Romans 15:5-7

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Paul’s prayer that the Body of Christ would experience unity to the glory of God and accept one another to bring praise to God follows v4, in which it is the Scriptures that give us encouragement and endurance. In v5, it is God Himself who gives us these things. It’s just a clear testimony from Paul of the truth of what John wrote to begin his Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God” (John 1:1). God is the Word; the Word is God communicating Himself to His people.

Paul prays for unity to the glory of God. The word “unity” that he uses might better be translated, “unanimity,” and of course, that’s like our English word “unanimous.” Unanimous is made up of “unun,” which means, “one,” and “animus,” which means, “mind.” Therefore, Paul is praying that the believers in Rome, made up of Jews and Gentiles with very different backgrounds and passions and lifestyles and occupations and political slants, be of one mind, one heart, and one mouth, in order to glorify God. Again – priority # 1 = God’s glory! And we can’t have unity unless God unites us – so Paul prays for unity, that God would be glorified.

We might ask, “How is it possible for believers to be of the same mind? How can we think alike? How can we be unanimous? How can we be in agreement?” The key is found at the end of v5, which would be better rendered, “according to Jesus Christ,” rather than “as you follow Jesus Christ.” Our thinking is to line up with His thinking. He is the standard. Our thinking must line up with His thinking, and His thinking is revealed in God’s Word. If either you or I or both of us disagree with Christ, then we will not be of the same mind. And what value is it that we agree with each other if we disagree with God’s Standard? God’s people must make every effort to line up with Jesus Christ and His Word. We must love what He loves, hate what He hates, and think what He thinks.

Notice that we glorify “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The point in this language is that God is Jesus’ God, but also His Father. It’s essentially another claim to Jesus’ deity. See Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1. Finally to glorify God is why we accept one another in our differences, to bring Him praise. God’s glory is Paul’s main point throughout.