Here is my translation of Chapter 15: "We who are mature must be patient with those who are sensitive about these things. We must not just do what we want but should look to the betterment of others and help them mature for our King. For even our King did not live to please himself. As the Bible states:
"The insults of those who insult God have fallen upon me." This and other such verses were written as Scripture a long time ago to teach us today and the Bible gives us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises to be fulfilled.
May God who grants such patience and encouragement help you live in peace with one another as is fitting for soliders of King Jesus then all of you can join together as one, worshiping and honoring God, the father of King Jesus, our teacher, rescurer and high priest.
Therefore accept each other just as the King has accepted you so that God will be honored. Remember that our King came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises He made to their ancestors and so that the other nations might also might worship God for the mercies offered to them. That is what the Psalmist meant when he wrote:
"For this I will honor your name among the nations; I will sing songs of worship to you."
and in other place it was written:
"Be happy next to His people, you among the nations!"
and yet again,
"Praise the King, all you among the nations.
Praise Him, ALL you people of the earth."
And in another place, Isaiah said:
"The heir to David's throne will come and he will rule over the nations.
They will pin their hopes on him."
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with happiness and peace because you trust in Him then you will be filled with confident hope through the power of His Spirit.
I am fully convinced, my family, that you are full of God-ness. You know these things so well you can teach each other all about it. Even so, I have been bold enough to write about some of these issues, knowing that all you really need is a gentle reminder. For, thanks to God's divine favor, I am a comissioned messenger for King Jesus to you among the nations. I bring you this good news so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God set apart by His Spirit. So, I have reason to be enthusiastic about all King Jesus has done through me in my service to God. Yet I dare not brag about anything except what our King has done through me, bringing the nations to God by my message and by the way I worked among them. They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of the King from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.
My ambition has always been to announce the Good News where the name of the King has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else. I have been following the plan spoken of in the Bible, where it says,
“Those who have never been told about him will see and those who have never heard of him will understand.”
In fact, my visit to you has been delayed so long because I have been preaching in these places.
But now I have finished my work in these regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you. I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome and after I have enjoyed your company for a little while, you can provide for my journey.
But before I come, I must go to Jerusalem to take a gift to the followers of the King there. For you see, the believers in Macedonia and Achaia have eagerly taken up an offering for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem. They were glad to do this because they feel they owe a real debt to them since the nations received the spiritual blessings of the Good News from the believers in Jerusalem, they feel the least they can do in return is to help them financially. As soon as I have delivered this money and completed this good deed of theirs, I will come to see you on my way to Spain and I am sure that when I come, our King will richly bless our time together.
Dear family, I urge you in the name of King Jesus to join in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me given to you by the Holy Spirit. Pray that I will be rescued from those in Judea who refuse to obey God. Pray also that the believers there will be willing to accept the donation I am taking to Jerusalem then, by the will of God, I will be able to come to you in a good mood and we can help each other.
And now may God, who gives us His peace, be with you all. Amen.
