In this emphasis, Paul stressed two facts: (1) Jew and gentile Christians together formed a Christian community in Rome, and (2) as such they should behave as a Christian community in their actions toward each other. They were a Christian community because both groups were in Christ, not because they were identical. In truth their traditional behavior was not alike at all! Yet, with all their differences, both groups [by an act of God] were in Christ. They must treat each other as people belonging to the liberating, forgiving Christ--even if there were differences in background and traditional behavior.
What would "treating each other correctly" look like? They actually would love each other instead of pretending to love each other. [They would love each other in absence as well as presence. It is convenient to pretend love "face to face" and be intolerant when the other person is "out of sight."] They would hate evil [not each other] and cling tightly to good. [One of the biggest confusions among Christians today is caused by improper definitions of "good" and "evil." We need to learn God's definitions instead of basing definitions on our feelings.] The two groups would genuinely care about each other rather than regard each other as "outsiders." This would involve respecting each other. Both groups would be genuinely spiritual. They would belong to God as the foremost influence in their lives. Belonging to God would motivate them to be diligent and fervent in serving God. Their joy in their hope, their good attitude in suffering, their devotion to prayer, their actively ministering to the needs of fellow Christians, and their willingness to have each other in their homes [a huge challenge in Jew-gentile association!] would visibly characterize their relationships.
These two groups of Christians would treat each other with a thoughtfulness, kindness, and respect unknown in Rome's society. This respect would have as a foundation a genuine sense of love [agape--the form of love that begins with intention rather than emotion]. Instead of being arrogantly self-seeking or self-protecting by living in isolation, they genuinely would be concerned about each other--regardless of the group that gave them their heritage.
Even in the atmosphere of a genuine Christian community, not all behavior of all Christians is godly. It was possible [even likely] that some Jewish converts would hate gentile converts, and some anti-Semitic gentile converts would hate Jews. The Jews had been banned from Rome previously [and the most recent ban made no distinction between Jews and Jewish Christians]. As noted previously, gentile Christians resented the assumptions and intrusions of Jewish Christians when they returned upon Emperor Claudius' death. In some quarters outside the church, Jews were resented by a segment of society in Rome.
The way to bring persecution to an end internally or externally is to refuse to allow the suffering and injustice of persecution to dictate response behavior. In a model the author uses in guidance, one can "initiate" or "react" to a provocative situation. If he/she initiates, he/she remains himself/herself by refusing to give control of "who I am" to the actions and attitudes of the provoker. If he/she reacts, he/she gives the provoker control of "who I am and what I do." The Christian who blesses rather than curses in a persecution situation refuses to allow the persecution situation to define who he/she is and how he/she acts.
Rather than merely reacting to hurtful situations, the Christian encourages Christians who suffer. They genuinely share the joy of the happy, and genuinely cry with the distressed. Neither envy nor an angry sense of justice determines their behavior.
Christians genuinely respect others who are in Christ. Instead of being arrogant [Jewish background could encourage a sense of haughtiness--Paul knew that haughtiness from personal experience], they would accommodate the lowly [Jewish perspective often regarded gentiles as the "lowly"]. Christians do not exaggerate their opinions of self! There is a readily understood distinction between haughtiness and wisdom!
Loving Jesus Christ results in loving God. Loving Jesus Christ also results in loving people. Love for God and people through the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ is the foundation of ethical behavior. From this foundation of godly love, consider two applications today's Christians need to understand.
One: attitudes toward those in Christ must be based on genuine appreciation, not a perfunctory responsibility. Christians tend to live in isolation! If we are not careful, we live the meaningful portions of our lives only among Christians. As a result, (a) we rarely share our faith with those who have little or no faith. In this society right now, faith is shared more through example than through words. It is example that creates the desire in faithless people to hear words. Also as a result, (b) those who are not part of "us" feel uncomfortable among "us." Our ineffective means of being yeast in our society (Matthew 13:33) basically says, "You come listen to us," and then makes the few who come feel ill at ease in our midst. As a community of Christians, we need to nurture the wounded and share faith in Jesus Christ with the faithless.
Two: Godly living always has produced adversity for the godly. In the context of this physical world, there is truly a war between that which is good and that which is evil. The only means the defeated Satan has to inflict suffering on God is to cause God's people to suffer for their faith. Faith in God is expressed by the godly in the way they react to adversity as surely as by the way they initiate godly involvements/deeds. It is easy, almost to the point of effortlessness, to champion God when everything is favorable to His cause/work. It is demanding, commonly to the extreme, to champion God when everything opposes His cause/work. Never forget that it took a cross as certainly as it took a resurrection to produce eternal salvation.
For Thought and Discussion
Link to Teacher's Guide
Lesson 4