FILLED WITH JOY AND PEACE
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peaceG1515 as you believe in Him,
so that you may overflow with hopeG1680 by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
In the beginning of Romans 15, Paul summed up the problem of the dispute in the church at Rome regarding eating food offered to idols or “unclean” food as described in the Old Testament Law and whether or not certain Jewish Holy days must be observed. He again makes the case that unity in the church is more important than these disputable matters. He urges them to accept one another. He reminds them, also, that the Gentiles were included in the promise to Abraham that through his Seed all nations would be blessed. Then Paul prays a blessing on all the believers at Rome in verse 13 above. In Charles Stanley’s Life Principles Bible, he writes:
The Christian life is to be characterized by hope, joy, and peace. As we grow in His grace, God wants us to experience each of them in increasing measure. If they’re lacking, we know something has gone wrong. (69)
We have hope, the expectation of an eternity with God, because of Jesus and the Holy Spirit within us. Read the definition of the word translate “hope” from The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament:
G1680. elpís; gen. elpídos, fem. noun. Hope, desire of some good with expectation of obtaining it . . . (II) Spoken especially of those who experience the hope of salvation through Christ, eternal life, and blessedness (Rom. 5:2, 4, 5; 12:12; 15:4, 13,) “the God of hope” means the author and source of hope, not the one who needs hope. (70)
John MacArthur explains the phrase “God of hope:”
15:13 God of hope. God is the source of eternal hope, life, and salvation, and He is the object of hope for every believer (see note on 5:2). by the power of the Holy Spirit. The believer’s hope comes through the Scripture (cf. 15:4; Eph. 1:13, 14), which was written and is applied to every believing heart by the Holy Spirit. (71)
Our hope should result in joy, the abundance of life that Christ came to give us. Our joy should increase as we know Jesus more deeply through His word and the illumination of the Holy Spirit within us. We should also increase in peace. Not only the peace of God that assures us even in the midst of troubles but the peace with others that Paul has been urging the believers at Rome to cultivate.
We can live in harmony with other believers even if we do not agree on every point or practice. What can we do to promote this harmony within our local churches? Perhaps we need to judge less and listen more. Perhaps we need to set aside the “need” to be always “right” and just agree to disagree on some matters. If we agree on salvation by grace alone through Christ alone, much of the other stuff is minor. Let us focus on that which brings us together rather than anything that would seek to divide us.
Father, show us when we have been majoring on the minor things rather than celebrating the major things that unite us. Help us to be one in the unity of Your love. Prevent us from causing division in the local body of believers. Help us to truly be one in the Spirit.
Worship along with “They’ll Know We are Christians by Our Love:”