Romans 15
The strong bear with the failings of the weak and do not please themselves; Christ himself did not please himself but, as it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached God fell upon him (Psalm 69:9), a quotation that makes Christ's suffering vicarious and exemplary. Accept one another as Christ has accepted you to the glory of God, for Christ became a servant of the circumcision to show God's truthfulness, confirming the promises to the fathers, while also causing the Gentiles to glorify God for God's mercy—both the Jewish promise and the Gentile mission converge in Christ. Paul rehearses the scriptural warrant for the Gentile mission: Rejoice, O Gentiles, with God's people (Psalm 18:49); Praise the Lord, all Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him (Psalm 117); and A root of Jesse will come, and the one who rises to rule the Gentiles, in him the Gentiles hope (Isa 11:10), binding the Old Testament prophets into testimony to the gospel's universal scope. Paul's own apostolic ambition is to serve as a priest of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, sanctifying the Gentiles by the Holy Spirit, offering the Gentiles as a sacrifice acceptable to God—priestly language that makes Paul's missionary labors sacrificial work and the Gentile congregations themselves an offering. From Jerusalem to Illyricum, Paul has preached the gospel of Christ with ambition not to build on another's foundation, citing Isaiah 52:15—they shall see him of whom they have never heard—and proposing to visit Rome on his way to Spain, requesting their help in the journey and partnership in the gospel. The closing prayer that the God of peace will be with you all and fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit grounds the letter's ethical and pastoral vision in God's present grace.