Romans 15:3,4 - Endurance and encouragement

15:3

We now come to a key part of Paul’s argument, the example of Jesus Christ. This is similar to what he says in Philippians 2:5,6. Jesus is the supreme example and we should always compare our attitudes to the attitude that He had. Jesus is our yardstick, not some other fallible and sinful human being. Paul quotes from Scripture, specifically Psalm 69:9. The first part of that verse says “zeal for your house consumes me”. When we are self-justifying we are usually full of ourselves and will often claim to be acting for good. Well, no one was more dedicated towards God and goodness that Jesus Christ and He was was willing to suffer, He did not live to please Himself. So neither should we.

15:4

Paul reminds his readers that everything written in the past was written for our good and to teach us. When he talks of “everything written in the past” Paul clearly means everything written in Scripture. We should note that Paul and, even more so, Jesus, considered all of the Old Testament to be the word of God. So we should have no truck at all with those who denigrate the Old Testament. It is God’s word.

Now not living for ourselves but for Christ and for others is not easy, and sometimes will be very costly. In those times we need the endurance and encouragement that comes from the Word of God. The Word is a source of instruction and strength to us.