Two brothers saw a bike and a dinosaur in the same cloud. In an age of loud certainty, Paul prescribes something stronger: patience.
How can the church stay united when everyone is certain and no one is patient? Dr. Toby B. Holt opens this sermon on Romans 15:1–6 with two brothers arguing over a cloud — one sees a bicycle, the other a dinosaur, and their little sister sees neither. It is a picture of our age: people bring their own perspectives and presuppositions to an issue, reach a conclusion, and pronounce it with total dogmatism, inflating subjective opinion into objective truth. That habit is bad enough in society, Holt argues; inside the church it is poison.
Against that backdrop he walks through Paul's charge: "We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves" (Romans 15:1, NKJV). The strong — those mature in doctrine — are not to wield their right answers as a battering ram against newer, weaker believers, but to spend their strength on their neighbor's edification. Holt then turns to Christ Himself, who patiently taught disciples who argued about their own greatness, and who looked on Peter after the denial with love rather than disdain — and who went further still: He did not merely bear with sinners; at Calvary He bore their sins.
From the text Holt draws three working principles for a contentious age: none of us has a monopoly on truth; patience is not the same as tolerance; and sanctification takes time — with the sober nuance that where a heart remains unregenerate, no argument will persuade until God grants new life. The listener will come away with convictions intact but held differently: shaped by the God of patience and comfort, ready to stand on principle in a divided world in a way that makes others want to listen.
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Romans 15:1–6 concludes Paul's teaching on the strong and the weak that began in Romans 14. Mature believers — the strong — are commanded to bear with the scruples of the weak rather than please themselves, to seek their neighbor's edification, and to imitate Christ, who did not please Himself. Paul then prays that the God of patience and comfort would grant believers to be like-minded toward one another according to Christ Jesus, so that the church glorifies God with one mind and one mouth. In this sermon Dr. Toby Holt applies the passage to a divided, contentious age, showing that unity is preserved not by uniformity of opinion but by Christlike patience.
In context, the strong were believers mature enough in doctrine to understand their freedom regarding the Old Testament food laws, while the weak were those — often newer to the faith — whose consciences still bound them to such scruples. The categories describe stages of understanding and sanctification, not degrees of worth. Dr. Holt notes that the strong in Rome were largely right in what they believed; the problem was how they held it, turning correct theology into a battering ram against weaker brethren. Paul's remedy is that strength be spent in patient, self-denying service that builds the weaker believer up.
The word rendered "scruples" in Romans 15:1 (NKJV) can mean weaknesses or failings — here, tender-conscience convictions that a maturer believer knows to be mistaken. Bearing with them is more than gritting one's teeth: Paul immediately adds "and not to please ourselves," and directs each believer to please his neighbor "for his good, leading to edification." Bearing is therefore active, patient, self-denying support that aims at the other person's growth. Dr. Holt compares it to the difference between a teacher who yells and a teacher who genuinely cares: people receive truth far better from a gracious voice than from a harsh one.
No. Dr. Holt draws the distinction sharply: a loving father is patient with his children when they sin, yet he does not tolerate, endorse, or accept the sin — he keeps returning them to the standard of Scripture. Likewise the Christian may be long-suffering toward people while refusing to approve what God's Word condemns. Patience governs the manner and the timetable of our witness; it never negotiates away the truth being witnessed to. Confusing the two produces either harsh believers who mistake rudeness for conviction, or soft believers who mistake indifference for love. Romans 15 calls for neither: firm principles, held and shared with grace.
Paul's argument rests on Romans 15:3: "For even Christ did not please Himself" (NKJV). John Murray, in his commentary The Epistle to the Romans, observes that Paul grounds the duty of the strong not in expediency but in the example of Christ's self-denial — the pattern of the cross governs how believers treat the weak. Dr. Holt fills in the picture: Jesus patiently taught disciples who argued about their own greatness, and met Peter's three denials with a look of love and forbearance rather than disdain. Yet Christ went beyond bearing with sinners: the reproaches of those who reproached God fell on Him, and at Calvary He bore the very sins Himself.
The title identifies God as the source of the very virtues He commands. Verse 4 says the things written before were "written for our learning," that we "through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope" — God ministers patience and comfort to His people through His written Word. Paul then prays that this God would "grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus" (NKJV). Dr. Holt's point is that like-mindedness is not manufactured by winning arguments; it is granted by God as believers look to Christ together. Unity of mind and mouth in glorifying God is finally a gift of grace, to be sought in prayer.
