Chapters 14, 15, 16

Quarrels

At the center of Paul’s teaching about “being the church” is a spirit of welcome for all irrespective of opinions.

1. Dietary regulations: This is an argument at the center of the Jewish/Gentile debate in the church at Rome and other places as well. One strong remnant of the differences lies around the laws of kosher food. Kosher is a major segment of the law for Jews and of no concern for gentiles at all. Some were trying to retain the legal prescriptions around diet while others were able to let go.

2. Judgments: This led to the second of the large issues in midst of the clash, one party passing judgment upon the other. Those who eat what they want are not to pass judgment upon those who are still connected to the dietary restrictions; and in like manner, those who abstain are not to pass judgment upon those who eat. The same call to consideration was relevant to keeping some days as special. I would imagine that the Sabbath arguments are at the center of this command. Those who keep Sabbath inviolate are not to be judged as those who consider Sabbath to be any other day of the week are not to be judged for that observation.

3. Honor the Lord: This is the radical conclusion to which Paul brings his arguments. Whether you observe a special day or not; whether you observe special dietary regulation or not everything is to be done “in honor of the Lord.” The key element in all things is that they honor the Lord while giving thanks to God.

We Do Not Live to Ourselves

Paul writes, “We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then whether we live or whether we died, we are the Lord’s” This phrase becomes the motivation for all things in the church. We are owned by another – God. Therefore, all actions, our entire lives center on the truth that we belong to God and that we owe God everything. It stands to be the central issue around the relationships of those within the church as well. Judgments and hatred directed toward brothers and sisters in the church, though they seem important at this point will be brought before God as those who are accountable to God for everything.

This bears upon our living relationships in terms of loving. It mandates our willingness to look out for those who are weaker or less advanced in the faith. Paul addresses those here who have seen that dietary restrictions are not regulated by the gospel. Nonetheless, if the practice of letting them go causes serious threats to the faith of another, consider the weakness of those around so that there is no stumbling block (scandal) around something as simple as eating or drinking. Paul’s injection is consider what is and is not of vital importance to the whole. He says, “The kingdom of God is not food or drink.” The dietary restrictions now move into the area away from the question as to whether the food is clean or unclean, to the pastoral matter of caring for the brothers and sisters.

Chapter 15 begins with the command, “We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” The command is about “building up the neighbor. This is action in line with following Christ, “For Christ did not please himself. . .” Everything comes to the same point – Jews and Gentiles you are not Christians connected to Christ one Lord of all. Join together in the body of Christ and present one front. This joining point of Jew and Gentile is what the prophets have pointed to all through. As we looked at the Servant Songs of Isaiah we see riddled throughout the hope and promises that all would be brought together. Much of Jewish prophecy even believed that God’s kingdom could not become complete with both being ushered in. In Jesus the Messianic prophesies are unfolding. Jew and Gentile is made one family in Christ under God.

The Offering for Jerusalem

In the letter to the Romans as in many of the other letter of Paul there is mention of an offering being gather in the churches of the gentile world to benefit those in Jerusalem sustaining a famine. The gentile churches were generous in their contribution to the people of Jerusalem. This offering he calls the “priestly service of the Gentiles.”

In the remainder of the letter Paul writes about his plans to come to the people of Rome on his way to Britain. It is a trip that he never makes because he is arrested and eventually executed before he gets there. There are many other greetings that Paul makes.

Tuesday, May 05, 2009