Romans 12

CHAPTER 12THEME: Relationship to God; relationship to gifts of the Spirit; relationship to other believers; relationship to unbelieversThis is the beginning of the final division in the Book of Romans. As you recall, the first eight chapters were doctrinal; the next three chapters were dispensational; now the emphasis in this last section is duty. We come now to the practical application of the theological arguments that Paul has placed before us. Here the gospel walks in shoe leatherand that is where I like it to walk. In the first part of Romans the reader saw displayed the helmet of salvation and the shield of faith. But in this last section, the feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We are to stand in the battle; we are to walk in our life; we are to run in the race. Someone may suggest that we have already studied the practical application in the section on sanctification. There the gospel walked in shoe leather, it is true, but there is a sharp distinction in these two sections. Under “sanctification” we were dealing with Christian character; in this section we are dealing with Christian conduct. There it was the inner man; here it is the outward man. There it was the condition of the Christian; here it is the consecration of the Christian. There it was who the Christian is; here it is what he does. We have seen the privileges of grace; we now consider the precepts of grace. Enunciation of the way of life must be followed by evidences of life. Announcement of justification by faith must be augumented by activity of life. There is something else we should note as we proceed into this last section. The conduct of the Christian must be expressed in this world by his relationship to those with whom he comes in contact, and these relationships must be regulated in some way. It is so easy to put down rules of conduct, but Paul is not doing that. He has delivered us from the Mosaic Law, and he did not deliver us in order to put us under another legal system. There are a lot of Christians who call themselves separated Christians because they don’t do this, they don’t do that, and they don’t do about fifteen other things. I wish they would do something, by the way.

I have found that those folk have gossipy tonguesyou had better watch them. They ought to recognize that the child of God is not given rules and regulations. However, Paul puts down great principles that are to guide the believer. The Holy Spiritis giving the believer a road map of life, showing the curves but not the speed limit. He identifies the motels and eating places which he recommends without commanding the believer to stop at any certain one. Detours are clearly marked, and there is a warning to avoid them.

The city of Vanity Fair is named, and the routes of exit are clearly marked. The believer is told to leave without being given the exact route by which to leavethere are several routes. We are coming down the mountain top of Romans 8-11; we leave the pinnacle of Rom_11:33-36, and we now plunge down to the plane of dutyand it is plain duty. This is where we all live and move and have our being.

Romans 12:1

RELATIONSHIP TO GODIn other words: Therefore, I beg of you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you yield your bodiesyour total personalitiesa living sacrifice, set apart for God, well-pleasing to God, which is your rational or spiritual service. Notice that the “therefore” ties it into everything that has come before it. Although it has immediate connection with that which has just preceded it, I am of the opinion that Paul is gathering up the whole epistle when he says, “Therefore.” “I beg of you” is the language of grace, not law. There is no thunder here from Mount Sinai. Moses commanded; Paul exhorts. Could Paul have commanded? Well, he told Philemon that he could have given him a command, but he didn’t. Paul doesn’t command; he says, “I beg of you.” “By the mercies of God"the plural is a Hebraism, denoting an abundance of mercy. God is rich in mercy; God has plenty of it, my friend. He has had to use a lot of it for me, but He still has plenty of it for you. “Mercy” means compassion, pity, and the tenderness of God. His compassions never fail. We are called upon to “present"to yield. This is the same word we had, you recall, back in chapter 6. Although some expositors suggest that there it refers to the mind while here it refers to the will, I think it is a false distinction. The appeal in both instances is to the will. In the sixth chapter, the way of Christian character is to yield to Him. Here yielding is the way to Christian consecration and conduct. He says to yield “your bodies,” your total personalities. The body is the instrument through which we express ourselves. The mind, the affections, the will, and the Holy Spirit can use the body. Vincent has assembled the following Scriptures which reveal this wide latitude. We are told to glorify God in our bodies. “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1Co_6:20). “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death” (Php_1:20). “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body” (2Co_4:10). By an act of the will we place our total personalities at the disposal of God. This is our “reasonable service,” our rational service, and it is well-pleasing to God.