Dr. Holt opens with two brothers who see a bicycle and a dinosaur in the same cloud: different perspectives, backgrounds, and presuppositions produce wildly different conclusions from the same evidence. The deeper cause is what theologians call the noetic effect of sin — the fall fogs human cognition, so none of us perceives everything rightly or at the same speed. Trouble comes when we inflate subjective judgments about debatable matters (Holt names masks, viruses, politics, and politicians) to the level of objective truth and pronounce them with dogmatism. Since no one has a monopoly on truth, believers should hold debatable convictions with humility and grace, reserving full certainty for what God has spoken.
Being born again is not, Dr. Holt insists, the moment a person makes a decision and writes their name in the back of a Bible. It is God's sovereign act of regeneration, in which He removes the heart of stone, gives a heart of flesh, and sends His Spirit to indwell and convert. The Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q. 31) describes this effectual calling as the work of God's Spirit, who convinces us of our sin and misery, enlightens our minds in the knowledge of Christ, renews our wills, and persuades and enables us to embrace Christ freely offered in the gospel. Only a heart so changed can truly receive the things of Christ.
No. Dr. Holt says plainly that we ought to have principles, that they ought to be derived from Scripture, and that we ought to be willing to stand and contend for them — like the man who shouts a warning about a real fire in a theater, boldness about objective truth can be a mercy to everyone present. But the manner of the stand matters as much as the stand itself. What the world will need in contentious days, Holt argues, is gracious Christians: people who declare truth with a Christlikeness that makes others want to hear them, guarding both the peace and the purity of the church.
Sanctification — the lifelong process by which God makes believers holy — takes time, and no two believers travel at the same pace. The Westminster Confession of Faith (ch. 13) teaches that sanctification remains imperfect in this life, with corruption still remaining in the believer. Dr. Holt reasons from our own experience: if a holy and just God has borne patiently with the mountain of our sins since conversion, how much more should we bear with fellow sinners who are still learning and growing. None of us had it all figured out when we first came to faith, and someone was patient with us then. Seeing sanctification's slow road turns irritation into diligent, loving teaching — explaining, and explaining again.
1. Strength Exists for Bearing, Not Battering
Paul writes to knowledgeable believers — people whose theology was largely right — and tells them their strength carries an obligation: "We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves" (Romans 15:1, NKJV). Dr. Holt presses the point that in the covenant community, doctrinal maturity is given for the building up of others, not for winning arguments. Continuing the discussion of the Old Testament food laws from Romans 14, Paul warns that even a correct viewpoint, held gracelessly, becomes a stumbling block to weaker brethren. The problem in Rome was not primarily what the strong believed but how they professed it. Holt applies this squarely to the modern believer's debates, online and in person, where the goal so easily shifts from the neighbor's edification to proving ourselves right and smart. Reformed theology has always insisted that gifts are given for the good of the body; here that principle governs even the gift of being correct.
2. Christ Did Not Please Himself — He Bore More Than Our Weaknesses
Paul grounds the command in Christ: "For even Christ did not please Himself" (Romans 15:3, NKJV). Holt traces the Savior's patience through the Gospels — the disciples arguing over who would be greatest after watching Him wash feet; Peter vowing loyalty and denying Him three times within a day. Yet the look Jesus gave Peter held not disdain but love and forbearance, because Jesus knew that moment was not the sum of the man; Peter would grow until he willingly died a martyr. Then Holt marks the decisive theological step. Jesus does not merely bear with sinners the way we bear with someone who wrongs us. In the words of the Scripture Paul cites, "The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me" — at Calvary Christ literally bore our sins, paying the debt for Peter's grievous failure and for ours. This is substitutionary atonement: patience that goes all the way to the cross. A Savior like that, Holt says, is one we can love, serve, and worship in return.
3. Patience Is Not Tolerance
Holt is careful to guard the other flank: nothing in Romans 15 tells Christians to abandon principle. We ought to have convictions, he insists; they ought to be derived from Scripture; and we ought to be willing to stand and contend for them. But patience and tolerance are not the same thing. A loving father is patient with his children when they sin without endorsing or accepting the sin — he keeps returning them to the standard of Scripture. So the believer may hold truth firmly while bearing gently with those who have not yet come to it. What we say matters; how we say it matters; sometimes when we say it needs thought as well. The Reformed tradition speaks of maintaining the peace and purity of the church together, and Holt warns that graceless wedges between believers destroy both at once.
