Follow after the things which make for peace

In our reading today Paul concentrates on what should be the aim of our service. We should ‘earnestly and eagerly seek after peace’, 14. 19 K. WUEST. These peace seekers will be: characterized by a desire and effort to build up the saints, vv. 19, 20, and willing to sacrifice personal liberty to protect a weaker brother, v. 21. It is to God that we are accountable. Hence, blessed is the one who does not need to pass an adverse judgement upon himself, whose conscience is at ease.

If we wish to please God then we will ‘bear the infirmities of the weak’. This is not an occasional thing but is a matter of conviction and habit of life. Paul is quick to bind this practice upon himself, ‘We that are strong’, 15. 1. Similarly, v. 2, those that seek to please God will promote the spiritual growth of their fellow believer. Bearing the infirmities of the weak does not mean that we allow them to remain weak!The believer should also remember that ‘even Christ pleased not Himself’, v. 3. He who had the authority and right to please Himself sought to please the Father, at supreme cost to Himself. With such an example before us we should expect to meet man’s hostility and opposition, but we should not allow it to deflect us from pleasing God. The believer has the hope of glory in Christ, v. 4.

There should be an affectionate unanimity amongst believers, united by the example of Christ, v. 6. This chapter contains much of the character of God and this section reveals Him as the God of patience and consolation, the source of all patience and consolation. Paul’s prayer is that He would grant a true union of affection amongst the believers. Those from different cultural backgrounds should not be treated differently - Christ has received those who were once strangers and enemies, v. 7.

Verses 8 to 12 deal with millennial conditions. These events ‘relate to the future effects upon the nations of the world, of the reign of Immanuel, as the true Son of David, the anointed King of Israel’, PRIDHAM. This truth is contained in Psalms 18 and 117, and Isaiah 11. In that day, the rejoicing will involve all, both Jew and Gentile, in a continuous exercise, vv. 10, 11.