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Rom.15:1. We, the strong, must endure the weaknesses of the powerless and not please ourselves. After the prayer, he again offers exhortation and delights the perfect ones by placing them alongside himself and calling them strong. He did not simply say: weaknesses, but: “the weaknesses of the powerless,” that is, aggravating the expression in order to attract them to greater mercy. Having spoken about our duty to bear the weaknesses of others, he teaches how to fulfill it. For this, he says, it is necessary that we look not only for our own benefit. Rom.15:2. Each of us must please our neighbor for good and edification. That is, everyone do what pleases their neighbor, and serve their brother, only for the good. And so that one of the perfect would not say: here I am drawing my brother for good 2, he added: “for edification.” For although what you are doing now is good, but since it is untimely, your work turns into ruin: for untimely reproof does not edify. Rom.15:3. For Christ did not please Himself, but, as it is written: The slander of those who slandered You fell on Me. The Apostle sets Christ as our example. For if He wanted to please Himself, that is, to seek His own, He could have avoided reproach and not endured what He suffered; but He did not want this, and, having taken upon Himself suffering, was subjected to bad fame among many, and was considered powerless, even a deceiver and a villain. They said about Him: “He saved others, but He... could not save Himself” (Matthew 27:42). So “the slander of those who slander You,” the Father, in the Old Testament, “fell on Me” (Ps. 68:10), that is, Your Son. And this is not anything new. Rom.15:4. But whatever was written before was written for our instruction, so that through patience and the comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope. This, he says, was written before, so that we would imitate it. Here he exhorts them to endure temptations, saying, let us be strengthened by the Scriptures, and through patience let us show in ourselves every living and constant hope. For whoever endures shows that he has hope in future blessings, and whoever does not endure has lost hope. Rom.15:5. May the God of patience and consolation grant you to be of one mind with each other according to the teaching of Christ Jesus. Shows that through the Scriptures God gives us patience and comfort. That is why he calls Him the God of patience and consolation as the giver and author of these blessings. He also asks Him to grant us “to be of one mind with each other.” For it is characteristic of love to think the same about one’s neighbor as someone thinks about himself. Since there is worldly love, he added: “according to the teachings of Jesus Christ,” that is, think what pleases Jesus Christ. Rom.15:6. so that with one accord, with one mouth, you may glorify God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. What is the fruit of unanimity? Glorifying God not only with one mouth, but also with one soul (for this means “with one accord”). Here the word “God” should be separated, referring it to the previous one, and then read from a new beginning: “and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” However, there will be no indecency if we read these words not separately, that is, meaning “God and the Father” in relation to the One and Same Christ; for God the Father is the God of Christ in humanity, and the Father in divinity. Rom.15:7. Therefore accept one another, just as Christ accepted you to the glory of God. He repeats the previous admonition and cites Christ as an example, so that we accept each other, because this serves the glory of God. For our unity glorifies God most of all, as it is said: “The world will believe that You sent Me,” if the disciples “are one” (John 17:21–23). On the contrary, disagreement brings dishonor to God. For the pagans, seeing that Christians disagree among themselves, accuse faith itself. Rom.15:8. I mean that Jesus Christ became a minister for the circumcision - for the sake of the truth of God, in order to fulfill what was promised to the fathers. He adheres to the previous subject of speech, showing that Christ did not please himself, but accepted everything for us, and convinces the pagans not to be proud of those who believed among the Jews. For the Jews were saved by the promise given to their fathers, and the pagans by mercy and love for mankind alone. The meaning of what was said is this. There was a promise to Abraham that his seed would inherit the world (Gen. 13:15); but those who descended from Abraham all became worthy of punishment, as those who had broken the law, and therefore unworthy of the promise. Therefore Christ came and fulfilled the law, receiving both the rest and circumcision. Having fulfilled the law, having received circumcision and becoming the seed of Abraham, He quenched the wrath of God and made us capable of accepting the promise. He accepted circumcision so that the promise of God would not remain in vain, and not in order to establish the law. Why are you, a Judaizer, attached to the law, which has already brought you to such danger that you have lost the promise? Rom.15:9. and for the pagans - out of mercy, so that they glorify God. Those who came from the Jews, although they were unworthy, nevertheless had promises; and you, called from paganism, were saved by love of mankind alone. Therefore, you are obliged to especially glorify God. God is glorified when you live in union