4. Sanctification Takes Time — and Sin Fogs Every Mind
Why can't people simply get it immediately? Holt gives two answers. First, sanctification is a process — the road from A to B on which every believer is still traveling, and no two travel at the same speed. The Westminster Confession of Faith (ch. 13) teaches that sanctification remains imperfect in this life, so Paul tells the strong to give the weak time: be diligent, be loving, explain things, then explain them again. Second, Holt names the noetic effect of sin: our fallen nature fogs our cognition, so that none of us perceives everything rightly. That doctrine cuts both ways. It explains why others are slow to see what seems obvious to us, and it demolishes our own pretensions, since none of us has a monopoly on truth. If God has been patient with the mountain of our sins since conversion — Holt quips that his tombstone needs only three words, God is patient — how much more should we be patient with fellow beggars looking for bread.
5. Regeneration Precedes Persuasion
The sermon's sharpest nuance: if the person you are trying to persuade has an unregenerate heart, no argument — however true, however often repeated — will produce what you desire until God acts. Being born again, Holt reminds us, is not the moment a person made a decision and signed the back of a Bible; it is God's sovereign, volitional act by which He takes out the heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh, sending His Spirit to indwell and convert. A spiritually dead man can no more raise himself than a corpse in the graveyard down the road can climb out — the classic Reformed doctrine of monergistic regeneration. The practical upshot is not despair but prayer: yoke every interaction to prayer, because prayer can accomplish what a social-media post cannot, and yoke every conversation to the gospel, since a changed heart is the necessary cornerstone of the understanding you hope to build. Then may the God of patience and comfort grant like-mindedness, that with one mind and one mouth the church would glorify Him.
About The Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt serves as the third President of New Geneva Theological Seminary (Colorado Springs, CO), founded 1993. An expository preacher with over 1.9 million sermon downloads on SermonAudio.com, Dr. Holt brings over 17 years of pastoral experience to his verse-by-verse Bible teaching. New Geneva offers fully online, Westminster Confessional theological education — M.Div., Th.M., D.Min., and other degrees.
Summary. Dr. Toby Holt preaches Romans 15:1–6, where Paul calls the strong to bear with the scruples of the weak rather than please themselves. Opening with two brothers arguing over the shape of a cloud, he shows how quickly subjective opinion hardens into dogmatism — and why that gracelessness, tolerable nowhere, is poison inside the church. He traces the call to Christ Himself, who not only bore patiently with failing disciples like Peter but bore their sins at Calvary. Holt closes with three principles for a perplexing age: no one has a monopoly on truth, patience is not tolerance, and sanctification takes time — and where a heart is unregenerate, only God's sovereign work of new birth will open it.
One day, there were two brothers. One day, there were two brothers, and they're out in their backyard, and they're laying down in the grass. And as they lay down, they look up, and they see the clouds. Now, as kids are prone to do, they looked at the clouds, and in the clouds, they began to detect certain objects and shapes and the like. And one of these brothers, he looks at a cloud, and he says, you know what? That looks just like my bicycle.
That looks just like my bike. Now, the other brother had a slightly different perspective in which he was lying. And he looks up and he says, no, no, no, you've got it all wrong. He says, that's a dinosaur. That's my favorite dinosaur. That's the T-Rex up there in the sky. Now, for a little while, the kids sat there and argued about this. One child saw it a certain way, the other child saw it a different way, and they debated and they talked about the nuances of what they saw and the like, and they didn't come to agreement. Well, just then, their younger sister came along. The younger sister came along and wanted to see what the boys were doing, so she plopped down and looked up, and the boys thought, aha, we have someone who can solve this, who can resolve this quandary, who can tell us what this thing is. And so the brothers, they make their case. They say, all right, is this, is it a bike or is it a dinosaur in the clouds? And little girl heard a burrow frown a little bit as she looked and she stared and she said, neither, neither. She says, no, you see, it looks, it looks just like my cabbage patch doll. Those of you, again, who are from the 80s know that reference the point is that when you take different people who have different perspectives and different backgrounds and different levels of maturity and a slightly different angle and the like they can come to wildly different conclusions about a given matter whether it's a cloud or it's something more important people can come to different understandings and different opinions on what they're seeing on what they're looking about whether it's in the clouds or whether it's a topical issue in the world around us people bring to that issue their own experiences their own presuppositions their own preconceptions they look at something and they make a determination. They conclude based on what they see that something is A or B or C or what have you. And then, then whatever they've concluded, whatever determination they've made about the world around them or an issue and the like, whatever they've concluded, they then tend to express that conclusion with great dogmatism, very stridently, very sternly, very confidently. How often in the world around you have you detected, people who have very strong views about things that are inherently difficult to understand, hard to parse, or debatable at the least. People will look at something, they'll take their presuppositions, they'll take their context, the angle of view they have of a given matter, and they'll come to determination, and then they will pound the table, so to speak, and say, it is so.