Romans 12:2

Kenneth S. Wuest has an excellent translationactually an interpretationof this verse: “And stop assuming an outward expression that does not come from within you and is not representative of what you are in your inner being, but is patterned after this age; but change your outward expression to one that comes from within and is representative of your inner being, by the renewing of your mind, resulting in your putting to the test what is the will of God, the good and well-pleasing, and complete will, and having found that it meets specification, placing your approval upon it” (Romans in the Greek New Testament, p. 290). Although this is rather elaborate, it is exactly what Paul is saying in this passage of Scripture. Paul is urging the believer not to fashion his life and conduct by those around him, even those in the church. I know two or three groups of folk who, when they come together in a meeting, assume a front that is not real at all. They are super-pious. Oh, I tell you, when they meet on Sunday night, you would think they had just had their halos shined. They are not normal and they are not natural. Yet if you want to hear the meanest and dirtiest gossip, you meet with that group! The child of God ought not to be like that.

We ought to be normal and naturalor probably I should say, normal and supernatural. It is so easy to play a part. That is what the word hypocrite really means. Hupokrites is the Greek word for actors. They were playing a part. Hupokrites means to answer back.

In acting it means to get your cue and to say the right thing at the right time. In our daily lives hypocrisy is to seem to be something that we are not. I have learned over the years that some folk who flatter you to your face, smile, and pat you on the back can be your worst enemies. They are dangerous to be with. It was Shakespeare who said something about the world being a stage and that every man must play a part. This is not true of the believer.

He must be genuine because the Holy Spirit is working from within, transforming his life by “renewing” the mind. Again and again Paul calls attention to this. To the Corinthians he said, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2Co_3:18). Also to Titus he said, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Tit_3:5). By permitting the Spirit of God to renew the mind, the believer will be able to test the will of God and find it good. The minute that you and I assume a pose and pretend to be something we are not, it is impossible for us to determine the will of God for our lives. By yielding, the will of God for the life of the believer becomes good and fits the believer’s will exactly. It’s first good, and then it is acceptable, and finally it is perfect, in that the believer’s will and God’s will are equal to each other. My friend, you can’t improve on that kind of situation. Paul could say, “I can do all things.” Where? “Through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Php_4:13).

The believer can do all things that are in God’s will. It is wonderful not to have to act the part of being Christian, but just be natural and let the Spirit of God move and work through you. Handley C. G. Moule (The Epistle to the Romans, p. 335) has put it like this: I would not have the restless will That hurries to and fro, Seeking for some great thing to do Or secret thing to know; I would be treated as a child, And guided where I go. Oh, to reach the place of just turning this over to the Lord! Paul begs us to do this. This is the way of happiness. This is the way of joy. This is the way of fullness in your life. If you are in a church or in a group of play actors, for God’s sake get away from it and try to live a normal Christian life where you can be genuine.

A man said to me the other day, “My wife and I have quit going to such and such a group.” I asked why. He told me, “We just got tired of going to a place where you almost have to assume something that you are not. Everyone there is being absolutely abnormal. The way I found out was that I had an occasion to meet a super-pious member of the group in a place of business. I hardly recognized the manhis manner and everything about him was different.” He was “conformed to the world” when he was not with the pious group. Oh, to be a normal Christian and enjoy God’s blessing.

Romans 12:3

RELATIONSHIP TO GIFTS OF THE SPIRITThis is my translation: For I am saying through the grace given to me, to everyone among you, not to be thinking of himself more highly than that which is necessary to think, but to think wisely of oneself, even as God has divided a measure of faith to each one. My translation may have lost something of that pungent statement: “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.” I imagine that when Paul wrote this, there was a whimsical smile on his face, because there are a great many Christians who are ambitious, who feel that they must have positions of prominence. And I have found out in Christian work that a great many folk in the church want to hold an office. If you want to be a successful pastor today and get a bunch of folk working like termites, you create a great many offices, committees, boards, and have presidents, chairmen, and heads of organizations. You will get a lot of people working who would never work on any other basis. Why? Because they think more highly of themselves than they ought to think. What we need to do, as Paul says here, is “to think soberly.” He says that we ought not try to advance ourselves in Christians circles. There is the ever-present danger of the believer overestimating his ability and his character and his gifts. We need to have a correct estimation of ourselves in relationship to other members of the church. When I became pastor of certain churches, I was invited to serve as a board member of certain organizations. Finally I was serving on about a dozen or fifteen boards, and I was really a bored member. I was bored for the simple reason that I don’t have gifts for that type of thing. To begin with, I don’t have the patience to sit and listen to pages of “minutes” that take hours to read. And the second thing is that I just don’t like to sit in a board meeting and listen to a group of incompetent men discussing spiritual matters. It took me a long time to find out I didn’t have the kind of gift that would make me helpful in such situations, and I was killing myself going to board meetings.

