July 13, 2016 (Wednesday)
“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy” (Romans 15:7-9a).
These verses are about two big groups of people: Jews and Gentiles. Paul was raised as a devout Jew, but when the Lord saved him, he became a missionary to the Gentiles. Paul encourages each group to accept the other as equals in God’s family. This passage of Scripture is actually a summary of the marvelous arugument put forth by Paul in the entire book of Romans.
Paul let his readers know that God loves everyone in the world, Jew and Gentile alike. He seeks to save both groups, because both have sinned and come short of God’s glory. Everyone has sinned; everyone can be saved–by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah for all people everywhere.
This principle of unconditional acceptance applies to all of us as individuals. If we practice this in our daily lives, we can get along with just about anybody. How can I accept a person whose habits are annoying to me? By remembering that God has accepted me, with all of my faults and shortcomings. We came to Jesus as the song says, “Just as we are.”
Jesus made clear his desire to see all of his children love and forgive each other. The great reason we should forgive others is that we have been forgiven. God has given us mercy; we are to show mercy to others.
“Accept one another.”