker than themselves, help them, and embrace them. I'm sorry, but the poorer the life, the more I live for myself. But the better you are, the more you live for others.
Our Lord bore our weaknesses. He was responsible for our shortcomings.
He bore our sorrows and our sicknesses and all our sins. not only? He took even our punishment and sacrificed everything until death on the cross.
We are blessed with such great grace. Therefore, we should understand and embrace our brothers' weaknesses and errors. We want to be like the Lord, and we who follow the Lord should consider the weaknesses and faults of our brothers as our own shortcomings and help them. This is the spirit of the Lord.
Our Lord did not live all his life for himself, but first for God, and then for others. So our Lord did not please himself, but in the will of God he gave true joy to all people.
It is a precious thing to add to the joy of the saints in the truth. That is what the Lord wants and is pleased with. But to please others apart from the truth is to compromise with untruth, and this should not be tolerated.
This verse is saying that you should not try to fit people's parables while even throwing away the truth. To the end, the joy of the saints in the truth is what God wants.
And you have to work hard to build up virtue.
In 2 Peter 1:5, it says, “Therefore, be all the more diligent to build up your faith….” The meaning of the original word ‘virtue’ here is architecture.
Architecture is made by connecting various materials to each other and mutually supporting each other. Even different timbers become a beautiful building when they work together to form one. In this way, virtue plays a very important role in building up our religious life beautifully.
A church is a gathering of saved saints. A community of love. The saints gathered here have different appearances, different personalities, different thoughts, different degrees of knowledge, and different hobbies. But because Christ connects them together like a corner stone, we can write to form one. In other words, we become one in the Lord.
It is like a choir of many people. They have different voices and different pitches, but when they complement each other and harmonize, it becomes a beautiful choir.
In the Lord, we take charge of each other's weaknesses and shortcomings and complement each other's strengths and weaknesses, so that we can build a more beautiful church. Therefore, it can be said that virtue is what complements each other and builds them up. In the midst of this, the faith of the saints is growing beautifully.
And building up each other's virtues is not an easy task.
Because self-giving and sacrifice follow. Therefore, patience is required. Also, through these things, we learn to be patient with each other.
Verse 4 says, “Whatever was written before, was written for our instruction, that we may have hope, either with perseverance or with the comfort of the Scriptures.”
But perseverance is not something that can only be achieved with my own strength. God must give you strength.
Therefore, you should always read, listen to, and meditate on the Word of God and pray for it. This is because the words of the Bible are the words of power that give us the spiritual power of patience and comfort. For the sake of righteousness, for the sake of the saints, God gives true comfort to those who endure and gives blessings overflowing with hope.
2. We need God's help.
In verse 5, it says, “Now the God of patience and comfort grants you to be like one another, imitating Christ Jesus.”
Gentlemen, no matter how hard we try to be like the Lord, it is actually impossible. It could be a little better, but it doesn't make much of a difference. This is because all human beings, no matter who they are, are lacking, weak, and sinful.
However, when the saints obey God's word and try to put it into practice, God gives them the wisdom and power to do it. In fact, it can be said that trying to obey is itself a confession of faith.
God is with those who believe and obey today with grace and power.
That is why He makes us grow to the full stature of Christ, enables us to love, and gives us wisdom and power to edify us.
In the text, it is said that when the saints are obedient and strive for one another, they can imitate Jesus, and that the saints can become of one heart and one mind. Therefore, everything is done by the grace of God. Now, we have all lived by God's grace, and we will continue to live by God's grace and reach the kingdom of heaven.
3. The purpose must be the same.
Verse 6 says, “With one heart and one mouth we may glorify God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The purpose of the saints becoming one is to glorify God the Father with one heart and one mouth. Therefore, unless we become one, God is not pleased with any worship or prayer, nor does He accept it.
When the members become one, they love each other, build each other up, and build up the church. In fact, the very fact that the saints become one is love itself, and that in itself is the glory to receive from God.
If Min-il's children do not become one and fight, weep and cry, it is not a family but hell, and it is a disgrace to parents rather than glory and pride.
Therefore, the purpose of the saints being one is only to please God and to glorify Him. Here is true peace and love.
And when all the saints glorify God, they also become each other's joy, pride, and glory. In other words, we are to be exalted and glorified by each other.
Verse 7 says, “Therefore, receive one another as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.”
4. It is to glorify God among all nations.
Verse 9 says, “That the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy…”.
When the church becomes one in Christ and overflows with love and the glory of God, the gospel will be preached with power as prophesied in the past through the prophets, and all the Gentiles will give thanks, praise and glory to the Lord.
In Psalm 18:49, it says, “For this reason, O LORD, I give thanks to you among the nations, and I will praise your name among the nations.” “Rejoice with your people. Praise the Lord, all you nations; praise him, all you peoples…” This is what the Gentiles are saying and will share in the joy of salvation along with the Jews.
Therefore, only Jesus Christ, the Messiah, is the hope, joy and peace of all.
Verse 12, “And Isaiah said, ‘There will be the root of Jesse, one who will rise to rule over the nations, and in him the nations will hope.’”
And in verse 13 it says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
That's right. By the power of the Holy Spirit, God makes the saints whom he loves imitate Christ and makes them conform to the disposition of Christ. Therefore, all we need to do is strive to obey the Word we have to say.
Dear saints,
I hope that we can share our shortcomings in Christ, understand each other, and love each other to build a beautiful church. So, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will be overflowing with joy and peace in the Lord, and who will greatly reveal the glory of God through individuals, families and churches.