NOTES for Rom 15:1-13

The main meaning we give to the word “accept” when speaking of someone is to accept that person as he or she is. The apostle certainly means this too: a call to bear with other people, accept them as they are, and not try to remake them. Even this alone is far from easy, because the passion for reeducating and lecturing those around us is characteristic of most of us.

But the word the apostle uses twice in this phrase has, in Greek, the primary meaning “to take to oneself, take along, bring into one's company.” It means not merely tolerating someone, but including that person in one's life, joining that person to oneself, taking that person along on one's journey into eternity. This is what the apostle calls us to do, grounding his appeal in the fact that this is how Christ took us to Himself, into the glory of God. Christ does not merely tolerate us as we are; more than that, He takes us to Himself precisely as we are.

And because He promised that whoever receives another receives Christ Himself, this inclusion of one another in our lives becomes an encounter with the Risen One Himself.

The style of the letter of Apostle Paul, quite as of any other person, distinguishes itself from many of his oral sermons, which the Holy Scriptures preserved for us. But we encounter in this verse with laconism and strength, with which penetrated all his retorts that reached to us. Whom Paul addresses, saying "we are strong "? At the moment of the letter writing - to Romans, that is to Christians among gentiles, and thus, and to all of us now. But can we often use the word "strong" in regard to ourselves and, of the way we believe? Are we really strong? What is the source of this strength? And in what this strength has to manifest itself? All the chapter 14 of the epistle examines in detail, how should behave someone, who became aware of his liberty in Christ. Judge not, be responsible for your choice and condemn not yourself, by looking how another one defines the outside plan of his Christian life. Support on this difficult way - from the outward into the inward, from the cover to the contents, from physical appearance into spiritual, from ritual to Spirit - is for us the Holy Scriptures (Rom. 15:4-5). And so, if we return to the verse, with which we began, it will turn out that "strong" should consider himself anyone, who read and accepted the Scriptures as reason of life. Then will sound otherwise the words "my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9).

The apostle does not tire of reminding us that for a Christian the matter is never about one's own successes, achievements, or, conversely, failures. Of course, Christian life is a spiritual path that must be walked. But the main thing on this path is not self-improvement, but the manifestation of the Kingdom to the world. A Christian lives not for himself, but for others. True, not in the sense of the altruism that people around us for some reason often expect from Christians, but in the sense of one's participation in the Kingdom.

The ministry of a Christian is his very life, provided that it is truly Christian, because in that case the life of the Kingdom shows through it, further and further, ever more brightly and clearly, and everyone who communicates with him can partake of it. But such a life is possible only if from the very beginning a person renounces the thought of living by himself. Not for himself or for others, but by himself.

The life of a Christian ceases to belong to him; it becomes God's, Christ's, flowing into the stream of the life of the Kingdom, which surpasses everything a person could imagine. But the stream of this life must flow freely. It is impossible to keep it for oneself, to stop it, to separate out a few streams from it so that they are guaranteed to belong to some particular person. Here it is either free movement or nothing. But then one has to renounce the absolutizing of any forms, ways, and images of Christian life, including one's own. One has to realize that the life of all Christians, if they are truly Christians, is one, while the forms - organizational, liturgical, religious in general - are secondary. And none of them is better than any other; each is good when it is appropriate, when it is adequate to existence in the Kingdom for certain people or communities. And if so, then the refusal to absolutize one's own form becomes not simply a concession to the neighbor, but a necessary condition for abiding in the Kingdom.

Indeed, even those forms, including religious ones, which we consider our own, native, and organic, are relative in their essence, and at some point we will very likely have to give them up. Then an observant Jew can discover that what he was so proud of and held on to so tightly - his own religiosity - gives him no advantages at all in the main thing over a Gentile who had nothing of the kind. That is why the apostle advises not to absolutize any forms: for absolutizing presupposes self-identification, which in spiritual life will hinder rather than help.

We usually consider that likeminded is what people can reach or achieve. The expression itself is typical – to achieve likeminded, which is to fight until it is formed. We muzz one another, we quote tons of arguments or we just persuade each other so that another person begins to think also as we do. The bests of us try to rise in another one’s point of view, in order to force him not only to agree, but to try also ourselves to agree with another person. When such a situation arrives at work, we say "to go to the boss to exchange ideas, come - with yours, leave - with his".

The apostle summons us to something completely different: "the God of patience and consolation grant (δωρέομαι) you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus". It is about the fact that likeminded is a gift of God, and it is therefore impossible to achieve it with human means. We know that the gifts of God are given to those who ask for them and we always have such a possibility.

