Romans

Scripture Texts: Romans 12:9-13

Introduction.

This morning we will focus on the three exhortations, this triad of imperatives in verse 12.  This verse is like a vein of gold, it is rich in wisdom and instruction, food for our souls.

Once again Paul is exhorting the Christians in the church in Rome, and it is timeless so it is for us as well.  Why is Paul saying these things?  Because they are hard to do.  If this was easy, if everyone was doing them, it wouldn’t be necessary to remind us.

These three commands are hard.  I know that, I find them hard to do.  I do not preach to you as one who has arrived or has accomplished these things.  I am like Paul in Philippians 3,

Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

I preach not from confidence in my own flesh and ability, but from confidence in the truth of God’s Word and the power of the Holy Spirit to do this, to bring it to completion.  Only those who already have Christ and His Holy Spirit can rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

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Scripture Texts: Romans 12:9-12

Introduction.

I continue to urge you to read Romans 12:9-21 every day, in your own devotions and with your family at dinner.  Talk about it.  Stir it up.  Drink from this well of wisdom for life.

Paul won’t let any of us be content with where we are.  He relentlessly pushes us to not be conformed to the way the world acts and thinks, but to be truly transformed by the renewing of our minds by the Holy Spirit, to keep growing and becoming more like Christ.

Scripture Texts: Romans 12:9-13

Therefore, by the mercies of God, therefore because of the mercies of God, therefore because of the superabounding saving grace of God that overcomes all our sin, therefore because of the Gospel of God’s redeeming love, who loved us even while we were yet sinners, therefore let us be changed and transformed into the character and likeness of Him who sacrificed everything for us, and now by His Spirit in us enables us to present our bodies, our lives as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to God.

How do we do that?  By no longer being conformed to the ways of the world but transformed by the renewing of our minds.  And what does that look like?  Let me count the ways, twenty-five ways, twenty-five imperative exhortations of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, a disciple of Christ.  If you are infected by the Gospel, these are the symptoms you will have.

I hope you have been reading Romans 12:9-21 at your dinner table every night, or most nights.  Let me urge you to continue that for the rest of September.  And mix up the translations.  If you don’t have different translations in your home, just Google them and print them out.

Please talk about these things at home, with your spouse, with your children.  This is vastly more important than anything on the news, in the social media, in politics, in sports.  Talk about these things, what they mean, what they don’t mean.  Chase down the cross references in your Bible.

Soak in this passage, drink deeply from this well of life-giving and life-changing water.

Be humbled by how far short you fall, but be hopeful in the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.  Come to this passage at just such a time as this in your life and in the life of our flock.  God has us all here right now for a reason.  Let him who has ears to hear, hear what the Spirit is saying.

The Christians in the church in Rome were a diverse mix of young and old, rich and poor, slaves and free, Gentiles and Jews, racially and ethnically divided, learning how to love each other.

Let love be genuine, let your love be without hypocrisy, not fake but authentic, for everyone.  Where is the greatest demonstration of love in the Bible?  The cross, right.  And what does that tell us about love?  That love is way more than a feeling.  Love is an action.

Scripture Texts: Romans 12:9-13

We just spent five weeks discussing our different spiritual gifts.  Gifts given to each Christian by the Holy Spirit for serving the body for the common good of all and for the glory of God.  Now Paul speaks to us about how we are to get along together while serving.  How should we relate, how should we behave?  What does Christlikeness look like in the midst of Spirit-giftedness?

The rest of chapter twelve is like running into a buzz saw.  Remember what I said when we started chapter twelve about the difference between the indicative mood and the imperative mood in grammar.  The indicative mood states a fact, it says this is true.  The imperative says this must be done.

Romans 1-11 were almost entirely in the indicative mood, telling us truth about what God has said and done, Paul gave us the Gospel.  Romans 12-15 tells us what we must now do in response to what God has done.  God’s done is the fuel for our doing.  The fire for doing the Christian life comes from being soaked in the lighter fluid of what God has already done.

Romans 12:1 started with “Therefore, in light of the mercies of God, now present your bodies as a living sacrifice.”  And this is what that looks like in spades.