The Christian life became a round of being bored. Finally one day I came to myself, like the prodigal son, and I sat down and wrote twelve or more letters of resignation. That was one of the happiest days of my life. And today I am not on anybody’s board. I have several friends who say to me, “Oh, won’t you be on my board?” I say, “No, I wouldn’t help you. I have no gift for it.

I’m for you, I’ll even pray for you, but I cannot be on your board.” My friend, we are not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. We need to recognize our inabilities and do the things God wants us to do. It is a joy to get into the slot where God wants you to be!

Romans 12:4

This is the first time that Paul has introduced the great theme of the church as the body of Christ. This is the primary subject in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, Ephesians, and Colossians. The church as the body of Christ is to function as a body. This means that the many members do not have the same gifts. You may have a gift that I could never exercise. There are many members in the body, hundreds of members, and therefore hundreds of gifts. I do not think Paul ever gave a complete list of all the gifts because every time he dealt with gifts of the Spirit he always brought up new gifts which he had not mentioned in previous lists. I am sure the Spirit of God led him to do that.

Romans 12:6

“Gifts” is the Greek word charismata, which comes from the same stem as the word for grace. It can be translated as “grace” or “free gift” and is what the Spirit of God gives you. He gave to the church men who had the gift of a prophet, or a teacher, etc. “Having then gifts"each member of the body of Christ has a gift and a function to perform. “Differing” means that the gifts differ; it does not mean that some folk do not have a gift. Every individual in the church has a gift. And the gift is part and parcel of the grace of God to us. When God saves you and puts you in the body of believers, you are to function. You are not to function as a machine, but as a member of a body, a living organization. When the gift is exercised, it is confirmed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Every believer needs to test his gift. If you feel that you have a certain gift and you are using it, you ought to test it. Analyze your effectiveness: Are you really a blessing to folk? Are you building up the church? Or are you dividing the church? “Prophecy” here does not refer to prediction but to any message from God. Notice that prophecy is to be done in “proportion” (this is a mathematical term) to God’s provision of the faith and the power to match the gift.

Romans 12:7

“Ministering” is performing an act of service, referring to a manifold ministry with practical implications. There are multitudinous forms for service in the body of believers which this gift coverssetting up chairs and giving out songbooks is a ministry. Some folk do not have a gift of speaking, but they do have a gift of service. I know one dear lady who can put on a dinner that will make everybody happy. And I believe in church dinners; if you look at me, you will know I have been to quite a few of themand many that this lady put on. That is her gift, and I’ve told her that. She would never make a good president of the missionary society, and you wouldn’t want her to sing in the choir, but if you want to put on a church dinner for some purpose, she is the one to get. “Ministering” includes many gifts, my friend.

Romans 12:8

“Exhortation” is the Greek word paraklesis, literally “a calling near” or “a calling for.” In other words, exhortation is comfort. Some folk have the gift of being able to comfort. I know one pastor who is not a preacherhe knows he is notbut if I were sick or had lost a loved one, he is the man I would want to come to visit me. He can comfort. “He that giveth” is he that shares his earthly possessions. God may have given you a gift of making moneyand that is a gift. I know several Christian businessmen who have the Midas touch. That is their gift. “He that ruleth, with diligence” refers to the gift of leadership. There are certain men who are leaders, and they need to exercise their gift in the church so that everything might be done decently and in order. The business of the church requires a man with the gift of administration. “He that sheweth mercy” indicates the gift of performing acts of kindness. For instance, there are some believers who can bring a sunbeam into a sickroom, while others cast a spell of gloom.

