¹³ Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Breaking out in benediction is something Paul does frequently, taking his teaching beyond the transference of intellectual information. Theology in Paul’s ministry always led either to praise (as in Romans 11:33-36), call to action (as in Romans 12:1-2), or, as in this case, prayer. Here, Paul prays for spiritual growth in handling the struggles in Christian fellowship.

Contextually, the apostle has been dealing with conflict over how Christians should handle the differences in living out our freedom from the Law. Remember the example that began this discussion in chapter 14, Christians judging one another in whether or not they ate food that had been previously offered in idol worship. Such disagreements can wreak havoc in Christian fellowship.

In various degrees, such things have divided Christians through the centuries. The vehemence varies depending on how important one considers the issue. Christians have divided over the mode of baptism, frequency of the Lord’s Supper, roles of men and women, use of alcohol, social dancing, smoking, business partnership with the unsaved, the use of four-letter words, working on Sundays, use of one cup or multiple cups at the Lord’s Supper, mixed swimming, length of a girl’s or woman’s skirt, use of makeup, church attendance, the age of the earth…and the list goes on and on and on.

Who decides when something is sufficiently supported by Scripture as being anathema for a Christian, something that we can confidently say, “Thus saith the Lord”? Who decides which issues are gray areas, and which have strong affirmation from the inference of Scriptural teaching? Which convictions are biblically based and which are simply preferences of application of Scriptural truths?

The only solution is for each Christian to sacrificially and graciously live for the benefit and spiritual well-being of others. For it all to work, everyone must live that way, the failure of which can leave us with a hopeless outlook. History and personal experience can be very discouraging on this front. So Paul offers divine hope. Christian fellowship and unity can only take place if God fills us “with all joy and peace in believing,” so that we not only have hope, but we “will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The struggles of Christian fellowship don’t have to defeat us. They can be the very spiritual crowbar that God uses to force us to look to His Spirit for help.

Lord, restore the hope that our fellowship would abound in love and unity.