PAUL’S LETTER TO THE CHRISTIANS IN ROME

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Chapters 12 - 16 form the last great part of Paul’s Letter to the Romans. This is mainly teaching about the way that Christians should live. However this teaching ends at 15:13. In 15:14 - 22, Paul writes about himself. In 15:23 - 38 he writes about his plan to come to Rome for the first time. This would be on his way to Spain. We do not think that Paul ever reach Spain. Acts 28 tells us how he reached Rome. Then the last chapter of this letter (Chapter 16) is full of greetings and in verses 25-27 there is a final prayer of blessing.

Verses 1 and 2: Paul calls us to lead Christian lives.

Paul has written about the ‘mercies’ (not ‘mercy’) of God. This is what the first eleven chapters of this letter were about. God shows us many ‘mercies’. If we know this, it ought to change our lives. Now Paul calls strongly to us. He ‘urges’ or ‘appeals’ to us, to see that God’s mercies do make this great change in our lives. Notice that he calls the Christians in Rome ‘brothers’. Some of them are Jews, some are not. Some are slaves, some are free. Some are poor, some are rich. Most of them Paul does not know. Yet he calls them all ‘brothers’. We may think that the church today is a mix of people. It was in Paul’s day and this is why we need to hear what he says in these chapters. It is hard to live the Christian life in the world. It ought not to be difficult to live a Christian life in the church. Quite often it is! This is because the people in the church are so different from one another.

Then Paul tells us what we should do. We should make an offering to God. This will not be the body of a dead animal. It will be our own living bodies. When Paul speaks about ‘your bodies’ here, he means the whole person. We can go wrong sometimes here. We may think that God only wants our hearts and minds. Yes, He does want these. See 1 Corinthians 6:19, where Paul calls our bodies temples of the Holy Spirit. In verse 13, Paul has said that the body is meant for the Lord. The end of God’s way for us is that we should have a body in glory. See 1 Corinthians 15:44 and 2 Corinthians 5: 1-5. So we must offer to God our heart and mind, but also our body. Some people have taken each part of their bodies in turn, and offered it to God. This may be helpful to you.

Then Paul adds that if we think clearly, this is the service which we shall offer to God. There is no reason why we should worship false ‘gods’. It is ‘reasonable’ for us to offer ourselves to God. The word which Paul uses sounds like the English word ‘logical’. It is ‘worship offered by mind and heart’ (NEB). We may feel that this rather misses what Paul means here. [12.1] We may feel much less than holy ourselves but Paul tells us that such worship of God is holy. We can also be sure that God will be pleased with it. Paul will use the same word - ‘pleasing’ or ‘acceptable’ - near the end of verse 2, but in a different way.

We change. We change from children to men and women as we grow up. In some parts of the world, the way that people lived had not changed for long ages past. Yet more and more today, life changes. People think that something is wonderful today, but soon forget it. Loud, ugly music is thought to be good, but it will not last. Paul calls this ‘the pattern of this world’, or the world’s ‘fleeting fashions’. People around you want you to accept this and to fit in with it. They think that you should fit into the shape of the world, or this age. Some of us say ‘I will not change my ways’, so we become ‘old fashioned’. Paul says that this is not the way for Christians. We are to change. ‘Transformed’ means that we will be altogether different. This will happen because God gives to us His Holy Spirit to live in us. He gives us new, clean hearts which want our minds made new. He gives us new light in our minds. (Psalm 27:1; Luke 1:78-79 and many other places).

Then, Paul says, you will know what God’s will for you is. This is not all. You will then find that God’s will for you is good. You will find that it pleases you. This is the same word which we noticed in verse 1. There, our offering of our bodies was pleasing or ‘acceptable’ to God. Now His will is pleasing or acceptable to us. It is perfect: it could not be better.

Now we can see that the will of God for our lives is not the same as the ‘form’ which the world would like us to take.

