Living in Righteousness, Peace and Joy

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

LIVING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE, AND JOY

Rom 14:13-18

13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. 14 As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15 If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16 Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

NIV

It seems to us that those whose faith is weak are in control of the whole of the church because what someone considers what is clean and opening imbibes then becomes a stumbling block for those who cannot believe in that freedom in Christ. But the problem is that if we are a stumbling block to them then we are not acting in love. So those who believe that nothing is unclean and are free to eat or drink whatever, then they must abstain because it could cause distress for those who are weaker in their faith. However, what Paul is saying is that all this stressing over the rules and regulations about what is acceptable to eat or drink has nothing to do with the kingdom of God. We would think this should apply to all members of the body of Christ. That is to say because the kingdom of God is about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, then both those who consider everything clean and those who consider certain things unclean should all be acting in love toward each other, living in a righteous manner, that is living with virtue, purity of life, uprightness, correctness in thinking, feeling and acting, which is how this Greek word, dikiois, which is translated as righteousness in this context. If that were the case then it would not be appropriate for those who consider something unclean to pass judgment on those who think everything is clean but live in love and peace and joy of the Holy Spirit. Still, we must all put others before ourselves so how then do we deal with those who feel they must abide by certain rules and regulations about what is clean and unclean? We simply cannot cause them harm in any way, however, would it not be more appropriate to show them the better way to live in Christ, to help them to exercise their faith, and live by the truth rather than by traditions. This is to say that traditions can change over time, and they certainly have in our lifetime, as to what is clean and unclean, but the truth is always the truth, unchangeable forever. Still, all that is not really about the kingdom of God. All that business about clean and unclean is a distraction from living in the kingdom of God, the new creation, and being an image bearer of God. So then it would be appropriate for all believers to put aside all thinking about what is clean and unclean and live in righteousness, peace, and the joy of the Holy Spirit. 

Living As One

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

LIVING AS ONE

Rom 14:9-12

9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. 11 It is written: "'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'"   12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

NIV

Every Knee will bow before God, which means both the righteous and the unrighteous. We are given this same picture from the revelation that was given to John when he explains seeing the sheep and the goats standing before God and the goats are put on his left and the sheep on his right.  The goats are cast away while the sheep are invited into his rest. However, the point Paul is making is still about the tension, stress and division, dissension, and judgmental attitudes over how some eat and drink in the freedom of Christ while others live bound by rules. But this is not going to end with each going their separate ways, but somehow living in love. Still, for now, we should consider that all of us will bow before God. What is that going to look like? What does it mean that we will give an account to God. Are we going to have to bow before him and have him review our lives, like in the Albert Brooks movie, Defending your life, where he has to watch videos in a courtroom setting of the good, bad, and ugly moments of his life? What we know is that because of Christ dying on the cross, taking our sins upon himself, and paying the price for our sins, therefore we have been forgiven. That means God will not hold or judge us according to our sin, but he will judge all men according to whether they are in Christ or not in Christ, again the sheep and the goats. Therefore, because we are in Christ, God has already declared us holy and righteous in his sight. However, Paul is once again saying that God is the only righteous judge, so then we have absolutely no business, or authority to sit in judgment of each other. That means we cannot judge our fellow believers as to how they live out their faith, no matter if is it strong or weak, and we cannot judge those who have yet to use their faith to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. God will judge everyone on that basis. Still, as we will see, each of us believers has a responsibility to each other, to live in love, which we will see means we should not be a stumbling block to each other. So no matter how much we exercise our faith, we are still all people of the faith, living in harmony, singing the same tune of praise to our Lord. Let us not worry about bowing before God, as we should already be doing that, but let us be concerned about how we live out our faith toward each other. Will we fail at times? Sure, we are all humans with the frailties that accompany our humanity, but we should try, as much as it depends on us to live in peace with each other. And when we all stand before God, we will all be bowing together as one flock of our Great Shepard. Therefore, let us live as one now. 

No One Lives Alone

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

NO ONE LIVES ALONE

Rom 14:5-8

5 One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

NIV

This is the continuation of what Paul started regarding those who have strong faith and those who have weaker faith, which we believe is due to the amount of exercise of the measure of faith God gives to every person. He started with food and is now dealing with how each approaches our days, whether we think certain days are more sacred then another or whether we see each day alike. Certainly, in many of the churches today there are special days Christians consider as holy, or sacred. Currently, we are beginning this Lenten season, with some celebrating this with Ash Wednesday, which as far as we can see is more traditional than biblically based. Yet, each must make up his own mind. Then we have Good Friday and Easter, which are indeed special days in the life of the Church that are biblically based. With Christmas somewhat considered the time of Christ coming to Earth as a baby, although some refer to it as the birth of Jesus, however, how can Jesus who was in the beginning and created all that was created, be born except as born as in taking on the form of man. Nevertheless, most celebrate that event, yet not so much in a biblical sense, as many have the children put on plays that include the three wise men, along with all our nativity sets that have both the shepherds and wise men together, but that is alright to see it traditionally.  Most accept this is a holy or sacred day, but it is not entirely in line with scripture. Again and again, we have some who look to sacred days and some who do not, but that is once more to each mans own mind, and however someone is convinced, as far as believers are concerned, they are living for the Lord, and give thanks to the Lord for whatever he sees these days as being. Paul brings back into play the idea of food again using that to say that however each of us believes about eating or abstaining we all do it to the Lord, for none of us are an island onto ourselves, as we live to the Lord, and we die to the Lord, as we all belong to the Lord. So let us not get ourselves all tied up in knots about the secondary or tertiary truths as long as we all agree on the primary truths about God. Sometimes we could allow ourselves to get entrenched in useless debate or even become judgmental of those who we disagree with regarding issues that the scripture may or may not speak directly, or clearly to, or those who have adapted some traditions over the truth. Once again, it would be incumbent upon us to love one another as we love ourselves as we all live in and for the Lord, as none of us lives alone. Therefore, it is not up to us to change someone’s mind as long as they are living for the Lord, and not living for themselves, because none of us live without the Lord, none of us are alone. 

