May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 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 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing the praises of your name.”
10 Again, it says,
“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”
11 And again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
let all the peoples extol him.”[e]
12 And again, Isaiah says,
“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
in him the Gentiles will hope.”[f]
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The clear message here is to find and walk and live in the place of unity with one another. Unity is what brings glory to the Lord. There is the place of acceptance of one another.
NOTE: It isn’t saying accept sin. Jesus never said to tolerate sin. This passage is about tolerating people who have different perspectives on disputable matters, not matters of faith.
But we are to love one another. The example is Christ. Which is where it says something interesting.
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” (v. 8-9).
Let’s break this down, because it is very telling.
1) Jesus became a servant of the Jews.
?? If you think of servant, you think of lesser. The obedient one. The one does what he master says. But that wasn’t the case with Jesus. The Jews were furious at him. They called for his execution.
But look at how this is qualified.
“a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth”
It wasn’t on the basis of their truth. It was on the basis of God’s truth. And his service to them was dying on their behalf, even when they did not understand. It wasn’t just giving in to their demands and desires. It was serving them in the way God called them. His truth. Not their truth.
2) “so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed”
The promises were of blessing, that all peoples on earth would be blessed through Abraham. We see this in Genesis 15 and in other places. And that blessing would primarily come through the Messiah.
Their understanding of that Messiah was limited, but it was all fulfilled in Jesus.
And what was the fruit of that blessing?
3) “that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy”
The Jewish people would have been content, and many even believed, that the blessing was for them alone. But the blessing always was that all peoples would be included into God’s family.
Paul makes that clear by reminding them of the Scriptures where Gentile (non-Jews) inclusion is specifically mentioned. It’s clear in the prophets.
With Jesus and the promise of Abraham, we now see how it is all possible. Gentiles could not be Jews, but they could come into God’s family through faith in the Jewish Messiah.
So the Jews and Gentiles both get to participate in God’s mercy. And glorify God together.
It was always the plan.