Romans – A Treatise
Chapter Fifteen
LIKE-MINDED ACCORDING TO CHRIST JESUS
Scripture Reading: verses 5-10
NOW THE GOD OF PATIENCE AND CONSOLATION GRANT YOU TO BE LIKE-MINDED: 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. NOW I SAY THAT JESUS CHRIST WAS A MINISTER OF THE CIRCUMCISION FOR THE TRUTH OF GOD, TO CONFIRM THE PROMISES MADE UNTO THE FATHERS: AND THAT THE GENTILES MIGHT GLORIFY GOD FOR HIS MERCY; AS IT IS WRITTEN, FOR THIS CAUSE I WILL CONFESS TO THEE AMONG THE GENTILES, AND SING UNTO THY NAME. AND AGAIN HE SAITH, REJOICE, YE GENTILES, WITH HIS PEOPLE.
This passage is keynoted by the seventeenth verse of the previous chapter, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Paul is amplifying that truth in these verses.
Remember that throughout this entire the Roman Epistle, Jew and Gentile are on trial in the universal courtroom where God is the judge and where sovereign mercy has been dealt out to them. They shared the guilt of sin in common; in common Jew and Gentile shared the forgiveness of sins; now in common they share the fellowship of the kingdom of God, righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, and as a result they are at peace with one another. On this basis in verse 5, Paul enjoins that the God of patience and consolation would grant to both Jew and Gentile to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus. This is another of several doxologies in Romans.
Chapter 11, verses 33-36 is a very special doxology which closed the great doctrinal section of this epistle. This one seems to have been prompted by Paul’s reflections on the patience and comfort afforded the children of God through the study of the sacred Scriptures, therefore making God to be the God “of patience and of comfort.” Of course, He is also the God of hope, and the apostle threw in another doxology a little later (Rom. 15:13), hailing Him so. Both this doxology and the one in 15:13 were prompted by the words patience, comfort, and hope, as used in Romans 15:4.
The conduct befitting those who have been forgiven is this: they should not quarrel among themselves, instead be “like-minded one toward another.” This is the ideal of unity among brethren in Christ, a state of harmony which is mandatory for Christians, since it is “according to Christ Jesus,” that is, according to His will and commandment. The purpose of such unity is that the praise and glorification of God should be uncorrupted by strife and division. “One mouth” or “one accord” are expressions forbidding that strife and contradictions should mar the praise of God by His children, and demanding that absolute unity should be the badge of their loving service.
This is highlighted in the story of Joseph in the Hebrew Bible. His brethren had come down from Egypt, and he had revealed to them the astonishing fact that the lord of all things in the land of Egypt was none other than their brother Joseph. Immediately he received a confession of their guilt. Then he sent them back to Canaan’s land laden with the rich merchandise of the choicest fruits of Egypt and his injunction was “See that ye fall not out by the way.” It is a faint echo of the heart of Joseph that we hear from the heart of Paul here in Romans 15, “Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus.” Quarreling among ourselves is an unworthy practice on the part of Christian people. It is to be deeply regretted. In Ephesians Paul puts the same truth in an endearing fashion when he says, “Be ye kind one to an other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven you.” Since we have been forgiven such a great debt by the Lord Himself we should be only too ready to show a spirit of forgiveness toward our brethren.
But notice Paul’s desire that they should be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus. This is not ambling along in a carefree manner in peace at any price. No, it is rather that men who have the deepest conviction concerning their faith can be brought into a realm of agreement because the touchstone of their faith is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It was when the disciples got out of the company of the Lord that they began to quarrel among themselves and wonder who should be the greatest in the kingdom. For a moment they forgot that the gathering point of their lives was Jesus the Lord. God’s desire is that Christian people should walk together in unity of purpose with the Lord Jesus at the center. In other words, their like-mindedness must be according to Christ Jesus. The impelling force behind this conduct will be the God of patience and consolation or encouragement. Let us always remember that we have a living Lord in heaven who has His eye on us at all times. The path of the peacemaker is a difficult one and we may some times feel defeated and alone. Our Father is the God of patience and encouragement. Sometimes He keeps us waiting for years before the fruition of that for which we strive is seen, but He would encourage us to go onward at every step.
Paul’s statement “That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” points out how the mind and mouth must be in unison. The Christian is not called on to constantly express what he is thinking, but what he does say should correspond to his thoughts. In other words, we should be honest, and the bent of our minds and purpose of our speech should be to glorify God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In our world of confused motives, it is needful to keep a Scripture like this in view. The glory of God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ should be the great objective of every step along our pathway. All that Christian people do together should coordinate toward mak-ing the Name of God more glorious in a world of sin. His Name has been and continues to be dragged in the mire by ungodly men who speak evil of God. The difficult task that has been allocated to Christians is to do everything possible to make that Name glorious, and to see to it that every word that proceeds out of our mouths tends toward glorifying God’s Name.
In verse 7 Paul says, “Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.” Paul wrote in 14:2 that “God hath received him,” and here that “Christ also received us,” the same being another example of the manner in which Paul used the terms God and Christ almost interchangeably, making it clear that Paul received Christ as deity.
The same ground of appeal is stressed here that was stressed in the preceding chapter, namely, that since Christ has received us as Christians, the least that we can do is receive each other, at the same time being willing to overlook the mistakes and errors of the weak, just as Christ has forgiven us. Such a toleration of weakness and errors, with special reference to things unessential and secondary, will inhibit strife and division in the church and result in greater glory to God.
Surely this is a needful exhortation in these days. The devil is doing his utmost to divide Christian people one from another, to split us into factions, denominations, divisions and sects. The only cure for all this is to receive one another. In other words, we should receive one another into our company, into our homes, into our society, into our assemblies. How should this reception be done? Shall it be in a grudging fashion, forcing fellow believers to concede to and accept that all our opinions are right, and that his are likely to be wrong? We are to receive one another as Christ also received us. He received us in magnificent grace when we were wrong – when we had nothing to commend us except trust in Him.
Then, lest we might think we should open the doors of our homes or the Body of Christ to anybody that may drift along, Paul adds this note of preservation, “to the glory of God.” In other words, our conduct toward one another in the matter of reception should have the glory of the Name of our God as the great objective. These are searching thoughts. May the God of patience and consolation grant us to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus.
