Romans 15:4

For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction: God caused everything in the Scriptures to be written for his purposes, to teach believers.

• We who are strong: Paul includes himself among those he calls strong in faith. This shows that the division in the Roman church was not simply between Jews and Gentiles. Like Paul, some Jews had informed consciences and were counted among the strong. In the same way, some Gentiles were deeply influenced by Jewish teaching and tradition and were counted among the weak in faith.

• ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak: This idea is similar to Galatians 6:2. Paul did not want the strong merely to tolerate those who were weak in faith. Instead, the strong were to help them actively and with care, so the weak could live out their Christian faith with integrity (see also Galatians 5:13–15).

Paul addresses a specific issue causing conflict in the church at Rome. The church encountered a dispute between those weak in faith and those strong in faith about certain practices (see 15:1).

Throughout this section, Paul urges Christians to show patience and tolerance toward one another and their practices. He is convinced that people on both sides are genuine believers. He also believes that the issues they are arguing about are not essential to the Christian faith.

This section of Romans explains the moral and ethical demands of the gospel. God’s gift of salvation in Christ calls for a response from believers.

God not only forgives sin. He also wants to transform how people live.

Much of what Paul teaches here about the moral duties of believers also appears in his other letters. However, Paul also addresses issues that were especially important for the church in Rome. One key issue was the disagreement between people who were weak in faith and people who were strong in faith(14:1–15:13).