We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Romans 15:1–4
Last week we looked at three important lessons from Paul’s letter to the Romans that we can learn from the OT: (1) All have sinned (chapter 3). (2) The just live by faith (chapter 4). (3) God’s word is final (chapter 9). What other lessons can we learn from the things that were “written before”? Let’s look at the balance of Paul’s letter to find out.
We learn that true faith comes from God’s word. The good news is that we don’t have to search far and wide to learn God’s will. To prove this point, Paul quotes from the law and adds some commentary (Romans 10:6–8; cf. Deuteronomy 30:11–14). His point from this passage is that we are no more able to establish God’s word on our own that we are to bring Christ to earth and raise Him from the dead: this is something only God can do. Many of the Jews, however, were trying to take these matters into their own hands in attempt to “establish their own righteousness” (v 3). When, on the other hand, we have His word “in our mouth and in our heart” (v 8) and confess Him, this is where we find salvation (vv 9–10). And this principle applies not only to the Jews, but also to “whoever believes” and “whoever calls on the name” (vv 11–13; cf. Isaiah 28:16; Joel 2:32). He goes on to show that saving faith is based on hearing and obeying the commandments God has given (vv 15–22; cf. Isaiah 52:7; 53:1; Psalms 19:4; Deuteronomy 32:21; Isaiah 65:1–2).
We learn that God has mercy on the faithful. It is often easy to feel that you are the only one trying to serve God. In the eleventh chapter of Romans, Paul points out that God had not cast away Israel entirely; else he would not be in the positions he was (v 1). He reminds us of the way that Elijah had once felt and how God had informed the prophet that there were yet 7,000 who were still faithful (vv 2–4; cf. 1 Kings 19:10, 18). Of the thousands in Israel, only a remnant remained, while the rest chose a self-inflicted blindness (vv 5–10; cf. Deuteronomy 29:4; Psalms 69:22–23). God cast the majority of Israel away in order that He might bring in the Gentiles, but only with the hope that Israel might thus be saved (vv 11–27; cf. Isaiah 59:20–21).
We learn how God wants us to behave ourselves. When Paul says that we should try to live peaceably with all and bless our enemies, he points out that God promised Himself to repay evil (Romans 12:14–19; cf. Deuteronomy 32:35). As a result, we can be content to show kindness to those who hate us (v 20; cf. Proverbs 25:21–22). Regarding one’s conduct toward his neighbor, Paul says that love is the fulfilling of OT law, which says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Romans 13:5–9; cf. Leviticus 19:18). And finally, where our brethren are concerned, we ought to bear with those who are weak (Romans 14:1–9). There is no point, he concludes, in judging one another since we shall all be judged by Christ (vv 10–13; cf. Isaiah 45:23). If the Lord was willing to bear reproach for our sakes (Romans 15:3; cf. Psalms 69:9), we certainly ought to love our brother enough to help him (vv 1–2).
In this letter, we also learn (through Paul’s insight into the OT) about the glory that belongs to God (Romans 15:9–12; cf. Psalms 18:49; Deuteronomy 32:43; Psalms 117:1; Isaiah. 11:10) and that every decision is better when based on Scripture (v 21; cf. Isaiah 52:15). In one letter Paul quotes the OT more than 60 times because it is there for our learning. What else might we learn from a study of the OT?