We should not go on to the next verses just yet. We should ask how the great praise verses (11:33-36) join up with the verses about the Christian life (12:1 and 2). Here are some thoughts about this.

a) Verse 35 tells us that no one ever gave anything to God so that God had a duty to reward him.Yet we do give up our bodies to God as a living offering.

b) We do not know the great purposes of God. He works on a grand scale which we cannot understand. Yet we can know the will of God for our own lives. We have some place in the great purposes which God works out. We have our own little part, and we should know what it is.

c) God does not change. He is all goodness. If He did change, He could not become better; He would become less good (Verse 36). We do need to change (12:2). We could still become much better than we are!

d) God needs no help from us (11:34). He does not need our advice. He knows all (11:33). Our minds need to be made new (12:2). Then we need to learn by experience.

Now there must be other thoughts like these. They are the bridge which joins the first and second parts of the letter.

Verses 3-8: Christian Fellowship

Now Paul talks about the Christian life. He does not start to talk about money or things. He talks about the Christian and other people. He talks about the Christian and other Christians.

This is a good time to remember that Paul did not write to a church at Rome. He wrote to groups of Christians who shared in the worship in the Jewish meeting houses. You can look at Philippians 1:1. There you will see that Paul writes to a church with its leaders. People there knew what their work in the church was. They did not have to share in Jewish worship.

Now it maybe that some Christians in Rome thought:- ‘If there was a church here, I would be one of the leaders. I would be important’. Some Christians too would think:- ‘We are so much better than the Jews who do not believe in Jesus. We want to get rid of them. We want to push them out. Then we could have our own way’. In these verses Paul says ‘No!’ After all, verses 1 and 2 tell us how different we should be. A man who is humble before God will not be proud among men.

So in verse 3, Paul writes because God has sent him to spread the Good News. This is what ‘grace’ means here. It does matter what we think about ourselves. We should not think we are clever and wise. We should not think that we could do much better than other people. Yet we know that often it is sadly true that the best people in the churches are pushed aside. People who have less grace and faith push themselves forward. Notice that God gives faith to all His people. He does not give them all the same ‘measure’ or amount of faith.

In verses 4 and 5 we find Paul’s teaching about Christian people as the Body of Christ. This goes on into verse 6. Paul speaks about this again in Ephesians 4:4, 16 and 25 and 5:29-30 and also in Colossians 3:15. It is an idea which we can find in other writers who were not Christians. Paul really tells us what he means in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.

God gives gifts to us. [12.2] Yet He does not give us all the same gifts. Hebrews 2:9 says that God gave His gifts as He thought best. We must all work together. We may be tempted to say:- ‘That person over there has a gift which I do not have. So I will do nothing’. We must all use the gifts which God has given to us.

We can list the gifts about which Paul speaks here. In other places, there are others which he does not speak about here.

Verse 6 Prophesying. [12:3] Notice at once that if we have a gift, we are to use it. This will not be for our own good, but all for the good of others. See Ephesians 4:11-12. Also see 1 Corinthians 14:1 and 39 and also verses 29-32. Prophecy will not often, if ever, mean that we say what will happen in the future. More often it will tell us what we should do now.

Paul spoke about ‘the measure of faith’ in verse 3. Now he speaks about ‘the proportion of faith’. [12.4] ‘Faith’ does not always mean quite the same thing. Here it means the belief and trust in Jesus that a Christian has. It may be weaker or stronger. A man should not try to go beyond the limit of what he knows by faith. Look again at 1 Corinthians 14:32. We should not pretend that the Holy Spirit takes control of us. The Holy Spirit will not lead us to talk in a wild way or about strange ideas.

Verse 7 Serving This word is like the one from which our word ‘deacon’ comes. This service may not be in the church. It may be in the home. A Christian should be willing to give other people the help that they need.

Teaching Teaching is always important. At Rome, the people had no Christian books, so teaching really did matter. It still does, where Christians do not have good books or will not read them.