and unity among yourself, when you bear with the weak. as it is written: For this reason I will praise You, (Lord), among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to Your name. Rom.15:10. And it is also said: Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people. Rom.15:11. And again: Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and glorify Him, all you nations. Rom.15:12. Isaiah also says: the root of Jesse will arise and rule over the nations; The pagans will hope in Him. He cited all these testimonies as proof that those called from the Gentiles must live in unity and be of the same mind with those who came from the Jews; he humbles them so that they do not become arrogant before those who are called from among the pagans, for all the prophets called them, and again he convinces those who are called from among the pagans not to be arrogant, showing that they are more obligated to God, as having received great mercy; for they, not being a people, are united with the people. The words “I will glorify You among the pagans” are spoken on behalf of Christ, instead of the words: I preach You, Father, among the nations; and the words “there will be a root of Jesse” are said instead: from the root of Jesse will grow the One who will rise to rule the nations, that is, Christ. Rom.15:13. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith, so that you, through the power of the Holy Spirit, may abound in hope. He prays that the Jewish believers would be filled with joy, for they were saddened by reproach, and the Gentile believers would be filled with peace, for they appeared to be hostile against those who adhered to the law; better to say, he prays that both of them will be filled with joy and peace. How to do this? By faith. And what benefit does faith give us? Wealth in hope. For whoever believes in future blessings and remains content with the present is rich in hope, that is, he expects future blessings and endures all temporary disasters. And what benefit does trust bring us? Acquiring the power of the Holy Spirit, which will make our hope stronger. For hope, on the one hand, gives us the power of the Holy Spirit, and on the other hand, it becomes stronger in us from the Holy Spirit. Rom.15:14. And I myself am confident about you, my brethren, that you too are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and can instruct one another; Having said a lot of harsh things above, he finally heals the inflicted wounds. He did not say: I heard, but: “I myself am sure,” who denounced and accused you, “that you too are full of goodness,” that is, good-thinking and brotherly love, and perhaps calls the fullness of virtue goodness. He also did not say: you have goodness, but: “full.” Since there is no benefit in having only goodness, while not knowing how to use it, he added: “and you can instruct one another,” not only learn, but moreover teach others. Rom.15:15. but I wrote to you, brothers, with some boldness, partly as a reminder to you, The Romans were respected and quite arrogant. Therefore, he heals them when he says: “I wrote with some courage”; for with this word he greatly crushes them. But he was not satisfied with this either, but added: “partly,” that is, somewhat and briefly, and not as a lesson, but “as if as a reminder,” that is, slightly reminding. according to the grace given to me by God: Rom.15:16. to be a servant of Jesus Christ among the pagans and to perform the sacred rites of the gospel of God. Infusing his speech with a humble tone, he says: I did not gain honor for myself, but God commanded me to do this, separating me for this, not because I was worthy, but by grace. What is grace given to me for? To be a minister and priest of the Gospel to me. So don't blame me for what I say to you. My priesthood is to proclaim the Gospel. And who would dare to blame a priest who brings a knife closer to what is chosen as a sacrifice? Rom.15:16. that this offering of the Gentiles, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit, might be acceptable to God. “I,” he says, “wrote to you so that, together with other nations, you too might be saved, and so that, thus, the offering of the pagans would be completely favorable from the fact that everyone brings fruit to God. “Sanctified by the Holy Spirit,” that is, by spiritual life; for it is not faith alone that sanctifies, but also life. It is true that when we believed and were baptized, we received the Spirit; but if we do not live spiritually, then the grace of the Spirit will fade away. Humbles the pride of the Romans, so that they do not consider it low to have as their teacher the One who leads all nations to God. Rom.15:17. Therefore I can boast in Jesus Christ in the things of God. Since before this he had greatly humiliated himself, now he again exalts the word so that it would not be considered contemptible and says: I boast not of myself and not of my cares, but of the grace of Christ. What am I boasting about? In what relates to God, that is, not some unimportant things, but spiritual ones. Rom.15:18. for I will not dare to say anything that Christ did not do through me, in subduing the Gentiles by faith, in word and in deed, Rom.15:19. by the power of signs and wonders (σημείων και τεράτων), by the power of the Spirit of God. Since he said about himself: I am a minister of the Gospel among all nations, he adds: I do not boast or boast about anything that I did not do: I did not even do it, but Christ did it, using me as an instrument. Whether I say anything, speak