2. Gospel-driven
It’s one thing to know that we should be selfless. It’s another to be motivated to be selfless. This doesn’t come naturally to us. Naturally, apart from Christ, we are self-centered. We look out for number one and only number one.
God, through Paul, provides us the motivation that we need, and that is the gospel. Verse 3 says, “For Christ did not please Himself”. We are not to please ourselves, but instead our neighbor. The supreme example of this is Christ Himself.
If there’s anyone who has the right to forsake everyone else and focus on self, it’s God. Nobody deserves anything good from Him. Yet Christ did not please Himself. On the contrary, Paul writes in verse 3, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”
Here, he’s quoting Psalm 69:9, which we now know was pointing forward to Jesus. The idea is that Jesus endured insult from people, while He was here to save us. It’s an example that He did not please Himself.
Paul quotes the Old Testament throughout this passage, because it’s what we need to be encouraged and endure. He writes in verse 4, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” If we would have harmony, it will be because we have been instructed and encouraged by the word of God.
Later on in verses 8 and 9, having encouraged the church to welcome each other as Christ has welcomed them, Paul writes, “For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy.”
When Paul says that Christ became a servant to the circumcised, what he’s talking about is the Jewish people. In His life and ministry, He was a servant to them. He says in Matthew 15:24, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Of course, this doesn’t mean that non-Jews, Gentiles, are left out, as Paul is about to explain. But Christ, in being a servant to the Jewish people, fulfilled God’s promises to them.
In fact, Paul continues in verse 8, “to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs.” What God promised in the Old Testament was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Not only did He become a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, but He also did it, according to verse 9, “in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy”. As was part of God’s plan, the Jews would in large measure reject Jesus, and from there, He would offer grace to the rest of the world. (This points back to Paul’s explanation in Romans 11:11-12 about how the Jews’ sin led to salvation coming to the Gentiles.)
So, Christ’s coming to become a servant to the Jews led to non-Jews glorifying God for His mercy.
Paul continues to quote Scripture to encourage them. The second part of verse 9 says, “As it is written, ‘Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.’” This closely resembles Psalm 18:49. The idea is that David was pointing forward to Jesus who would rejoice with Gentiles of God’s salvation.
He quotes several other passages in this same vein:
He continues in verse 10, quoting Deuteronomy 32:43, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.”
Then in verse 11, quoting Psalm 117:1, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let the peoples extol Him.”
Then in verse 12, quoting Isaiah 11:10-12, “The root of Jesse will come, even He who arises to rule the Gentiles; in Him will the Gentiles hope.” The “root of Jesse” refers to a descendant of King David’s father, Jesse, who would rise and rule over both Israel and the Gentile nations. This was pointing forward to Israel’s Messiah, King Jesus.
So, Paul, over and over again, quotes the Scriptures for instruction, that through endurance and encouragement, they would have hope.
In this series, we’re saying that the harmony we’re called to must be gospel-driven, and the reason for that is that every verse Paul quotes here is the gospel.
He could have quoted verses that command humility, verses that command loving neighbor as oneself. But instead, he quotes verses that speak to God’s grace on them.
Christ, who is God, took on a human body and entered this fallen world. And here, He took the insults that were directed at His Father.
He was the suffering servant come to save sinners like us, both Jew and Gentile.
The main idea here is that since Christ did it for you, do it for others. The gospel is one of our main-motivators to do what we’re supposed to do.
It’s not easy to put others’ needs above our own. It’s not natural. But knowing that Christ did it for us first helps drive us to do it, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
What Paul quoted is merely a sampling of what the Old Testament says about the gospel. Now that we have the New Testament also, we have much more that we can quote to ourselves in order that we might be encouraged to do what we’re supposed to do.
For example John 3:16 tells us that Christ was given so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. What Jesus has done for us should drive us to do the same for others.
Christ’s selflessness to the end that we would have a harmonious relationship with God, should drive us to selflessness, that we would have harmonious relationships with each other.
So, when we’re being selfish, the first thing we need to do is go back to the gospel, so that we won’t be like the servant in Jesus’ parable, shaking down the other servant for a few bucks after his master forgave him for the millions that he himself owed.
We are called to selfless, gospel-driven harmony. We’ll see the third description of this harmony in our next bleat.
Daily Bleat 