Living by Faith - Romans

For Our Learning

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Living by Faith

Lesson: 58-64

Genre: Talk

Track: 058

Dictation Name: RR311ZD58

Location/Venue:

Year: ?

Let us worship God. Grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit, and in truth. Let us pray.

Oh Lord our God, we give thanks unto Thee that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy love, and fellowship in the Holy Spirit, is ours now and forever more; that by Thy grace we have been made a new creation, by Thy grace and mercy we have been given the blessed assurance that all things work together for good for us, in Christ our Lord. And so our Father we come to Thee, to be fed by Thy word and by Thy Spirit, to rejoice in Thee and in Thy kingdom, and to commit ourselves afresh unto Thy service. In Jesus name, amen.

Our scripture this morning is from Romans 15, verses 1-7. Romans 15:1-7, our subject: For Our Learning. Romans 15:1-7.

“15 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

2 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.

3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:

6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.”

We have seen that Paul is concerned with the problem of the weak and the strong in the church. Now it is important for us to recognize that the term ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ are relative terms. In verse 1 Paul infers this when he says: “We then that are strong.” Who are the strong? Anyone who feels that he is. There were two parties in the church of Rome. The issue was the eating of meats that had been sacrificed to idols, the drinking of wine, again sacrificed to idols or offered to idols before being sold, and the observance of particular days.

Now, both sides in this controversy felt they were the right ones. They were the ones who were strong in faith, they were the ones who were holy; and both were going after the other as defective Christians. Now Paul does not say that both sides are right, because obviously that could not be true. What he did say was that the jots and tittles of the law, while they are important and cannot be set aside, cannot be used to condemn one another; that we are not to destroy him with our details, for whom Christ died.

So now he says: “Well, you both think you are strong. Then we that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. If you are condemning the others, if you are being continually judgmental and harsh, and Pharisaic, then you are the weak; and the others who are not judgmental in this situation are the strong.”

Thus, Paul puts the matter on a different footing than they had. Our duty is to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. This proves that we are strong. We don’t say that the controversy is not important, we don’t say they necessarily right, we can go on believing they are wrong; but we show a spirit of patience, of thoughtfulness, and forbearance; and thereby we prove that we are the strong.

Thus Paul now redefines strength and the strong, as those who bear the infirmities of the weak rather than pleasing themselves. So, he is telling them: “Both sides can demonstrate they are strong, very simply: by showing grace.”

In a similar context, in 1 Corinthians 10:31-33, Paul said: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.”

The word that he uses in verse 1, infirmity, is a Greek word which means a lack of strength. By using the word, Paul in effect says that to go after the weak is a form of bullying, and hardly commendable; if we are noble, we should behave nobly. If we are strong, we do not bully others, we do not behave in a cowardly and contemptible manner. The truly strong are protective and helpful to the weak, not hostile, contemptuous, critical, or lordly towards them.

In verse 2 Paul continues: “Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.”

Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. Now in verse 1, Paul has used the word: ‘to bear.’ It means ‘to support,’ ‘to lift up.’ Now he uses the word ‘edification’ which means ‘to build up.’ So that, he is saying the community of Christ is more important than the jots and tittles. The jots and tittles are important, but they have to be dealt with by patience and grace. Thus, let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.

At this point, Calvin made a very important statement, because so often people go to a single verse in the Bible and absolutize it, as though there were nothing else in the Bible. For example: “Judge not lest ye be judged.” Although our Lord also said: “Judge righteous judgement.” Or they say: “God is love.” But the Bible also tells us our God is a consuming fire of judgement.

So too, this verse has been abused: “Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.” Although in other places we are told that there are things we cannot put up with. So we are not summoned just to please these people who are weak indefinitely.

Calvin made this clear when he said, and I quote: “There are here two things laid down, that we are not to be content with our own judgement, nor acquiesce in our own desires, but ought to strive and labor at all times to please our brethren; and then, that in endeavoring to accommodate ourselves to our brethren, we ought to have regard to God, so that our object may be their edification. For the greater part cannot be pleased, except you indulge their humor; so that if you wish to be in favour with most men, their salvation must not be so much regarded, but their folly must be flattered; nor must you look to what is expedient, but to what they seek to their own ruin. You must not then strive to please those to whom nothing is pleasing but evil.”

So Calvin says this isn’t a blanket requirement that we have to please all men, irrespective of what the situation is.

Moreover, he goes on to say in verse 3, both Paul and then Calvin: “For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.”

Calvin says here and I quote: “For even Christ pleased not himself. Since it is not right that a servant should refuse what his lord has himself undertaken, it would be very strange in us to wish an exemption from the duty of bearing the infirmities of others, to which Christ, in whom we glory as our Lord and King, submitted himself; for he having no regard for himself, gave up himself wholly to this service.”

Well, Calvin says Christ puts up with a lot from us, and does always. So we need to put up with the failings of one another, the weaknesses of one another.

