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ROMANS CHAPTER 12 KJV WEB See previous page Rom 12,1-3 (43l) Judgment >> Satan destroyed in the absence of sin >> Perfecting the will of God – There is a good will, an acceptable will and the perfect will of God. The good refers to our willingness to serve Him; the acceptable is to do the good works of our choosing, and the perfect will of God is to do His good works that He “has prepared for us beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph 2-10). This is the difference between doing our good works and His good works: the anointing. His good works afford us the highest reachable level of anointing according to our measure of faith (v6). He wants us to seek that highest level, which we can only receive when we are exercising our faith to the fullest. It is the good works that God has prepared for us that brings the fullness of the anointing through faith, also the fullness of persecution. See also: Don't walk beyond your faith; Rom 12-3; 69l / Faith and love; Rom 11-32; 127a (190a) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Masochism (Self-made martyr) >> Laying your body on the altar – In the Old Testament we see Israel performing the animal sacrifices on the altar, and cleansing the articles inside the temple with their blood, including the golden altar of incense and the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, all of which are picturesque of Christ shedding His blood for the sins of the world. Paul is saying that Jesus sacrificed His body, and now it’s our turn. Obviously, we don’t literally sacrifice our bodies as Jesus was mercilessly whipped and then nailed to a cross to die, the vast majority of His blood spilling on the ground before he passed away. God doesn’t want us to harm our bodies; we could whip ourselves half to death and it would have no affect on our willingness to sin, nor would it please God, but it would rather be considered an act of rebellion. Instead of doing harm to the body, God is calling us to sacrifice its sinful passions and desires, that is to starve its appetite for sin. It is a slow death, and it is not death but hibernation, and it is acceptable to God. Paul is calling us to suppress the sinful nature that lives in our unredeemed body by a method that fasting simulates. When we physically die, the body will suffer decay, because it is still under the curse along with its sinful nature. These things need to be brought under control of the Holy Spirit. Paul called it dying to self in that it closely resembles starvation. The fact is, if our bodies can’t have its evil ways, then it would rather be dead, and this is what fasting does. We withhold food from the body as though it were sinful to eat, so that if we harness the hunger that results from fasting, then we can also harness our sinful nature, for they are both based on fleshly impulses. See also: Fasting; Col 3,5-8; 134h KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 12-1,2 (6g) Responsibility >> Being spiritual >> Ministering to God by dying to self (14b) Servant >> Servants expend themselves to please God – Does it takes sacrifice to form our mind around the Scriptures? Yes, that's why it says to sacrifice our body before attempting to program our mind. To study the Scriptures and pray for a godly mind, but then to continue on our way with your old habits intact is taking one step forward and two steps backward! We will not get where we spiritually want to go until the gospel can reach to the root of our life and pull up the things that impede our walk with God, and that takes sacrifice. God promises a great reward both in this life and in the life to come if we do this. (41i) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> Be godly in all your behavior (42i) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Transformed >> Conform to the mind of Christ – Can we sin in heaven? Job 4-18 says, “He puts no trust even in His servants; and against His angels He charges error.” There are no laws in heaven, and “sin is not imputed where there is no law” (Rom 5-13). We may fail to do the perfect will of God sometimes, but no outright sin exists in heaven. Paul called it the mystery of godliness, meaning at this point we don’t understand it. God went through a lot of trouble to make us free, and he’s not about to throw it all away and turn us into robots so we can't sin. That is not freedom. The mystery of godliness is just as unfathomable as Satan who chose to sin before sin existed, called the mystery of lawlessness. God will give us a body that cannot sin. The freedom that God has given us today is based on the parameters of slavery to righteousness (Rom 6-17,18). That is, we are free so long as we continue to choose righteousness, but the minute we choose sin, we become enslaved to it all over again. This same freedom will be ours in heaven, only minus the slavery. Since we will have a body that does not crave sin, we will no longer be slaves of righteousness. Today we must force ourselves to do the will of God, but in our resurrected bodies righteousness will come naturally. See also: Mystery of godliness; Eph 3,7-9; 14a (78k) Thy kingdom come >> Renewing your mind >> Conform to the word of God – We cannot live according to our beliefs until we renew our mind in the Scriptures, which means that being a casual believer has no power to change our life. People who are carnally minded might read the Bible, but not enough to renew their minds, because the word has found no place in their hearts. They might factually concede that the Bible is divine truth, but they don't actually believe it, or they would live according to it. The only way we can do that is to become students of His word and disciples of prayer, and that takes faith. Now we have stumbled on a catch-22; we need faith to renew our mind and we need to renew our mind to have faith. Any time we discover circular reasoning, it suggests we need God to help us around it. That is, we need to live by a vision, not by factual knowledge. The chief priests and Pharisees had Jesus crucified, knowing the Old Testament backward and forward, having factual knowledge but scarcely understanding it. (98e) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Rooted deeply >> To keep from falling away – The word “Therefore” means, based on what was previously said. At the end of chapter 11 Paul wrote an exhortation about the riches of God's wisdom in His unfathomable judgments; then in verse one he urged us "to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice," as a prevention to getting pruned from the tree of life. Some people argue in Jn 15-6 that Jesus is not referring to hell, but if He isn’t, then the Bible doesn't speak about hell anywhere. Some would like to extract hell from the Bible altogether, but they have a lot of explaining to do regarding