Why We Welcome One Another

The apostle Paul quotes from Psalm 18 in his most famous letter.

We won’t have time to unpack all the details on Sunday, so I’d like to touch on them now. This was a new insight for me this week, and it connected some dots that absolutely thrilled me. I’m excited to share it with you. Consider this something like a preface to Sunday’s message.

In summary, in Romans 15:9, with unquestioned confidence, Paul lands an exact quotation of Psalm 18:49, which he uses to support a statement he has made about Jesus. 

Let’s start from the top:

By the point of Romans 15 Paul has painstakingly exhorted the church in Rome to get along. This was a predominantly Gentile church, but over the years Jewish Christians moved into the community of faith and it raised all kinds of questions on the relationship between the gospel and Mosaic law. As you could imagine, the Gentile Christians had gotten along fine without any Mosaic encumbrances, but now all of a sudden, since the Jewish Christians have come around, they are making comments about the meat the Gentile Christians eat. We might say that the Jewish Christians wanted the Gentile Christians to give Moses a little more respect, and the Gentile Christians were like “Not today!” and the whole thing led Paul to unearth the mystery of God’s plan in hardening the hearts of the Jewish people and grafting in the Gentiles. That’s Chapters 9–11. It’s the deep, subterranean wonder which the surface tensions failed to appreciate.

But the moral imperative is simple: love one another. Don’t judge your brother or sister for their sincere devotion to God. Strive for peace. Build one another up (in Chapter 15 Paul basically encapsulates these commands with the one phrase “welcome one another”). 

He says in Romans 15:1 that the strong are obliged to bear with the failings of the weak. That is, the stronger brothers, the majority Gentile Christians, are to humble themselves and seek the good of their weaker brothers (verses 1–2). And what better example of this than Jesus himself? Jesus didn’t please himself, but he became a sacrifice — and Paul here quotes from Psalm 69:9 as if Jesus had said it, not David as the psalmist. Jesus suffered the reproach that others had directed at God (verse 3). And then Paul points to the Old Testament and celebrates its relevance to us! (verse 4). He exhorts the church to live in harmony, which has been his point this whole time! (verses 5–6). 

And then he gives the welcome command.

It’s verse 7.

“Therefore,” he begins, because you are called to live in harmony together, “welcome one another.”

Welcome is necessary for harmony.

But then Paul adds another line, and this is the game-changer.

He says, “Therefore, welcome one another AS CHRIST HAS WELCOMED YOU FOR THE GLORY OF GOD” (Romans 15:7).

And when we read this, it might come across like jargon. We might be tempted to skim it and move on. But Paul doesn’t let us do that. He actually follows this statement with an argument. Paul wants to make the case that Jesus’s welcome of you, Gentile Christians, really is for the glory of God. 

“Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God” — that statement is on the front-burner now, and Paul is about to prove it. 

That’s why he starts verse 8 with “For.” Here is the grounds to his statement:

For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised [think Jewish people] to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs [specifically, God is making good on his promise to Abraham, which also includes this next part], and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. 

In other words, Pauls says: 

Jesus welcomed you Gentile Christians — he became a servant and bore the cross — to make good on God’s promise to Abraham that includes Gentiles glorifying God for his mercy. 

Another way to say it:

Jesus did what he did to save the nations so that the nations would glorify God. 

And then Paul says, “As it is written…” which means he is about to quote from the Old Testament to support his point. Where does he go then? What verse will he use?

It’s Psalm 18:49,

“Therefore, I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.”

Two things about this: 

First, Paul understands the “I” who is speaking in Psalm 18:49 to be the Messiah (which is the same understanding he has of Psalm 69:9 quoted in verse 3). For Paul, there was no question that he often read individual psalms as the voice of Jesus. 

Second, the “Therefore” in the quotation means that Paul likely envisions the previous section of Psalm 18 (all that’s before verse 49) as continued support of his present argument in Romans 15. The Messiah in Psalm 18:49 says that he will “therefore” praise God among the Gentiles, so then what’s behind that “therefore”?

It’s that God has rescued the Messiah from death and exalted him in kingly triumph over the nations.

That’s what Psalm 18 is about, which we will see on Sunday, and I think Paul reads it that way. 

Jesus is the resurrected and exalted Lord, triumphing over the nations so that the nations might glorify God for his mercy. 

For now, the nature of his triumph over the nations is spiritual. It’s when we, you and me, are effectively called to turn from our sins and trust him, bowing to his lordship. 

That is to say, Jesus’s triumph over the nations is his welcome of the nations, calling us to faith and leading us to give glory to God. 

That’s what Psalm 18 points to.

That’s the reason Paul gives for why we should welcome one another.