Now Paul in this third verse cites Psalm 69:9, “the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.” The Psalm by David. David there speaks as the man who is seeking to be righteous and holy, and the more he does for the Lord the more people hate him, the more they create opposition; and what the Psalm tells us is, if you are going to do anything Godly and right in this world, you are going to face the hostility of men who are sinful. Sinners hate the righteous; and so hating the righteous, they go after them. Moreover, hating God, whom they cannot strike at, they will strike at the believer.

And so, David says “the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.” This Psalm is quoted over and over again throughout the New Testament, by our Lord and by the apostles, as having been fulfilled in Jesus Christ; as the righteous man par excellence, upon whom all the reproaches of us were laid; as the one who as our federal head took upon himself all the sufferings of the saints of history, both before and after His coming. So that none of us are alone; none of us are unique in the sufferings we undergo, nor the troubles.

Now Paul here could have gone to history, and he could have said: ‘Look at what Christ suffered, therefore we have to suffer.’ No, he went to this prophecy, which represents Christ as our representative; so he is saying: “We not only imitate Christ, but Christ is in us. Christ experience for us all these things, and we are never alone in any trials and sufferings we go through.”

Moreover, we have here a reference to Christ’s pre-existence, because He for whom these words were spoken, from all eternity, planned our redemption, planned to identify Himself with us, and pleased not Himself, but became flesh to take upon Himself our life.

Thus verse 3 tells us as much concerning the whole Bible as it does about our lives. Christ is the new or the last Adam, the head of the new humanity, the king of the new creation. He is at one and the same time both a new creation by the virgin birth, yet also connected with the old race of Adam, and in Luke’s genealogy is called, finally, a son of Adam.

In verse 4 Paul stresses this fact: “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

As we read the Bible, we are to see all these things, not only as the history and the development of the plan of salvation, but ourselves also, that all that these men experience, Christ was present with them, and in His incarnation became one with us; so that we are never alone.

The hand of God is in all events, plus the law of God; and all this is set forth in this scripture. We are to see therefore Christ in David’s suffering, in Josephs, in Esther’s, and in ours; and we are to see the grief of nameless saints the ages over, and we are to have hope, patience, and comfort as we read these things in scripture, and see them.

Paul in these two verses tells us that Christ is identified by His incarnation with all those saints who suffer and cry out in their grief; He is one with us in these things. We are never alone, nor are we ever finally defeated. We cannot undermine the validity of the Old Testament without undermining this fact, without weakening our strength, patience, and hope. These things were written, Paul says, for our learning. The word learning is very, very direct and simple in the Greek, it is not abstract; it means ‘teaching.’ One person teaching another. It has to do with God teaching us, and at the same time saying: “I am with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So that we may boldly say in all of our sufferings and experiences: “The Lord is my helper, I shall not fear what man may do unto me.”

Moreover, Paul tells us that all these things were written for our learning. Now, it is important for us to realize this is not only for our personal learning, but our learning in the Civil realm, the Economic realm, every realm. God says this word is to guide you in every aspect of your life, political as well as personal; that there is nothing outside the realm of that which is covered by His word; this is for our learning.

Then in verses 5-6 we have Paul’s prayer for us, for his readers, beginning with those who read the letter in Rome, and those whom it was passed on, and to us today: “Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded 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.”

We have a very remarkable description of God here, the God of patience and consolation. The patience of God. Well, sometimes it requires patience for us to live with each other; every husband and every wife can testify to that. It takes patience sometimes to live with one another. How much more patience it takes from the all-perfect God to live with us? To put up with us, when in the fraction of a second He could wipe us all out and say: “I am done with them.” But God is the God of patience. The God of patience. There are times when we get impatient with ourselves, when we become annoyed with our shortcomings, and when we look back and we feel disgusted with the way we did things, disgusted with the fact that we were not smarter, or wiser, or more holy; more Godly in a particular situation. This is a constant experience with all of us, and we get impatient with ourselves.

But Paul says God is the God of patience. Patience with the whole of creation, and patience with us in every moment of our lives; and at the same time the God of consolation. When we find ourselves and one another hard to put up with, the God who is patient with us is the God of our consolation.

““Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:” Not like minded in your opinion of meats, wine, and days; no. Paul is not saying: ‘I am asking you to give up your position before you are convinced you are wrong.’ All I am saying is that the God of patience and consolation requires you to be like minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus. Why? “That you may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And so he concludes in verse 7: “Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.”

This can be translated a bit differently, because the word ‘received’ today, like so many other words in the language, has lost some of its force. Today we do not have strong beliefs, strong conviction. We tend, or most people all around us, tend to be watered down. They are ready to go along with anything, and so words are fuzzed over. This can be translated and be a little more relevant to us this way: “Therefore welcome ye one another, as Christ also welcomed us to the glory of God.” This conveys the fact of grace.

