Romans 15:4, commentary and pictures

What was written in earlier times was written for present learning, so that through the patience and encouragement of the Scriptures believers may have hope. In its setting this calls the strong to bear the infirmities of the weak and not please themselves, but to please the neighbor for good to build him up, following Christ who did not please Himself but bore reproach. God as the God of patience and encouragement uses that learning to make believers like-minded toward one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one mind and one mouth they glorify God and receive one another as Christ received them. It applies to every part of Scripture, which reveals God and teaches trust in Him, recording His law and dealings to teach His character and will, and makes people wise unto salvation with every truth needed to train minds for holiness and usefulness. Studied prayerfully and lived out in daily life, Scripture supplies the patience and encouragement that sustain hope, strengthens and expands the mind and forms character for immortal life, and leads believers to turn from self, help those in need, and live in peace and unity.

Wording and Immediate Context

What was written in earlier times was written for present learning, so that through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures believers may have hope. The earlier Scriptures were given to instruct believers, and their patience and encouragement give hope. Through their patience and comfort hope is kept.

The word comfort means encouragement that sustains hope. Scripture gives learning that produces patient endurance and consolation unto hope, and its study strengthens hope and teaches endurance. Through patient endurance and the encouragement the Scriptures provide hope is gained.

In its setting the instruction includes Christ's example of not pleasing Himself and bearing reproach, encouraging believers to bear with the weak and seek their good. The strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not please themselves, but please the neighbor for good to edification, for even Christ pleased not Himself but bore the reproaches that fell on God. Each one is to please his neighbor for good to build him up, because Christ did not please Himself but bore reproach. That teaching grounds bearing the weaknesses of others, seeking their good, and following Christ's example of self-denial.

God as the God of patience and consolation grants likemindedness toward one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one mind and one mouth God the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is glorified. That learning makes believers like-minded toward one another according to Christ Jesus, walking in love, united with one mind and one mouth to glorify God the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Believers are to receive one another as Christ received them, and to strive to be one as Christ is one with the Father, esteeming others better than self and looking to the things of others. This instruction supports living in unity so that believers may glorify God and receive one another, following what makes for peace and mutual edification.

Scope of Earlier Scriptures

What was written beforehand was written for learning, and that purpose belongs to every part of Scripture, including its chronological prophecies, which are part of God's revealed word and are to be taken seriously rather than passed over. The prophetic time passages therefore deserve serious study as instruction that gives patience, comfort, and hope.

Both Old and New Testament writings were given for present instruction, including the warnings and reproofs spoken by God's prophets, which are to be heeded carefully. Though the book of Acts is addressed to Theophilus, it is for everyone who wants to understand its truths.

The earlier writings reveal God and teach trust in Him, so that through patience and the comfort they supply believers may have hope. Their record of God's law and dealings teaches His character and will, warns of the consequences of disloyalty, and helps form His people in His likeness.

The Scriptures are a divine revelation given for human learning to make people wise unto salvation, and they are to be the educating book. To understand them is to have knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom He sent. They contain every truth needed to train minds for holiness, for usefulness, and for happiness, and God helps bring those truths out of them. They contain nothing to gratify curiosity or speculation, and those who have long relied on human authors do not know the breadth and power of God's Word, so God calls people away from the learning and repetition of popular authors to the words of the Author of true learning.

Examples That Instruct Faith

What was written beforehand about Abraham shows that he did not stagger at God's promise through unbelief but was strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what God had promised He was able to perform, so that it was imputed to him for righteousness. That record was written not for his sake alone but for present learning, that righteousness shall be imputed to those who believe on Him who raised up Jesus the Lord from the dead, and that through patience and comfort of the Scriptures they might have hope. His act of faith was recorded for present benefit to teach confidence in God's requirements even when they are painful, children's submission to parents and to God, and that nothing is too precious to give to God.

The Scriptures teach through an honest record of both faithfulness and failure, preserving Israel's complaints and rebellion together with God's mighty acts and the punishment of idolatry and ingratitude to warn God's people against unbelief and its consequences. If only Israel's virtues had been recorded, its history would not teach the same lesson. Israel's repeated complaints and the judgments that followed warn later generations, especially those living near the close of time. Their cheerful, energetic, and generous offerings for the tabernacle provide an example of devotion to the worship of God.

Accounts of God's work in the past and sacred history were written not merely to be read with wonder but to teach and encourage faith in later generations. The same faith that worked through God's servants of old can work in people now. God works now with no less power through hearts of faith as channels of His strength and power.