It is so. Again, they'll say so with such great dogmatism. Now, there are times when that's valuable. There are times when you want people to be dogmatic, bold, confident, sure of themselves
and what they are saying. There are times when you absolutely want that and we absolutely need it in the world around us. If you go to a movie theater and you're sitting there in the movies and all of a sudden someone shouts fire because there's legitimately a fire breaking out in the theater threatening everyone that's there, man alive, you are grateful that this man stood up and yelled fire. You're grateful that he looked at something, he identified it, and he told everyone what he saw. And he did so confidently, he did so boldly, as a means to warn and extol and encourage and exhort others to take appropriate action. There's times when you want that. There's times when we need that. There's times when that can save our lives, when someone is dogmatic about something that they believe to be true. But at the same time, imagine you're in the movie and someone, they're watching this movie and they determine that they don't like the movie very much and they stand up and they start booing. They start to boo the movie or they start complaining about the movie, how terrible movie it is. They start identifying all the things they see wrong in the movie loud for everyone to hear. Well, is that something you want? Well, probably not so much. And the reason, the reason why, at least the logical philosophical reason why you don't want that is because when an individual identified the fire that was threatening to burn down the theater, that was an objectively true statement. The fire was objectively there. Everyone could see it. It was a legitimate threat to everyone present. That was an objectively true statement. But when you watch a movie or you taste a bite of popcorn or what have you, your opinions on the popcorn and the movie. These things are subjective. These things are subjective. They're not objectively true. They're subjective in the eyes of he or she who sees it. Now, here's the thing. you and I might sort of understand that distinction, but how rarely in our community discussions, be them online or in person, how rarely do we properly employ an understanding of that which is objective in that which is subjective? How often do we inflate our subjective views to the point that they match up with objective truth? How often do we do that? Well, my sense is we do it often.
My sense is that that's what's happening in the world around us. That's what's happening in the media. That's happening in main streets. It's happening just about everywhere you look. People are looking at something, maybe talking about an issue that they never thought about, you know, more than six, seven, eight months ago. And everyone's become a subject matter expert. And everyone, no matter what your viewpoint is, has a viewpoint that they hold strongly and over against their neighbor. And it's not a problem to have a viewpoint. Viewpoints are good. We're supposed to use our reason to discern things and come to conclusions. That's good. But we can be so graceless, so tactless when we share that view that it reflects poorly on our Christian witness.
We can be graceless and not even know it. We can ostracize people. We can villainize people. Not even be aware that that's what we have done. And here's the thing. When that happens, that's bad for society, undoubtedly. It's bad for society to have one side, one view, one opinion, what have you, yelling and berating the other side. That's bad when it happens in the social fabric around us. But it's absolute poison when it happens in the church.
It's absolute arsenic when it happens within the body of faith. See, there's nothing wrong about having principles. I hope you have them. It's good to have principles. It's good to take a stand for that which is true. But how you do so matters. How you do so matters. Now, in the book of Romans, that's what we're seeing. In today's reading, in Romans 15, that's what we're seeing. Paul is writing to Adonais.
He's writing to some knowledgeable individuals who know something about theology and what they're talking about. And to some of them, he's indicating that there has been a gracelessness in the way in which they have been caring for their weaker brethren, those who don't know as much, those who are new to the faith. He's saying there isn't the unity that there ought to be because some are holding their viewpoints, even if they're the right viewpoints to hold, they're holding it in an improper way or they're holding it in such a way that it becomes a battering ram against those who are newer to the faith, those who are weaker in the faith, those who are less sanctified in
the faith. And so he's going to remind the early church that such behavior, when it occurs, is not becoming the follower of Christ. Specifically, he's going to say this. He's going to say, we who are strong in the Christian faith are called to patiently bear with the scruples, and we'll talk about that, the scruples of the weak. What does that look like? What does it look like in practice? Let's consider that. I'm going to read verses 1 and 2, then we'll just work our way through the balance of the text. Verses 1 and 2. We then who are strong, we then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples, which could mean weaknesses or failings, the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each one of us please his neighbor for his own good, leading to his edification. Sometimes we get so bent around the axle and being right, so bent around the axle in convincing others that we're both right and smart that again we become a battering ram we're in it for ourselves we're in a conversation we're in a debate we're in a facebook chat what have you we're in these things to be proven right or to demonstrate how smart we are and the like and we care not for the people we're interacting with and that's wrong what we see here in Romans 15 is this that we're called to be conscious of the other person even if they are wrong conscious of them as especially if they're a brother and sister in the faith and look for their edification. I don't know about you, but did you ever have a teacher in high school that just yelled at the students, a teacher no one liked? Did you learn as much in that class as you may have learned in a class where the teacher genuinely cared for the students? Probably not.