many passages of scripture. Paul is saying that we sacrifice our bodies to the will of God and transform our minds by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the word of God, for the very purpose of avoiding hell. James' epistle revolved mostly around including righteousness in our behavior, and now Paul is adding his two-cents to the subject of holiness, who was a holy man himself and extremely zealous, who had the wisdom of the Spirit, and knew that no matter what the effort, it is always worth avoiding hell, as Jesus also stated in Mat 5-29,30, “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.” Instead of cutting off body parts, just renew you mind. (133j) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >> The body of Christ is holy >> Our obedience is holy to the Lord (208fa) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being the friend of God >> Relationship with God through obedience >> We resemble Him through faith (247k) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> The will of God >> We play our part in the will of God >> Doing the will of God (252j) Trinity >> You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship God >> Worship God by your lifestyle – Worship begins in the mind and accounts for about ninety percent of our worship; the other ten percent we express through the members of our bodies. Worshipping God in the mind is the basis of offering our sinful flesh to God, which is holy to the Lord. We can't do that without first renewing our mind, and we can't do that without first becoming a student of His word and a disciple of prayer. When we look at some of the love sonnets that King David wrote in the Psalms, they were all about meditation and his perpetual acknowledgement of Him in all things. David had many great traits, but one of the greatest was his relationship with God. It was the basis of his victory over his enemies, which to us equates to victory over the sinful passions and desires of our flesh. Rom 12-1 (53h) Paradox >> Opposites >> Living sacrifice (105c) Thy kingdom come >> Pure in heart >> Being a slave to a pure heart (111i) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Kingdom of God revealed >> Manifestation of truth (134f) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Composition of our bodies is from the earth >> Worship unlocks the spirit realm (138k) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Exhortation >> The discipline of exhortation -- This verse goes with verse 8 (189a) Holy Sacrifice (Key verse) (189c) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Holy sacrifice >> Acceptable sacrifice KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 12-2,3 (116g) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through the words you speak Rom 12-2 (78g) Renewing Your Mind (Key verse) (94n) Thy kingdom come >> Perspective is your personal reality >> How you interpret your point of view (167h) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind does not receive the things of God >> It does not believe the word of God (167i) Do Not Conform To The World (Key verse) (228f) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> God is working in you to place you in His will >> To place you on the trail of good works. See Commentary: Act 21,9-14; 234h (238e) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The kingdom is transferred to the Church >> New creation >> The new creation is our spiritual identity (248d) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> The will of God >> The will of God is acceptable to Him – If we do the will of God, it is acceptable to Him. The Bible teaches that obedience is a form of worship. Conceivably, singing songs, raising our hands and jumping up and down in church is not necessarily worshipping God, yet obedience all by itself does this. We could go back to the Sermon on the Mount and review Jesus saying, “If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Mat 5-23,24). He was saying that doing what is good and right is acceptable to God, being a higher form of worship than singing songs to Him. We can sing a song with an unrepentant heart, but we cannot obey Him without first repenting, in that obedience is tantamount to repentance. 1Samuel 15-22 says, “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.” Obedience is a high form of worship, yet there is higher form than that: prayer. That is, we acquire obedience through prayer. Let’s face it, we cannot worship God until we come to know Him, and we come to know Him through the word of God and prayer. Paul said in Rom 7-14, “We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.” How then do we access the Spirit, except through the word of God and prayer? We can read the Bible until we’re blue in the face, but when we go to prayer, God reveals His word to us in the Spirit, enabling us to repent and become free. Rom 12-3 (32c) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> Grace >> The Spirit of His grace (56m) Paradox >> Opposites >> The poor in spirit are rich in faith (69l) Authority >> Righteous judgment (outcome of discernment) >> Judging yourself correctly – If we are to be realistic about our calling, we are not to assume any other role than the one God has given us, lest it end in spiritual tragedy, for instance, to become a missionary when God has not called us to that. We are to diligently seek our rightful place in the body of Christ that God has for us and settle into it, but we are not to become a pastor if God has not called us to it. What God is calling us to do should feel right, not too easy and not too hard, and it should use all our faith and all our giftedness we received at birth, for He wants us working within the framework of our being. If God has given us faith, then we should do something with it; and if we are gifted, then we should use them to help establish the body of Christ. If we have little faith, then we should do much as we can without working beyond that threshold (v6). This is how we protect our faith, by thinking realistically about ourselves, measuring our talents, tallying our gifts, and seeking God for a place in His body where we best fit. See also: calling; 77j / Don't walk beyond your faith; 78c (77j) Thy kingdom come >> Tapping into the power of God through humility >> The humble realize the source of their power – We need to know as much what God would not say as what He would say. To remain in prayer and saturate our mind with God’s word makes us ready to hear His voice, and we will also be ready to share a word with others in need of hearing something from heaven. If everybody discovered his calling and stepped into it according to the measure of his faith, the Church would immediately be transformed into a beautiful instrument that God could use to do His will in the world, indicating just how few people really know their