Sermon notes July 13th, 2025

ROMANS 15

The first thirteen verses of chapter 15 continue the subject of the previous chapter, dealing with matters of moral indifference. Tensions had arisen between the converts from Judaism and those from paganism, so Paul here pleads for harmonious relations between these Jewish and Gentile Christians. Those who are strong (that is, with full liberty regarding things that are morally indifferent) are not to please themselves by selfishly asserting their rights. Rather, they should treat their weak brothers with kindness and consideration, making full allowance for their excessive scruples. The New King James Version decided to use this term scruple.

Romans 15:1                                              New King James Version

1   We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

SCRUPLE:

• a feeling of doubt or hesitation with regard to the morality or propriety of a course of action. ("I had no scruples about eavesdropping")
• hesitate or be reluctant to do something that one thinks may be wrong.   ("she doesn't the scruples to ask her parents for money")

Romans 15:1                                                        King James Version

1   We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

Romans 15:1                                               New International Version

1  We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

• The principle is this: don’t live to please self. Live to please your neighbor, to do him good, to build him up. This is the Christian approach. Christ has given us the example. He lived to please His Father, not Himself. He said, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me” (Ps. 69:9). This means that He was so completely taken up with God’s honor that when men insulted God, He took it as a personal insult to Himself.

ROMANS 15:2-5

2   Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. 

3   For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”  (Ps. 69:9)

4   For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. 

• This quotation from the Psalms reminds us that the OT Scriptures were written for our learning. While they were not written directly to us, they contain invaluable lessons for us. As we encounter problems, conflicts, tribulations, and troubles, the Scriptures teach us to be steadfast, and they impart comfort. Thus, instead of sinking under the waves, we are sustained by the hope that the Lord will see us through.

5   Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus,

• This consideration leads Paul to express the wish that the God who gives steadfastness and comfort will enable the strong and the weak, Gentile and Jewish Christians, to live harmoniously according to the teaching and example of Christ Jesus.

ROMANS 15:6-7

6   that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

• The result will be that the saints will be united in the worship of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a picture! Saved people like you and me, worshiping the Lord with one mouth!

7   Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. 

ROMANS 15:8-9

8   Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 

• In the next six verses the apostle reminds his readers that the ministry of Jesus Christ includes Jews and Gentiles, and the implication is that our hearts should also be big enough to include both. Certainly, Christ came to serve the circumcision—that is, the Jewish people. God had repeatedly promised that He would send the Messiah to Israel, and Christ’s coming confirmed the truth of those promises.

9   and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written:        “For this reason I will confess to You (God) among the Gentiles,                                       And sing to Your name.”

ROMANS 15:10-13

10   And again he says:                                                                                                  “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!”

11   And again:                                                                                                   “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles!                                                                                             Laud Him, all you peoples!”

12   And again, Isaiah says:                                                                                 “There shall be a root of Jesse;                                                                                                     And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles,                                                                        In Him the Gentiles shall hope.”

13   Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

ROMANS 15:14-15

14   Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. 

• In the rest of chapter 15 Paul states his reason for writing to the Romans and his great desire to visit them.
• Though he has never met the Roman Christians, he is confident that they will welcome his admonitions. This confidence is based on what he has heard of their goodness. In addition, he is assured of their knowledge of Christian doctrine, which qualifies them to admonish others

15   Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, 

• In spite of his confidence in our spiritual progress, and in spite of the fact that he was a stranger to us, Paul didn’t hesitate to remind us of some of our privileges and responsibilities. His frankness in writing as he did arose, from the grace given to him by God—that is, the grace that appointed him as an apostle.

ROMANS 15:16-18

16   that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 

• He was appointed by God to be a sort of serving-priest of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. He looked upon his work of ministering the gospel of God as a priestly function in which he presented saved Gentiles as an acceptable offering to God because they had been set apart by the Holy Spirit to God through the new birth. G. Campbell Morgan exults:

17   Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God. 