25 authoritative imperatives, rapid fire, one after another.  Like when mom and dad leave the kids with a babysitter.

25 applications.  The problem with all these exhortations is they are not too hard to understand.  They are too plain, clear, straightforward, understandable.  We would rather they were hard to figure out so we could have an excuse for not obeying them.

This is not a list of rules.  This is a description of Christian character.  I was recently asked to write a character reference for a person applying for a job.  If someone was writing one for you, this is a list of things they should write about you as a Christian.

When we love God, when we are changed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, this is what it looks like.  This is what life looks like when Christ has become the foundation and summation of all your hopes.  We do this because of what He has done.

These should be read slowly, thoughtfully, prayerfully.  Seriously mediate on and pray over these verses these next few weeks.  Read them at your dinner table each night, talk about them, read them in your own private devotions.  Read different translations.  Soak in this in September.

Scripture Texts: Romans 12:4-6

This morning we come to the conclusion of our series on spiritual gifts in Romans 12.  We started with ten truths about spiritual gifts and then six things they are not and shouldn’t be confused with.  Then we considered the three speaking gifts (teaching, exhorting and prophecy), and the four serving gifts (serving, giving, leading and mercy).

We started this series with the story of a Rabbi being questioned by a Roman centurion, “who are you and what are you doing here?”  The Rabbi thought those were such great question that they should be asked of him every day.

That would be a fruitful spiritual discipline, if we were to ask ourselves every day, who are we and what are we doing here?  It might lift us out of the humdrum of our ordinary, earth-centered lives, into the rarer air of the spiritual meaning behind what God is doing in and through us.

Why do you get up every morning?  What are you living for?  Who are you living for?

Is it possible there is more to you and your life than you think or imagine?

Do you know “Who you are and what on earth are you doing here?”

Our text says we are one body in Christ and individually members one of another.  Does that have implications for why we get up and what we do all day?  What does that mean?

Romans 1-11 makes it clear, we are not our own, we did not choose God, He chose us.  It is staggering to consider such undeserved mercy.  You should shake your head in disbelief that God did that.  We are not our own.

You are a member of His body and you are members of each other.  You have a God-ordained place and a part to play.  We are not as independent and autonomous as we like to think.  We need others and others need us.  God wants us to humble ourselves to serve others and be served by others.

We think far too little of our lives and the spiritual gifts God has given to each of us.  And by each one of us I am talking about each of you.  To the student in ninth grade; the single seeking God’s direction for their future; the mom at home with little ones; the man in the barn or shop; the person in the office or on the road; and the widow in the retirement center or care home.

God has called all of us to good works, works of ministry or service in His Church and in the world.  He could have done it Himself, He could have sent angels to do it, but He didn’t.  It is His will that we do the work of building up and edifying the body.

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Scripture Texts: Romans 12:6-8; I Corinthians 12:8-10; I Peter 4:7-11

Last week we looked at three speaking gifts and this week we consider four serving gifts.  All these definitions, characteristics and cautions will be on the church web page tomorrow, or just ask me for a copy.

These gifts “serve” the church or enable God’s work by providing support in both spiritual and practical areas.  They are about putting others first or meeting the needs of others so they are free to exercise their spiritual gifts.

Remember all these traits are commanded of all of us.  The difference for some is they have a special enabling or anointing and do their gift above and beyond what is normally expected, or more freely or more frequently or more fruitfully than the rest of us.

There is an interesting difference between what Paul says about the speaking gifts and what he says about the serving gifts.  Paul adds an exhortation, or a caution against a particular temptation that those with these gifts might have in doing their gift.

Scripture Texts: Romans 12:6-8; I Corinthians 12:8-10; I Peter 4:7-11

We are talking about the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  To all who have received Jesus as their Savior from sin and their Lord for life, to them He has given His Holy Spirit.  And to all to whom the Spirit has been given, to each one of them the Spirit gives at least one spiritual gift and usually two or more as a manifestation of His presence and power for the common good of the body, for the benefit of the whole church.  It is divine grace.