and philosophize about heavenly things, whether I do anything, lead my life according to God, whether I perform miracles, all this belongs to Christ. And there is a difference between a sign and a miracle. A sign is something that happens in accordance with nature, only in an extraordinary way. This is the sudden healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, who was sick with fever. Here, healing fever is a matter in accordance with nature; but it happened in an extraordinary way: as soon as Christ touched him, the fever passed (Matthew 8:14–15;). And a miracle is an action performed on something that is not in accordance with nature. This is the healing of a man blind from birth (John 9:1-7). Since signs and wonders also happen by the power of demons 3; then he added: “by the power of the Spirit of God.” This also shows the dignity of the Spirit, who can do true signs and wonders. so that the gospel of Christ has been spread by me from Jerusalem and the surrounding area to Illyricum. Do you want to have proof of what I'm talking about? Here are the multitude of my disciples from Jerusalem even to Illyricum, which constitutes the borders of present-day Bulgaria. He did not say: I preached, but: I spread the gospel, in order to show that his word was not fruitless, but effective. When you hear: “from Jerusalem to Illyricum,” do not think that the apostle walked the straight and high road. “And the surrounding area,” he says, that is, I went around the nations preaching both to the north and to the south. Rom.15:20. Moreover, I tried to preach the gospel not where the name of Christ was already known, so as not to build on someone else’s foundation. I not only preached the gospel to these and so many nations and converted them, but I also did not go to those people to whom the name of Christ had already been proclaimed. So I am far from subjugating other people's students and doing it for my own glory. That is why I wrote to you, not out of a desire to gain fame from you, but because I am fulfilling my ministry. “Alien foundation” refers to the teaching of the apostles, not because they were alien to it, and not because they preached otherwise, but in relation to the reward; because the reward for their labors was alien to Paul, did not belong to him. Rom.15:21. but as it is written: Those who have not had news of Him will see, and those who have not heard will know. Here shows a fulfilled prophecy; and whoever decides to teach the ignorant, as Paul resorted to, will face a lot of work and sweat. Rom.15:22. This is what prevented me from coming to you many times. At the beginning of this epistle he said: “he met obstacles even until now” (Rom. 1:13), and here he presents the very reason that prevented him from coming to them. “I, he says, went everywhere preaching, and therefore I encountered many obstacles, that is, I often intended and wanted to come to you, but I always met obstacles. Rom.15:23. Now, not having such a place in these countries, but from ancient times having a desire to come to you, Rom.15:24. As soon as I take the road to Spain, I will come to you. For I hope that, as I pass, I will see you and that you will take me there, as soon as I enjoy communication with you, at least in part. I, he says, encountered obstacles because I wanted to preach, but now I am writing to you and going to you, because I no longer have anything to do with these countries, and not for any other reason, for example, out of a desire, for example, to gain fame from you. Further, so as not to tell him: you visit us somehow, because you no longer have business there, he adds: I have had a desire for this since a long time: it is this desire that I hasten to fulfill. But so that they, again, do not become arrogant, imagining that he has a desire to come to us, as above all others, he adds: as soon as I take the path to Spain, I will come to you. And so that, again, they would not say: he only wants to be with us in passing, he added: “and you will take me there,” that is, you yourself, seeing the need prompting me to go to those peoples, lead me, so that I will visit you not out of contempt for you, but out of necessity. Since this is also offensive to them, he calms them down, saying: “I will enjoy communicating with you, at least partly.” This shows that he wants to see them out of love for them and, moreover, strong, why didn’t he say: I will see, but: “I will enjoy”, imitating how parents speak to their children. He said: “partly,” that is, no matter how much time I stay with you, I will never get enough, I will never get bored with communication with you: therefore, I will be pleased if I partly enjoy communication with you. Rom.15:25. And now I go to Jerusalem to minister to the saints, Rom.15:26. for Macedonia and Achaia are zealous in giving some alms to the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. I made a promise above to come to them. Meanwhile, he still needed to delay. Therefore, so that they would not think that he was laughing at them, he expresses the reason why he hesitates and says: “I am going to Jerusalem to serve the saints.” He did not say: carrying alms with him, but: “to serve,” so that we would know how high, by whom it is done and how important it is. Through this he exhorts the Romans to give alms; for when he says: “Macedonia and Achaia are zealous,” etc., he puts in them zeal to imitate them. The word “zealous” is used instead: they wanted, recognized it as good to send “some alms.” So, that is, alms, he calls alms