Verse 8 Encouraging We need to get close to other Christians and to talk to them. They may be tired. They may be sad. We need to say things to them which will help them to go forward in the Christian life.

Giving to the needs of others. This does not mean that we must give a lot of money away. We may not have much to give. We may have something else to give. We must be simple when we give. We must not think:- ‘ What is in it for me?.’

Leadership may, perhaps be in the church but it may be in the home.

Showing mercy. This may mean that we are to visit people who are ill or sad for some reason. Be happy when you do it!

Verses 9-21: Ways to show Christian love

First (verse 9) Paul tells us how not to show Christian love. Love must be free from ‘hypocrisy’. See 2 Corinthians 6:6 and 1 Peter 1:22. You will often find the idea of ‘hypocrisy’ in the Gospels. The word came from stage plays and actors.

In the old Greek and Roman world, actors often wore a mask over their faces. The people who watched the play saw the mask. Then they knew what part in the play the actor took. They did not see his real face. The R.S.V.has ‘Let love be genuine’, that is, real. The N.I.V. has ‘ Love must be sincere.’ But it may be better to keep the picture of the actor with the mask which covers his real face. Let there be no ‘hypocrisy’ or play-acting. Now there are two sides to love. One is the feeling of love. It is not easy to feel love for people who are very dirty or who lead bad lives. The other part of love is the work which love leads us to do. The feeling and the work need to go together. See Hebrews 6:10. Sometimes, perhaps, we do the work but feel no love. More often, I think, we feel love but do nothing about it.

The word ‘hate’ is too weak. When we see something really bad, it should make us shake all over! In James 2:19, it is the devils who shake. Their hair stands on end! But this is because they know that God is One. Paul does not tell us to hate people who are evil. We are to hate evil things. We are to hold on tight to what is good. We are to unite with what is good. See Philippians 4:8.

In the first half of verse 10, Paul uses two words which speak about love in a family. Christians should love one another in the way that people in a good family love each other.

The second part of verse 10 is rather like Philippians 2:3. In this life, there are some people that we think are better than us. We ‘look up’ to them. There are other people that we do not think are as good as us. So we ‘look down’ on them. The trouble is that we do not have the right idea about ourselves. Now Christians should not look down on other Christians. If we have a low idea of ourselves, this will help us to honour and love other Christians. We should think about the good things in other Christians and honour them for those. Paul will turn this round in verse 16.

Verse 11. Christians should be hot in their love for Christ. We should be like boiling water. See Revelation 3:15 and 16. There Jesus speaks to the church at Laodicea. Once that church had been ‘hot’ in its love for Christ. Now it was ‘lukewarm’. Soon it would be cold towards Christ. If it had started cold and would soon be warm, all would be well.

Now all the things that Paul says here are to be done. They are not here for us to talk about. We should not need to write much about them. Yet there is a warning at the end of verse 11. There are people who are ‘hot’ in their religion. They ‘boil’. But the ‘steam’ is not at all ‘work for the Lord’. So Paul tells us that our warm effort must be service for God. It must not be for our own good. In verse 12, ‘hope’ means our hope that Jesus will come again in power and glory.

Joy often comes before prayer. See Luke 10:21; Philippians 4:4-6 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17.

God did not promise that the Christian life would be easy. So Paul tells us that we must be patient in times of trouble. See Romans 5:2-4. Our trouble is a heavy load which we have to carry. We do not try to find wrong ways to get out from under this load. We wait for God to help us. Trouble comes between joy and prayer here. Often our trouble teaches us how to pray.

Verse 13. Rich and poor Christians are to share what they have. The poor are not to say: ‘I have so little. There is not enough to share with other people.’ We may pray to God for more so that we may give more to others. Remember the teaching of Jesus in Acts 20:35 and Luke 21:1-4. Remember too, what Jesus can do with the little which we can give. (Mark 6:35-44 and 8:4-9).

