Jesus Christ, the hope of the Gentiles. - Romans 15: 4 - 13
(Bible quotes are from the New English Bible, unless otherwise noted.)

V 4.
For all the ancient scriptures were written for our own instruction,  in order that through the encouragement they give us we may maintain our hope with fortitude.
NIV.  For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Sccriptures we might have hope.
NLT. Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us.  They give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises.
TEV. For everything written in the Scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement the Scriptures give us.

The Scriptures - both the Old and New Testaments - provide us with a picture of what God is like, how he operates and how he feels about his creation, especially about human beings.  It teaches us about God's hopes and plans for us and how he wants us to live our lives in relationship with him.  When we learn to know him through the Scriptures, we have hope for the future and strength for the present: our faith is enriched.

Quest Study Bible note, p 1569.  How do the Scriptures encourage?  They give hope by revealing God's glorious future for believers; by reminding us of God's grace and power - resources to strengthen believers; by providing examples of those who because of faith persevered, challenging us to do the same.

V 5.
And may God, the source of all fortitude and all encouragement, grant that you may agree with one another after the manner of Christ Jesus,
NLT.  May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other - each with the attitude of Christ Jesus towards the other.
TEV.  And may God, the source of patience and encouragement, enable you to have the same point of view among yourselves by following the example of Christ Jesus,

When Christians focus on the basics of our faith - the life and work of Jesus; praising, glorifying God and being obedient to him in our daily lives; working for justice for the poor and oppressed - we are able to agree. When we start to quibble about the details of how we go about worshipping God, worrying about how God works in this or that area,  and other matters that aren't really the basics of our faith, then we begin to disagree.  Jesus showed us that he loved and respected all people regardless of their staus in the community; he showed us that his relationship with God and obedience to God's will for his life and work were most important to him.  So, we must be the same if we are followers of Jesus.

People worry about whether God created this world in six days as we know them or whether he took many thousands of years to get it to the point it is today.  While it may be interesting to understand how he did it, what does it really matter - as long as we understand that it was God who made this world we live in and everthing in it - and give him the praise and glory for it?  Others worry about what the leader of the church should be called - priest, pastor, minister, or????  Who cares? As long as our leaders lead us and teach us to love and respect God and each other. In our congregation for a while, there was great discussion about which way the seating should face for the worship service!!!!!!! (We are fortunate to have seating that is not fixed to the floor, so can arrange and re-arrange to our hearts' content!)  Hey!  Let's remember what's really important.

New Bible Commentary, p 1155.  What Paul is calling the Christians to do, he asks God to supply - a typical instance of the divine-human interplay involved in Christian living.  Paul prays to the God who gives the endurance and encouragement (NIV) he has just mentioned as the purpose and teaching of the Scripture.  It is not clear whether the spirit of unity(NIV) (literally 'thinking the same thing among one another') means agreement between the strong and the weak on mattes that divide them or, more likely, a mutual acceptance and respect in teh midst of diverse viewpoints.  The NIV takes kata Christom Iesoun ('according to Christ Jesus') to mean the Christian imitation of Christ's example; but the phrase could also signify 'according to the will of Christ Jesus'  the purpose of this unity, in any case, is clear: that all teh Christians in Rome might be able to join their hearts and voices in fervent worship of God.  Disunity among Christians not only damages our own walk with God and our reputation with outsiders: it also damages our ability to give God the glory he deserves.

V 6.
so that with one mind and one voice you may praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here is where all of us who believe in God can come together and be totally united.  How great it is when different denominations come together in a public worship service which demonstrates our unity.  In our area we've participated in some wonderful services in one of the local parks where most of the churches in the area, from Roman Catholic to Pentecostal, have come together in worship and have not held services at that time in their own buildings.  People lounge on the lawn or sit on chairs, rugs or cushions they have brought along.  Passers-by stop to see what is going on. This is a great witness to the community.

V 7.
In a word, accept one another as Christ accepted us, to the glory of God.
NIV. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Here is the best argument for unity between Christians: Christ accepts each one of us equally, warts and all.  So, if we are to follow him, we must accept each other in the same way.  Why?  So that God will be glorified.  Everything we do should be for this purpose - and if anything we do brings anything except glory to God, then we must stop doing it.

V 8, 9a
I mean that Christ became a servant of the Jewish people to maintain the truth of God by making good his promises to the patriarchs, and at the same time to give the Gentiles cause to glorify God for his mercy.
NLT.  Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. And he came so that the Gentiles might also give glory to God for his mercies to them.

Although Jesus was a Jew and worked among the Jews, he taught Gentiles as well.  He spoke at length to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4: 5 - 42), he healed the servant of a Roman Centurion and marvelled at the Centurion's faith (Luke 7: 1 - 10), he healed the demon posessed man of Gadara - a non-Jew (Luke 8: 26 -39), he healed the daughter of a Greek woman in Tyre (Mark 7: 24 - 30).  And these are only the stories we have recorded.  How many more Gentile people did he teach and heal in his travels, I wonder.  Jesus wanted us to understand that God loves all people equally - not just the Jews or the people who consider themselves closest to him.

New Bible Commentary p 1156.  Christ's ministry ... incorporates both Jews and Gentiles.  Jesus' serving of 'the circumcision' (literal translation) is, Paul implies, a ministry that is rooted in the past but by no means ended.  Thus Paul reminds the Gentiles that Christ continues to be concerned about and reach out to Jews.  Christ's ministry to Jews, however, has a larger purpose: it is for the sake of God's faithfulness to his promises.  These promises, made to the patriarchs included the blessing of 'all the nations'.  therefore, when those promises are confirmed, the result is that Gentiles are able to join with Jews in glorifying God for his mercy.  This being the case, the Jewish Christians must recognise that the incorporation of Gentiles into the people of God is part of God's plan and try to get along with their fellow Gentile Christians.

V 9b - 12
As Scripture says, 'Therefore I will praise thee among the Gentiles and sing hymns to thy name'; and yet again, 'All Gentiles, praise the Lord; let all peoples praise him.' Once again, Isaiah says, 'There shall be the Scion of Jesse, the one raised up to govern the Gentiles; on him the Gentiles shall set their hope.'

Paul quotes a psalm of David, a quote from Deuteronomy, and a quote from Isaiah to show that God intended the Gentiles to worship and praise him as well as the Jews, and that he inended that the Gentiles should be counted as his people too.  For Jews, even Jewish Christians, this must have been hard to swallow.  for so long they had been taught that the Jewish people were God's chosen people and they had thought that he was their God primarily.  Now, Paul is saying - and backing it up from their own scriptures - that God wants all people equally.

V 13.
And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace by your faith in him, until, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you overflow with hope.

It is only by allowing God to fill us by his Spirit with hope, joy, peace, power and faith that we can achieve the unity amongst his people that he wants.