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III. Through the abundance of grace and the abundance of the gift of righteousness — Rom. 5:17b:
А. In living the church life — 14:1—15:13:
1. Receiving the believers under the reigning in life.
2. According to God’s receiving — 14:1-23:
а. Receiving the weak one, not for judgment on his doctrinal considerations concerning eating and keeping of days — vv. 1-6.
b. By living to the Lord and caring for standing before the judgment seat of God, without judging one another and despising others, nor putting a stumbling block or cause of falling before a brother by not walking according to love — vv. 7-16, 20-23.
c. Living the kingdom life not for eating and drinking but for righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, pursuing peace and the building up of one another — vv. 17-19.
3. According to Christ’s receiving — 15:1-13:
а. The strong ones needing to bear the weaknesses of those who are weak; not pleasing ourselves but pleasing our neighbor for his building up as Christ did — vv. 1-4.
b. That the God of endurance and encouragement may grant us to be of the same mind toward one another according to Christ Jesus so that with one accord we may glorify God in receiving one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God — vv. 5-7.
c. Who (Christ) became a servant of both the circumcision and the Gentiles so that the God of hope may fill us with all joy and peace for us to abound in hope in the power of the Holy Spirit — vv. 8-13.
B. In the apostle Paul’s setting up a pattern of living the church life for the living of the Body life — v. 14—16:27:
1. Preaching the gospel to raise up the local churches in the Gentile world through the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, in the power of signs and wonders, and in the power of the Spirit of God — 15:14-24:
а. From Jerusalem to Asia Minor — v. 19a.
b. From Asia Minor to eastern Europe (Illyricum) — vv. 19b-23a.
c. Intending to go to Spain through Rome — vv. 23b-24.
2. Bringing the Gentile churches into the fellowship of the Body of Christ with the Jewish churches in the communication of the provision of the Gentile churches to meet the necessity of the Jewish churches — vv. 25-33.
3. Blending together many saints and many local churches under his ministry for the practical living of the Body of Christ in the universal fellowship of the Body by recommendations and greetings between the saints and the churches mutually through him — 16:1-16, 21-24.
4. Being very strict with the divisive and dissenting ones who make divisions, without compromise or yielding — vv. 17-19 and footnote 172, Recovery Version.
5. Affording the God of peace a situation in which He will crush Satan under the feet of the churches by the saints’ enjoyment of the grace of Christ in the blending and the universal fellowship of the Body — v. 20.
6. Carrying out, based upon the righteousness of God and through man’s obedience of faith (1:17), the mystery kept in silence in the times of the ages, concerning the complete salvation of God in the preaching of the complete gospel of God (v. 1), in the fulfillment of the eternal economy of God for the glory to the only wise God through Jesus Christ — 16:25-27.
Note: In the conclusion of the book of Romans, the glory to the consummated God indicates that the consummated God is glorified in the humanity of the glorified church under its reigning in life in the fulfillment of the eternal economy of God in carrying out His mystery hidden in the ages.
To reign in life is to be under the ruling of the divine life. If we look at the life of the Lord Jesus as the God-man in His humanity on the earth, He was absolutely under the ruling of the divine life of the Father. Everything He did was under the Father’s ruling. As a man, He rejected His natural humanity and lived a human life under the restriction of the divine life of His heavenly Father. By practically being under the ruling of the divine life of the Father, He was reigning in life. This is the pattern that we should follow.
By living under the rule of the divine life, by reigning in life, we can live the church life. There is no possibility for us to live the church life if we are not under the ruling and control of the divine life. We must reign in life to live the church life.
Romans 14:1—15:13 covers our reigning in life in the church life. The reason there are so many divisions among Christians today is that their receiving of the believers is not under the restriction, the control, of the divine life. If all Christians would receive one another according to the divine life, all divisions would be gone. Only by reigning in life can we receive all whom God has received.
We must receive the believers according to God’s receiving (14:1-23). God is our example as to how we should receive one another. In writing this chapter, Paul’s heart was tolerant, his attitude was broad, and his view was noble. In order to practice the church life that he introduced in chapter 12, we must strictly observe the matters set forth in chapter 14. Many saints who love the Lord and seek to live the church life have failed because they were either negligent or mistaken in the matter of receiving the believers. In order to practice the church life revealed in chapter 12, we must learn the practical lessons of receiving the believers in order that the church life may be all-inclusive, able to include all kinds of genuine Christians. For this, we must all be under the reigning of the divine life.
Our receiving of the believers under the reigning in life is first according to God’s receiving and then according to Christ’s receiving (15:1-13). We should receive one another in the same way that Christ receives us. The strong ones need to bear the weaknesses of the weak, not pleasing themselves but pleasing the brothers and sisters for their building up, even as Christ did not please Himself but bore God’s reproach (vv. 1-4). We should be of the same mind toward one another according to Christ Jesus so that with one accord we may glorify God in receiving one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God (vv. 5-7). Christ has become a servant of both the circumcision and the Gentiles so that the God of hope may fill us with all joy and peace for us to abound in hope in the power of the Holy Spirit (vv. 8-13).
Finally, we see how Paul set up a pattern of living the church life for the living of the Body life (15:14—16:27). The first item in the pattern of one who is reigning in life is the preaching of the gospel. When we are under the ruling of the divine life, we will spontaneously preach the gospel. It is by our reigning in life that we preach the gospel.
Paul first preached the gospel to the Gentiles (15:14-24) and then brought them into the fellowship of the Body of Christ with the Jewish churches through their giving in love to provide for the necessities of the saints in Jerusalem (vv. 25-33). This was to bring the two into the fellowship of the one Body.
By his recommendations and greetings in 16:1-24, Paul was blending together many saints and many churches under his ministry for the practical living of the Body of Christ in the universal fellowship of the Body. In verses 17 through 19 Paul was very strict with the divisive and dissenting ones who make divisions, without compromise or yielding. In chapter 14 Paul was liberal and gracious regarding the receiving of the believers, but here he is unyielding and resolute in saying that we must turn away from those who are dissenting, who make divisions, and who make causes of stumbling. The purpose in both cases is the preserving of the Body of Christ in order that we may have the normal church life. Today there is the need for all the believers who have received the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness to practice the restriction and limitation in the divine life.
Paul afforded the God of peace a situation in which He will crush Satan under the feet of the churches by the saints’ enjoyment of the grace of Christ in the blending and the universal fellowship of the Body (16:20). Hence, Paul was carrying out, based upon the righteousness of God and through man’s obedience of faith (1:17), the mystery kept in silence in the times of the ages, concerning the complete salvation of God in the preaching of the complete gospel of God (1:1), in the fulfillment of the eternal economy of God for the glory to the only wise God through Jesus Christ (16:25-27). In the conclusion of the book of Romans, the glory to the consummated God indicates that the consummated God is glorified in the humanity of the glorified church under its reigning in life in the fulfillment of the eternal economy of God in carrying out His mystery hidden in the ages.
