There are some–I’m afraid–many in Christian circles who have difficulty with this idea of salvation through faith alone, apart from works. They will offer quotes such as James 2:17 “…Faith without works is dead.” (KJV), or Luke 6:46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (NIV) They interpret these passages as saying, in effect, if you want salvation you’d better toe the line, mind your P’s and Q’s and follow the letter of the law. Chapter twelve answers these critics.
Salvation comes through faith and faith alone. However, the message of the Bible from God to us is not just about how to achieve salvation, but how to lead a happy, healthy, wholesome and holy life. It’s about finding eternity now. Most people think of eternity as a “some day, sometime-when-I-die,” thing, but they are mistaken. Eternity begins now! The fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (See Galatians 5:22) are ours now, if we choose to receive them now.
A comment about salvation by faith. An oft asked question goes something to the effect of: “Once I receive salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, does this mean that from now on I can go out and do anything I want–lie, cheat, steal, murder–and still be saved? Can my salvation be taken away from me?” My response to this question is, “No, salvation cannot be taken away from you, but you can lose it, through loss of faith.”
In chapter six Paul talked about being dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Once you have been “Re-born” in this way the Holy Spirit will come and dwell with you, and will begin to guide you and to “lead you into all the truth.” As we open up to the Spirit’s leading we start to see things in a different way. The Holy Spirit begins to “convict” us, that is, showing us where we need to make certain changes in our lives to grow and become better people. However, in spite of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we never lose our free will. We can choose to ignore the Spirit within us. We can choose to reject that guidance. A natural product of rejection of the work of the Holy Spirit within us is an erosion of our faith, to a point when, eventually, unless we “repent” of our attitudes, we can lose our faith entirely, and thereby lose our salvation.
Beginning in chapter twelve Paul offers practical steps for us to take towards wholeness and holiness–steps to help us grow our faith through practical application.
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer 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–God’s good, pleasing and perfect will.
It seems to be the general practice of “religious” people in much of the Christian world today to think of their week as being divided this way–six days, 23 hours of secular life, one hour for worship. But it wasn’t always thus. The Hebrew Scriptures indicate that God was in every part of everyday life “In their going out, and in their coming in, in their lying down and in their getting up.” The wonderful story of Exodus is a very clear example: God led the people through the desert with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Every morning except the Sabbath, the people woke up to find manna on the ground to feed themselves with. When they ran out of water God gave Moses the power to bring forth water from a rock. When they got tired of manna, God fed them quail–lots of quail. The people had no doubt as to who was running that show! The people were very much aware of God’s presence in all aspects of their lives.
Though God still runs the show today, God is not usually very visible. But God is there, nevertheless. Even in Paul’s time, God was no longer the highly visible presence as in the old days. But Paul reminds the people and us, that God still is present in every aspect of their and our lives. Therefore, every aspect of our lives can be a form of worship. We can worship God with our hands and feet as well, as with our eyes, ears, and hearts. A good honest day’s work for a day’s pay offered up to the glory of God is a form of worship.
When we receive salvation, it is given to us as an unearned gift from a loving parent, regardless of our past mistakes and errant ways. God has been very merciful to us, says Paul. In return for that mercy, in love and in gratitude for that mercy, we can offer up ourselves to God–just as we are, while trying to become better than we are. Living sacrifices, Paul calls us.
This world is a cutthroat, dog eat dog world at times, where one often gets ahead by walking over others. Paul says you don’t have to be that way any more. The Holy Spirit is with us now–guiding us, directing us, helping us to transform ourselves–helping us to think differently about things than we have in the past–renewing our minds, as it were.
Your willingness to allow the Holy Spirit to guide and direct your path, to lead you into new ways of thinking, new ways in which to grow, will bring you to a place where you will be able to ascertain for yourself what God’s will for you and your life is. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit your priorities might change, what used to seem so important may not be as important to you any more. Your values may change. Your sense of right and wrong may change as your ethical character and integrity grows.
Romans 12:3-8
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 measure of faith God has given you. 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 who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a person’s gift is prophesying, let him or her use it in proportion to their faith. If it is serving, let them serve; if it is teaching, let them teach; if it is encouraging, let them encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let them give generously; if it is leadership, let them govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let them do it cheerfully.
Paul has just told us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God, and to change our old patterns of behavior as the Holy Spirit transforms and renews our minds. However, Paul says, don’t let this ‘being living sacrifices” become an excuse to you to become egotistical about your newly found relationship with God. Don’t allow yourself to think that now that you have a personal relationship with God that you are above everyone else. Sit down and take a moral inventory of yourself. Look at your own weaknesses, as well as your strengths. Be fearlessly honest with yourself and what you see there, as God gives you the grace to see. And when you’re finished looking at yourself, look at the rest of your community. You’ll see that though each person has different gifts and talents God provides the variety of talents to provide for all the different needs of the community. And no talent is better or to be more highly regarded than another, but each gift that the individual members bring us to improve the whole. Consequently no one is unto themselves alone, but each contributes and belongs to all the others. You are, as a matter of fact, part of the “Body of Christ.”
After Jesus rose from the dead and before He ascended He told the disciples to “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation.” (Mark 16:15) Jesus would no longer be with humanity in bodily form, so His disciples became the “Body of Christ,” doing the work that Jesus did while on earth. Paul reminds the people that we all are called to the Great Commission, to continue that work. For further study on being part of the “Body of Christ” see 1 Corinthians 12:12-13.