But it is astounding what says the apostle concerning the conditions of appropriation of this same gift. In the first place, the boundless God manifests precise features of His personality: patience and consolation, when we ask Him the gift to be likeminded one towards another.

And if we ask Him for a certain other gift, then it would be necessary for us to tempt to be like unto Him in what is essential for donation and, consequently, for its reception. In this case, it is necessary to be patient and comforting one towards another in order to acquire this gift of likeminded.

Then, why people try to achieve likeminded? Upon example of ideologized societies or family couples, it is visible that we look for likeminded to dominate one on another or to find assurance, when faith is not enough. The apostle says: "That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God". So, if our goal is different, then likeminded won’t be achieved by any forces.

Finally, what should we do to obtain this gift? The following: "Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us". As Christ received us- it means in an absolute mercy, when we were still sinners! If you want to be likeminded with another person, then: A) pray for it, B) Be patient and care for this person, C) Seek for fellowship to glorify God together, D) Accept this person such as he is, with love and mercy.

Usually we think that unity of mind is something that can be achieved or obtained. The expression itself is characteristic: to “achieve unity of mind,” as though one keeps striking until it appears. We befuddle one another, produce tons of arguments, or simply persuade one another so that the other person will begin to think the same way we do. The best among us try to take the other person’s point of view, not only to make him agree, but also to try to agree with him ourselves. When such a situation happens at work, it is called “going to the boss to exchange opinions: you come in with yours and leave with his.”

The apostle, however, calls us to something entirely different: “May the God of patience and consolation grant (δωρέομαι) you to be of one mind among yourselves, according to Christ Jesus.” The point is that unity of mind is a gift of God, and therefore it cannot be achieved by human means. We know that gifts from God are received by those who ask for them, and we always have that possibility. But what the apostle says about the conditions for receiving precisely this gift is striking. First, the boundless God, when we ask Him for the gift of being of one mind with one another, manifests definite traits of His person: patience and consolation. And if we ask Him for a certain gift, then we should try to be like Him in what is essential for the giving and, therefore, the receiving of it. In this case, in order to acquire the gift of unity of mind with one another, it is necessary to be patient and able to console one another.

Next, why do people seek unity of mind? In ideologized societies or married couples, one can see that we seek unity of mind in order to rule over one another or to gain certainty when faith is lacking. But the apostle says: “that with one mind and one mouth you may glorify God.” And if our goal is different, unity of mind will not be achieved by any power.

Finally, what must be done to receive this gift? This is what: “Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received you.” How did Christ receive us? In unconditional mercy, when we were still sinners. If you want to be of one mind with another person, this is the path: pray for it, endure and sympathize with him, seek unity in order to glorify God together, and with love and mercy receive him as he is.

Continuing the conversation about life in the Kingdom, Paul turns to the fundamental concepts of the prophetic tradition that describe the relationship between God and the people of God: mercy (“mercy”) and faithfulness (“truth”). This turn is, of course, no accident, since mercy and faithfulness remain fundamental also for those living in the Kingdom in their relationship with Christ. Speaking of the circumcised, that is, of the Jews, the apostle recalls not so much the people’s faithfulness to God as God’s faithfulness to the promises once given and the covenant once made. Turning to the recent Gentiles who have come to Christ, he recalls mercy, because unlike the Jews, God had promised the Gentiles nothing and had made no covenants with them. If the way into the Kingdom is nevertheless opened to them, it is solely as a gift to which they have no right and on which they cannot in any way count, at least not in the sense in which Jews rely on it, since certain promises had indeed been given to them.

Since the Kingdom is founded on mercy and faithfulness, the relationships among those who live in it must also be permeated with these qualities. Mercy and faithfulness presuppose condescension toward the weaknesses of those who, by definition, cannot be strong, having only recently been joined to the life of the Kingdom. For unlike an ordinary religious community, where common views and their orthodoxy are what matter, in the Kingdom the spiritual unity of the faithful comes to the fore. From the point of view of religion, what matters most are people’s views, their ideas and opinions; from the point of view of the Kingdom, what matters most are relationships, without which it is impossible to glorify God. For religion, what matters most are people’s views, their ideas and opinions; for the Kingdom, relationships without which it is impossible to glorify God. And for the sake of relationships one can make peace with many religious and worldview differences, especially since without such humility one can hardly count on the spiritual unity, the “unity of mind,” of the Church of which the apostle speaks just above, in verses 4–5.