Accepting Without Judgment

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

ACCEPTING WITHOUT JUDGMENT

Rom 14:1-4

14:1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2 One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

NIV

Paul has more to say on this matter, but we will be content for now to simply consider this first part about how we treat one another. It would seem that among the church there are going to be some whose faith is weaker than others. This seems a little strange to us as we believe, as we have been told that God gives every person a measure of faith, and if he does not show favoritism then we would also have to believe he gives all men the same measure of faith. This is certainly different than the gift of faith or when the Spirit manifests or expresses himself in someone with an extraordinary type of faith, for a special purpose for the common good. However, as we each have been given this measure of faith, it also would be incumbent upon ourselves to exercise this faith. If, however, some do not exercise their faith, it could become weak within them. Those who have that stronger faith should still accept those whose faith is weak, or weaker than others. We should do this without passing any sort of judgment upon them because of their deliberating or questioning what is true, which is translated here as disputable matters. Paul gives some examples of the difference between those whose faith is strong and those whose faith is weaker. The first is about some regulations regarding food. The point he is making is those whose faith is weak or weaker than others, might be of the mindset of the don’ts of Christianity, that is trying to live by some manmade rules rather than living by faith in Christ Jesus. Although they do express their faith in Jesus for their salvation, they simply cannot allow themselves any freedom when it comes to what they eat or drink. Yet, if we are among those whose faith allows us to eat meat then we should not judge those who restrict themselves from meat. However, they also have the responsibility not to judge those whose faith is strong and who imbibe meat. Therefore, neither of us should judge another man’s servant or in all of our cases, who serves the Lord. We each must stand before God according to how we serve him however we exercise or don’t exercise our faith regarding  eating or abstaining from certain foods or even drinking. Let us ensure our faith is always getting stronger without judging those who are allowing their faith to remain weak. 

Night and Day

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

NIGHT AND DAY

Rom 13:11-14

11 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  

NIV

Be aware of the preciousness of time. We have but one life to live in the current form of our body and we should make the most of the time we have. That does not mean in terms of either our position in life or of material gain. Paul is talking about waking up from our slumber, to see the truth about salvation. He makes this analogy about night and day. Once we lived in the darkness of night and we did those things that the night covers with its lack of light. However, more importantly, we were spiritually asleep and in need of the dawn of day, the light of the world. Paul uses this term of the armor of light that we are to clothe ourselves in, which he repeats in a clear way but telling us to clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. As we have noted in our studies of his letter to those in Ephesus when he talks about the armor of God, each piece of the armor is a description of the Lord Jesus Christ, thus saying that we should clothe ourselves with Jesus. He is our shield of faith that protects us from the attacks of the devil. He is our helmet of salvation, giving us knowledge of the truth. He is our truth grided around us, so the lies of the devil are known to us. He is our peace in which we walk, and the sword, his very word, that overcomes, strikes the very heart of the evil one. So as we are clothed in Jesus it would be rather obvious we would behave decently as in the daytime, where all we do can be seen by all. It would also seem obvious as living clothed in Jesus that we would not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Surely we do not take part in orgies or drunkenness or sexual immorality and debauchery which the Greek word means unbridled lust. We would also not take part in dissension and jealousy, but there lies a problem as these two are simply attitudes that cannot be seen as the behaviors of the night can be seen in the day. We must be careful in our mind, our thinking, and our attitudes so as to not live in dissension or strife, which is the opposite of living in harmony with all believers, all singing the same tune, sounding like one great choir singing praise to our Lord. Envy, which is the excitement of the mind, which is the envious and contentious rivalry, or jealousy that can cause all sorts of disharmony in the choir. We must live in the moment of the day, living in the Spirit, doing that which we are, an image bearer of God, shining like a star, a light to the world, the salt of the earth, showing the world the light of day, Jesus Christ, the truth, the light, and the way. There is a vast difference between the night and the day, and we are awake and living in the fullest of the day. 

Love Fulfills it All

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

LOVE FULFILLS IT ALL

Rom 13:8-10

8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."   10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

NIV

Once again we are faced with the idea that the law is no longer something we should look to for our righteousness or even in being obedient to God. Why are believers still wanting to look to the law, or create their own laws? When we establish any form of law, that is rules to live by then we are accountable to those rules or the law. When we think about the law that was given to Moses, we might dismiss those laws the Israelites had to live under, but we might well still look to the Ten Commandments as relevant to live by. However, Paul makes it clear, as we have seen Jesus make it clear, the law is fulfilled simply by loving our neighbor.  Paul even references those Ten Commandments as being summed in but one rule, “Love your neighbor as yourself”. Let us set all our rules aside, for we know that we cannot find any peace in following them for we are frail and cannot, just as the Israelites. But we can love our neighbor the same way we love ourselves. That is we would never do ourselves any harm, at least on purpose. We could be harming ourselves unaware in some way, perhaps through food that is bad for our health, or through some some attitude that is bad for our heart or spirit. In the same manner we could unintentually harm our neighbor, but we would never do it with purpose. But we would have to think for the most part we would never purposefully do harm to ourselves. This is the same as what loving our neighbor is all about. We would never intentionally cause them any harm. We would not murder, or hate them, as Jesus said was the same. We would never steal from them, or not give them the honor they deserve. We would never covet anything they have, for that would be either jealousy or envy and we know that is not right. Or whatever other commandment there may be, including all those rules and regulations that we what to impose upon ourselves. No, all we are supposed to do is love others as we love ourselves. If we can do that, we have fulfilled every last law that ever was or could ever be. If we are the image bearers of God, and if our fellowman, who is either the image bearer of God, or should be, then we could say loving them is the same as loving God. If we want to see what loving them looks like, then we just have to look in the mirror and see our heart, see our being the image bearer of God. 

Give What is Owed

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

GIVE WHAT IS OWED

Rom 13:6-7

6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

NIV

It is interesting that we should come to this portion of this letter dealing with paying our taxes, as it is tax season in our country. We pay federal, state, and local taxes to support those who govern as well as for all the programs that are implemented by them. Nevertheless, it is the Christian duty to pay our fair share of taxes based on our level of income because, once again, Paul makes it clear those who govern or the authorities are God’s servants, keeping watch over our society so that it does not become lawless. However, these instructions go beyond just paying our taxes. We recall the trap the Pharisees attempted to catch Jesus in regarding taxes and he asked them whose inscription was on the coin. It was much different in those days under the Romans’ governance than how we live under the authority of those who govern our country. The people had to pay a tax period, no matter their income, and if they could not pay, they were deeply in trouble. Today we must pay according to our income after the government gives us a certain amount of deductions so that in some cases where the deductions are more significant than the income, no tax is due. But now we are to consider paying someone respect if that is what we owe them and honor if that is what we owe them. Both these Greek words that are translated as respect and honor deal with persons of rank, that is those who govern. For the Jews and Gentiles who first received this letter, that meant because they were the image bearers of God, as we are today, it was their duty as well as ours, not to rebel against those who govern over us, for their positions are of authority which has been given to them by God. The wholeness of all this is in those words of giving everyone what is owed them because they are servants of God, even if they do not honor God, as the Romans surely did not, and as many who govern us do not. Paul has more to say about this, especially about not leaving any debt unpaid. But for now, let us simply see that as Christians it is our duty to live faithfully in accordance with God’s instructions about living within the law of the land. 

