Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.
Paul wrote this letter to the early church in Rome, a community made up of two very different groups: Jewish believers, who had centuries of religious law and cultural tradition, and Gentile believers — non-Jewish people with entirely different backgrounds and practices. These groups had real tension over issues like food, sacred days, and religious customs. Paul's command to "accept one another" is not a polite suggestion about being nice — it is grounded in the example of how Christ accepted each of them: unconditionally, before they cleaned up their act. The word "just as" does the heavy lifting here. The standard isn't personal comfort or agreement; it's the extravagant welcome of Jesus. And when that kind of acceptance happens between people, Paul says, it becomes an act of praise to God.
Lord, it's easy to accept the people who are easy to accept. But you accepted me when I was anything but. Give me the grace to extend that same welcome — not just in my words, but in how I actually treat the people who frustrate me most. Let that be praise to you. Amen.
Think about the person in your community who most gets under your skin — maybe it's their politics, their personality, the way they read Scripture, or the fact that they seem unbothered by things that deeply matter to you. Paul wrote this verse to people who had real, substantive reasons to keep their distance from each other. Jewish and Gentile Christians weren't just different in preference; they were different in identity, history, and religious practice. The "then" at the start of the verse matters — it means this command flows from something Paul just argued: Christ accepted you. Now pass it on. What Paul is asking for isn't tolerance — tolerating someone is quietly putting up with them while keeping a wall up. He's asking for genuine welcome, the kind that doesn't wait for the other person to become more like you first. That is extraordinarily hard. It also might be one of the most quietly revolutionary things you do today — to welcome someone the way you were welcomed when you had nothing to offer.
Paul wrote to Jewish and Gentile Christians who had deep cultural and theological differences. What modern equivalent — within a church or Christian community — might compare to that kind of divide?
Is there someone in your life you've been 'tolerating' rather than genuinely accepting? What does the difference between tolerating and accepting actually look like in practice?
The verse says accepting one another brings 'praise to God.' Why do you think human unity — especially across real differences — is described as an act of worship?
How does remembering how Christ accepted you — at your most difficult, most unpolished, most wrong — change how you want to approach a relationship that feels hard right now?
What is one specific, concrete thing you could do this week to move from tolerating someone to genuinely welcoming them?
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Colossians 3:13
Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
Romans 14:1
Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Ephesians 1:8
He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
Matthew 10:40
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
John 13:34
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Ephesians 1:6
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5:2
When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
2 Thessalonians 1:10
Therefore, [continue to] accept and welcome one another, just as Christ has accepted and welcomed us to the glory of [our great] God.
AMP
Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
ESV
Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.
NASB
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
NIV
Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.
NKJV
Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.
NLT
So reach out and welcome one another to God's glory. Jesus did it; now you do it!
MSG