Romans 12

Division 4. (Romans 12:1-21; Romans 13:1-14; Romans 14:1-23; Romans 15:1-33; Romans 16:1-27.)Ways suited to these mercies. We come now to the practical results, the ways suited to these mercies of which the apostle has been speaking. The place in which practice comes we have seen far back, in the book of Numbers. We have in Genesis, life, the primary necessity; in Exodus, the knowledge of redemption; in Leviticus we are introduced into the sanctuary, into the presence of God, and learn the holiness that suits Him -ourselves now, what could not then be said, in nearness to Him; then we have in Numbers the practical walk through the world. So here we must first know the truth, as the Lord says, “that the truth may make us free,” established in the position divine grace has given us. It is in that which is Christian in us that the Spirit of God alone works, in the new nature, not in the natural man. “Faith worketh by love,” and then again it is love that appeals to love, and “perfect love,” which is God’s love towards us, “casts out fear, because fear hath torment,” so that “he that feareth is not made perfect in love:” he has not yet got his lesson aright. Thus, we are set in the blessing at the outset.

We have not to work into it to win it, and all this bears witness to the truth of the gospel, which is not of works, but of God’s grace. We live and do, not do and live.

Romans 12:1-21

Subdivision 1. (Romans 12:1-21.)The spirit of harmonious, universal obedience.

1. The harmony and universality of the obedience claimed are first brought before us. The principle with which we begin shows us this. The body is to be given up “a living sacrifice” to God. The body is the instrument of the spirit; and this so completely that, if it be laid hold of for Him, there is no part of the practical life but must, of necessity, be His. The feet are used to walk at His bidding, the hands to employ ourselves in His things, the tongue to speak for Him and nothing else, the ear to hear His words; the eye also, so that whatever it looks upon, it will look upon as being under His control.

It is plain that the whole life, thus, finds its government. The body indeed, as the apostle has shown us, is dead; but as dead it can yet be used in the power of the Spirit of God, which, as we have seen, is in it expressly for this purpose, to make it a temple for His praise.

People put the citadel of practical life too far in, and even sometimes seem to think they exalt the spirit by ignoring the body; no matter what the ear hears or the eye looks upon, the spirit may be unaffected by that, which, of course, is true in one respect; but the eye affects the heart, and if we allow the eye to wander away from His control, we have allowed the enemy thus far and he has already gained a victory. Here, as we can understand, there is indeed the call for sacrifice. We need to deny ourselves as those who belong to Another, “a living sacrifice” indeed, in contrast with those sacrifices of the law which were sacrifices in death. This is in life, but a most real one, and such a sacrifice the yoke of Christ already implies for us; easy as His yoke may be, and light His burden, still it is a yoke, a restraint upon the mere natural inclinations. There was but One who answered fully to the type of the red heifer, upon which never came yoke, He who could say with the whole heart: “I come to do Thy will,” with whom there was nothing else than this; for Him there could be no yoke. But yoke as there may be, and something in us, as we all shall confess, that needs to be restrained; yet the mercies of God, as we have already seen them displayed in the gospel, persuade us to this full surrender of ourselves, not as a hard, but a joyful subjection.

What, indeed, is there of freedom compared with that of walking in ways that are ways of perfect holiness, but also of perfect love, where divine wisdom guides us continually and where divine power encompasses us and guards us? Thus it is “by the mercies of God” that the apostle beseeches Christians to offer up their bodies “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, an intelligent service.” But around us is a scene in opposition to us and to God. “The age,” not “the world,” is that which we are not to be conformed to. In a sense it is the world, but this seen in its control of the whole scene through which we move. The age is never Christian, even though Christianity is fully come, and we may be now living in lands which are called Christian; yet the god of “the age,” as the word really is (2 Corinthians 4:4), is Satan. The strongest possible expression is used. He is not merely the prince, but the god of this age, and we can understand the difficulty that all this presents for us and the need we have of power working with and through us, greater than our own. Another thing. -it was in this age that we had our part naturally, and we need actually to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, that is, by our minds being made entirely anew, in order to escape from it. “Renewal” is here not that which we need as realizing the wear and tear of things, the mere refreshment and revival of strength, but the actual production of another spirit and temper altogether.

We need, therefore, as is plain, the word of God as that which alone can expose the subtle influences which are all around us and deliver us from the plausible deceptions which are abroad. “The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,” a “discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” We need the double edge of it, the one for ourselves, allowing our thoughts and intents to be searched out by it; the other for what is objectively before us. How blessed to know that the proving of the will of God which will thus be effected will realize how good, acceptable and perfect that will is! There is an experience here which every soul in the least divinely taught knows well, an experience which has in it the most wonderful encouragement. How can we tell rightly what the divine way is except as we walk in it? Who that has walked in it, whatever the apparent severity of its requirements, but knows the blessedness of this? 2. Now we have, in the next place, service. Service to God is what, of course, is implied in what we have already had. Now this is made practical as service to our brother. “If we do not love our brother whom we have seen, how can we love God, whom we have not seen?” Our brother is thus the representative of God, of Him who is Father to us all; and the Church, as the body of Christ, of necessity means such a field of service. The apostle has not spoken of the Church, the epistle to the Romans does not enter upon this; but when we come to practice, the Church in fact exists, and it is the nearest thing to us that does exist. This, the apostle speaks of, therefore, at the very start, only he tells us that there is something we have to do in order to be fit for service in such a field as this.