calling. The Church is stuck in the mud, and we never question our doctrines, because we're afraid to admit we might be wrong about a few things. We wouldn’t dare suspect we believe in error, yet we do so much that many churches think the only person who needs to have a calling is the pastor. See also: calling; 79d (78c) Thy kingdom come >> Sincerity of heart >> Being honest >> Free from inconsistency – We shouldn't be haughty, nor should we treat our giftedness with contempt, but share ourselves with others in humility of heart for the purpose of building up the body of Christ. Paul instructed us to do all things according to our allotted faith and not to walk beyond it (v6). For example, if we know what is right but don’t have the maturity level to live by it, we shouldn't pretend or lie about it, especially not to ourselves. God would rather we were patient with ourselves, genuine and sincere while we work toward maturity. See also: Don't walk beyond your faith; Rom 12-6; 176j (79d) Thy kingdom come >> Renewing your mind >> Monitor your thoughts -- This verse goes with verse 16. God has a place prepared for people in the body of Christ that is tailor-made just for them. A person's calling should challenge him without being overly taxing. Discovering our calling is worth seeking God with all our hearts until we find it. His calling is usually not intuitive or easily discernable; it is something we could have never imagined on our own. This is why we need to seek God, because we will never stumble on it accidentally. The secret to finding our calling is to simply focus on our relationship with God to the fullest extent of our faith. Our relationship with Him will give us everything we need to both find our calling and fulfill it. Our relationship with God will afford us the hearing ear, and with that He will disclose to us His will along with our calling, and by stepping into it we will fulfill our purpose for being born. Therefore, we must develop the hearing ear in order to hear his voice, so He can tell us what He wants us to do. We all have a general calling to be students of God’s word and disciples of prayer. If we show diligence in this, God will invariably show us what He wants us to do as our life's goal that will produce more fruit than any ministry we would choose for ourselves. See also: calling; Rom 12,4-8; 130m (89g) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Wisdom is the key that unlocks the mysteries of God (96g) Thy kingdom come >> Attitude >> Positive attitude about yourself -- This verse goes with verse 16 (223b) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Conceit >> Thinking you are superior to others >> Having an inflated opinion of self KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 12,4-8 (130m) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Interdependent on each other >> Depend on your brother to walk in the gifts of God’s calling – We are to exercise our gifts according to the level of our faith, not to prophesy or teach beyond our knowledge or give beyond our willingness or lead where he is not called us. Instead, we are to be genuine and sincere. We are not to go beyond our faith in serving others, not pretending to care or feigning compassion. None of this produces fruit but is destructive and breeds distrust. We are not to teach beyond our understanding of the Scriptures and inadvertently teach heresy. We are not to give beyond what is in our hearts and suffer burn out, for we will give more in the long run if we always do it with a willing heart. We would do well to be patient with ourselves and let our faith grow. If we are pressured to give more than we are able, we should not cave to the pressure, for this is injurious to our spirit, proving we are in a ministry that is unconcerned about us, and in that case we should go elsewhere with our faith and gifts. We are not to get ahead of God or of yourselves, nor try to lead someone who would make a better leader than us; instead, we are to give preference to one another in honor (v10), for God blesses humility. People are watching and they will see that we care more about the body than we do about our own place among the people, and they will entrust us with ministries from every direction, as God Himself raises us to new heights. We will capture the hearts of the people and God will give them to us as a ministry. We never lose authority by delegating it but multiply it. See also: calling; Rom 12-4,5; 131ja / Unity; 136h (136ha) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> Body of Christ consists of individual members >> We are chosen members of Christ – Spiritual gifts are for the purpose of building up the body of Christ. The things we suffer in our flesh, in our minds and in our hearts, as we gain victory over them and our faith continues to increase, translates directly to a ministry that God would give us for building His people. It would behoove us to let God mold us into the person that He desires, instead of conforming to someone else. God wants each person spiritually different, just as we are all physically and mentally different, and He wants us all to have different gifts and employ them in the body with the goal of maturity. This takes faith, wisdom, trust and courage to work with people who are different from us, who have gifts and abilities unlike our own, though just as capable of building up the body of Christ, only in different ways. We should never squelch one another’s gifts. (136h) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Body of Christ consists of individual members – Unity is the highest goal for God's Church. If we obtain unity, we possess everything from God. There is no calling higher than unity in the body of Christ, nor is unity a tool to achieve something else, for unity is the goal, just like freedom is a goal. Without unity there is no oneness and without oneness we are just individuals without a place. Unity acts as a lattice structure, similar to gardeners who provide ladders for their creeping vines. Lattice structure is also mentioned in the field of chemistry as bonding cites where atoms form molecules. Christianity also has a lattice structure in the Holy Spirit, representing the overall anointing of the body. Each person has an anointing of his own among those who obey the Holy Spirit, and when we make our contribution to the body, it acts as a lattice structure by which all the members bond to each other in an organized fashion. In a church where there is no anointing among the people there is no hope of unity, but where there is anointing, due to obeying the Holy Spirit, the bricks bond to each other with mortar cemented between them forming the Church. The overall anointing is greater than the sum of its parts, called synergy, referring to the power that God uses to dwell among His people. See also: Unity; 225l (225l) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Parables >> Parables about the body of Christ – People who sacrifice the will of God for the sake of being religious have no idea what they've lost in trade. They have no idea what synergy can produce, this extra power that comes from combining all the parts into a single unit. This is what we read in the Acts of the Apostles, producing the miracles they performed by the power of God through unity, being the status of the early Church. To experience spiritual fellowship was the greatest miracle of all; consequently, a lack of unity also provokes the greatest threat. Unfortunately, unity was slowly edited from the early Church, and by the year 300 AD the Church had regressed to the state of Catholicism, which is the very definition of apostasy. Within 300 years people were willing to give up everything in order to maintain their religion for the purpose of feeling human in this world. However, what God wants from us is to be extra-human; He wants His Spirit to dwell in us in ways so profound that people in our day should be fearful of the Church because of the uncanny power that lives within our unity. In the days of the early Church, people outside the church could tell that God was among them, and they respected the Church, and apparently it scared the Church members too, and so they slowly crept away from the will of God in order to feel more like constituents of the world. Peter said that we are a peculiar people (1Pet 2-9), but people don’t want to be peculiar; they want to fit-in. This was the problem with Israel too; they wanted to be like the other nations, and so they gave up their calling from God and sought the world instead, and the Church has basically done the same thing. See also: Unity; Rom 12-4,5; 131ja Rom 12-4,5 (131ja) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Many members but one body >> Many people but one wife of the Lamb – This passage acts as a summary of everything the Bible says about unity. Each member of the body of Christ has a unique function; we don’t all do the same thing, as Paul meticulously explained in First Corinthians chapter twelve when he wrote about the gifts of the Spirit. However, unity is not built expressly on the gifts, but even more on the fruits of the Spirit, as each person finds his station in the body of Christ and remains faithful in it. There are many other gifts than the ones listed in First Corinthians chapter twelve. Some are mentioned in the Bible and some are not; in fact, it would be impossible to mention them all, since each person is a gift to the body. Take for example the hand, it is a visible member that performs many functions and is very valuable to the rest of the body, but so is the liver and pancreas that work to keep the body healthy, though they work in the background and are never seen. See also: calling; Rom 12-3; 69l / Unity; Rom 12,9-14; 129h KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 12,6-21 (250k) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Lists >> Terms of graduating to the next level >> List of spiritual traits in descending order – Each entry in this list of traits can be viewed as a gift in that some people are better at expressing a few of them than others, who in turn are better at emphasizing different traits, all for the purpose of establishing character in the body of Christ, so that our reputation as Christians remains flawless. These attributes work to build unity in the body of Christ through our good behavior as our spiritual service of worship. Rom 12,6-8 (35ja) Gift >> God gives Himself to us >> Gifts from the Holy Spirit >> Spiritual gifts >> Possessing gifts from God (115f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through your ministry >> In your gift Rom 12-6 (11g) Servant >> God’s standard is in proportion to our output (32c) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> Grace >> The Spirit of His grace (152j) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Prophets >> The Church holds the position of a prophet >> Church operates under a prophetic anointing >> Speaking a prophetic word from God (176j) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Extremes >> Truth is never found in your conduct on either extreme of any circumstance – We are not to live or walk beyond our faith, in this case Paul is telling us not to prophesy beyond our faith, that is, not to prophesy anything that we are unsure is God speaking, suggesting that knowledge and faith are related. Much of our knowledge is based on Scripture, but the knowledge we speak when we prophesy is God given, and for that reason it is based on faith. This goes back to 1Cor 14-32, “The spirits of prophets are subject to prophets,” meaning God can attempt to speak through someone who has the gift of prophecy, but the message is limited to the person's knowledge. If God wants us to prophesy and we refuse, God will accept that; contrast that against the person who wants to grow in the gift of prophecy and "prophesies" things that he doubts is coming from God, which could do more harm than good. People in the congregation who are judging the prophets usually know when someone over-prophesies, indicating the person has ulterior motives for prophesying in the first place. See also: Don't walk beyond your faith; Rom 12-8; 120d (239l) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers >> Let not many of you become teachers >> Teachers incur a stricter judgment – What the Bible says about teachers applies the same way to prophesying. Paul was a strong advocate of the gift of prophecy, confirming that it holds potential for tremendous benefit to the body of Christ, but mostly what we hear in prophecies today is a lot of dumb stuff that we already know. Instead of dripping with the Holy Spirit, prophecies are often dripping with emotion. They are usually things people want to hear regarding the mushy-gushy love of God. He does love us, but the fact is we already know that. How many times did Jesus outright tell His disciples that He loved them? Try never! Prophecy should be something that is informative, something that we had not previously known, but our prophecies should not get so far ahead of people’s knowledge that it leaves them scratching their heads. Rom 12-7 (239j) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers >> The gift of teaching >> The ability to teach is a gift from God Rom 12,8-21 (34n) Gift of God >> Be generous like your Father >> Love your enemies Rom 12-8 (120d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Forgiveness >> Forgiving your brother >> As God has forgiven you – If it is not in our heart to forgive, what can we do? Pray for spiritual maturity! The worst thing we can do is lie to our self and others and say that we have forgiven the person when we haven’t. If we know there is bitterness in