December 26 – Romans 15:5-6

Like most of his letters, Paul starts with truth before telling us how to live in light of that truth, which helps us see how our actions flow out of our beliefs and reminds us that mere behavior modification is a paltry view of what the gospel accomplishes in our lives. So the first section of Romans, chapters 1-11, is a rich theological lesson on the means by which we are made right with God, or justified. You’ll see Paul use language about justification, and specifically justification by faith, all throughout Romans (and his other letters). This is the core of the gospel message itself, that we can’t save ourselves and can only be saved by putting our faith in the work of Jesus on our behalf. This is Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.”

So keep in mind, where Paul has arrived in the second section of Romans (chapters 12-16) is all in light of justification by faith. Thus he gets to chapter 12 and says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.”(12:1) Based on the mercy we have received from God through Jesus we commit our entire selves to God as a “living sacrifice.” We live knowing that we are given, no longer our own, “bought with a price.”(1 Cor. 6:20) Anytime we think or talk about how we should live we should always do that in light of what God has said in his word, particularly in light of this great truth, that we are the undeserving recipients of God’s mercy through Jesus and belong fully to him.

In Romans 14:1-15:13 Paul addresses a specific issue in the early church that was causing some division, likely whether or not Christians should follow Jewish dietary laws. He exhorts the church in Rome to bear with one another, for those with a “strong” conscience (those who can eat non-Kosher food without feeling guilty) to see to the needs of those with a “weak” conscience (those who can’t eat non-Kosher food without feeling guilty), and to walk in peace, making sure not to cause one another to stumble or to pass judgment on one another. “For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.”(14:15) We see here a practice of laying down one’s rights, whether the right to eat non-Kosher foods or other rights, when exercising such rights would do harm to the unity of God’s people.