Romans 15:1-6 commands mature Christians, strong in faith and trust, to help carry or become a burden-bearer to those Christians who struggle with the false belief the battle for their delivered addictions that keeps tempting them, is their battle and not God’s battle (2 Chronicles 20:14-5). Mature Christians have learned to turn everything over to God, through Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit, and let the Godhead, our Creator, Owner, and Sustainer, settle it for us.
Because Christ Jesus took on Him all our abuse, blame, discredit, rebuke, reprimand, and hateful insults, so we could have Him, our Perfect Peace (Isaiah 26:3; Philippians 4:7; Ephesians 2:13-14), because now we can submit our entire self—spirit, soul, and body—into His care, protection, and provision (1 Peter 5:5-11): thus, because we turn everything over to the Godhead, all our battles are now His battles, so we are humble before Him, and always facing Christ, with our back to the satanic spirits, for Christ Jesus, is our all around Guard, so Satan, the wicked one, cannot touch us (1 John 5:18-21, for we have asked Him to take out of us every idol and thing the satanic spirits can use against us, and fill us with God’s fullness (John 1:16-17), and we believe He has done for us what we asked of Him. This is consistent, possessing faith.
Romans 15:7-13 demonstrates Christian maturity in Christ Jesus frees us from foolish battles He has already won for us, so all we now are required to do is praise, thank, worship, and trust everything to God, through Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, for Ephesians 1, 2 Peter:1, and 2 Corinthians 1:15-24, assure us in Christ Jesus we already have all of God’s exceedingly great and precious promises that pertain to life and godliness, whereby we can partake of His divine nature, to be what Hebrews 6 calls “perfection” or “spiritual maturity”, so we advance from the basic knowledge of Christ Jesus on to spiritual maturity in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 4:1-16).
Romans 15:14-21 is Paul’s joyous confession of the powerful and wonderful things the Holy Spirit did through Him, when he ministered around Jerusalem and Illyricum, yet this is not pride, but rather praises, thanks, and worship to God, through Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, for what Paul had the honored privilege to be part of, which is what every Christians longs for, and we are also privileged to receive, as we move from grace to grace, from glory to glory, from bottle-fed Christians to “meat of the word Christians” (1 Corinthians 3:1-4), but this does not happen overnight, but is a process of bible study, prayer, believing God’s word, and asking Him to take everything of self out of us and fill us with His fullness (Ephesians 3:14-21), so He can live His life through us (Galatians 2:20), and us no longer living our way but now living God’s way.
Romans 15:22-33 is Paul explaining his desire to visit the church at Rome on his way to Spain, and possibly a second visit on his way back from Spain to Jerusalem, but at the present Paul has obligated himself to collect the financial gifts from the churches at Macedonia, Achaia, and others who give financially to help the struggling Christians at Jerusalem, but when this is completed, he wants to go through Rome on the way to Spain, but Acts 21-25 reveals Paul did go to Rome, but in prison chains to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, to everyone God placed in his presence, including Caesar, the Roman Emperor.
God does not see as we see, for Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, 11 For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Christians must put everything else aside and give God our full attention, hungering and thirsting for His peaceful, sweet, presence, where self is lost in Hm, His plans, and will for us, so we become the mature Christian, He created us to become in Christ Jesus, because God has already given us every promise in His word, and when we truly believe Him, we receive them.
Jim Nabors