We learn more, we respect more, we take in more when the voice that we're hearing it from is more gracious. And that's what we see here in verses 1 and 2. Now in the chapters leading up to today's reading. In chapters 12 through 14, if you were to go back in the book of Romans, the book of Romans, as you're probably already aware, if there's ever a systematic presentation of the Gospel, if there was ever one book of the Bible you could hand someone and say, this is a concise summary of the Gospel, what we believe, why we believe it, and the like, you'd give people the book of Romans. It's a systematic presentation, or it could be seen as a systematic presentation of the Gospel. Now for the first bulk of the book of Romans, Paul's expressing indicative truth. He's saying this is what we believe and this is why. But then the last part of the book of Romans, he moves into the imperative and he says this is what you should do about it. And especially in chapters 12 through 16, He's talking to believers and he's saying this is something that should inform your interaction with others. He's giving truth in the indicative and then he's saying through the imperative this is what you're supposed to do with it and how you're supposed to relate to one another now as Paul wrapped up chapter 14 he was talking about the Old Testament food laws and some people were putting stumbling blocks before others because they didn't understand the relationship the old covenant the new covenant and the like and he looks to the mature saints and he says you're putting a stumbling block before your weaker brethren they understand this differently and they might well understand it wrong but that's no reason no excuse for you to cause them to stumble because of your gracelessness because you're not nice there's no reason to do that there's no reason to do that and it's not benefiting them and it's not benefiting the church he says there's a stumbling block that's being laid and it's not even so much what you believe it's how you're professing that belief how you're sharing it it's the interaction that you're having not so much the underlying issue itself you know spoiler alert when people first come to faith they don't have it all figured out when people first come to the faith they don't have it all figured out and it's going to take them a while in fact none of us has it all figured out all of us are on the road to glory so to speak all of us are learning and growing and developing and being more sanctified and the like and I hope you're more sanctified now than you were a year ago five years ago ten years ago and so forth with that said back when you were young or immature in the faith aren't you glad that someone was patient with you well in a sense Paul's implying to the believers he's writing to that being harsh or judgmental or graceless in their approach is not is not what's called for rather what's called for is patience and being long-suffering forbearing even with those that are both wrong and adamantly wrong and there are some folks who are that way so Paul knew that the road of sanctification, it takes time, that people develop and progress, that the Spirit doesn't just, there isn't a snapping of the finger where everyone gets it and everyone immediately acts perfectly. There's growth and development. And as people are growing, especially if they're weaker than you, so to speak, that you should be patient as they do so, as they develop.
Now, as you look back, as you look back and you think, all right, when was I saved? For some of us, we remember that pretty well. Some of us, maybe it wasn't even that long ago. For others, maybe it occurred when we were a child and we're unfamiliar. We can't say, well, it was June 4th at such and such time. Whatever the case, whatever the case, since the time when you were saved, presuming that you are, since the time that you were saved, isn't it wonderful to know that in spite of the multitude of sins you've had since that time, if it happened when you were a kid, man alive, the mountain of sin and iniquity that you've had since that time, isn't it good to know that God has been patient with us through it. You know, He doesn't have to be, and we don't deserve it. Of course, that's what grace is. Grace and mercy and charity and forbearance, that's what it is. It's what's given to someone that doesn't deserve it.
