7In a word, accept one another as Christ accepted us, to the glory of God. 8I mean that Christ became a servant of the Jewish people to maintain the truth of God by making good his promises to the patriarchs, 9 [ Ps.18.49, 2Sm.22.50. ] and at the same time to give the Gentiles cause to glorify God for his mercy. As Scripture says, 'Therefore I will praise thee among the Gentiles and sing hymns to thy name'; 10 [ Dt.32.43. ] and again, 'Gentiles, make merry together with his own people'; 11 [ Ps.117.1. ] and yet again, 'All Gentiles, praise the Lord; let all peoples praise him.' 12 [ Is.11.10. ] Once again, Isaiah says, 'There shall be the Root of Jesse, the one raised up to govern the Gentiles; on him the Gentiles shall set their hope.' 13And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace by your faith in him, until, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you overflow with hope.
14MY FRIENDS, I have no doubt in my own mind that you yourselves are quite full of goodness and equipped with knowledge of every kind, well able to give advice to one another; 15nevertheless I have written to refresh your memory, and written somewhat boldly at times, in virtue of the gift I have from God. 16His grace has made me a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles; my priestly service is the preaching of the gospel of God, and it falls to me to offer the Gentiles to him as an acceptable sacrifice, consecrated by the Holy Spirit.
17Thus in the fellowship of Christ Jesus I have ground for pride in the service of God. 18I will venture is to speak of those things alone in which I have been Christ's instrument to bring the Gentiles into his allegiance, by word and deed, 19by the force of miraculous signs and by the power of the Holy Spirit. As a result I have completed the preaching of the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem as far round as Illyricum. 20It is my ambition to bring the gospel to places where the very name of Christ has not been heard, for I do not want to build on another man's foundation; 21 [ Is.52.15. ] but, as Scripture says,
30I implore you by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love that the Spirit inspires, be my allies in the fight; 31pray to God for me that I may be saved from unbelievers in Judaea and that my errand to Jerusalem may find acceptance with God's people, 32so that by his will I may come to you in a happy frame of mind and enjoy a time of rest with you. 33The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
| << | Rom:15 | >> |
|---|