Romans 12:9

RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER BELIEVERS"Let love be without dissimulation"that is, without hypocrisy. Don’t pat another believer on the back and say something that you don’t mean. Let love be without hypocrisy. “Abhor that which is evil” means to express your hatred of that which is evil. When you find something wrong in the church, bring it to the attention of the proper authorities. If you are on the board of directors and you find things are being done which are not honest, you are to stand up for the truth. There are too many Mr. Milquetoasts and Priscilla Goodbodies, these sweet folk who haven’t the intestinal fortitude to stand for that which is honorable. This is the reason many good, fundamental churches are in trouble today. We need men and women with backbone to express their hatred for that which is evil. “Cleave to that which is good.” Cleave means to stick like adhesive tape, to be welded or cemented together with the good things. The believer should always be identified with good things rather than shady or questionable practices.

Romans 12:10

My, how wonderful these things are: have a code of honor, and be aglow with the spirit of God. Never flag in zealhave a zeal for the things of God. “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love.” In other words, as to your brotherly love, have family affection one to another. Farrar puts it in this language, “Love the brethren in the faith as though they were brethren in blood.” For example, three men are sitting together. Two of the men are identical twins; one twin is a Christian and the other is not. Sitting with these men is a believer from Africa. His culture, background, and language are all different. The color of his skin is different, but he knows the Lord as Savior.

The Christian twin is actually closer to the man from Africa than he is to his twin brother. My friend, you ought to be nicer to your fellow believer because you will have to live with him throughout eternity. You had better start getting along now and practice putting up with his peculiar ways. However, he will have a new body then, and he will be rid of his old natureand you will also! It will make it better for both of you. “Not slothful in business” is better translated “never flag in zeal.” It has nothing to do with business. Luther gives it this translation: “In regard to zeal be not lazy.” “Fervent in spirit,” or aglow with the Spirit, suggests that our zeal and enthusiasm should be under the control of the Holy Spirit. “Serving the Lord” points everything in Christian conduct toward this focal point.

Romans 12:12

“Rejoicing in hope” should be the portion of the believer. The circumstances of the believer may not warrant rejoicing. The contrary may be true. But he sees the future, and in hope projects himself into other circumstances which are more favorable. I think of a brother down in my Southland years ago. In a church service they were giving favorite Scripture verses.

He stood and said that his favorite verse was “It came to pass.” Everyone looked puzzled. The preacher stood up and said, “Brother, how in the world can ‘It came to pass’ be your favorite?” His answer was, “When I have trouble, and when I have problems, I like to read that verse, ‘It came to pass,’ and I know that my trouble or my problem has come to pass; it hasn’t come to stay.” He was looking for a new day out there, and that is what Paul has in mind when he says, “rejoicing in hope.” “Continuing instant in prayer” is to be a man or woman of prayer. “Distributing to the necessity of saints” means sharing the necessities of life with needy believers. A great many churches make a great deal of having a fund for the poor, but how much do they use it? God expects us to share what He has given to us with fellow believers who are in need. “Given to hospitality” means actually to pursue hospitality. That is, we are to seek out other believers to whom we can extend hospitality. There may be a person in your neighborhood or even in your church who is introverted and retiring yet longs for Christian fellowship. We are to look him up and extend our fellowship to him. “Bless them which persecute you” seems to be a needless injunction for believers. Surely one believer would not persecute anotheror would he? It is difficult to bless a man who is kicking you! But we are to bless and “curse not.”

Romans 12:15

“Rejoice with them that do rejoice.” The world’s motto is “Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone.” But that is not true of the believer. We are to enter into the joys and sorrows of other believers. Weep with those who weep. “Be of the same mind one toward another” doesn’t mean uniformity of thought but that we are to have the mind of Christ. Believers ought to enter emotionally into the lives of other believers. I think that is something that makes genuine Christians so wonderful. “Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.” My friend, let’s not be afraid of associating with humble men and things of low estate. Paul said to the Philippians, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Php_2:5)what kind of a mind did Christ have? A humble mind. “Be not wise in your own conceits.” In other words, stop being wise in your own opinion. What an injunction that is! A great many of the saints think they are spiritual giants, but they are not. Solomon, who was a man with wisdom from God, gave a very interesting injunction: “Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him” (Pro_26:12). I wouldn’t dare say a thing like this, but Solomon said it.