A Clear Conscience

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

A CLEAR CONSCIENCE

Rom 13:1-5

13:1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.

NIV

We think it would be good to first establish the concept that without some order of authority, in the civil sense, the world would be in absolute chaos, living in a lawless condition with no civil order whatsoever. This then would result in people doing whatever they desired. There would be no personal property, no security, no sanctity of life, with each person taking whatever they wanted from another person without any consequences. Of course, as believers, we want to look to God as our supreme authority,  governing our lives in accordance with his rule. Paul tells us now that if God established civil authority in order there would be order in society. We do know that over the centuries there have been and continue today civil authorities that would be considered pagan, and in some cases downright evil. Yet here we are with this instruction to not rebel against the authority that God has established for the good of society in this world. Although the times are different than when Paul was inspired to write this, as he lived in a time when the Roman Caesars ruled with an iron fist, and under Claudius, Jews were expelled from Rome. As far as Rome was concerned there was not any distinction between Christian Jews and Jewish Jews. Thus this charge to obey this civil authority. For us it is not any different in the sense we live in a society made up of many different religious backgrounds and in our country, our forefathers established the separation of church and state, which keeps the government out of the affairs of the church, whatever religion that would be. In order words unlike in the time of Paul when Caesar had the right to declare a state religion, our government cannot not, thus all citizens of this country are free to worship in whatever manner they desire. However, we are not free to live outside the civic laws established by the government authorities of this country. Paul says that we have nothing to fear from civil authorities unless we break the laws of our land. The most common example of this would be on our highways. The only reason we would be concerned there would be a police car with radar is if we were speeding, breaking the laws of the road. If we contained our autos within the speed limit, we would have no concern about a police car sitting alongside the road. We know that is a minor issue, but nevertheless, as a Christian is it alright for us to ignore that authority. We know they will not stop us if we just speed five mph over the limit, but how does God see that? Are we obeying the civil authority he established or are we defying that authority? It is not about punishment, as in we might get a ticket, but it is about our conscience. Are we doing right or wrong? Let us not be remiss in doing right, so that our conscience is clear. 

Being an Overcomer

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

BEING AN OVERCOMER

Rom 12:17-21

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 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 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."   21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

NIV

This instruction is simply contrary to human nature and therefore it would seem that if we are going to be successful in complying with this we need to be living and walking in the Spirit. We would think being Christians we would never repay evil with evil. However, the interesting things about that would be the reason for doing that. When evil is perpetrated against us and our feelings are hurt or injured, we would think it would be because we are thinking too highly of ourselves than we should. How dare that person hurt our feelings. What were they thinking? Don’t they know that is wrong? Do we have to tell them how much they hurt us? Or maybe we will just ignore them from now on, and they can never do that to us again. Then we will be getting even with them. Maybe we might just tell others how they acted toward us, or what they have said that hurt our feelings. Oh yes, we will repay them, although we don’t actually say that, even to ourselves. But then are we doing what is right in the eyes of everyone? When it comes to doing right in the eyes of everyone, that does not mean creating a façade so we look good in the eyes of everyone, but really doing good. However, within the context of these instructions, this does not mean doing “Good deeds”  to be seen in the eyes of everyone. This means doing good, and behaving in a manner that is good, which would imply not hurting anyone, such as, once again, not thinking more highly of ourselves than we should. When we do, then we project, even if we think we are not, a sense of superiority that causes others to think poorly of us, unless they are living and walking in the Spirit, then their feelings would not be injured by our attitude, but if they are flawed in the slightest way, as we all are, then we are causing them harm, and thus not doing good in their eyes. The other way we could not be doing good would be through the method of gossip. Once we tell stories about another to someone, we no longer are doing good in their eyes, even if their ears are being tickled. This is why we are admonished to be careful, to watch ourselves closely, keeping guard on ourselves so that we act in a manner that is good in the eyes of everyone. This also would then cause peace between us all. It is interesting that Paul does include disclaimers, “If it is possible” and “as far as it depends on us” we are to live in peace with everyone. Maybe it is not possible. Maybe we do not even try, so it would not depend on us, as we want others to live in peace with us. Let it depend on them, let them live in peace with us. But it must depend on us, we are the ones who are to put forth as much effort as is possible to live in peace, living in harmony with everyone. This would be the key to doing what is right in their eyes, and not allowing any evil to interrupt our efforts to live in peace. Therefore, by making every effort, we would never take any form of revenge whatsoever. If we make every effort to live in peace, we would never be overcome by evil, but we would surely overcome evil with good. Living in peace with everyone, thus overcoming evil, would mean we would be overcomers. 

Not Living Out of Tune

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

NOT LIVING OUT OF TUNE

Rom 12:14-16

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. Do not be conceited.

NIV

It does seem a little weird to think about blessing those who persecute us because in this country we do not receive much if any, persecution. However, it is true that throughout the world there is much persecution of Christians, as it was at the time Paul wrote this letter. He received persecution in some of the cities where he preached the good news. Now, perhaps the reason we are not the subject of persecution is that we have blended into the world’s scene. That is we do not preach the good news at all, although we might mention God in our conversations with non-believers if, in fact, we actually have any conversations about spiritual matters at all with them. We have heard believers say that they think that just being a good person will get the attention of non-believers and they will ask why we are so good. Still, the fact remains that we should be blessing all people, and therefore not cursing them, or being judgmental of their behavior, for can we say that we are without sin. However, we still think that if we were to always preach the good news, telling people about the kingdom of God and how it is here and what they should do about it, we might experience some persecution. It is interesting that the first definition of the Greek word translated as persecute means to drive away, to make to run away, or flee. Maybe because some people push us away, not wanting to hear what we have to say about the kingdom of God, that would be some form of persecution. Now as far as the other words here, we do wonder if this rejoicing with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn is restricted to the church. Could we not also rejoice with a non-believer who is rejoicing about a promotion at work? Could we not rejoice with a non-believer who has just had a baby? There are times when people can rejoice over something good that happens in their lives, and we should be rejoicing with them. On the other hand, there are times when believers and non-believers alike mourn about something that has happened in their lives. Again, it is interesting how the Greek can bring a different view. Not so much about rejoicing for being glad about someone is rejoicing, but to mourn means to weep with them, which is not sympathy, but rather empathy, to feel their pain, their sorrow, their hurts when one of those difficult times in life strikes. Because we think we should have these responses with both believers and non-believers alike because of what Paul says about being willing to associate with people of low position, which would be living in harmony with each other. Although he is writing to the church, it does not seem he is making the distinction between those who believe and those who do not. Yet, even in the church, it would appear there are those who think they have a higher position than others, or they are more important than others. We are reminded of the mother of James and John who wanted her sons to be honored above the other disciples. This is certainly not in harmony with each other. We could have spent a whole devotion on each of these phrases, and maybe we should expand on them in days to come. But for now, let us be aware and be wise about how we think of ourselves, and never find that conceit creeps into our thinking, and yes, even this blessing of others, rejoicing and mourning with others is a result of living in harmony, or not living out of tune. 