our heart, the only thing we can do is pray about it, and that is all we need to do, not necessarily one day or one hour, but for years if necessary. Eventually God will give us victory over bitterness as our faith increases. Like a giant cargo ship going through locks of a dam, the captain only needs to exercise a little patience and let the water level increase, so he can continue his journey up the river. We may have been held up for a while, but we must stay there until things get better. It’s a learning curve and a time to be refreshed in the Lord, while we work on our faith, seeking a spiritual level that is needed to overcome the circumstances of life. See also: Don't walk beyond your faith; Rom 12,1-3; 43l (120k) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Contentment >> Content with your standard of living >> Free from greed (125i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Joy >> Joy is the result of giving (138k) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Exhortation >> The discipline of exhortation -- This verse goes with verse 1 (235h) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Giving (your inner self) >> Be liberal in your giving like God – In each case: exhorting, ruling and showing mercy, giving is the common denominator. God calls us to be a giving people, though unfortunately the only thing the world wants from us is our money. We have more to give than that. God reveals His truth to us, and we give that in our exhortations. We are all leaders of things pertaining to those who need our leadership, who are weaker in faith and look to us for knowledge and understanding. We lead the way; and when they make mistakes, we forgive them. This pertains to people who are sincere in their pursuit of God. We can find hecklers, con-artists, scammers and spiritual liars a dime a dozen, and to them we can give and give, and they will never bear the fruit of the Kingdom. We can forgive them for taking advantage of us, and we can exhort their ears that are not open, and we can lead them, but they will not follow. The only thing they will receive from us is our money. This seems to be universal, but the true saints will receive things from us that we received from God. They strive with a whole heart to accommodate Jesus Christ in every way they can, just for a touch from the Master’s hand. They will dedicate their entire lives for a single touch from God that will change their lives forever. (240b) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Pastor (Shepherd) >> Pastor has a shepherd’s heart KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 12,9-21 (6b) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Jesus’ yoke of love Rom 12,9-14 (129h) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> love perfects unity >> Genuine love – Paul is making the point of building up the body of Christ. Some might say that the ultimate goal of the Church is to reach the lost with the gospel, which is important, but how can we do that with a Church that is not united in truth? Without unity we can’t reach anybody. We use unity to attract people to the Church, not fancy buildings or gigantic cathedrals or mega-churches that seat thousands. There are mega-churches that fill all the chairs, but what kind of Christianity is it? The attraction is probably something that appeals to the flesh that scarcely resembles the Scriptures, being questionable how many people are even saved in a church like that. With unity we have a spring of life that flows through the center of God’s people from which we quench our thirst. As we tap its resource for hope and faith, we discover that others are going through struggles similar to our own. See also: Unity; Rom 12-10; 131h Rom 12-9 (127o) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >> Overcome evil with good -- This verse goes with verse 17. Paul essentially uses the rest of this chapter to address the problem of taking revenge on our enemies, not to do it. It is very challenging to work through the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual abuse that afflict us from the world; no one is exempt from it; God commands us all to bless and curse not. It is so easy to pronounce judgment upon our enemies from the Lord, but it is not right. Instead, we should let Him judge as He sees fit, which often works to bless our enemies through us. God is the judge of all the earth, not us. For us to judge our enemies is to judge ourselves, for we act just like them. Simply, if our response to our enemies is not a blessing, then we are sinning. (129m) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Being in one accord >> Single minded >> Avoid contradicting yourself (191c) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Extract the leaven of hypocrisy – “Let love be without hypocrisy” correlates with the book of James, and it also correlates with verse three of this chapter, where Paul advises us not to rise above our faith. That is, we should not love more than we are able. Attempting to live and walk above the level of our faith and beyond our spiritual strength causes burnout. God doesn’t want us developing a fleshly zeal of our own, but wants us to obtain His zeal, His anointing. He wants us to be zealous in our love but not rise above our faith. (194d) Hate Evil (Key verse) (194g) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Hate evil >> Victory over sin >> Hate evil by loving good – We cannot command our flesh to abhor what is evil any more than we can command it to cling to what is good; it has no will to do either. Instead, these are things we must do through the anointing. “Anointing” means manifested faith. The anointing is so poorly understood in Christendom that it doesn't even have a doctrine to frame it in people's minds. Most Christians are not even willing to acknowledge its relevance in the Bible, yet it is the source of our strength and ability to do the will of God and please Him. Without the anointing we have no other choice to serve God in the flesh, which was iconic to the old covenant, God testifying about it in Heb 8,6-13 that it was insufficient. According to the example of Israel, our flesh does not and will not serve God. For our flesh to abhor what is evil is not possible, because our evil desires actually originate from the flesh. Trying to serve God in the flesh is like trying to pick up ourselves by our own bootstraps. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 12,10-21 (91c) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> God’s purpose is an inherent component of His calling >> His purpose is for us to be vessels of mercy – While we are waiting for God to inform us about our specific will, these are the things we should be doing that open our ears so we can hear the Spirit declaring our purpose. Most Christians strive to fulfill the general calling without knowing about His specific will. If we don’t know what God wants from us, we should busy ourselves with God’s general purpose until it becomes clear what He wants us to do. Once we come to know God’s specific will, his general plan still remains in effect, so now we fulfill His general calling through His specific one. Those who never come to an understanding of God’s purpose, if they committed their lives to His general calling contained in passages like this, where He calls everyone, they would be able to look back and see the trail they left from one good work to another and realize that this was the specific calling that God had for them. (235i) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Giving (your inner self) >> Give for goodness sake Rom 12-10 (100m) Thy kingdom come >> Devotion >> In your ministry to people >> Devoted to ministering to their physical needs (131h) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Interdependence >> Being selfless toward one another – Paul commanded us to be devoted to one another in brotherly love. This is not something that only one of us does while the other remains irresponsible. Paul is talking to everybody in the Church about devoting themselves to each other. If everyone did this, unity would grow between the members of Christ. Part of our devotion is giving preference to one another, counting ourselves last, striving to be servant of all, not seeking honor but giving it, not seeking praise but encouraging others to continue in the faith. See also: Unity; Rom 12,4-8; 130m (235f) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Giving (your inner self) >> Giving preference to one another – Giving preference to one another is a behavior that is prevalent in a body of believers who are walking in unity, proving their deep faith in Christ. The reason this is important to the Church is that people give preference to one another in heaven, referring to the verse that best summarizes the entire Bible Mat 6-10, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” It summarizes: the gospel, Jesus’ vision for the Church, all the epistles, Moses and the major and minor prophets in the Old Testament. If there were any verse that had equal weight, it would be Rom 13-10, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law,” and Rom 12-10 reiterates this message. we are to live this life as we will in heaven; this is the calling of God in Christ Jesus. Since we don’t have any enemies in heaven, those who are our enemies in this life we are not to curse, but give a blessing instead (1Pet 3-9). This is God’s answer, and it is not an easy one, and its effectiveness can only be seen from a panoramic view. The person who is shortsighted will never see the significance of God’s purpose in this life. They might say they tried to be nice to those who weren’t nice to them, and all they got was more of the same. This is very common, yet God commands us to give a blessing, and if we all together did this, it would change the world. Rom 12-11,12 (83d) Thy kingdom come >> Results of prayer >> Prayer ministers to God (100a) Thy kingdom come >> Perseverance (Working to keep in motion) >> Persevere in tribulation – Perseverance is different from endurance in that with endurance we strive to remain motionless in our circumstance, such as to avoid losing patience. The best thing to do is nothing at all to avoid walking in the flesh. So our goal with endurance is to remain motionless, whereas with perseverance the goal is to remain in motion, constantly serving the Lord, and prayer is part of that. If we persevere in prayer, we will sow the seed of righteousness in hope of the future. All hope is based on reaping the harvest of our faith, but false hope seeks to reap a harvest where seed has not been sown. True hope is cultivated, and we patiently wait in hope of a bountiful harvest. Rom 12-11 (100c) Diligence (Key verse) (100e) Thy kingdom come >> Diligence >> Diligence in the sight of God Rom 12-12 (100k) Thy kingdom come >> Devotion >> In your ministry to God >> Devoted to prayer – Our top priority is to minister to God before we minister to people. This is how we come to possess things that we can offer the brethren, and for this reason we must prioritize our ministry toward God above our ministry toward people. As it is, though, most leaders of the Church have not dedicated themselves to the word of God and prayer enough to make a difference in other people's lives. They have nothing to offer because they have not cultivated a relationship with God. Our diligence in ministry should be foremostly to God and then to people in that order, for if we switch the order and minister to people first, we will be grossly ineffective and our ministry will be secular (secular: man denies God; humanism: man replaces God). (125j) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Joy >> Joy is the result of hope (165j) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Hardship >> Troubles of this life Rom 12-13 (235g) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Giving (your inner self) >> Hospitality (providing a temporary home) >> Being a good host – The Bible teaches that we are more obligated to serve the saints than we are to serve unbelievers in the world. Coming for a social visit and for spiritual fellowship is one thing, but practicing hospitality and contributing to the needs of the saints who are suffering is another. Paul is saying that we should invite people into our homes, not just anyone and not strangers even if they claim to be Christian, for inviting the wrong person into our house could end badly. If they rob us, they will be taking our possessions that we could have used to benefit others who could have benefited from our hospitality, and so we must be wise stewards of the ability God has given us to bless others. We need to be careful who we let into our house; we need to follow Scripture and practice hospitality to the saints and not invite people off the streets, for there are other ways of ministering to them that don’t involve risking our lives, health and personal property. