Romans 12
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c] Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Footnotes
- Romans 12:6 Or the
- Romans 12:8 Or to provide for others
- Romans 12:16 Or willing to do menial work
- Romans 12:19 Deut. 32:35
- Romans 12:20 Prov. 25:21,22
How Can You Know God’s Will?
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Have you ever questioned what God’s will is for your life? What decision would He have you make in a certain situation? Where would He have you stand on a particular issue?
The Apostle Paul ended chapter 11 by saying God’s wisdom is too deep for us to fully grasp, but here, he tells us we can at least understand what God would have us do as we wait for His plans to be fulfilled.
How can you know His will for you? Stop thinking like the world does! Unbelievers don’t know God, so how they can know His will? If we want to know the mind of God on an issue, we need to break out of the world’s mold. Paul had inherited a pattern of thinking that said Jews were God’s chosen people and that Gentiles weren’t a part of God’s plan. When He became a Christian, He started thinking like Jesus and realized God was deeply concerned for all humanity. He then gave His life reaching out to Gentiles! He was transformed.
What pattern of thinking have you inherited from the society you live in? “More is better.” “Get more to be more.” “I have the right to do what I want with my own body.” “Real men don’t cry.” “Love is love, baby!” “No one will love me if I don’t look like (whoever’s popular at the moment).” “Public safety is the first priority.” “Billions of years ago…”
Challenge what you’ve been taught. Does it line up with what God’s Word says? What we think determines our perspective and our attitudes. You can’t understand God’s will until you allow Him to change the way you think.
Offer your whole self to God and let Him teach you.
God’s Will is Unity!
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Can I tell you today that God’s will is good? It’s so much better than anything we can think of ourselves. Because He is good, His will is good. Because He is wise, His will is perfect. When we follow God’s will, it not only pleases Him but also ourselves. We realize God’s plan brings the most good to us.
In the book of Romans, Paul is helping the Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome see that God’s will was to bring both types of people together in Christ. They needed to be transformed in their minds to see each other the way God sees them.
What group of people is God challenging you to see differently? How can you reach across race, ethnic, cultural, or national lines to promote the unity of Christ’s Church? What if you were to start attending a church or a Bible study with people who are a little different from you? What if you volunteered for a ministry that reaches out to people who are a little different from you? I say “a little different” – because people aren’t that different.
Christians working together in unity is God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will, and being at peace with one another is so much better for us than separating ourselves because of less-important issues. Coming together in Jesus’ name and continuing His work of calling others to salvation is what’s important!
Remember God’s mercy to you and be merciful to others. Offer yourself to God so that He can teach you how to see people the way He sees them, and not along the divisive lines the world organizes us by.
How to Give and Receive Spiritual Gifts
Romans 3:3-8
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
I want to look at this passage in a couple of ways. First, we need to be using our spiritual gifts. If you’re a Christian, God has given you at least one spiritual gift, and you are commanded to use it. If you don’t know what your spiritual gift is, look through this list again and think about what word describes you. Ask other believers what gifts they see in you. The leadership of the church I belong to did this for one another when we first started, and it was very encouraging and insightful for all of us. If you’re not in a church where you can use your spiritual gifts regularly, go somewhere else and find the place God has for you. Using your gift is a responsibility and a command from God.
Second, we need to receive the gifts God has given to others, and we need to receive them respectfully. Within our own churches, we need to allow others to use their gifts and recognize those gifts as truly gifts from God. Someone might not exercise their gift the same way you do; so what? Receive the manifestation of that gift through that other person as a gift from God. If I have the gift of teaching, and my fellow church member also has the gift of teaching, but they don’t teach in the same way I do, rather than me looking down on them for not exercising the gift the same way I do, I should recognize the gift as a blessing because their difference in teaching style offers me a different way to learn.
But let’s go outside of our home churches. How can we receive the spiritual gifts of other churches and people groups? Paul is talking here about Jews and Gentiles learning from and benefitting from one another as they come together as one people in Christ. If we were to apply the context to our situation today, we might ask (and I’ll use my own perspective as an example):
- White Christian, what can you learn from how the Black Church honors God?