Sharing and Accepting

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

SHARING AND ACCEPTING

Rom 12:9-13

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

NIV

Let us now turn our attention to sharing with God’s people who are in need as well as to practicing hospitality. We do find it interesting how the Greek makes something a little different than most of the various translations express the meaning. It is not they are completely different, but the word translated as share, or contribute is koinooneoo, which means to come into communion with or fellowship as well as to be a sharer, be a partaker. This carries a deeper meaning than to just sharing. The question, of course, is what are we to communion or fellowship with them, what are we to partner with them? First, we should also understand that it is not what their need is, but what is their necessity, which could imply a variety of things. Certainly, the basics of life would fit, such as food, clothing, and housing, which could be accomplished with sharing our money with God’s people. We would think that it first would have to be known there are God’s people who are in need. Then does that mean just within our local church, or does that mean worldwide? We do not think Paul is exhorting this church in Rome, and us, to return to what happened during the acts of the apostles, when people sold their property and had all things in common. Over the course of time the church has certainly changed and that type of communion in acts has not been repeated in the church throughout the course of time. Nevertheless, we still come back to how do we share? How do we fellowship or partake in the necessities of those fellow believers? Again, it would seem this would require a level of transparency in the church. How do we know someone is in need unless they express their need? It seems, at least to us, that there is more of a sense of a façade within the local church. When it comes to the worldview, we could give and give, and the needs would never be completely met. Therefore, we have to think, this coming into communion with our fellow believers is referring to within the regional church, or where we are aware of someone in need. Still, it comes down to partaking in their necessities. What that looks like exactly is difficult to comprehend unless a complete openness is within the church. Then we would know who is in need and could be of assistance. Still, it comes down to doing if we are to comply with the leading of the Spirit. Let us simply be open to this partaking as the Spirit leads us. As far as practicing hospitality, it would seem self-explanatory, both as a church, accepting those who are different then us, and in a personal sense, inviting others into our homes to fellowship, to communion with them. However, the Greek word here for hospitality directly speaks to strangers. That is accepting all into fellowship.  

Joyful Patient and Faithful

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

JOYFUL, PATEINT, AND FAITHFUL

Rom 12:9-13

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

NIV

Now it is time to think about being joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. We are not sure if we can do justice to all three of those traits that we are to incorporate into our being, but at least we will start off with being joyful in hope. However, as this is a triplet and considering the format of the Greek words, we should look at all three as they feed off of the others. If we read it in the way the Greek has it, it would be hope joyfully, in tribulation patience, and in prayer continuing constantly. So then, if our hope of glory is so assured that it is a rejoicing hope, that is if our expectation of the glory of God will be revealed, that is when the fullest of the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this earth are united in the truest sense when all will be one and the completeness of the new creation will appear as the new city of Jerusalem comes down from heaven and we will shall rule and reign with Christ. What a rejoicing that will be, when our Jesus we will see. This should bring this rejoicing to us right now in the current age as we bear his image in this present world. This then should also give us in this tribulation, or the pressures of this world, which is the meaning of the Greek word translated as tribulation, patience, again, because we are filled with rejoicing in the expectation of the revealing of the glory of God. However, both this joyfulness and patience under pressure are fed from our being faithful in prayer. But we must consider just how that prayer feeds our rejoicing and patience. Unlike what we hear in many of the voices of believers, prayer is a list of needs and wants, or at least prayers for healing, provisions, and protection. However, prayer in the truest sense of the word is a conversation with God that starts out by giving him all the praise and honor his name is due. Prayer also seeks his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, which implies that we want God to reign completely in our lives. It seems to us that the usual prayer is us bringing our needs and laying at the feet of our Lord and then getting up, so to speak, and walking off to begin our daily lives. Rarely do we spend time just sitting, or kneeling or laying, or whatever and be still, and know that he is God, just listening in the stillness of our soul, or spirit, waiting for God to speak to us, to engage in this conversation with us. Granted, we can do this praying as we read his word, and find that we hear his voice within His words. But it also can be that as we still our spirit, we hear that still small voice of God within us, speaking his will, his direction, his correction and guidance directly to us, and yes, even an audible voice at times. It is when we hear from God in prayer is when we can be joyful in the revelation of his glory, and endure with patience the pressures this world puts upon us, and then even that can be done with joyfulness for we have heard from God. 

Lukewarm of Boiling Over

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

LUKEWARM OR BOILING OVER

Rom 12:9-13

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

NIV

It is now time to consider the exhortation to never be lacking in zeal, but that we are to keep of spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. It would be good to explore the Greek words to give us more insight into this pattern in our lives. First, this word that is translated as lacking we notice the Greek word, spudee, has the direct meaning haste, as well as it, can be used for earnestness or diligence. So in that sense not ever being lacking, would fit well as we are to earnestly and diligently with haste, that is not wasting any time or not being slothful, as the Greek word okneros means, in our spiritual fever. Once again another Greek word that is translated as fever, means to be boiling hot. It reminds us of what Jesus said that he would rather us be ice cold or boiling hot, but that if we are lukewarm, he will spit us out of his mouth. However, being cold is not an option, so then we must be boiling hot or else we are going to be spat out of Jesus’s mouth. That is a frighting thought. There is no room for being lukewarm, which means simply accepting that we are Christian because we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and we do a few good deeds whenever it is convenient, which does not interfere with our daily lives in this world. Maybe that is all that is required of us, but then that does not fit the criteria of never lacking in zeal, but keeping our spiritual fever, being boiling hot, in our serving the Lord. This picture of boiling hot reminds us of a pot of water on the stove. When the water is simply lukewarm, it appears the same as when it was cold as we filled it, but when the heat brings it to a boil, the water is dancing around, bubbling up, and if the pot was full to the brim, the water would be spitting all over the stove. This is how we are to be in our spiritual fever, boiling over, spilling out all over as we serve our Lord. What we absolutely want to avoid is simply being lukewarm, but we should always be boiling over. 