If you're honest, if you're introspective, God has really done that with you. I know He's done it with me I've told my wife she'll tell you I only want three words on my tombstone hopefully that's a ways off but I want three words God is patient I told her you don't even have to put my name on it you don't even have to identify me but you put God is patient and the reason why is because there in the ground lies the proof the fact that this man got to 40 some odd years or 30 some odd years plus, is proof that God is patient. If you're honest, God has been patient with you. Because that is so, because we know that to be true, how much more so if a holy and just and a righteous God has been patient with us as we continually mess up, how much more should we continue to be patient with our fellow man, with our fellow sinners, with fellow beggars looking for bread. How much more should we be patient? And what a crime it is when we're not. What a crime it is when we're not. When we take all that God has given us and we fail to reflect it. Just because we don't like someone or they're saying something we don't agree with. How inappropriate it is to fail to reflect the glory of God. God is patient. God is patient. He has valued our sanctification. He's value to our edification, our growth and development, and so we should value it in others.
Okay, let's look at verses three and four. For even Christ did not 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 we, through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. You know, across the years, if you think of Jesus, he's the Holy One, the Lamb of God, the Perfect One. And he's on a throne, and he comes down, and he's born in a manger, and he goes to a cross, and he lives, breathes, sweats, and dies among people like you and I. And then, as he did so, with his perfect, righteous, holiness, justice, and his great theology, he's incredibly patient with those in his midst when they didn't get it.
How often did he teach his disciples? Gathered around his feet. They learned at the feet of God himself. Every word, every syllable that he said was holy and inspired. It was all perfect. And they heard it all. And I'm sure they nodded their head and did all of it. But then they went out. Peter, Mark, Matthew, John, men like this, they went out. What did they do? Well oftentimes they lived in ways that did not match up with what Jesus had said you remember
the time Jesus encounters two of his disciples and what are they doing they're arguing do you remember what they were arguing about they were arguing about which one of them was the greatest which one of them would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven here you have Jesus who comes down from a throne to the manger to the cross you have this Jesus who has shown utmost humility washing feet taking care of the strangers sitting with the tax collectors and the like doing all this showing utmost humility and then after he teaches and demonstrates what that humility is like he comes across his disciples and the one thing they're arguing about is which one is going to be greater in the kingdom of God as I said at the nine o'clock service if ever there's a time for a divine face palm that's it but instead he showed them grace he showed them grace continual He continued to teach, he continued to train, he continued to edify, he continued to equip, in spite of their errors.
Now, Peter, he did much worse than that. You remember Peter, one moment, he's talking to Jesus, and he's saying, oh, Jesus, I'm with you to the end. I'm your man. Right until death will I go. Well, then what happens? Well, then, 24 hours, what does he do? He denies that same Jesus three times. And remember at that moment they did so not only did the rooster crow but Jesus looked at him but what was in that look was it disdain, hatred, intolerance, anger what was in it was love and forbearance and patience because here's the thing, Jesus knew that Peter for as weak as he was in that moment when he valued his own skin more than he valued his Messiah Jesus knew that that moment wasn't the sum total of that man's existence and he knew that there would be better days ahead better days for him yet to come and sure enough Peter he grew in his faith he grew in his understanding even after Jesus had ascended Peter continued to develop and grow as a believer to the point that years later he would willingly die as a martyr history suggests that He was crucified upside down.
He would willingly die as a martyr. He had the courage and the strength and the fortitude and things that He maybe didn't have years earlier. And Jesus, God, was patient with Him during the course of that sanctification and development. Now I do, before we move on to verses 5 and 6, I want to point out something, a theological point that we need to linger on, verses 3 and 4. If someone was to sin against you and you were to forgive them maybe someone sins against you a lot maybe it's a child maybe if someone's sinning against you a lot you could say as you're patient as you forbear as you're long-suffering you could say I'm bearing with you I'm bearing your sinfulness so to speak well in one sense Jesus bears with our sinfulness in the sense of being patient that's true but Jesus goes beyond that in a way that only he could Jesus not only bears with us in the sense of being patient as we develop, but Jesus literally, literally bore our sins on Calvary. You might bear with the sinfulness of someone who's wronged you, but Jesus went another step, a step far further. He not only was patient with folks, but he took those very sins upon himself. He took those sins upon himself. The reproaches of those who reproached, you fell on me.
On Calvary, it wasn't just Peter's sin that Jesus shrugged His shoulders and said, I forgive you. He paid the debt for that sin. Do you see the difference? Jesus paid the debt for Peter's grievous sin, and he did it willingly. And he did it lovingly. Man, that's a Savior that we can love in return. A Savior who in spite of what we've done, in spite of what he knows you will yet do, still loves you, still loves me.
