Title: Paul's Prayer (2)
Contents
Paul's prayer (2) (Romans 15:5-7) 10, Wednesday
Paul sometimes uses a mixture of prayer and exhortation. Today's text is such a text. It seems to be an exhortation, but in fact, it is an exhortation that includes prayer. First, let's take a look at today's text.
* Who is God?
He is a God of patience and comfort. Why is God expressed here as a God of patience and comfort? Although we do not know it well, the God they needed in this situation was a God of patience and comfort.
* What is imitating Christ Jesus?
1) The meaning of each other is the same (5).
Hearts will not be divided and become one
2) to accept each other (7)
Not rejecting (pushing out) each other, but accepting (accepting) each other.
* Is the purpose of faith a purpose?
It is to glorify God. This is the ultimate goal and purpose.
1. Let's look at the context before and after the text.
If we look at the text we read today and the context before and after, we can guess that the members of the Roman Church do not agree with each other, do not become one with each other, and have conflicts. It is by no means a light matter that children of the same God cannot become one with each other in the same church. It is a problem that must be overcome and overcome. So, what is the problem in the Roman Church?
1) Two kinds of saints in the Roman Church
There were two types of saints in the Roman Church. The first were Gentile believers who came to believe in Jesus, and the second were Jews who were Jews but accepted the gospel. They had different religious beliefs as well as different backgrounds.
First, Gentile believers
Because they did not have an Old Testament background, they were not affected by the Old Testament law and understood and enjoyed the core of the gospel of salvation only through faith in Jesus.
Second, the Jewish believers
Of course, these are people who have accepted the truth of being saved through faith in Jesus. However, because these people lived in the background of the Old Testament and the Law, they believed that even if they believed in Jesus, they should keep the Old Testament laws.
For example, in the case of food laws, there are meats that should not be eaten in the Old Testament. However, Gentiles were free from such food because they believed that they were saved only by faith.
A strange atmosphere was formed in the church as people with different views began to lead a religious life together. Different thoughts mean that sometimes we can hurt each other emotionally, and sometimes one can despise the other.
People from Gentiles can think of people from Judaism as old-fashioned people, and people from Judaism can think from people from Gentiles as free-spirited and unrestrained people. Since there are people with various opinions in the church, how should we solve these problems when such conflicts arise in the church?
First, respect one another (Romans 14:3)
Let him who eats not despise him who does not eat, and let him who does not eat not judge him who eats, for God has accepted him.
He who eats should not despise those who do not eat. Horse eaters are Gentile believers who freely eat anything without being bound by the Old Testament law. These people were told not to despise those who could not eat because of such things.
Those who could not eat were Jewish believers, and they were told not to judge Gentile believers who freely eat any meat. What do you mean? If we condemn and judge each other because of our differences, it will eventually become a faction and lead to division, so don't do it.
Second, bear the burden (Romans 15:1).
said Here, the person who is weak in faith refers to those who are still bound by the Old Testament rites, and the person who is strong in faith refers to those who are free in regards to the eating problems and days of the Old Testament. It seems a bit odd. At first glance, people with Old Testament backgrounds seem to have strong faith, and Gentile believers seem to have weak faith, but the Bible tells the opposite.
Why? Here, the meaning of strong or weak faith is not the meaning of strength or weakness as we usually think, but rather how well the gospel is understood or not. Because the Jewish believers did not fully understand the Gospel, they were still unable to escape from the Old Testament, and the Gentile believers were able to be much more free about eating because they clearly understood the Gospel.
What is the attitude of the saints who fully understand the gospel? It is not an attitude of judging and despising the weaknesses of the weak, but of taking on those weaknesses. If so, what kind of attitude do you have to deal with weaknesses? It doesn't mean to admit and accept the other person's faults as they are, but to help them realize their faults right away. So, it means to help them understand the right spirit of the gospel and to enjoy it.
This does not mean compromise on the heart of the gospel. There is no compromise on the essence of the gospel. However, for the parts that are not, accept it with a somewhat broad mind. It is to accept with a heart of brotherly love.
2. Understanding the text
In this context, consider Paul's prayer we read today. (Romans 15:5-7) [5] Now the God of patience and comfort grants you to be like-minded toward one another in the imitation of Christ Jesus, [6] With one heart and one mouth to glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. [7] Therefore, receive one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.??
1) The God of patience and comfort
It takes patience for us to tolerate others who disagree with us. You have to be patient and wait patiently. We must learn the patience of God.
How hard is it to become one and speak with one voice?
What is the secret to the moving sound that the orchestra creates? How loud would it be if the instruments in the orchestra only produced their own sounds? However, beautiful sound comes out when you follow the conductor's guidance and try to kill your own sound whenever possible and instead try to harmonize your own sound with the other person.
The same is true of community harmony. Rather than asserting and shouting out your own thoughts and opinions, you can be a beautiful community when you constantly persevere and try to be in harmony with the whole. A beautiful sound comes from constant perseverance.
Also, God's comfort is needed to bear the weakness of the weak. Because it's not easy. But when God gives comfort and encouragement to our patience and effort, we will be able to love and embrace each other more.
2) Imitating Christ, making them of the same mind
Asking for the same meaning is not, in a sense, a consensus of opinion, but a prayer for emotional harmony. This is because it is not as easy as one might think for a person who has not yet fully understood the Gospel to agree with those who have fully understood the meaning of the Gospel.
When the day comes when they will understand the Gospel properly, they will naturally agree with each other, but until then, what we need to pursue is to pray that even if we do not agree with each other, we will be able to achieve a harmonious balance of points so that there is no division due to emotional hurt. .
3) Let us glorify the Father with one heart and one mouth (6)
The most important thing is the glory of God. The most important purpose of our life is the glory of God. Even people with different ideas should have the same purpose. It is the glory of God.
To glorify God, we must be of one mind, and when we become of one mind, we can become one. In other words, it means worship. That we should be able to praise and worship God with one heart and one mouth.
We must love one another, understand one another, and be patient with one another so that worship does not become a hindrance. This is because God is not pleased with the worship of a divided community. In particular, verse 6 expresses God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The expression ?쐄ather??is an expression of family relationship.
It means that we are one family in Christ, even if we have different opinions. Families do not divide because of differences of opinion. Even if opinions differ, we try to maintain unity. We are one family in Christ.
< Conclusion >
We can be different. Your thoughts and tastes may differ. However, it must not be if it blocks the glory of God and hinders worship because of it. So verse 7 says: As Christ received us, we also receive one another. I hope that we, who are slightly different from each other, will be able to build a beautiful community through these efforts to accept each other.