In other words, being part of a Christian fellowship is not just about me, but about us being in Christ, in His Church family, members one of another.

Notice the things Paul lists –teaching, encouraging, giving generously, serving, showing mercy–aren’t these things commanded of all Christians?  Aren’t we admonished in Scripture to serve one another, encourage one another, show mercy to one another, give generously, share our faith, making disciples by teaching what Jesus taught?

All these things are what all Christians do.  So why does Paul speak of these as gifts given to some, but not all?  How are we to think about these as spiritual gifts?  How are they different from what is an ordinary part of being a Christian?  Notice the phrase in vs. 6 “according to the grace given to us.”  There is something more going on here.  God gives certain believers an extra measure of grace in these things.  Spiritual gifts are a specialization in a duty given to all Christians.

Some of these virtues come more easily, joyfully and more fruitfully for some than for others. When that happens we can call it a spiritual gift.  Some take unusual spiritual delight in serving, or giving, or doing mercy, or teaching, or leading, or exhorting.  The Holy Spirit has shaped their hearts so that they find themselves unusually drawn to these things (John Piper).

Scripture Texts:  Romans 12:4-8; I Corinthians 12:1-11

Introduction.

I have given a couple of introductory sermons on spiritual gifts leading up to preaching on the gifts Paul mentions in Romans 12 to take to heart Paul’s admonition in I Corinthians 12:1.

I Corinthians 12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.

In my last sermon I gave ten truths about spiritual gifts.  I said only those who have the Spirit have them, meaning Christians.  Every Christian has at least one, no one has them all and no single gift is given to every Christian, one body, many different parts.  We can’t earn them, and the Spirit decides who gets which ones.  As long as you have the Holy Spirit you have His gifts and have a purpose and place in the body of Christ to serve one another for the common good.

This morning I want to give six things spiritual gifts are not or are not to be confused with.  All of this is in an effort to help us not be uninformed or ignorant about spiritual gifts.

Scripture Texts:  Romans 12:4-8; I Corinthians 12:1-11

Remember last week and who are you and what are you doing here.  Albert Einstein was on a train, when the conductor came by to validate his ticket, he couldn’t find his ticket.  Finally, the conductor told him, “It’s alright Mr. Einstein, I know who you are.”  Mr. Einstein was still concerned, “Yes, I know who I am too, but I don’t know where I am going.”

We talked about the value of knowing who you are and what you are doing here and where you are going, about living a more God-centered meaningful life.  All of this was very clear to Jesus as we read in John 8:12-14:

John 8:12-14 Jesus spoke to [the Pharisees], saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” … 14 Jesus answered, “… I know where I came from and where I am going.

When you know who you are and where you have come from, why you are here and where you are going you experience greater peace, joy, rest; freedom from stress, pride, envy, competition and frustration.  Knowing about spiritual gifts is a key part of this contentment.  They tell us about why God created us and saved us and called us out of the world and into His Church, why we are here now in this place at this time.

Scripture Texts: Romans 12:3-6a; John 1:19-27; 35-37; 3:26-30

Introduction: Story of the rabbi walking home late.

Rabbi Jozef was walking home from a long day at the synagogue.  It was evening.  In typical rabbinic fashion his head was down deep in meditation on that day’s reading from the Torah.  Oblivious to his surroundings he suddenly ran into a wall and from behind the wall the voice of a Roman centurion called out:

Centurion: “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

Narrator:    In typical rabbinic fashion the Rabbi answered the question with a question:

Rabbi:                  “How much do they pay you?”

Centurion: “One denarius a day.”

Rabbi:        “If I pay you two denarii a day will you follow me and ask me those two questions every day?”

“Who are you and what are you doing here?”

Why do you get up every morning?  What are you living for?  Who are you living for?

Is it possible there is more to you and your life than you think or imagine?

Do you know “Who you are and what on earth are you doing here?”

Our text says we are one body in Christ and individually members one of another.  Does that have implications for why we get up and what we do all day?  What does that mean?