That's a God we can serve. That's a God we can worship. That's a God that we can rejoice to have this morning. All right, let's look at verses 5 and 6. Verse 5, now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded towards one another. This is what Peter has been building towards for really a couple chapters. Now may the God of patience and comfort, now may the God who has demonstrated his patience every second of every day in your life, now may the God of patience
and comfort grant you to do the same thing, to be like-minded towards one another, towards each other, according to Christ Jesus, that you may be with one mind, that you may with one mind and with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder, is there someone in your life who's really trying your patience? Is there someone or someones in your life because of the way that they're living, the way they're acting, the things they say, the things they believe?
It's really just hard to be around them. It's really trying your patience. Is there someone in your life that you're struggling to deal with? Is there someone in your life that you're not dealing well with, perhaps because of the views that they hold? Is there someone in your life that you're failing to show grace to? Is there someone in your life whose view of masks, viruses, politics, politicians, differs from your own in such a way that a wedge has been created?
Is that possible, and is that occurring in the context of the community of faith? Remember, as we said before, it's a bad thing when this sort of stuff happens in the world around us, in society. It's outright poison when graceless wedges separate believers. You see, no one is saying that we ought not have principles. We ought. We ought to have principles and they ought to be derived in the book. And we ought to be willing to stand for them.
And we ought to be willing to contend for what we hold to be true. We ought to have principles. We ought to exemplify principles. We ought to share principles. And yet, it is appropriate to do so with grace and with patience with the many folks who won't agree with you. When Jesus taught others, every time he looked at people, He was looking at people who didn't see life through his eyes. Every time, every setting, every crowd, whether he's sitting with sinners and tax collectors over a meal or feeding thousands on the hillside, every time he looked out, he was looking at people who didn't see things the exact way that he did.
And he could have because he's God and he was theologically right and sound and righteous and the like, and just, he could have dealt with them as such. And yet, every single time, he demonstrated grace and patience with those who weren't there yet in their thinking. He demonstrated love and charity and forbearance and mercy. It is so difficult to look around the greater church and not see a reflection of those attributes.
Again, it's a good thing to have principles. I hope we hold to them. I hope you stand for what you believe for. But I hope you stand in such a way is that you model Christlikeness. You model grace. You model patience. You know, what you say is important. How you say it is also important. Occasionally, when you say it needs a great deal of thought as well. All right, let me share.
As we look to wrap up the next few minutes here, let me share a few principles from Scripture on how we can be more patient or how we can be biblically patient with those in the world around us. Three principles from Scripture that if they were applied to the greater church in the world around us, I think that the world would benefit from. First of all, we need to recognize this. First principle is this. We need to realize that none of us has a monopoly on truth.
None of us has a monopoly on truth or wisdom. There are things you believe, even things you might believe strongly about politics or viruses or whatever. There are things you might believe,
and a lot of what you believe you may be right about, but you're not right about everything. A day might come when you will all be surprised at how much we weren't right about, and yet how much we were so adamant about. Because we should know, if we're introspective in the least, that we're not 100% right, we should be graceful and humble, graceful and humble, knowing that there's areas where others need to teach us, where others need to edify us. You know, others might be wrong about their views on masks and viruses and politics and politicians and anything else that might come up on our radar in 2020. Others might well have a different view of yours and others might well be wrong. And yet there's things in your worldview that aren't fully rounded either.
And because of that, and because you would expect people to be graceful to you as you learn and grow and develop, so should we be graceful to others. You know, the fact that any of us lived past our teenage years tells me that someone somewhere was patient with us. Now, the second point is it's important not to confuse patience with tolerance because they are not the same thing. See, I may be patient with my children when they mess up. I may be patient with my children when they sin, and yet, I do not necessarily tolerate it.
I do not endorse it. I do not accept it. I may be patient, and yet, because I'm a loving father, I will remind my children what is true. And I will continue to return them to the mean of Scripture. That does not mean I lack patience or grace, I hope. But it does mean that I don't tolerate that which I shouldn't. As we said before, principles are important. You need to stand.
You need to stand on God's Word. But those principles can be shared in such a way, shared in such a way that doesn't break down into a million pieces, the one you're sharing it with, especially if it's a child. And we're all children, so to speak. So we all need people to be gentle with us. So again, the second point here is we don't confuse patience with tolerance. Thirdly, and our final point is this, sanctification.