We must learn to esteem ourselves aright, “not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath given to each the measure of faith.” Faith is not measured in the sense of its being so limited that it might possibly fail us for any work that is ours. Its limit is only found when we get outside our own sphere, and take up, perhaps, another’s work.

We shall not find faith for that. Thus we have to learn our capacity; but here again we cannot learn this by simply looking in upon ourselves. We cannot estimate our capacity until we have in measure proved it, and that is how God leads us on, not only making us know the qualification for what service He has made ours, but developing in us also the gift which He has given. Love, of necessity, sets us to work: it is the spirit of service. Love alone will prompt us, in view of needs we find, to do what we can to minister to them. Here, if it be love, we are safeguarded also, for love is the lowliest thing that can be.

It “seeketh not its own,” and thus pride and ambition are necessarily foreign to it; they are its contradiction, its opposite. But as we are brought into contact with the need around, and in love seek to do whatever lowly service God may give us, we find in practical working what God has indeed fitted us for, and only in such a way is knowledge truly acquired.

It is noticeable, when we come to the Gentiles, how the apostle here puts together things that are clearly “gifts” in the way in which we ordinarily speak, -public gifts for the Church, -and things that are of the most private character. Prophecy comes first; then ministry; a large and general term used for it, which has been ecclesiastically narrowed into “deaconship;” then teaching, exhortation, but next, giving, and after that, ruling and showing mercy. It is as if the apostle foresaw the distinctions which have in fact come in, and that Christians would divide into different classes upon these points. In the first case even, there is a character of prophecy which applies to the whole Church. “Ye may all prophesy,” says the apostle elsewhere, “one by one;” and he adds, “Covet to prophesy.” Again, if we are not all teachers, we may all teach, according to our ability. Exhortation is necessarily a thing wide enough in character and all ought to find their place here also. In fact, there is never a limit to the use of anything we have, except that we do not go beyond the measure of spiritual ability.

The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." As already said, love and lowliness, -and the two go together, -will find their way everywhere without difficulty. To dwell upon ourselves is not the divine preparation.

Love leads us out of ourselves and occupies us with others, while indeed we do learn practically, as already said, what God has qualified us for, but we learn it in the presence of others and with the necessary safeguards which practical experience furnishes for us. But let us notice now, that in the order here, prophecy comes first. No doubt the apostle has in contemplation especially what was the gift so needed at that time, and which filled out divine revelation to its present fulness; but we are not surely to confine it to this. The first place in which we find it should make us realize the blessed position we have in Christianity as thus brought near to God, and with the most ample opportunity and encouragement in learning His mind. As the prophet said of old: “God will do nothing, but He will make it known to His servants the prophets.” And now, His full mind being made known to us in Christ, the practical possession of this, and in such a way as that we shall have a word for every emergency that can arise, is open to us all. The exhortation here is that men prophesy “according to the proportion of faith,” words which have been variously taken; but we can understand that faith is the whole matter here, and that for us the word of God furnishes with all that faith has to do with. It will ever be in entire dependence upon this, which, of necessity, therefore, tests all that can be called such. In the three next cases, the great point is to occupy ourselves with that which God has really entrusted to us. We may lose the practical possession of our gift to almost any extent, by failing to use it, and, in fact, how much ministry is thus lost to the Church! Timidity, lack of confidence in God, but which necessarily goes, therefore, with a lack, more or less, of that divine love which would make us forget ourselves and break through all barriers which are not of God Himself, -these things may make us to be really unconscious of what God has endowed us with, much more, of what He would lead us on to. For “to him that hath, shall more be given.” Let him that teacheth, therefore, occupy himself with his teaching, a gift which is specially apt to be encroached upon by demands of another character. Teaching is naturally of slower development than, for instance, evangelizing. We need to acquire the knowledge which we are to use in this way; but how many things come in here to hinder even the proper furnishing with this knowledge!

The order of acquirement that Peter gives us is: “Add to your faith, virtue, and to virtue, knowledge.” “Virtue” is there the soldier’s virtue, -courage. It is that spirit of decision which at any cost carries us on.

