Unified for God's Glory

Romans 15

The goal of tolerance among believers is that they might be unified in glorifying God.

“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:5–7, 13

Unity is not a matter of sameness, but oneness. Like a quilt with various colors and patterns blended into a beautiful whole, the body of Christ blends different people together into a beautiful array of redeemed lives. Unity doesn’t wash out our differences; it combines them to form something greater.

It is especially important that Jewish and Gentile Christians be united, for Christ came to save both Jews and Gentiles, as foretold by David, Moses, an anonymous psalmist, and Isaiah.

Dr. Tony Evans writes, “As wide as we imagine the gap to be between ourselves and our most disliked enemies, Paul reminds us that there was never a gap wider than the one between us and God. If Christ … accepted you when you were weak and ungodly, certainly you can accept others when they differ from you in much less significant ways.”

Dr. Evans continues, “To remind his audience that God had multi-ethnic unity in mind all along, Paul quotes from a number of Old Testament prophets who all preach the same message: God has always desired for all the peoples to praise him together.”

Here in Acts 15, Paul began to close his letter by assuring the Roman believers of his confidence in their faith and reviewing his ministry to the Gentiles, the urgency of which had so far prevented his coming to Rome. He also challenged them to pray for the mission.

He spoke of his desire to visit them on his way to Spain, after he had delivered the offering from Macedonia and Achaia to Jerusalem. He asked them to pray that God would protect him from the unbelievers in Jerusalem and that he would eventually make it to Rome.

It is quite notable that a moment’s notice, Paul was able to offer up his mission statement in a single line. Do you have the same confidence about God’s call on your life? If not, why not?

We need to ask God to ignite His fire in us and to direct us to our mission for him. We need to pray big prayers in our calling and mission and pray for bold, courageous faith in doing that mission.

Dr. Tony Evans challenges us, “In addition to evangelizing the unsaved, churches always have been, and always should be, the primary organization for alleviating poverty in communities, especially among Christians. When we assume that someone else should take care of the poor, not only do we harm those in poverty, but we also send out a terrible false message about our Lord, who “though he was rich, for [our] sake he became poor.”

“I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.” Romans 15:30–33 (ESV)

There is great irony in God’s answer to this prayer: Paul was in fact arrested by the unbelievers in Jerusalem as we see in Acts, but this jailing eventually led to his ministry among the believers in Rome, reassuring us that God’s Will will always come to pass.

Paul knows that he will fail if not sustained by prayer. We have the same need Paul did.

How about you? Do you have the same conviction? Do you pray for such a big mission to Glorify Christ that you know it will fail if He is not leading it?
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In our current culture, prayer must be central in the unification of the church, its mission, and for the success of reaching all people everywhere in a divided society with the Gospel. May we always pray for the lost, care where we are able for those in need, and share the only hope we have—Jesus Christ, Savior and Lord!

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