Sanctification, remember, that's the process by which we go from point A to point B, by which we get cleaned of our sin, by which we become something better tomorrow than we were today. Sanctification, it takes time. Those of us who have been parents know what it's like to have to be patient for a long period of time on certain issues. Sanctification takes time. You can't expect someone to hear something that you say, even if it's well-founded, propositional truth, and immediately get with the program.
Part of the reason why is because we don't all see things the same way and we don't all act the same way. There's something called the noetic effect of sin. The simple explanation is this. Our brains are fogged by sinfulness. Our fallen nature causes our cognition not to operate as it ought to. And for some, it might be more dramatic than others. Whatever the case is, we don't all perceive things the exact same way in the exact same time frame.
We don't all get from A to B at the same speed. And Paul looked at those in Romans 15, who had already got a rounded view of theology, who knew the Old Covenant and New Covenant, made these distinctions. Well, that's good that they did so, and yet others, it just takes time. And Paul's saying, give them the time. Be diligent, be loving, explain things, and then explain it again, if that's what it takes.
Now, let me add, our third point was that sanctification takes time. Let me add a nuance here, and it's an important nuance. If you're trying to share Christ-like principles with someone whose heart has not been changed through Christ, it's going to be a long road. If you're trying to express, convey, teach biblical Christ-like principles, if you're trying to teach the Gospel as an example to one whose heart is unregenerate, whose heart is unchanged, who has not been born again, no matter what you say, no matter how convincing you say it, no matter how often you say it, it will not have the impact that you desire until such time as God acts, as God opens a heart.
Remember, we've said this before. One of the great confusions in 20th and 21st century Christendom is the idea that when you're born again, that's the moment you made a decision and wrote your name on the back of the Bible. That's not a biblical definition of being born again. Being born again is God's sovereign volitional act by which he reaches into a heart of stone and converts it to a heart of flesh.
It's his act by which he sends the Spirit to indwell a man, to convert a man, a woman, to change a heart.
And it's only then, once a heart has been changed, once one has been born again, once one has a new nature, that one is then enabled and persuaded to come to things of Christ. If your heart is dead, if you are spiritually flatlining, you can do no more than someone who is physically dead in a grave out down the road. You can sit out of the graveyard all day long looking for men to move, looking for someone to jump up.
You won't see it. Why? Because they can't. The same is true spiritually unless God quickens a man, changes a heart. That's the doctrine of regeneration. If it's new to you, it's not new to the book. It's not new to Scripture. This is the doctrine of regeneration this is what it means to be born again and if someone that you're ministering to someone you're teaching someone that you're trying to lead into increasingly biblical principles lead with regards to the Gospel if God doesn't change their heart again it's going to be a while if ever and so as you're patient and as you continue to teach as you continue to do so you should also pray for those you disagree with especially if they're unsaved. Pray for those, that God would save them because that's often the tonic that they need in order to see the very viewpoint you wish they'd see. Don't forget to yoke prayer to your interactions with folks. Sometimes we just type up something on Facebook or what have you and send it off thinking that alone is going to accomplish some good end. I'm not sure that it does.
Prayer, however, can accomplish anything. So yoke what we're doing into prayer and also yoke anything we're trying to express to any to anybody whether it's about mass viruses politics goodness knows what horrors might be in the year to come whatever you're trying to share or interact or teach or lead or instruct yoke it to the Gospel be willing to share the Gospel especially those who are unsaved because that again that is a necessary cornerstone of the building of knowledge and you're looking to create all right let me close with this final exhortation this morning, in the days ahead, in the weeks ahead, the months ahead, God forbid the years ahead, there may be even more contention in the public sphere than there has been in recent days. There may be. I hope there's not. I hope there's not. And yet, there may be.
Things may be more difficult in the public sphere, more difficult in the social fabric, more difficult in the community around it. If that's so, what the world's really going to need, gracious Christians. Christians that will stand on principle, that will declare truth, but will do so with a Christ-likeness that prompts others to want to hear them. In the context of our ministry outside these doors, we are to be increasingly gracious. And inside these doors, we are also to be gracious.
I am thankful to serve in a church where there is a great sense of peace and purity. Where there's great fellowship, sweet fellowship even, among the saints, among the believers. I am grateful for what we have. But not everyone has it. And it can be lost if we forget these principles. If we forget that peace and purity has contention also on patience with one another, forbearance. Whatever may come, whenever it may occur, God's calling on you and I as Christians is that we'd be increasingly patient with one another and with others just as Christ has been patient with us.
Let's pray.
Continue the verse-by-verse series.
