For as many things as have been written before have been written for our instruction, that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.
Paul has just quoted from the older Scriptures, and he stops to explain why he may use them at all. His answer tells every Christian what God meant those older words to do in us.
The verse is not a stray remark about Bible study. It defends the quotation Paul has just made.
Paul's use of this passage gives him occasion to justify it by a principle of the greatest importance: what was written before was written for our instruction. It was written so that, as we walk in patience and perhaps in reproach here, the comfort of the Scripture may be ours. It was written so that we may know God's mind was in it, and that our reproach is His reproach, because in serving Him we had our part with Him. And so we have hope and bright confidence of soul in any and every trial in the whole path of faith.
One short sentence hands every believer a legal claim on the whole of the older Scriptures.
By one short sentence the "ready writer" has given all saints an immediate personal interest in all the old Scriptures: "Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction." This one sentence writes our title to this most precious inheritance. The old Scriptures are God's gift, and this word from Romans 15 is the deed of gift, entitling all saints to a common property in it. The title is short and clear and simple, as the inheritance conveyed is invaluable.
Which writings does Paul mean, and who are they for?
The reference here is to the Old Testament Scriptures, for there we find the things written "in former days." They had their bearing, of course, on the generations that first received them. But God also had us in view when He gave them by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They are for our learning, but that learning is not to be academic — the mere gaining of right information — but very practical… What we can say of the Old Testament Scriptures we can say with even more force of the New Testament.
One word is missing from some older editions of this verse. Restoring it, and reading "comfort" as encouragement, sharpens the sense.
The addition of a single word, left out in the received text and so in the Authorised Version, makes this Scripture much clearer. It should read, "that we through patience [endurance] and through comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." It helps further to take "comfort" to mean, as it often does, "encouragement": "through [the] encouragement of the Scriptures." That is the encouragement God ministers by His word to His tried and faithful servants. Then comes "might have hope" — hope in the final outcome of present trials, even in the glory of God Himself.
Endurance is what we lack by nature. We learn it by watching how God works.
How impatient and unenduring we are by nature!… The same spirit shows itself all too often in true saints of God. They want to reach what is right and scriptural, yet they chase it in their own energy, without giving God time to act and bring it about in the power of His Spirit… Now if we learn as we should from the "things written in former days" we shall see how God reaches His end with infinite patience, and often through what looks like defeat. He is "the God of patience," as the next verse of Romans 15 says. It will produce patience in us.
The Psalms tie the same comfort to God's word, and that comfort meets a fearful world.
In Psalm 119 some 174 verses refer to the word of God. In verse 50 the psalmist uses the usual word for comfort: "This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life."… Our world is full of confusion and uncertainty, and men's hearts are failing them for fear. How thankful we are that we can turn to the Holy Scriptures! What comfort and encouragement is ours! In them we see the mind of the blessed God revealed, and the outpourings, too, of His eternal heart of love.
How we read decides whether we find comfort or foolish notions.
To learn from the Old Testament Scriptures in this way, we do not need to hunt for fanciful parallels, curious theories, or far-fetched illustrations. Many, sadly, have tried these things. Instead of finding "comfort" in the Scriptures, they were led away into empty and foolish notions, if not into deadly errors.
- Occasion — Paul defends his quotation by one great principle: those older words were written to instruct us. In serving Christ we share His part, so our reproach is His reproach.
- Deed — One sentence gives every believer a title deed to the older Scriptures. The claim is short and clear; the inheritance is priceless.
- Purpose — The learning is not academic. God means it to produce endurance, encouragement and lasting hope.
- Method — Hunt for fanciful parallels and far-fetched illustrations, and you find no comfort, only empty notions.
- Outcome — Watch how God reaches His end with infinite patience, and endurance grows. His encouragement through His word gives hope in the outcome of present trials.
Now the God of endurance and of encouragement give to you to be like-minded one toward another, according to Christ Jesus;
Paul has just pointed to Christ, who did not please Himself, as the pattern for a church in danger of division. Now he stops teaching and prays, naming God by a title that fits the need and asking for one mind among the readers, measured by Christ.
Paul does not just press unity as a duty. He hands the whole matter over to God:
The apostle longed to head off every danger of internal division. He had seen the reality of such a danger in the conduct of Peter and others at Antioch (Galatians 2:12-13). And though at Rome matters had not gone that far, the danger was real, and they needed the warning. And see how he would prevent a split — by bringing God into the matter, and setting the example of the Lord before the saints!
Older translations read "the God of patience and consolation" where the ESV has "the God of endurance and encouragement." The title matches the exhortations Paul has just given:
To whom does he direct us for power to respond to those holy and much-needed exhortations? "To the God of patience and consolation." He presents God in the very character in which we need Him. Our small stock of patience would soon run out as we try to meet the varied characters who cross our path, even among our brothers and sisters. There are constant claims on our patience; and others need patience with us too. Where are we all to get the means of meeting these claims? At the inexhaustible treasury of "the God of patience and consolation." Our tiny springs would soon dry up unless they stay in unbroken connection with that ever-flowing Fountain.
The word behind "patience" means holding up under weight. Writers note that it is never used of God Himself:
Hupomone (from hupomeno, "to sustain")… is a "patient endurance" that does not give way under trial and suffering… Romans 15:5 traces it back to its divine source for us. It is never applied to God directly, because there could be no such testing or pressure in His case. But the Lord Jesus, in the place He has taken as Man, is our perfect example of it, Hebrews 12:2-3 — He "endured" the cross, and the hostility of sinners against Himself.
