Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church
500 Upper Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore 678106
Despite many differences with regard to choices of taste and preferences among believers, we should receive one another. A person should be received because Christ has received him. Christ has died for him. And therefore, he is precious in God’s sight. It brings glory and honour to God when we are willing to forbear and tolerate each others’ idiosyncrasies.
The Apostle Paul express his desire in prayer that the God of steadfast endurance and encouragement will the strong and the weak believers in Rome to live in peace and harmony looking to Christ Jesus as their example par excellence. Forging unity in worship of God.
God’s Word provides the believer with encouragement and comfort. The biblical characters like Joseph and David, Absalom and Ahithophel helps us to see godly men and also the ungodly. It provides for us admonition and it provides for us wisdom to a godly walk.
The knowledge of God and from God in Scripture is the highest knowledge, the apex of all knowledge. It is the basis or foundation of our faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Dr Carl McIntire, the founder of the Bible-Presbyterian movement says “The genius of the Protestant faith has always been that the Holy Spirit speaks through the Scripture directly to the individual.” It is profitable for you when you appropriate it for yourself with prayer.
The Apostle Paul quoted Psalm 69:9, “For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.” Hendriksen said well, “The main lesson Paul is conveying is this: If Christ, the Holy One, was willing to take upon himself so much suffering, in the form of insults hurled at Him by His enemies, then should not we be willing to sacrifice just a little eating-and-drinking pleasure for the sake of our fellow-believers?”
The Apostle Paul exhorts the believers to practical piety to do good to your neighbour. Bless your neighbour and you will not be poorer for it. The mentality of the fallen man is to exact advantage or good from your neighbour. But the Christian ethos is to do good to your neighbour.
Romans 15:2 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. Do good to others is the exhortation of the Apostle Paul. Exercise charity and benevolence in your conversation and interaction with your neighbour. This is …
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The stronger believer ought to bear the infirmities of the weaker believer is the continuing exhortation of the Apostle Paul in this chapter. William MacDonald explains well, “Treat the weaker brother with kindness and consideration.” The reference here is between the difference in practices of eating habits and observing of holy days between Jewish and Gentile Christians.Disharmony arises that disrupts the peace in the body of Christ.
Whatever in the Christian’s life that “does not spring from faith,” that is, “is not in harmony with an inner conviction that what he is doing is in line with his Christian faith,” this person is sinning because he is trying to silence the voice of conscience…To be sure, a person’s conscience is not the Final Judge of his actions…that Final Judge is God, or if one prefers, the Word of God. [Hendriksen]
The believer who has a matured faith will have the spiritual strength to defer to the weaker believer. Exercise it. God’s blessing will come upon you, the Apostle Paul exhorts, for exercising forbearance. It shows forth the Spirit’s fruit when the believer is able not to take issue with the ways of the weaker believer.