Patience Comfort and Hope

What was written beforehand was given for instruction, so that through the patience and encouragement supplied by Scripture believers may possess hope. That learning produces patient endurance and consolation leading to hope, and the study of Scripture strengthens hope while teaching endurance. It belongs with complete self-surrender, bearing the weaknesses of the weak instead of pleasing self, pleasing the neighbor for good to build him up, following Christ who did not please Himself, serving Christ acceptably, pursuing peace and mutual upbuilding, and becoming like-minded toward one another so as to glorify God with one mind and mouth.

God's Word is a treasure house and divine storehouse of refreshing promises and a standard raised against the enemy. It is to be learned and stored in mind and heart and drawn upon through the whole time of probation, when temptation returns again and again and the enemy allures with glowing prospects. Those who so treasure it need not fail nor yield and become spiritually weak, nor sink in discouragement, but can resist and keep hope.

The truth of Scripture is a consolation and joyful message that strengthens and animates the heart. Its consolation can meet the needs of those seeking spiritual light and strengthen the weary. Christian hope is not gloomy, nor a prison of doubts and fears, but brings freedom to those who love the truth and are sanctified by it.

When read and explained through the Holy Spirit, Scripture brings conviction, conversion, and renewed faith, leading from darkness into light and toward eternal life. Its saving truths are plain to ordinary people, correcting and reshaping character and teaching justice, purity, kindness, and compassion. For the truly converted God's Word brings joy and consolation, as the Spirit speaks through it renewing the heart.

Searching the Scriptures supplies the comfort and hope needed to do God's work and glorify Him. Everyone serving must have the consolation of Christ in the heart, whether working on the grounds, in the food factory, or in the most responsible position of nursing the sick. That inward consolation is then revealed in word and deed to the afflicted and suffering ones among them.

Studying and Living Scripture

Studying God's Word with prayer brings great benefit, for received prayerfully it must be cherished and practiced in daily life like seed that grows in stages and bears fruit. Studying the Bible supplies lasting knowledge, strengthens and expands the mind, and makes sacred history and its truths a source of instruction. Studying in faith and living it through Christ's grace strengthens the mind and forms a character fitted for immortal life.

What was written aforetime was written to teach believers to be Bible Christians who come directly to the Word and carry it out in every particular. Through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures they gain hope and know Jesus Christ as efficiency, healer, strength, front guard and rearward, receiving the help and power that God alone can give, while studying and carrying out the Word leads them to rely on Christ for strength and help. Studying its truths and living in harmony with them brings joy through obedience, clear discernment, and unity with the Father and the Son. So His commandment-keeping people may stand on vantage ground without fault before Him, perfecting holy characters through the merits of Christ, becoming changed into His image, and revealing the salvation of God so unbelievers are converted.

God has opened a path of continual advancement with an object to reach and a standard to gain that includes everything good and pure and noble and elevated. That standard requires continual striving and constant progress onward and upward toward perfection of character, which is Christlikeness, being perfect in the human sphere as God is perfect in His high sphere of action. Believing the Bible means putting its teaching into practice by turning from self, helping those in need, and living in peace and unity, being united with Christ and one another.

Living it requires making a chance for a tried brother, being pitiful, courteous, kind, patient and tender in speech, correcting errors without making sport of infirmities, and giving earnest interest to lift him above thinking of himself. It requires refusing to judge or put a stumbling block in his way, and practicing self-denial and self-sacrifice for others which the Lord observes and blesses, for love works no ill to the neighbor. For every reader and hearer present duty is to guard the door of the lips, to speak no unadvised word that provokes wrong acts, to refuse to listen to criticism and faultfinding about others, and to speak kindly, tenderly, and with encouragement. That duty is to answer harsh speech and provocation with silence rather than retaliation, to confess personal sins and seek forgiveness from God, and to strive together in prayer for God's workers instead of tearing one another down. Each one will give account of himself to God, so believers must no longer judge one another or put anything in a brother's way to trip him and make him fall, but must deny self and be doers of the Word and not hearers only.

Its plain instructions in Romans 15:1-7 must be considered and obeyed to overcome hereditary and cultivated faults of character, to draw nigh to brethren, to respect and love them, and to cultivate confidence rather than suspicion. They call for complete self-surrender, strict adherence to correct principle at any cost, guarding speech from guile, working the works of God, and economizing means to help truth instead of self-indulgence. They call for putting the Word of God above pictures and ornaments, leading others heavenward by holy example, serving Christ acceptably, bearing the infirmities of the weak instead of pleasing self, pleasing a neighbor for good to edification after Christ who pleased not Himself, and following what makes for peace and mutual edification unto like-mindedness to glorify God with one mind and mouth. Only when brain-power and the talent of speech are sanctified is a person fitted for service. And the consolation of the Scriptures can be shared to draw people needing help and light to Christ and the plan of salvation.