God bears with us day by day, and that becomes the pattern for how we treat each other:
God is the God of patience (of how great patience with us all!) and, blessed be His name, of comfort too. What a name to give to God! He always bears with us, with our stupid, ignorant, and often inconsistent hearts. He occupies Himself with all our little trials to comfort us. He consoles those who are cast down. He never withdraws His eyes from the righteous. He is patient even where we are impatient with Him, and He comforts us in grace. So we have to walk like-minded one toward another, and receive one another as Christ received us.
The unity has a standard, and that standard rules out a negotiated agreement:
We need to have Christ before us, the One who "did not please Himself." This will result in like-mindedness toward one another — not a like-mindedness of a human sort, based on compromise or tolerance, but "according to Christ Jesus."
That leaves room for real differences without surrendering anything:
If we want endurance and encouragement we must look to God, who is the source of such virtue. He can enable us to have the mind that was in Christ Jesus toward one another. This produces a godly, fervent unity that glorifies the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is unity even where there is diversity of opinion and various degrees of progress in the truth… This is by no means giving up the truth of God. It is holding the truth firmly, while making no issue of small matters that are the affair of the individual conscience.
The answer to this prayer changes what comes out of people's mouths:
Instead of the mind and mouth of the weak being filled with criticisms of the strong, and the mind and mouth of the strong being filled with contempt of the weak (see Romans 14:2), the minds and mouths of all are to be filled with the praise of God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a perfectly lovely picture, isn't it?
And since it is God's own patience at work, opposition does not decide the outcome:
It is the patience and encouragement of God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that can make this holy, happy unity a fact… This is what the devil would spoil. But God is greater than the devil, and we may always count on His patience and His encouragement.
- Source. God is the source of endurance. Our own tiny springs run dry unless they stay joined to that ever-flowing Fountain.
- Granted. Paul asks for the unity; he does not organise it. He turns a practical dispute into a prayer and brings God into it.
- Standard. "According to Christ Jesus" rules out unity built on compromise. The measure is the One who did not please Himself.
- Room. Differences of opinion and of progress in the truth can remain. We hold the truth firmly and leave small matters to each conscience.
- Kept. God's patience and encouragement make this holy, happy unity a fact. The devil would spoil it, but God is greater.
that ye may with one accord, with one mouth, glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul ends his long appeal about the strong and the weak with a prayer, not a rule. What he asks for is a sound: one company, one voice, praising God together. The writers below quote older translations, which read "with one mind and one mouth," and "God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." They follow that pairing: inward agreement becoming audible.
Everything Paul has said about bearing with each other drives toward this one end. The order of the two halves matters.
All these exhortations aim at one great end. We are to "be like-minded one toward another according to Christ", so that we may "with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ". The Apostle shows that we cannot glorify God with one mind unless we are "like-minded one toward another". We see both of these things in the believers of the days just after Pentecost. We read that "they lifted up their voices with one accord to God". Then we are told that these believers, who could glorify God with "one mind", were "of one heart and of one soul". They were one-minded toward God because they were like-minded one toward another.
Two groups had been thinking and speaking badly of each other. Paul's prayer aims their minds and mouths somewhere else.
The weak can fill mind and mouth with criticism of the strong. The strong can fill mind and mouth with contempt of the weak. Instead, the minds and mouths of all are to be full of the praise of God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Does "one mind" mean everyone must think alike on every question?
This produces a godly, fervent unity that glorifies the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It does so even where there is difference of opinion and unequal progress in the truth. How blessed beyond words when this is the case! To be of one accord, of one mouth, is to have hearts truly united in honouring and following the Lord Jesus, not sidetracked by lesser things. This does not mean giving up the truth of God at all. It means holding it firmly, while making no issue of small matters that belong to each person's own conscience.
Praise can be silent and still reach God. So why does the verse mention a mouth?
It is possible to address the Lord in praise or prayer without using the voice. Hannah, for example, spoke in her heart to the Lord. But clearly there can be no fellowship until there is audible expression. For if the spirit is, so to speak, the link with God, then the understanding is the link with one another. Through the understanding we talk with each other. In that way believers are able "with one mind and one mouth to glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ".
This letter has already described the human mouth once, in much darker terms. What changed it is God's salvation.
Such a passage shows the wonderful fruits of God's salvation, when the soul knows and enjoys it. It brings a great variety of people together into one holy bond. Apart from God's grace, they would never have wished to know one another at all. It also enables them to drop their natural selfishness, and to walk together in love and care for each other. They are taken up neither with themselves nor with one another, so they are free to glorify God with one mind and one mouth. Here is a purifying of the mouth indeed. What was full of cursing and bitterness in Romans 3 is full of praise in Romans 15.
The call to receive one another comes right after this verse. It is not a new subject. It is the test of this one.
If our praise springs up to God, our love must flow out to all whom He loves. And it will, and it does, if we receive one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God. Our welcome of one another glorifies God just as much as our united praise. Indeed, how can we praise Him with one mind and one mouth if we do not receive one another? Again, Christ is the pattern. If He has received me to the glory of God, I must also receive those whom He has received.
- One aim. All the calls to bear with each other point to one end: God glorified by His people together.
- One mind first. Believers are one-minded toward God only when they are like-minded toward each other. Love between them comes first.
- One mouth next. Silent praise reaches God. Spoken praise reaches each other. Shared worship needs a shared voice.
- Room for difference. Difference of opinion and unequal progress do not break this unity. Hold the truth firmly, and make no issue of small matters.
- Proved by reception. United praise is unreal if we do not receive one another as Christ received us. The mouth that once carried bitterness now carries praise.