Christian homes should be open to those who need help. See Hebrews 13:2. It was not always safe to do this in those days. There may still be danger in it even today. See also 1 Timothy 3:2 and 5:10; Titus 1:8 and 1 Peter 4:9. 3 John 5-8 is another place which shows how important this was.

In verse 14, Paul gives teaching which is like the teaching of Jesus in Matther 5:44 and Luke 6:28. Paul says more about this in verses 17-21. See also James 3:9-12, where James may well remember words which Jesus spoke in their home at Nazareth. ‘To bless’ here means to pray that God will do people good. To curse is the opposite. It is to call on God to harm or punish someone. So when our enemies do us harm, we are to pray that God will do them good.

(Verse 15) Joy shared is doubled. Sorrow shared is halved. People rejoice when something good has happened to them. We are not to envy them or feel jealous when this happens. We are to share their joy. Sometimes people are very sad. They will ’mourn’ if someone they love has died. Paul says we are to mourn with them. It does not usually help people who mourn if we are very happy and bright! It is best very often to listen to them rather than to say much to them.

(Verse 16) There is ‘harmony’ when several people sing and their voices go well together. People may make music together in other ways, and there should be harmony. We like the idea, although it does not seem to be there in what Paul wrote. Christians are all to share one feeling. Paul does say much the same in Philippians 2:2. There he says that we are all to have the same love. He does not mean that we should all love the same things. Verse 3 there is rather like what Paul goes on to say here in Romans 12. We can go wrong when we have thoughts about ourselves which are too high. We can go wrong too if our thoughts about other people are too low. We should be ready to go about with humble people. We must not think that we are very wise. Christ was the Son of God, but He chose fishermen to be His friends.

(Verse 17) Some people, it seems, have to have enemies. They go out of their way to cause trouble. They seem to need the hate of other people. That is not the way of the Christian. See Proverbs 20:22 and 24:29. The teaching which Jesus gave is clear enough but it is not easy to follow. (Matthew 5:38-48) It is not enough to do what we think is right. Other people watch us. It is right to ask:- ‘What will they think when they see what I do?’ A Christian man who is married may have a good friend who is a woman. They are only friends. Nothing that is wrong goes on between them. Yet if they spend too much time with each other, people will start to talk. A Christian man’s wife should be his closest friend.

Paul wrote about peace with other Christians in verse 14. Now in verse 18, Paul writes about living in peace with people who are not Christians. This is what we want, but all too often other people do wrong to Christians. When this happens (verse 19), we should not try to ‘get our own back’. If we do, we go wrong in several ways. God is the Judge of all the earth. He always does what it right. He always knows all the facts. Often we do not. If people do wrong us, they may have reasons which we do not understand. If we set ourselves up as judges, we may try to push God off His throne! God will punish people who wrong us. If we try to punish them, we leave ‘no room’ for God’s great anger or wrath. Paul adds some words which he takes from Deuteronomy 32:35. [12:7]

The teaching of verse 20 is very much like the teaching of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 5:44 or Luke 6:27. In fact, Paul uses words from Proverbs 25:21 and 22. The Christian does not want to have enemies. He hopes that if he does good to them, they will become his friends.

The last part of verse 20 sounds strange to us. It may be to do with a custom of ancient Egypt. [12:8]

We should perhaps have said much more than we have about verses 9-20. Verse 21 is the end of this part of the letter. Paul says: ‘What is bad must not beat you in the fight. You must beat what is bad. You do this with (or perhaps “in”) what is good’. Paul here does not speak about bad people and good people. We do not try to beat the bad people. If someone does something bad to us, we do not do something even worse to them. We know it would not end there. They would do something worse still to us.

God is good. We believe that what is good is stronger than what is bad. That is why we should follow Paul’s teaching here, which agrees with the teaching of Jesus. When we do, we can pray that God will be with us and help us in what we do.