📜WEB · Romans 15:5
What does Romans 15:5 mean?
"Now the God of perseverance and of encouragement grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus,"
— Romans 15:5 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Let each one of us please his neighbor for that which is good, to be building him up.
For even Christ didn’t please himself. But, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through perseverance and through encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Now the God of perseverance and of encouragement grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus,
that with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore accept one another, even as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God.
Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the fathers,
Explanation
Romans 15:5 is a prayer-wish that the apostle Paul offers on behalf of the Christians in Rome, asking God to grant them unity of mind that is shaped and patterned after Christ Jesus. In plain language, Paul is saying: "May God, who is the source of patient endurance and comfort, help you to live in harmony with one another in a way that reflects the character and example of Jesus." It is not a command so much as a benediction—a heartfelt request directed toward God on the believers' behalf.
To understand the context, we need to look at what precedes this verse. Paul has spent Romans 14 and the opening verses of chapter 15 addressing a real conflict in the Roman church between believers with different convictions—particularly Jewish and Gentile Christians who disagreed over dietary practices and the observance of special days. Some believers felt free to eat anything and treated all days alike, while others, out of conscience, abstained from certain foods or held certain days as sacred. Paul urges the "strong" not to look down on the "weak," and the "weak" not to judge the "strong" (Romans 14:1-3). In 15:1-4, he calls the strong to bear with the failings of the weak rather than pleasing only themselves, following the pattern of Christ, who did not please himself but bore reproach for others. Verse 5 flows directly out of this appeal—it is Paul's prayer that God would actually produce in them the harmony he has just urged them to pursue.
Theologically, the verse highlights two important truths. First, it identifies God as "the God of per
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