Romans 1-11 makes it clear, we are not our own, we did not choose God, He chose us.  Every time I say that out loud, you should have a moment’s reaction of being stunned.  It is staggering that we have received such undeserved mercy.  You should shake your head in disbelief that God did that.  As we sang earlier, “I know not why God’s wondrous grace to me was made known.”  So unworthy.  We are not our own.  If you are a Christian, you are called by God out of the world, and adopted into the family of God.

By His Holy Spirit you have the Spirit of adoption, making you are a son or a daughter in the family of God, and brothers and sisters to each other.  By being born again by the Spirit by faith in Jesus Christ you are a part of His body, the body of Christ.

You are a member of His body and you are members of each other.  You have a God-ordained place and a part to play.  We are not as independent and autonomous as we like to think.  We need others and others need us.  God wants us to humble ourselves to serve others and be served by others.

Never trivialize the church.  It cost God the life of His Son to create this.   You share something with those sitting around you so profound it surpasses the value of all our other human relationships (John Piper).

Scripture Texts: Romans 12:3-5

Prayer:

Holy Father, as we come to your Holy Word again this morning, grant us divine assistance and wisdom that this is not an exercise in gaining knowledge, but of gaining wisdom and making progress in holiness, and all of this for your glory and our benefit.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Introduction.

Here we go.  Roll up your sleeves, get ready for action.

For the next four chapters Paul is going to tell us what is means to be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, presented to God as our spiritual worship.  Paul is going to flesh out what it means to not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds, what it means to discern what the will of God is, those things that are good and acceptable and perfect.

No more indicative mood, no more just facts and information, now comes the imperative mood, what we should do with the facts.  From what is true to what should be true.

Romans 1-11 gave us the Gospel.  Romans 12-15 gives us what a life shaped and molded and controlled by the Gospel looks like.  A life lived in response to the mercies of God, to the abounding, undeserved daily grace of God.  His mercies are new every morning giving us the grace to live according to the Gospel.

After everything God has done for us in Christ, how can we hold anything back from him?

Scripture Texts: Romans 121:1-2

Let me ask for a show of hands.  Who here liked to study and learn about grammar?  Any grammar fans?  Since we all slept through grammar lessons, let me give you a brief grammar lesson.

English has moods or modes, verbal signals the speaker uses to express their attitude or intention for what they are saying, how you want to come across, whether they are stating a fact or opinion, or whether they are making a request or demand.

These two moods or modes are called indicative and imperative.  The indicative mood states a fact, it says this is true.  The imperative says this must be done.

Romans 1-11 were almost entirely in the indicative mood, telling us truth about what God has said or done.  Romans 12-15 are mostly in the imperative mood, moving us from what is true to what should be true.  The imperative flows from indicative, this is true so now do this.

You are not going to like all these imperatives and let me tell you why you aren’t going to like them.  Because we are Americans, and Americans don’t like being told what to do.  It all started with English taxation without representation, and it hasn’t stopped.  There is deep resistance in all of us.

So much so that our world tries to avoid imperatives, our leaders try hard not to use imperatives.  The whole gentle parenting movement is an avoidance of saying no.  And the church in America is no different.

Pastors are afraid of saying do this and don’t do that.  We prefer to speak in the indicative.  Lots of truth without any demands on us.  What to think, but not what to do.

So what are we going to do now that we have come to the imperative section of Romans?  Please don’t take the imperatives for granted, don’t resist or resent being told what to do.  This is God’s Word for the good of our eternal souls.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to us and His church.

Romans 12:1-2 are the introduction for the rest of Romans.  We can set it up like this.

The goal is to present our bodies a living sacrifice to God for His glory.

The motivation for doing this is the Gospel, all the overflowing mercies of God to us.

The obstacle for doing this is the world and our constant conforming to it.

The help for overcoming this obstacle is our transformation by the renewing of our minds.

The result is we will be able to discern the good, acceptable, perfect will of God.

Doesn’t that sound like a desirable outcome?  Don’t resist or ignore or take for granted the imperatives that accomplish all this grace for us.

In our text this morning there are two imperatives, the two commands that are two sides of the same coin, the coin of being a living sacrifice to the glory of God.  We can’t have one without the other.  Do not be conformed, but be transformed.