- American Christian, how can you benefit from the example of Indian and Chinese and Kenyan and Pakistani believers living out their faith?
- Intellectual, unemotional Christian, what can you glean from the charismatic and more exuberant churches?
- Informal Christian, how can more formal, liturgical worship settings expand your perspective on who God is?
- Calvinist and Wesleyan Christian (I’ve been both), how can you dialog with and learn from each other rather than talk past one another?
Each church group and worldwide expression of Christianity has something to teach us. They’re different because God has given them different gifts, and those gifts are meant to benefit us all. We’re to learn from them all. We are One Body. We can’t look down on another Christian or Christian group using the gift God has given them. As Paul wrote through the gift given to him:
Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
How to Love Other Christians
Romans 12:9-13
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
After teaching us in the previous section that all Christians are in this together as One Body of Christ, Paul shows us how to treat our fellow brothers and sisters. First, love must be sincere. We can’t just say, “Oh, sure, I love all my fellow Christians. Those folks that sit on the other side of the sanctuary whom I don’t know their name – I love them. Those members of the congregation down the street – I love them. Those persecuted Christians around the world – I love them.” God isn’t calling us to some superficial goodwill to our siblings. He’s calling us to have real love. Let’s see what Paul tells us real love looks like.
Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. In the context of loving the Body, what can we say is evil?
- Divisiveness.
- Arguing about interpretations of Scripture.
- Thinking our church is the best church because we have “it” figured out.
Clinging to what is good is promoting the unity of the Body in sound doctrine, the things that all Christians believe and accept. (What are those things that all Christians believe? Historically, the Church has accepted The Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed as definitive of Christianity. If you can affirm the statements in those creeds, you are Christian. If you can’t, you’re not.)
Honor one another above yourselves. Don’t always try to get your own way, particularly in the church. If you can give deference to someone else, do it. That’s showing grace. It’s showing respect for your fellow Christian.
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. The Jewish Christians in Paul’s day were still zealous for the Law. We might be zealous for our way of worship or a particular teaching. Paul isn’t saying to lose your excitement for those things and put down what’s meaningful to you. He is saying have grace for one another in your excitement for those things. But when we show our zealousness for the Lord, we’re encouraging others to join us in our passion for Him. Encouraging others to step up or renew their fervor for the things of God is an expression of love.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. In the same way, when other members of the Body see us remaining faithful in both good and bad times, and trusting God in prayer, they will learn from our example.
Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Finally, sincere love is love in action. We need to reach out and care for the needs of our fellow Christians. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what need you can meet today. Who would He have you bless?
What Does It Mean to Heap Burning Coals on Someone’s Head?
Romans 12:14-21
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:
“If
your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
After describing how different types of Christians are to accept and love one another as one Body, Paul now tells us how to treat those who are outside the Church.
Let me summarize what I see here: We are not the non-Christian’s enemy; we’re their friend. When they do wrong to us, we still do right to them. We do not treat them as neutral but even go so far as to bless them. We pray for them and wish good upon them.
We befriend the down and out, the people with ugly pasts, those struggling with some sort of issue, the folks others don’t consider to be “nice society.” We aren’t conceited. Rather, we’re like Jesus, reaching down to lift others up.
And when we do good to and befriend those who think negatively of us or want to harm us, we’re heaping burning coals on their head. Interestingly, this isn’t a way to cause them pain or discomfort. Look at what burning coals were used for in the Temple:
Numbers 16:46-47 - Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started.” So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them.
When Isaiah saw a vision of God in Isaiah 6, he said…
Isaiah 6:5-7 - “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
Ha! I love it. Throwing burning coals on someone is a way to make atonement for them! It’s not adding to the punishment you wish God would give them but assuaging it. You’re acting as a priest – as Jesus - in taking away their sin.
This is all metaphorical, of course, referring back to Old Testament worship, but I love how it turns this idea of heaping burning coals on someone’s head into a positive for them rather than a negative. We do not wish anyone’s harm, no matter what they’ve done to us; rather, we wish for their ultimate good and do everything we can to lead them to it. We overcome evil with good.
Amen? So, who is God asking you to be good toward today?
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