Cherishing and Honoring

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

CHERISHING AND HONORING

Rom 12:9-13

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

NIV

Now that we have looked at loving, hating, and clinging, we need to ponder on this idea of being devoted to one another in brotherly love, alone with honoring one another above ourselves, which seems to go together. First, we need to see this as the Philadelphia love, which is the way we cherish each other as brothers and sisters in the Lord. It would seem to us that if we did indeed cherish each other there would be absolutely no striving or envy, jealousy, or judgmentalism which would include gossip of any kind. All those plus more internal feelings are harm-causing which is the complete opposite of cherishing. It is interesting the Greek word translated here as cherish, filostorgos, has this meaning of affection love, prone to love, or loving tenderly. As we examine this word, it appears to have a similar prefix of filo, which is from the phila prefix of this brotherly love, yet storgos, although is not actually used alone within the scriptures is the type of love between spouses. This is why together this word carries this affectionate love concept. Once again, if we cherished, or affectionately loved each other, we would never do any harm in any way whatsoever to each other, nor would we have any feelings, secret or shared regarding another believer. This seems almost too difficult to live out within the mixture of personalities that make up the local church. We have heard, and perhaps even said that we love them, but that does not mean we have to like them. How is that thinking correct in any way? If we cherish those others within the body of Christ, then we would exhibit an affectionate love toward them, and how could we do that if we did not like them, or like their personality, especially if it appears they are definitely not exhibiting any kind of affection love toward us or that they honor us above themselves. But then again, we are looking at how they treat us, rather than how we are required to treat them. Paul is not saying that we should cherish others, only if they cherish us, that we should honor them only if they are honoring us. There is still one more thought that we should explore, or at least consider, and that is if another believer says something to us, which is not honoring or showing any affectionate love at all regarding another believer, what are we supposed to do. How do we respond? Would it be appropriate to correct them, bringing their attention to this portion of the scripture that tells us to cherish and honor others? Would that be cherishing them and honoring them above ourselves? Still, the point is directed at our heart and mind and if there is going to be affectionate love and honoring other believers before ourselves, then it must start with us. 

Loving, Abhorring, and Clinging

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

LOVING, ABHORRING, AND CLINGING

Rom 12:9-13

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

NIV

How can love be sincere? Is there something such as fake love? First, we should see this is agape love, not the agapao type of love which is love in a social or moral sense. Agape love is defined as a love feast, affection, and goodwill. It is used as the love of men for men, or people for people, it is used as the love of men toward God, it is used as the love of God toward Christ, and of Christ toward men. It is the fullest of all loves. Because it is used of the love of Christ toward men, then we can see a perfect example of how we are to love in the must sincere, or as the Greek word, anupokritos means unfeigned, genuine, or undisguised, or not concealed. We would think if we are loving each other in the way that Christ loves us then we would not never, ever do anything that would cause any harm to anyone in any way whatsoever, but that we would openly exhibit love toward each other in the purest and most honest way. At the same time, which would be very natural in this purest form of love, we would hate, detest, abhor, and have a horror of any form of evil. We pray often that God would not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil. Therefore, if that is our prayer and God hears our prayer, especially one that Jesus gave us to pray, we would have to believe that we are, in fact, delivered from evil. However, if we are exhibiting this purest form of love, it would be natural to abhor evil. Yet, it would also seem that whenever we fail to live with perfection, which in this corruptible flesh that we are presently captive in is impossible to do, we commit some form of sin, which is in essence evil. However, because of the perfect love that Christ has for us, going to the cross for that very reason of taking our sin upon himself and paying the debt for us, we are able to live in the forgiveness of God, thus we still abhor that evil and desire to love him with all our being, and in doing so, we also are to love others as he loves us. Therefore, our love should, no must, be genuine, without any façade, meaning a transparent sincere love, clinging to that which is good. We hold tightly to the good, which if we are honest with ourselves we would know that God is the only one who is truly Good, therefore we cling to God.

 

The need of Mercy

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

THE NEED OF MERCY

Rom 12:3-8

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 measure of faith God has given you. 4 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 who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

NIV

We have arrived at the last of the “gifts” of the Spirit, that Paul mentions, which is showing mercy. We do have to remember that all of these expressions of the Spirit are all from the same Spirit, that is to say, they are all his in the first place, and they remain his for if he gives them to more then one person over the centuries of time, then they are his and he simply expresses them through whomever he determines to when he determines to for the common good of all the members of the body of Christ. So then those who want to say that they have this “gift” then it would no longer belong to the Spirit as he gave it to a person. This is why we prefer to reference them as the expression of the Spirit within and through various people throughout the course of time for the benefit of others when needed. We should also note, if we haven’t, that the word “gift” means the grace or favor of God that one receives without any merit. That is we cannot earn these “gifts” or expressions of the Spirit by any human means. This is to say we cannot become educated, earning a degree in any area, and then indicate that is our “gift” because we would have some merit in that area which is listed as one of the “gifts” of the Spirit. So, let us deal with this area of showing mercy. The Greek word, eleeoo, means to have mercy on, specifically to bring help to the wretched. This would be a person who is in a very unhappy or unfortunate state, or someone who is miserable, heartbroken, or grief-stricken. How then could we help them with mercy, or bring help to them? It would seem to us that it would not be possible within our human means. Therefore, we would think that as the Spirit knows who is in that kind of wretched state, and leads us to encounter them, he would then express himself through us to show them mercy. Once again, if we were given this as a “gift” then we would need to go about looking for someone who is in this wretched state so we could show mercy. That just seems preposterous to even contemplate that would be the way the “gifts of the Spirit” operate. So then, we must come to the conclusion that the Spirit manifests or expresses himself within anyone at any time with any one or more of his expressions when it is needed for the common good. Therefore, as just one example, let us say the Spirit is expressing himself through someone to teach and in the course of that instruction time, there is a person within the sound of his voice that needs mercy,  and the Spirit moves through that one he is expressing teaching through to show mercy right there and then. Therefore, the very same Spirit is manifesting himself in several ways through the same person. Hence, we must leave all these expressions or gifts of the Spirit totally up to the Spirit and simply be open to his expressions in and through us, when it is needed for the common good. 