If all God’s various knowledge lies open before us, who would not desire to possess himself of it? But there is need for it to be practical, for God will not give that which is to be trifled with or hoarded up merely. He gives for use, and we must have courage to use it. It seems more difficult, perhaps, to realize how “be that exhorteth” is to occupy himself with exhortation. Exhortation, we say, can only be as the need arises, but still how many needs there are. How much, in fact, is before our eyes that we excuse ourselves, perhaps, from having to do with, -and the inventive faculty is great in making excuses. Exhortation is not, as we know, apt to be always an acceptable thing, and then again we have to guard our own spirits carefully with regard to it. Next we have: “He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity.” That has been variously put as liberality, but, in fact, the two things are very similar. A man that gives simply will do it liberally. The need will appeal to him and the love that is in him be aroused by the need; and true love is wise; there is no blindness about it. Divine love is, in fact, never separate from divine wisdom. Next, we have “he that ruleth” or “he that leadeth.” The leader is of necessity, to a large extent, the ruler also, but there is no absolute rule, except that of the Spirit in the church of God; but he that realizes that he is leading others has, of necessity, much responsibility attaching to this. If his word is weighty, he must be the more careful. The apostle says here, he must rule or lead “with diligence,” that is, not careless of what he is doing, not at random, but as giving thought and care to that which is having effect upon the minds of others. The apostle closes here with, “he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.”* These are, of course, only specimens of how we are to use the gifts that are given to us, and the opportunity of showing mercy is itself, in a way, a gift.
3. Next comes what we shall realize more as fruit in holiness. That word “fruit,” which we do not find here, we shall find in Galatians in a striking connection (Galatians 5:22, comp. ver. 19). Here we have the fruit of the Spirit in contrast with the works of the flesh. Activity is not necessarily fruit, as we must easily realize. Fruit is a growth, the product of life, and which needs nurture and maturing in order to be right and ripe.

There is a unity about it which in work there is not. In how many directions the flesh may work, even religiously; but fruit in holiness cannot be mistaken for this. Here the apostle’s first word is that which brings us to the heart of the matter. Love is the divine nature. It is, in a sense, the whole thing, but then we make so many mistakes about it, that we need to have this carefully guarded. Love itself abhors that which is evil, cleaves to that which is good.

You cannot, in fact, cleave to what is good without abhorring the evil which is its opposite. Then, how much there is in the world of the affectation of love, an outside show of it which may deceive even, not merely others, but one’s self also. How often we mistake in our estimation of the reality of the love we have to others. People are necessary to us, they minister to our pleasure. We appreciate that, value them in a sense, and call this love, but “love seeketh not her own.” It does not claim, but ministers. The love, here again, is brotherly love.

The apostle is not traveling beyond that at the present moment; and again we see how self-denying it is, all the more, perhaps, because it does not dream that it is self-denial. “In honor preferring one another,” ready to give that which others might suppose to be our own due. All this clearly connects together. The next clause has been much abused, and misunderstanding has arisen from the way in which words in course of time alter their meaning. “Business” we so naturally refer to our temporal occupations; these are the things, in fact, in which men commonly and necessarily, as they believe, are most “busy,” but the word simply means “diligence”: “In diligence not slothful.” There is a way in which we may be busy about things without real diligence. All is to be earnest with us, we are to be “fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.” The character of the One we serve should be enough to enforce that. No detail of duty to Him can be a light matter. Next we have “rejoicing in hope.” Alas, how the present, with its calls and duties, may interfere with that! We need continually to have our heads up and to be contemplating the unseen realities which are ours. Here we have a material for rejoicing which will never fail us, and which will carry us, as the apostle reminds us here, through tribulation itself. “In tribulation enduring”; still not without the need of realizing our dependence upon the One who carries us, and therefore “in prayer persevering.” We need to realize that the prayer which may seem little effective, has nevertheless, always its answer from God. It may not be, of course, just in the way in which we imagine, but answered in some way, it surely will be. Next we have, “communicating to the needs of the saints, pursuing hospitality.” A glance now, at the outside, hostile world is given us, and yet may the exhortation be always confined to that? “Bless them that persecute you, bless and curse not.” There are, alas, here also forms of persecution which may find their place even in the ranks of the saints. With all this, we are not to be shut up in ourselves. We are to “rejoice with those that rejoice and weep with those that weep.” How much of joy is open to us in this way of which we do not, in fact, avail ourselves, and how much of sorrow do we shut ourselves out from, when it is just the school which God would make fruitful for ourselves! Then we are to have “same mind one towards another,” an equal mind, without regard of persons. “Not affecting high things, but consorting with the lowly.” That, of course, goes with this, this equal mind towards all: one who seeks high things for himself cannot practice it. “Be not wise,” he adds, “in your own eyes.” Finally, as realizing the strife that is going on between good and evil, we are to abide in the good, assured that here is that which alone can overcome it. “Evil for evil” can never overcome evil. We are to be careful to have," things right before all men," as the word here means, so as to give no occasion to the adversary. As to one’s own spirit, as far as it depends upon us, (as we familiarly say, “It takes two to make a quarrel,”) we are to be “at peace with all men.” Nothing can invade this sanctuary of ours unless we open it to the invasion. The spirit of revenge will surely do this. On the contrary, we are to give place unto wrath, not meet it with wrath, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will recompense, saith the Lord.”* We must not take the judge’s place, and we must not desire to do so. Love is still that which overcomes here. “If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.” “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” \