15:1 We {1} then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to {a} please ourselves.
(1) Now the apostle reasons generally of tolerating or bearing with the weak by all means, in so far that it may be for their profit.
(a) And despise others.
15:1 Mutual Love and Forbearance Enjoined
SUMMARY OF ROMANS 15:
The Strong Must Bear with the Weak. Not to Seek to Please Ourselves. Christ Did Not. As Christ Received Us, So We Should Receive Each Other. Christ the Savior of Both Jews and Gentiles. Paul's Apostleship. His Work Among the Gentiles. His Purpose to Visit Rome.
We then that are strong. In the last chapter Paul contrasts the strong and the weak. The first are those, like himself, who know that no kind of food is unclean of itself, and are emancipated from Jewish prejudices. These strong ones are to bear with the infirmities of the weak, as has been enjoined in the preceding chapter. The lesson is a practical one of all ages.
15:1 We who are strong - Of a clearer judgment, and free from these scruples. And not to please ourselves - Without any regard to others.
15:1-7 Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our neighbour, for the good of his soul; not by serving his wicked will, and humouring him in a sinful way; if we thus seek to please men, we are not the servants of Christ. Christ's whole life was a self-denying, self-displeasing life. And he is the most advanced Christian, who is the most conformed to Christ. Considering his spotless purity and holiness, nothing could be more contrary to him, than to be made sin and a curse for us, and to have the reproaches of God fall upon him; the just for the unjust. He bore the guilt of sin, and the curse for it; we are only called to bear a little of the trouble of it. He bore the presumptuous sins of the wicked; we are called only to bear the failings of the weak. And should not we be humble, self-denying, and ready to consider one another, who are members one of another? The Scriptures are written for our use and benefit, as much as for those to whom they were first given. Those are most learned who are most mighty in the Scriptures. That comfort which springs from the word of God, is the surest and sweetest, and the greatest stay to hope. The Spirit as a Comforter, is the earnest of our inheritance. This like-mindedness must be according to the precept of Christ, according to his pattern and example. It is the gift of God; and a precious gift it is, for which we must earnestly seek unto him. Our Divine Master invites his disciples, and encourages them by showing himself as meek and lowly in spirit. The same disposition ought to mark the conduct of his servants, especially of the strong towards the weak. The great end in all our actions must be, that God may be glorified; nothing more forwards this, than the mutual love and kindness of those who profess religion. Those that agree in Christ may well agree among themselves.