Romans 12:17

RELATIONSHIP TO UNBELIEVERSYou and I live in a world of unbelievers. What is to be our relationship with them? “Recompense to no man evil for evil.” The suggestion is that the believer may expect evil at the hands of the world. However, we are not to strike back. “Provide things honest in the sight of all men.” There is nothing that can hurt the cause of Christ more than a dishonest Christian. The non-Christian is not concerned about the doctrine you holdwhether you are a premillennialist or whether you believe in election or free will. However, he does want to know if you are truthful or not, and he does want to know if you pay your honest debts. Are you a person that a man can depend upon? Providing things honest in the sight of all men is a lot better than giving out tracts, my friend. Let me illustrate this.

Some years ago in Memphis, Tennessee, a Christian handed a man a tract. “What is this?” asked the man. The Christian replied, “It is a tract and I want you to read it.” “I don’t read,” the man replied, “but I will tell you what I will doI will watch your tracks!” Oh, how accurate that is! The world is watching the tracks that you make, not the tracts you give out. Don’t misunderstand me; giving out gospel tracts is important. But you had better have a life that will back them up when you give out tracts. “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably"I love this because there are people that you just cannot get along with; they won’t let you get along with them. A dear lady who lived alone, a wonderful Christian, called me one day in deep concern because she had a neighbor whom she couldn’t get along with, and she wondered if I would come and talk with the neighbor. As I was driving out there, I was thinking that since this lady had been living alone, although she was a Christian, she might be a little difficult herself. So I went out and talked to her neighbor. Well, the neighbor told me what she thought of me as well as this dear lady. I went back to this wonderful Christian and said, “I don’t think you need to worry anymore if you can’t get along with her.

Nobody can get along with that woman. The Bible says ‘as much as lieth in you’; it doesn’t say you have to get along with her. Just do the best you can.”

Romans 12:19

This is one of the greatest principles you will find in the Word of God, yet it is the most difficult thing for a child of God to do. When somebody hits you on one cheek, it is difficult to turn the other cheek. I am like the Irishman who was hit on one cheek, and he got up and turned the other cheek. This time the fellow hit him so hard, he knocked him down. Then the Irishman got up and beat the stuffings out of the other fellow. Somebody asked him, “Why in the world did you do that?

You turned the other cheek; why didn’t you leave it like that?” “Well,” he said, “the Bible says to turn your cheek, and I had only one other cheek to turn. The Lord didn’t tell me what to do after that, so I did what I thought I ought to do.” That is what most of us do. We find it difficult not to hit back. But the minute you and I take the matter into our own hands and attempt to work the thing out by hitting back as hard as we can, we have taken the matter out of God’s control, and we are no longer walking by faith. God is saying to us, “You walk by faith with Me, and let Me handle the matter for you, because I will handle it in a just manner. If this person has injured you, I’ll take care of him.” You and I can turn these matters over to the Lord, and we ought to do that.

I can tell you what to do, but I confess that I find it most difficult to do myself. But there have been one or two times when I have turned it over to the Lord, and I have been amazed at how well He handled it. He does it a lot better than I do it. There was a man, an officer in one of the churches I served, who did me a great injury, a terrible injury. My first thought was to clobber him, but I remembered this passage of Scripture. I went to the Lord and said, “Lord, I’d like to hit back and I can, but I don’t think I will. I’ll turn him over to You, and I expect you to handle him.” Well, I saw that man the other day. I have never looked at a person who is as unhappy as that man is. He has troubles, friend. The Lord has taken him to the woodshed and whipped him within an inch of his life. When I looked into that man’s face, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. I wish I could say that I turn all of these matters over to the Lord, but I confess that sometimes I hit back.

Romans 12:21

In other words, stop being overcome of evil; overcome evil by means of good. As the believer walks through this evil world with its satanic system, he cannot fight it. If you attempt to fight this satanic system, my friend, it will whip you. You cannot adopt the same worldly tactics of hate and revenge. If you do, you can be assured of defeat. “Overcome evil with good.” God has given the believer the “good,” which is the Holy Spirit. He is to walk in the Spirit. “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal_5:16). Paul goes on to say, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal_5:25).