Diligently Leading

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

DILIGENTLY LEADING

Rom 12:3-8

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 measure of faith God has given you. 4 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 who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

NIV

 

To be a leader, to be used by God to lead others is certainly not an easy “gift”. The Greek word here has the meaning of being over, or to superintend as well as to be a protector a guardian.  This has great spiritual applications. We do not think Paul is using this term in the secular sense of leading others neither in a military nor pollical sense. Therefore, this would most likely be aimed at those who have been called to be the spiritual leaders of the body of Christ. It could be seen as being directed at the pastor of a church, or those who serve in the higher denominational regional or national headquarters. However, if we are to believe that the Spirit is expressing himself within whom he determines to as a leader, then this could apply or be seen in many other people within the body of Christ. Those who teach Sunday School, or oversee another ministry where either teaching or discussions are conducted. Through the years, we have seen the ministry of small groups that meet in homes, with one person having the responsibility of being the overseer, the leader of the group, and would be a layperson. Whenever any leading of the spiritual matter occurs, we would think it would have to be under the influence of the Spirit. However, that may or may not be the case in many of the cases which implies this would be done under the power of man, rather than God. However, the point is that if through the grace of God, that is the divine influence of God a person is gifted, or the Spirit is expressing himself within a person with leadership, this person should apply himself with all diligence. This is a little difficult to understand because if it is a “gift” or the expression of the Spirit, then we would think that diligence is a human effort, rather than from the Spirit. If we think in terms of leadership being a gift then it comes completely from the giver, with the recipient simply opening it, and in the case of a tool, such as leadership, using it with all diligence, or properly, in accordance with the reason the giver presented it. Therefore, if we have been given this “gift” which is being responsible for the spiritual growth of others, then we should apply ourselves to the study of the word, diligently so as to be leading as the Spirit expresses himself in and through us. So then we would be diligently leading, which puts a whole other spin on this “gift”. In other words, if the Spirit is expressing himself within us to lead, then we cannot lead half-heartedly, but we must be diligently leading. 

Sharing

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

SHARING

Rom 12:3-8

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 measure of faith God has given you. 4 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 who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

NIV

Now we need to investigate this gift of contributing to the needs of others. First, we should note this is not about our tithing in our local church. Of course, tithing is an all together different concept then the gifts, or the expression of the Spirit in various ways through each of the members of the body of Christ, according to the divine influence in our lives by God. Tithing is not contributing to the needs of others, as its main purpose is to support the expenses of the local church. We would have to believe the major portion of the tithe is spent on the salaries of those who serve on the staff of the church as well as all the utilities and other upkeeps of the church building, with a percentage sent to denominations' higher authorities. So then, what exactly is this contributing to the needs of others outside the needs of those paid positions, for our tithe does meet their needs. It is interesting this Greek word, metadidomi, is not aimed specifically at monetary giving. Its direct meaning is to share a thing with someone. The question then is what is this “thing”? This could be applied to a financial matter, as in sharing some of our money with another person. It could be applied to sharing our time with another person, which could imply sharing ourselves with someone. However, the other interesting concept is how we are to share a thing with others. This translation uses the word generously, however, in looking at the Greek word, haplotees, we find more than generously. Once again, its direct meaning is with singleness, simplicity, sincerity and mental honesty, which include the openness of our heart manifesting itself by benefactions. In other words, we are to share whatever it is without any ulterior motives whatsoever, which would include feeling good about ourselves because we shared something, again, either money, clothing, food, time, or ourselves with another person. We think this is, for the most part, contrary to our human nature, with of course, those few who through their sense of humanitarianism meet the needs of others, are not predisposed to share what we have with others. Even then many who give in a corporate sense do so through the contributions of many others. So we are left with this gift, or this expression of the Spirit in certain people who he determines to express himself through, so that their hearts are open to the needs of others and they have but a singleness of heart in the most simplistic and sincere way, without any mental reservations, or in their thinking more highly of themselves then they should. This requires the Spirit working, expressing himself within a person in the most intimate of ways. 

Encourage, Exhort, Comfort

  

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

ENCOURAGE, EXHORT, COMFORT

Rom 12:3-8

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 measure of faith God has given you. 4 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 who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

NIV

We have come to this area of encouraging, or as some would be in the habit of saying, the gift of encouraging. So then we would think this is pretty self-explanatory and that it would be right to encourage each other. It is interesting how this Greek word, parakaleo, can be used in a variety of ways. However, it is defined in this context as being combined with the idea of exhorting and comforting, and encouraging. Therefore, if the Spirit decides to express himself in someone in that area of encouraging others, then it would also include the meaning of exhorting or strongly urging someone to either do or don’t do something, or to behave or not behave in a certain manner, which we would think that this would be strongly urging someone in the ways of the Lord. Of course, at the same time, this strong urging would be done while at the same time being a comfort to that person. This would mean that if the Spirit is expressing himself within us to encourage someone, or strongly urging them toward God or away from sin, then we would be doing that while comforting them, or being a comfort to them, which would imply doing all things in love. This is all implied in being an encouragement to them, which could also mean not just in words, telling them to do or not to do something, but to be a living example of the appropriate manner of living as being an image bearer of God. Of course, we cannot do any of this within our own abilities or by our own merit. That is to say, we cannot decide whether to encourage or strongly exhort someone. That is not up to us to decide that someone needs to be strongly urged to either do or not do something, or behave or not behave in a certain way. Although, we would also think that it is always appropriate to live in a manner that encourages others to live that same way, or by always speaking forthrightly regarding the word of God, which itself encourages us to live as the image bearers of God. Nevertheless, if the Spirit determines to express himself within us in the area of encouraging, we need to move in concert with the Spirit, without any attitudes of judgment, which would be opposed to being a comfort during this exhorting, which of course, the Spirit would be expressing that within us as well. The point of this is to always be open to the expression of the Spirit within us to be an encourager. 

To Teach

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

TO TEACH

Rom 12:3-8

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 measure of faith God has given you. 4 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 who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

NIV

If the Spirit expresses himself through someone in the area of teaching, let this person then teach as they are both inspired and influenced by the Spirit. We would have to believe there is a difference between teaching and facilitating, which seems many of us would rather say that we are only facilitators of a discussion regarding the scriptures. However, this Greek word, didaskoo, means to hold discourse with others in order to instruct them, as well as to discharge the office of the teacher, thus conducting oneself as a teacher. So then if the Spirit expresses himself through a person to be a teacher, then let that person instruct others. If for example, we were used by the Spirit as a teacher, then it would behoove us to prepare properly through the study of the scriptures in order to bring the truth to others. There is somewhat of a problem in the sense that each teacher might well be restricted in a certain sense by denominational bias, or rather its interpretation of various scriptures, which would be contained within the denomination's statement of faith, or what they believe. However, we would also think that this office of the teacher is inspired and expressed through the Spirit, which should then bypass all denominational limits on the instruction of scriptural truth. This may well be why so many shy away from referring to themselves as teachers and refer to themselves as facilitators, which allows them to be bound to their particular denomination's view of scripture, as well as allows them to be free from the inspiration and influence of the Spirit, thus leaving them only to the human element. Still, the meaning of being a facilitator is to be a true educator acting as a facilitator of learning. That is to help others learn, and if that is in regards to the scriptures then perhaps it would be better to look to the Spirit and simply realize that one is, in fact, occupying the position of teacher. Of course, then we would have to consider the “gifts” given to the church as Paul mentions in his letter to the Ephesians, where one is the Pastor and teacher. This is usually seen as one person serving the role of both the Pastor and the Teacher of the people of God. However, here in this letter to the Romans, the role of the Pastor is not mentioned in association with the teacher. So then, let us be diligent in our understanding and pray that if the Spirit decides to manifest himself in us to teach, let us teach with the authority of the Spirit.