I recently saw a new movie entitled Pay it Forward, which has this premise: You are the recipient of an important or wonderful gift of service which required great sacrifice on the giver’s part. Upon acceptance of the gift you become morally obligated to do a hard thing for tree other people, each of whom in turn will do a hard thing for three other people, and so on. Recipients’ lives were changed by the gift, or they changed themselves because of it. This premise is not new. It was God’s idea first. Jesus, through His death on the cross, gives the gift of salvation to all who believe and accept the gift. The recipients then are asked to pay it forward to reach out and give to others, as we have received.
In the overview to this chapter, I explained that there are many in Christian circles who not only have difficulty, but reject outright the concept of salvation through faith alone, apart from works. But the message of pay it forward makes it very clear to me. God gives us salvation–free and clear. God’s hope is that having received this great blessing we will be moved to pass it on, or pay it forward. As we pass God’s blessing on to others we change their lives for the better. Not only that, but as we give to others we also receive “…a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your (our) lap.” (Luke 6:38) consequently our lives, too, are changed for the better as we reach out to help to improve the lives of others. Because we have received salvation we are changed people. As we reach out to others our lives are further changed.
In this chapter Paul is talking about our duty to use the gifts and talents God has given us to make the world a better place, while at the same time giving us a greater purpose for our lives. Wouldn’t you like to think that you have the power to make positive changes in the loves of others? Wouldn’t you like to feel like you are important? The thing is: You are! We all are! We are important to God’s purposes. If some great celebrity whom you admire were to tell you how important you are to that person’s life you’d be thrilled to no end. None other that God–The God–big G, big O, big D–God says you are important to God’s purpose! Every time you put yourself in God’s service, each time you allow God to use you to bless another–this is true worship.
LIFE APPLICATION
Romans 12:9-13
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in Christian love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving God. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
It’s easy to say I love you. It’s a lot harder to mean it. It’s easy to love the lovable. How are you at loving the unlovable? Even if you can’t embrace them, you can always wish them well, and you can pray for them. Sincerely.
Remember that what you focus on is what you give power to. Turn you back on evil! Do not give it any energy. Hold onto what is good. When you world is falling apart, it’s so easy to focus on the negative. Instead, use you energy to seek and hold onto whatever you find that is good. Remember that the stars come out only when it is dark.
Indians have a word: Namaste. Loosely translated, it means I honor the place where God resides in you. What if we were to really believe that God resides in every person we meet? How would that affect how we treat them?
Have affectionate loyalty towards one another and consider yourselves as close as brothers and sisters. Indeed, since God is our parent, we all are relatives. Find the specialness about each of them that makes them unique.
Don’t be halfhearted in what you do, but commit yourself wholeheartedly to serving God. Serve God with enthusiasm. Joyful hope is a strong hope! Life always provides challenges and the enemy still tries to inflict and afflict, but always remember that whatever the hardship or trouble, this too, shall pass. More than that, often our conflicts are opportunities in disguise. We’ve only to do the unmasking.
We often think of monetary giving when we speak of sharing with God’s people who are in need, but oftentimes what God’s people really need is a gentle touch, a kind word, a listening ear. Opening up your heart in addition to your home is an excellent practice of hospitality.
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 everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says God. (Deut. 32:35) On the contrary: “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals upon their heads.” (Prov. 25:21, 22) Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Paul calls us to cultivate a compassionate nature–a peaceful nature. We know from studying the scriptures that Paul wasn’t always a compassionate or peaceful man–there is much evidence to describe him as being from time to time ornery and even cantankerous. Paul was not above ruffling feathers as he felt they needed ruffling. We can see the evidence of his sympathetic bent for those of us who aren’t always perfect in this respect in his words, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you…” I share these words with you not to bring Paul down, but as evidence of Paul’s sincerity, as well as his humanity. These words lend an air of authenticity to the scriptures–they are written, not by a pompous holier-than-thou, but by someone aware of and humbled by his own shortcomings. Did you know that the opposite of love is not hate it is indifference? Think about it.
In the 1940’s, a very small man, humble and shy, became the instrument God used to bring down the British army. In India, Mahatma Gandhi taught his people the doctrine of non-violent resistance. Their peaceful actions resulted in the independence of India. In the 1960’s, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., having studied the lessons of Gandhi, taught his people the same doctrine of non-violent resistance. Those of us alive during that time, watched on TV peacefully marching African-Americans get Billy-clubbed, bitten by police dogs, knocked to the ground by the high-pressure water emitted from firemen’s hoses. In spite of all this abuse they continued to march, to pray and to sing: “We Shall Overcome.” Many died, including Dr. King, but still they marched, and prayed and sang. And we watched, till we could no longer watch. Till shame burned in our hearts for those who inflicted this evil on those who would not fight back, till we passed the Civil Rights Acts. The marchers were not overcome by the evil inflicted on them–but they overcame the evil with their good.
On the cross Jesus prayed, “Abba, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” This is a prayer we would do well to take to heart. Often, people become victimizers because they once were victimized themselves. Were you to be able to sit down with them, get them to go beyond their justifications, get them to search their hearts and explain to you the reasons for their behavior, more often than not, they would not be able to tell you why. In truth they need your prayer, they need God’s forgiveness, because in truth, they don’t really know what they do.
LIFE APPLICATION