📜WEB · Romans 15:7
What does Romans 15:7 mean?
"Therefore accept one another, even as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God."
— Romans 15:7 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
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,
and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore will I give praise to you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.”
Again he says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”
Explanation
Romans 15:7 calls believers to welcome one another into full fellowship, using Christ's acceptance of us as both the model and the motivation. In plain language, Paul is saying: just as Christ received you, with all your flaws, differences, and past failures, so you must receive each other in the same open, generous way. This is not a suggestion but a command rooted in the gospel itself.
To understand the context, remember that Paul wrote Romans to a church in Rome made up of both Jewish and Gentile Christians. These two groups carried different customs, dietary practices, and views on matters like observing special days (see Romans 14). Tension had arisen between the "strong" and the "weak" in faith — those who felt free to eat anything and those who held to stricter scruples. Rather than settling every dispute over practice, Paul spends chapters 14 and 15 urging mutual acceptance despite these differences. Verse 7 serves as the climactic summary of that whole argument, tying together his appeal for unity before he moves into his closing remarks about his ministry plans.
Theologically, this verse anchors human relationships in the character and action of Christ. Our acceptance of one another is not based on shared preferences, personality, or even doctrinal agreement on secondary matters — it is based on the fact that Christ himself accepted us while we were sinners, undeserving and different from him. Because grace, not merit, is the basis of our acceptance by God, it must also be the basis of our acceptance of each other. Paul adds that this has a purpose beyond just church harmony: it brings glory to
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