 

Ministering

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

MINISTERING

Rom 12:3-8

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 measure of faith God has given you. 4 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 who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

NIV

It is time to consider this gift of serving, but it would seem more appropriate to take on all the rest of these gifts, teaching, encouraging, contributing, leading, governing, and mercy. Yet, each of them has merit as stand-alone gifts, so perhaps we should look at each one as individual gifts, which again, as we understand, is the work of God as he divinely influences our hearts and minds, thus manifesting within us how he determines, as he is the potter and we are the clay. We do not think it is our nature to serve others, although Jesus has taught through his example and teaching that he who would be the greatest in the kingdom should serve others, as he even told his disciples that he did not come to be served, but to serve. Yet, this gift of serving goes beyond our normal call to serve others. This Greek word translated as serving here carries a more direct meaning of ministering, which is used in some other translations. So then if our gift is ministering, then let us minister well, in accordance to the divine influence of God. This Greek word is another tense or variation of the Greek word translated as deacon, or table waiter, which was the case used when the seven were chosen to minister food to the widows. Nevertheless, to minister still looks a lot like to serve. We also should remember that Paul in other letters indicates that any gift from God is to be used for the common good. So then if we are influenced to minister or serve, then we are to do that for the common good of all believers, at least in the local church in which we have been led to be a member. It would be difficult, at best, to minister to the church at large, so it would be most appropriate to see all these gifts manifested within the local church, such as Paul writing to the one church in Rome. But what does this gift of serving look like? What we should consider is that Paul uses this same Greek word in his letter to the Ephesians when he writes about the four gifts given to the church, Apostles, Prophets, Evangelist and Pastor and Teacher. All of these are for to be used for the perfecting of the saints, or believers, for the work of the ministry, edifying of the body of Christ. Thus, any serving, or ministering as influenced by the Spirit, or manifested in us through the power of the Spirit, is for the purpose of edifying all other believers. Therefore, we cannot boast or even think more highly of ourselves because we have been given the gift to serve others. If this ministering or serving has been influenced by the Spirit within us, then we need to serve in all humility. 

Gifts In and For

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

GIFTS IN AND FOR

Rom 12:3-8

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 measure of faith God has given you. 4 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 who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

NIV

Paul is using the human body as an illustration of how the body of Christ should function. Each one of us belongs to all the other members, and as with the human body, each member of the body of Christ does not have the same function. It would seem difficult to believe that with so many believers in the world, some of the gifts of the Spirit are not repeated, however, the point is there are various gifts and therefore the Spirit determines in whom he will manifest which gift. That is to say, we cannot pick and choose which gift we would like to have, as if it were a menu at a restaurant. Once again the gift which the Spirit gives, or manifests within us in accordance with the grace given. Once again we could see this grace in various ways. It can be seen as the act of graciousness of God, which fits this context, as well as it could be seen as that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, and the sweetness of God, which also fits this context. It also can be seen as the loving kindness, goodwill, and favor of God, which fits this context as well. Then it has been used in this sense of his divine influence upon our heart and how that is reflected in our lives, which also fits right into this context. Whichever way we see this grace, it is all about God giving or acting in and on our behalf, so that we use whatever gift he uses with to further his kingdom. Let us examine each of these gifts mentioned within this letter to the Romans, although as we know there are other gifts Paul mentions to those in Corinth, and in Ephesus. So then if God determines to gift someone with prophesying, it does not mean this person fills the office of prophet, but that God simply wants this person to declare the mind and counsel of God. This can happen because of the amount of faith a person has and thus is willing to hear the voice of God within them, or could we say God’s divine influence and speaking that which God has influenced this person's heart and mind. Certainly, this was true of all the prophets of old, but it would appear, this can still happen in the New Testament Church. We would think, speaking on a personal level, since we have had numerous times to be able to stand in the pulpit of various churches, with much preparation, we end up speaking words that were not planned, and which afterward have no recollection of what we said. Knowing others who preach the word of God and exchanging experiences, we know that other pastors or preachers have had the same thing happen to them. Therefore, we could conclude that this could be the gift of prophesying present in the post-modern church of today. This is not to say that this gift is exclusively given to the pastor/teacher of the church. We also have to remember that all gifts are given by the Spirit as he determines, therefore, any gift can be manifested within any believer at any time, but not by the will of man, but by the will of God. 

Sound Thinking

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

SOUND THINKING

Rom 12:3-8

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 measure of faith God has given you. 4 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 who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

NIV

We did not get very far into this passage on our visit with it, as all we could focus on was the fact that we should think more highly of ourselves than we should, which translates into not boasting about either what we do or our accomplishments. No, we must think of ourselves with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given to us. First, this Greek word translated as sober carries the meaning of being of sound mind. This would mean that we should not have a fantasy about ourselves, as in looking in a mirror and seeing, in the case of this old person, seeing a still youthful one, able to jump higher than a building, run faster than a speeding train, or something that we are not. This also applies to our lives in the community of faith and in the world. Once again, humility stands taller than boasting, including that boasting if it is only to ourselves. The key to thinking with a sound mind is understanding that it is God who has metered out a limited amount of faith in us. What we also know is that God does not show favoritism thus we would have to believe that he meters out the same amount of limited faith to each and every one of us. We use the term, limited amount because that is the meaning of this Greek word translated as a measure. Nevertheless, the point is that without God giving us whatever amount of faith he does, we would not even be able to have any faith at all. This gives us the truth that without God, we are faithless and hopeless. Once again, we cannot even boast about our faith, for it is a gift of God, like everything else in us, such as life itself and all that we are and all that we do. Everything is a gift from God. It is his grace at work in our lives. In fact, when we consider that Greek word for grace, we have been understanding that it means his divine influence in our lives and how that is reflected in our lives. How do we reflect God? This is the vocation given to us from the start. We were to be the image bearers of God. This is sound thinking in accordance with the measure of faith God has given us. Rather then projecting our image, which would be through our boasting regarding whatever we do, again, supposedly for the kingdom, although boasting is more about what we do for our own image, the only person we can boast about is Jesus. We must see ourselves for who we are, flawed, in one sense, but at that same time declared holy and righteous by God because we have used that measure of faith he has given to us to believe in the one he sent, Jesus. We will see, as the rest of this passage explains, that we are members of one body, His body, and we are completely reliant on God for whatever function we serve within the body of Christ. For now, let us move forward in our understanding with sound thinking. 