In Romans 5:8 Paul told us: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Given this fact, we dare not be Pharisees; while we were sinners, hating God, Christ died for us. Now we must be forbearing one towards another; both sides see themselves, Paul makes clear, as strong. They are ready to see the other as weak. But Paul is ready to see both as weak, depending on their conduct, right or wrong. The church is always wider and greater than we can know; Elijah in a great moment of discouragement told God: “I, even I only am left; and they seek my life to take it.” And God said: “Elijah. I have seven thousand yet who have not bowed their knee to Baal.” And He sent him out, towards one man, a young man who had never done anything yet, Elisha; who was plowing in his father’s field, and He said: “There is your disciple.” And through Elisha very soon, a company of young men ready to proclaim the word.

The weak and the strong in Rome saw themselves on a very limited scale. They saw the whole of faith in terms of three issues: the eating of meat, the drinking of wine, and the observance of days. With nothing about the fact that maybe some of these men are stronger on some other issues, far stronger than we can be.

I recall a good many years ago in the thirties talking to a missionary who had come from a place where great persecution had broken out against Christians, a savage persecution. And he said he had been sometimes very, very discouraged with some of the people in the little congregation that he had gathered together there, and he wondered about some, whether they really believed; they were so casual about coming to services, once a month at best, and when he asked them they would look ashamed and apologetic and say: “I’ll try to come.” But he said it was obvious they were weak, if they were believers at all; and he doubted it with some. But when the persecution broke out, some of these men who were the most weak he saw thrown into an open grave alive, and shoveled under alive, without renouncing their faith; which if they had done they would have been spared. And he came to realize that some who are weak in some ways can be very strong in the spirit, very strong in their faith. And here these people were judging one another on three issues, real issues, but very minor ones; the eating of meat, wine, and the observance of days. Both sides could not be right, but each had strength and weakness in other areas.

Thus, in a variety of ways, each probably had other strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, because the whole of scripture manifests Gods eternal counsel and plan, so too do the whole of our lives. God gives us His word by revelation, but the application of the meaning of that revelation is hammered out in the grief’s, the problems, and the burdens of our lives. And Paul is here saying: There are problems. They are real problems, I am not saying they are to be overlooked; but I am saying there is a way of dealing with them. As sinners, because we are all sinners, some saved sinners and others lost sinners; as saved sinners we are slow learners, and it sometimes takes the community of Christ centuries to learn some very simple facts.

Now the humanistic believers and revolutionists seek a shortcut to learning by means of power. They seek to seize power and to speed up history and growth, when in reality they retard and destroy growth because they deny the fact of man’s fall, and the fact that they themselves are sinners. They substitute the planning of an elite for the predestination of God and His grace, and the result is disaster. And Paul says: We that are strong, ought within limits, as Calvin made clear, bear the infirmities of the weak and not please ourselves.

Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. Let us pray.

All glory be to Thee oh God, who in Thy word speaks to our every need, to our every condition. We thank Thee that Thy word corrects us in our sin, blesses us in our faithfulness, and prospers us with Thy healing touch. Give us grace our Father ever to grow in Thee, ever to grow in our fellowship one with another, and our joy in Thee and in our strength in Thee; may it ever be the passion of our lives. Grant us this we beseech Thee in Christ’s name, amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson? Yes?

[Audience Member] Rush, there is something that I have been wrestling with for a long time, trying to figure out if there isn’t a method that can be employed; commonly, I mean, you do it all the time and I see it in various other places where one proposition will be stated as true, and then a second proposition is also stated as a truth, like ‘A, but,’ A but B,’ and then there is from that the juxtaposition of those two propositions there comes some kind of a thus: “Thus and so are a result.” It is like a logical construction of some kind, in terms of as a teaching tool. Am I making myself at all clear?

[Rushdoony] Yes, you are talking about syllogism.

[Audience Member] But it is not a syllogism in terms of what we customarily think of a syllogism is it really?

[Rushdoony] Well, it still is; syllogism can be true or false. They are an important teaching devise, because what they tell us is that there is an order in the nature of things, and that what we need to do is to get to the structure of that order in order to come to a sound conclusion.

Yes?

[Audience Member] I’ve heard said that baptism of a child is a form of exorcism, does that make any sense?

[Rushdoony] The questions is, it has been said that baptism is a form of exorcism. It has been so used, and what it does mean indeed is that a child is set apart and belongs to the Lord, and therefore is under the protection of the Lord. So in that sense it is to a degree true. That is not the purpose of baptism; but baptism does indicate we are now given to God, and therefore we must keep ourselves in the Lord and we must keep our children in the Lord. It used to be that with adult baptism the person baptized renounced the works of the flesh, the world, and the devil; because baptism separated him from these things and made him a member of the new creation. Does that help answer your question?

Any other questions or comments? Well if not let us bow our heads now in prayer.

Oh Lord our God, we thank Thee that Thou art our savior and our king, that Thou hast made us members of Thy new creation, and hath given us such marvelous promises in Thy word. Teach us day by day to walk in Thee, to rejoice in our privileges in Christ; and to be triumphant in Thy word.

And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, amen.