everywhere, as a common profit, both for those who give and those who receive. He said: “some” instead of: small, so that it would not seem to the Romans that he was reproaching them as stingy and ungenerous. “To the saints,” he said, that is, to the faithful, so they are worthy of deep regret, firstly, because of their poverty, and secondly, because of their virtue. Rom.15:27. They are zealous, and they are in debt to them. For if the pagans have become participants in their spiritual things, then we must also serve them in their physical things. There is nothing new in that, he says, if they wanted to make alms to the saints: they are their debtors. How? Christ comes from the Jews, came for them; from here are the apostles, prophets, all good things. But the universe became a participant in all this. Therefore, those converted from the pagans should give them their bodily benefits; so are you. He did not say: allow them to participate, but: “serve,” he introduced them as if they were deacons. He also did not say: in his body. For he said about spiritual blessings that they belong to the Jews, but bodily blessings belong not only to the pagans; because the opinion is common to everyone, and not just to the rulers. Rom.15:28. Having fulfilled this and faithfully delivered to them this fruit of zeal. That is, as if placed in the royal treasuries, as an inaccessible and safe place; for such is what is sealed. Having said: “fruit,” he shows that those who give alms receive great profit from it. I will go through your places to Spain. He again mentions Spain, showing that his journey there is necessary for him and that he will not pass through Rome out of contempt for them. Rom.15:29. and I am confident that when I come to you, I will come with the full blessing of the gospel of Christ. That is, I will see you well-versed in all the blessings of the gospel. For by the full blessing of the gospel he calls all the good things worthy of blessing, that is, praise in accordance with the Gospel. But you can understand by blessing and alms, so that there is such a thought: I will find you perfect in alms and philanthropy. He says this, anticipating them, so that, being ashamed of praise, they would try to appear as such. Rom.15:30. Meanwhile, I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit He never considers himself worthy of faith, but represents intermediaries. So now it points to Christ and the Spirit. But he did not mention the Father, so that you would know that when he mentions the Father alone, he does not exclude the Son and the Spirit. He said: “by the love of the Spirit”; because just as the Father and the Son loved the world, so did the Spirit. strive with me in prayers for me to God. He shows the greatest humility when he says that he needs their prayer. Rom.15:31. that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea. He did not say: to enter into a competition and defeat them, but: “to get rid of them,” fulfilling the divine law, which commands us to pray not to fall into temptation (Matthew 26:41). At the same time, it also shows that it is necessary to give alms to those who live among so many unbelievers (for deliverance from whom he himself prays) and, moreover, are in danger of dying from hunger. and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints. That is, to accept alms with good will. From this it is clear that giving alms is not enough for it to be accepted. When someone gives out of necessity, out of untruth, for vanity, then everything perishes and the fruit is destroyed. Rom.15:32. so that I may come to you in joy, if God pleases: I say, that’s why I pray for deliverance from there, so that I can see you as soon as possible and, moreover, with pleasure, without incurring any sorrow for myself there. He did not say: teach you, instruct you in the faith, but “calm down,” that is, you will be quickened by my teaching, and I will be quickened by the increase of your faith. This expression shows that both he and they, as strugglers and workers, have a need for rest. Rom.15:33. May the God of peace be with you all, amen. Adding prayer to exhortation is the constant custom of the apostle. When I reprove him (see above - Rom. 14ff.). There is evidence of this both in Holy Scripture and in St. Fathers of the Church. Thus, the Lord says: “false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders” (σημεία και τέρατα), “to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24, cf. Mark 13:12). St. ap. Paul writes about the Antichrist that his “coming will be with all power and signs and wonders according to the work of Satan” (2 Thess. 2:9). The same is said about the Antichrist and his servants, St. Fathers of the Church (St. Ephraim the Syrian. Homily 39, St. Cyril Hierus. Citation. 15, St. John Chrysostom Conversations, on 2 epil. to Thessal., St. Andrew Caesar. Comment. in Joan. Apocal.) But miracles, as well as signs, sometimes performed by the power of demons, are not true wonders and signs, but false, deceptive, illusory, dreamy, and not real (2 Thess. 2:9, St. Irin. Adv. haeres. Lib V. cap. 28, St. Hippolytus. Comment. in.. Fpocal., St. Ephraim the Syrian. Words. 39, St. Cyril Hierus. Publication of words. 15, St. Gregory. Doubles. Moral, lib XXXII cap 12, St. John. Exact. How to distinguish such deceptions of Satan from true, real miracles performed by the power of God, you can read about this in the “Introduction to Orthodox Theology” by Bishop. Macarius (pp. 64–66. 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