Think Carefully

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

THINK CAREFULLY

Rom 12:3-8

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 measure of faith God has given you. 4 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 who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

NIV

For by the divine influence that is given to Paul, or grace, we are told not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. Of course, he was originally speaking to those believers in the church in Rome, but this same warning certainly applies to us as well. It is interesting to watch how some believers are overcome by boasting about all that they did, which they profess is for the Lord. However, if we boast at all about our comings and goings, or all that we do, then we are not in service to the Lord, but rather in service to ourselves seeking the praise of men. In these post-modern times, it has become too easy to be caught up in using various forms of social media to boast. It seems strange that with this social media, such as Facebook, all our posts are generally seen by those who are our media friends, who in the case of us believers are usually many other believers. So then why would we post every time we do something regarding a religious nature, such as our part in the body of Christ. Although this type of behavior of informing all our friends every time we do something that we think is for the Lord, is boastful, it is only a symptom of an internal problem. Paul is talking about thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought. It does not matter if we boast outwardly or not, although we should not boast about anything other than Christ. But it is in our thought life that we could have this over-exaggerated opinion of our importance without ever saying anything to anyone. There could be another symptom that causes someone to boast, and that is the feeling of inferiority, in which this type of thinking results in the need to make oneself look better than one actually is, still the result is still boasting.   However, it would seem that what is in our hearts, or mind simply seeps out through our mouths without giving any concern about looking boastful. We will get to the rest of this passage about these various gifts, but in light of them being gifts, we should first note that all that we are, and do is a result of the gift of God, and not of ourselves, so then why would we boast about ourselves. We also have to be careful not to be judgmental of those who do boast, for in our judging them, we are thinking more highly of ourselves than we should, and at the same time we must be aware not to boast about our humility before God and men, but that is exactly how we should think and live, in full humility before God, and humbly serving the others in the body of Christ. James tells us that if we humble ourselves before the Lord, he will lift us up. Of course, that should not be our reason to humble ourselves before the Lord. Still, this is all about the Lord, and nothing about us, so we need to be careful how we think. 

His Perfect Will

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

HIS PERFECT WILL

Rom 12:1-2

12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 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 — his good, pleasing and perfect will.

NIV

Although we have considered offering ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and agreeable to God which is our spiritual act of worship, we did not spend any thought about worship at all, and we look into this not conforming, but being transformed by going through a metamorphosis in our thinking, we now want to ponder the results. Because we have renewed our minds and changed the way we think completely, we no longer conform to the pattern of this world, and because we worship God with our entire being, as Jesus told us to love the Lord God with all our mind, soul, spirit and strength, or body, we now are able to recognize as genuine after examination and deem worthy, the will, what he wishes, or determines that what should be done, of God. In other words, unless we renew our minds, unless we completely change our way of thinking, and leave that pattern behind, we will never be able to comprehend the will of God for our lives both in the corporate and personal sense. However, if our faith is in Jesus Christ, which means that we believe God as Abraham did, then God will have this conversation with us, as he did with Abraham, informing him of what he was about to do, that is what his will was concerning Sodom and Gomorrah. God wants us to know his will, he is not trying to hide his determination, his plan, and his will for the church in general as well as for each of us personally. However, we do not think he is willing to reveal his will to those who pattern their lives after the world, for they have not renewed the way they think. So then what we know as far as God’s will for us as believers is to be his image bearers. We are to reflect his glory to the world and do so with ever-increasing glory. What we notice, at least it seems that way to us, is that the chasm between the pattern of this world and the way we live is becoming greater and greater. It is as though we live in two different worlds, which may be more true than we realize. Those who live according to the pattern of this world, live in the world. We who have renewed our minds live in the kingdom of God. Their god is their stomachs, or self-preservation, self-satisfaction, self-centered and self-pleasured lifestyle, serving only their desires. We have changed how we approach life, as we have renewed the way we think and we have submitted ourselves to the living God for his plan, his purpose for our lives. This would be an either/or situation, as it would appear very difficult, actually impossible to live in both the world and in the kingdom of God. We have never had any success riding on the edge of a fence, nor have we seen any cow able to graze on both sides of the fence simultaneously. Let us reexamine how we think about everything. Let us take a hard long look into our thinking, and even ask our Lord, if we have any anxious thoughts, and to search our heart and mind, helping us to rethink anything that even resembles any pattern whatsoever of this world. Coming to Him is our only hope, our only way of ever being able to comprehend his good, pleasing, and perfect will. 

The Renovation

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

THE RENOVATION

Rom 12:1-2

12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 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 — his good, pleasing and perfect will.

NIV

Having considered as a result of God’s mercy, we are to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and agreeable to God, which is our spiritual act of worship. We need to still take a long look at this conforming and transformed concept. First, we should note that Paul is telling them to not conform any longer to the pattern of the world, or the age, which is the most direct meaning of the Greek word translated as the world. The no longer is implied as there is no such word in the Greek interlinear version of this verse. Nevertheless, it is implied that for some time we were pattering our lives according to the age we live in. But what is that pattern? It would seem right to say that sin is at the forefront of this world’s pattern, yet the core behind sin is idolatry. The pattern of this world in regard to spiritual matters is the worship of created things. This could be applied to materialism, or something like environmental, with the worship of nature. Phrases like, “Tree hugger” have been used to describe the most passionate nature activist. While many succumb to the pattern of prideful accomplishments. We could spend pages on the various ways in which we could conform, in one sense or another, to the pattern, in all its complexities, of this world. However, the main pattern of this world is sin which stems from idolatry. We cannot think like the world does, as we are to be transformed, or go through a metamorphosis, changing everything about ourselves, which is done through the renewing of our minds. As we are familiar with going through a transformation, changing from being a condemned sinner into a child of God who is forgiven, or going through a metamorphosis, changing our entire being from one thing to another, we should focus on this renewing our minds. This renewal is the reason for the transformation thus we should understand what it means to renew our minds. The Greek word used here for renewal includes a renovation, a complete change for the better. We can see the before and after pictures of some old kitchen, that went through a complete renovation and now is a much better-looking and functional area. This is our minds. First, our old minds were not very much to look at and were not very functional as an image bearers of God. In fact, our minds reflected the image of this world. Now, we have renewed, and renovated our thinking, and revolutionized the way we think about this world and how we think about God. We have put all things under His authority through the way we think. We can say all the right words, appearing to be people of faith. We can even pray with many words, some even eloquent, others seeming spiritual, but it is what is going on in our mind that causes this transformation. In order words, we can build fancy facades, but what are the plumbing and electrical systems like. What is going on in the depth of our thinking? Have we really changed how we think, and it is for the better? Has our mind gone through a complete renovation?