• If Paul engages in boasting, it is not in his own person that he glories, but in Christ Jesus. And it is not in his own accomplishments but in what God has been pleased to do through him. A humble servant of Christ does not engage in unseemly boasting, but rather he is conscious of the fact that God is using him to accomplish His purposes. Any temptation to pride is tempered by the realization that he is nothing in himself, that he has nothing except what he has received, and that he can do nothing for Christ except by the power of the Holy Spirit.

18   For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient—

• Paul does not presume to speak of what Christ had done through the ministry of others. He confines himself to the way the Lord had used him to win the Gentiles to obedience, both by what he said and by what he did—that is, by the message he preached and by the miracles he performed.

ROMANS 15:19-21

19   in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 

20   And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation, 

• In following this route, Paul’s aim was to preach the gospel in virgin territory. His audiences were composed primarily of Gentiles who had never heard of Christ before. Thus, he was not building on anyone else’s foundation. Paul’s example in pioneering in new areas does not necessarily bind other servants of the Lord to this exact activity. Some are called to move in and teach, for example, after new churches have been planted.

21   but as it is written:                                                                                              “To whom He was not announced, they shall see;                                                                 And those who have not heard shall understand.”

ROMANS 15:22-24

22   For this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you. 

• In his desire to plow untilled territory, Paul had been too occupied to get to Rome in the past. But now the foundation had been laid in the region described in 15:19. Others could build on the foundation. Paul was therefore free to fulfill his long-standing desire to visit Rome.

23   But now no longer having a place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come to you, 

24   whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while. 

• His plan was to stop off at Rome en route to Spain. He would not be able to stay long enough to enjoy all the fellowship with them that he would like, but his desire to enjoy their company would be partially satisfied at least. Then he knew that they would give whatever help was needed to complete his trip to Spain.

ROMANS 15:25-28

25   But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. 

• But in the meantime, he was going to Jerusalem to deliver the funds which had been collected among Gentile churches for the needy saints in Judea. This is the collection that we read about in 1 Corinthians 16:1 and 2 Corinthians 8 and 9.

26   For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. 

• The believers in Macedonia and Achaia had gladly contributed to a fund to relieve the distress among the poor Christians. This collection was completely voluntary on the part of the donors, and also quite appropriate for them to give. After all, they had benefited spiritually by the coming of the gospel to them through Jewish believers. So it was not too much to expect that they would share with their Jewish brethren in material things.

27   It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things. 

28   Therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain. 

29    But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

• As soon as Paul had performed this mission, delivering the funds as promised, he would visit Rome on his way to Spain. 
• He had every confidence that his visit to Rome would be accompanied by the fullness of the blessing of the gospel which Christ always pours out when God’s word is preached in the power of the Holy Spirit.

ROMANS 15:30-31

30   Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me, 

31   that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 

• Four specific prayer requests are given. First, Paul asks for prayer that he will be delivered from zealots in Judea who were fanatically opposed to the gospel, just as he himself had once been.
• Second, he wants the Romans to pray that the Jewish saints will accept the relief funds in good grace. Strong religious prejudices remained against Gentile believers and against those who preached to the Gentiles. Then there is always the possibility of people being offended at the idea of receiving “charity.” It often takes more grace to be on the receiving end than on the giving end!

32   that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you. 

• The third request was that the Lord might see fit to make the visit to Rome a joyful one. The words by the will of God express Paul’s desire to be led by the Lord in all things.
• Last of all, he asks that his visit might be one in which he may be refreshed in the midst of a tumultuous and fatiguing ministry.

33   Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.  

• And now Paul closes the chapter with the prayer that the God who is the source of peace might be their portion. In chapter 15 the Lord has been named the God of patience and consolation (v. 5), the God of hope (v. 13), and now the God of peace. He is the source of everything good and of everything a poor sinner needs now and eternally. Amen.