Therefore ... - Romans 15-16

Good doctrine ought to lead to good behavior. Paul, in the book of Romans, has outlined and argued for a common doctrine that shows Jews and Gentiles alike are justified by grace through faith. He has argued some points of that doctrine insensibly. He even boast to that point in 15:15. Paul has wanted them to see the common grace they had and their ethnicity does not deter that saving grace. In the last few chapters (12-16) he wants to hammer that home. In particular he states in 15:7, "Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God." Paul's doctrine always has a "therefore." It is one of his favorite terms to use immediately after a long doctrinal dissertation (see further Romans 12:1; Ephesians 4:1, 5:1; Phillippians 2:1, 3:1, 4:1; Colossians 3:1 and others). Paul wants our doctrine to come out in practical behavior that affects our interpersonal relationships. We tend to have too extremes in churches today. The first extreme is the doctrinally dead extreme. We have so much doctrine and believe it so much but it doesn't affect our day to day lives. We simply have great doctrine. The other extreme is that of little or no emphasis on doctrine and we are focused entirely on how to live our day to day lives, absent an anchor of sound Biblical teaching. We use practical clichés rather than doctrinal dogma. Either extreme misses what Paul has done here in Romans. He wants our doctrine to drive us to a better relationship with those who are ethnically and traditionally different than us. We miss the point if we get the doctrine but don't change our lives. Let's not be so doctrinally sound that we forget the "therefores" of the Word.