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 12,14-21 (1b) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God/man >> follow the golden rule (56e) Paradox >> Opposites >> Humble yourself as a defensive strategy Rom 12-14 (26j) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Curse >> Deeds that return to the doer >> Sin backfires on you (42g) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Transformation >> Conform to the Love of Christ (124i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love your enemies >> Loving your enemies leaves room for God to Work >> Leave room for the wrath of God -- This verse goes with verses 17-21 (242l) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Responding to persecution -- This verse goes with verses 19-21. People understand that the Church is not part of this world by our reaction to persecution; we bless and curse not. Of all the reactions and emotions, love is the one that most diametrically opposes human nature. Giving a blessing to our enemies instead of a curse is so foreign to the world that it makes us look like aliens from another planet. It helps some realize that God is just the opposite of the world, and when they begin their search for truth they’ve been given a milestone of God’s essential characteristics, so when the truth reveals itself as the inverse of this world, it doesn’t surprise them based on what they’ve seen in the Church. Giving a blessing instead of a curse is the greatest evangelism tool in the Christian’s arsenal; it has by far gotten more people saved than any other teaching method. If it doesn’t convert the people who are persecuting us, then it opens the eyes of those watching us (Act 16-36,37), sowing the seed in their hearts that may one day begin to grow that they too may become children of God. Rom 12-15 (125g) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Joy >> Joy is the result of unity (188k) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Sorrow >> Grieving over your own loss >> Grieving over the loss of others – Proverbs 16-19 says, “It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud.” It is easy to rejoice with those who rejoice; they call it a party, but weeping with those who weep is much more difficult. Those who are sorrowful or struggling with depression need someone who can genuinely empathize with them. We are to empathize with those who are going through hard times, having lost a loved one, sick or injured, robbed, wrongfully accused and now in prison, and an assortment of disconcerting circumstances. To weep with those who weep doesn’t require tears, but it does require us to be there in proximity with that person to share in their sorrow. Spending time with those in mourning and just being with them is more meaningful than generating tears from a remote location. Rom 12-16 (77n) Thy kingdom come >> God ministers to people through the humble >> Humility gives a blessing – If anyone wonders about the value of humility, ask Moses who was the greatest man who ever lived. No one else spoke face to face with God. Moses may have had many highly prized qualities, yet God trusted Him with His covenant, with the entire nation of Israel and with His glory and power through one particular virtue: humility. Without that Moses would have assumed the power of God as his own. Moses’ gift was his ability to distinguish between the weakness of his flesh and God's contribution to his life. Most of us would have said, ‘God is performing His miracles through me; therefore, this power is essentially mine.’ He let it go to his head one time, at the waters of Meribah when he tapped the rock with his rod when God told him to speak to it (Num 20,8-12). That slight deviation was a departure from humility, which didn’t sit right with God, who demanded that man treat Him as holy. Moses lapsed for a moment, and it cost him the promise land, but the rest of his life was flawless in the eyes of God. A single moment of weakness did not define him. If there were one statement we could say about Moses, it would be that he was not wise in his own eyes. Humility is the foundation of our strength and relationship with God. See also: Patriarchs (Able); Lk 11,47-51; 242a (79d) Thy kingdom come >> Renewing your mind >> Monitor your thoughts -- This verse goes with verse 3 (96g) Thy kingdom come >> Attitude >> Positive attitude about yourself -- This verse goes with verse 3 (129n) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Being in one accord >> Having one mind (223a) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Conceit >> Thinking you are superior to others >> Thinking you are inherently better than others KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 12,17-21 (124i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love your enemies >> Loving your enemies leaves room for God to Work >> Leave room for the wrath of God -- These verses go with verse 14. When people tempt us with sin, they’re main goal is to make us fall away from God, to give up our faith, to make us like them. Paul says not to be overcome by them; rather overcome them with good. To the degree that the wicked are trying to make our lives a heap of ruins, so when God gets through with them, their lives will resemble a heap of ruins, so they might as well get saved, and if they choose not to get saved, then they can remain a heap of ruins. The shameless will be overcome by good in that Jesus has overcome the world, and one day He will put evil under His feet where it belongs, but in the meantime He calls us to overcome evil with good. Being good to mean people is a ministry by which we can win some to the Lord, or at least shame them to stop persecuting us. God takes away our weapons, our clubs, our guns by which we defend ourselves, and sends us as sheep in the midst of wolves as to slaughter, but Jesus is with us in the midst of the fray, and He will protect us and deliver us. Not one hair of our head will perish even if we die as martyrs. (126c) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Peace >> Peacemakers >> Peacemakers are a blessing – “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone,” this takes humility. To do this is to show strength, but the world will never see it that way, because the world doesn't understand the ways of God or care about Him. The world sees strength as strength and weakness as weakness, but God has a completely different value system, an opposite one. When we humble ourselves, He can demonstrate His strength through us. (153k) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> God bears witness against the world >> Shame >> Living for Jesus exposes sin >> Your walk with God puts others to shame – Paul is telling us to shame our enemies, but of course some people are shameless. We could be kind to them while they are abusing us, and they wouldn’t even flinch at our divinely inspired gestures. Some people are simply unreachable; with them all we can do is run, and if we can’t run; if they are next to us at the workplace for instance, we can pray for them, and if the situation does not improve, we can pray for ourselves that the situation is resolved by the power of God. (192f) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by losing >> Waiting for God to do it His way >> Lose your rights to gain His vindication (194h) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Hate evil >> Victory over sin >> Hate evil by doing good (230k) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery of godliness >> Solving the mystery of godliness >> The love of Christ is the mystery of godliness (234k) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Be a blessing >> Be a blessing and love your brother – We are called to be a blessing (1Pet 3-9), and it is not easy, because we too live in sinful flesh, though we have been partly delivered from its power, yet the forces of evil and the elementary principles of the world still dwell in the façade of the Christian’s anatomy. We daily struggle with sin, and we still want revenge, but we have orders from on high not to pursue vengeance in this life, for we have been given a Spirit of peace and love by which we can carry out His orders, and we have eternal life waiting for us in heaven. If we do His will, we will be blessed, regardless of what anyone does to us. (244i) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Literal manifestation of God’s word >> Manifesting the righteousness of His kingdom – God calls us to defer judgment and to be a blessing, so His goodness and righteousness can reign through us for all to see, who would seek Him through us for eternal life. He intends to establish a thousand-year reign on the earth that will become the model of His eternal kingdom, so instead of seeking vengeance, God wants us to behave in the same way that we will in heaven, because His kingdom has already begun. It is already in process of manifesting in this life through us. That manifestation will continue to increase and become more and more physical, until the full manifestation of His kingdom appears in the second coming of Christ. It is a slow and methodical process that grows in radiance and overtakes darkness through the principles that He has established in righteousness and truth. The world has been turning for six thousand years, and He still hasn’t finished His creation, making man in His image, creating things in us, manifesting His Son through the weakness of human flesh. If we want God to hurry, then we should do His will and expedite the process. Rom 12-17 (127o) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >> Overcome evil with good -- This verse goes with verse 21 (168d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform to the world >> Do not conform to the world and meet God’s judgment -- This verse goes with verse 19 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 12-18 (126e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Peace >> Peacemakers >> Peacemakers avoid unnecessary confrontation – “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone” (v17); that is really a mouthful; so many times we fail to do this. Sometimes peace cannot be achieved no matter how hard we try, for there are those who do not want peace, nor do they believe in the ways of God. There is never a short supply of those who will take advantage of us, but so far as it depends on us, we are to be at peace with all men. If there is anything we can do to promote peace, we are to do it, and part of that is not taking revenge. There will be people who will sabotage peaceful relations, yet we are not to do anything that would work against diplomacy. We are to make peace our main focus, especially when it comes to our brothers and sisters in Christ, with whom we have an exceptional obligation to remain at peace. Among the saints, the words “if possible” are truncated from the beginning of this verse, because it is always possible to find peace with them, and if it isn't, then something is wrong with somebody's faith. Rom 12,19-21 (115j) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through obedience of faith >> Through determination >> Determined to obey Christ – Love was Jesus’ commandment to all men, according to Jn 15-12, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” It is quite a love that God has shown us in Christ, and we are to show that same love to others, proving that we are His children. This is not easy to do. When we walk in the flesh and don’t feel like loving people, God commands us to love our enemies just the same. We are fallible creatures, so we often must repent and get back on the trail of good works and continue in His word. We don't have to love our enemies alone; God will help us through the Spirit that He has given us. The burning coals on their heads refer to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, leading them to repentance. Paul said that we don’t overcome our enemies by violence and killing but by doing good, until they learn not to plot against us. They will eventually learn that if they treat us contemptuously, we will repay their evil with good, and if they have a conscience, it will burn like coals on their heads. We love our enemies to give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to persuade them they are sinners in need of a Savior. (242l) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Responding to persecution -- These verses go with verse 14. When we love our enemies, our hope is that they will turn from their sins and be saved. It says, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink.” Can we do this spitefully? It is how our enemies may take it, because they know what they have said and done to us, and they don't expect love in return. When we show them the love of God, they won’t believe it’s real, because they don’t often see it and they don’t have that kind of love abiding in them. If we spitefully feed our enemies or give them a drink, they will have reason to hate us all the more, but if we really do love them just like Jesus loved His enemies, saying on the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk 23-34), we can expect miracles. Of course when Jesus said this, He wasn’t referring to the Pharisees and the chief priests who ordered His death; rather, He referred to the rest of the world who were ignorant of the Law and the prophets, who had no idea that the cross fulfilled the predetermined plan of God. In contrast, the Pharisees knew what they were doing. We forgive our enemies for ignorantly persecuting us; we are to pity them. Jesus pitied us for being in bondage to unbelief and ignorance. Jesus willingly went to the cross, and He died for the sins of the world, but He knew not everyone would receive His grace and mercy. God used the religious establishment to hang His Son on the cross for the sake of others who would be saved, so we love those who hold our love in contempt for the sake of others who will be saved though our godly example. For this reason Paul said, "This has not been done in a corner" (Act 26-26), and he preached the gospel in public for all to see and hear. Rom 12-19,20 (28f) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> Protects us through our walk >> Wise conduct (48k) Judgment >> Levels of judgment >> God judges your enemies according to your faithfulness Rom 12-19 (48a) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Eternal judgment >> Consequences for sin – This passage doesn’t say we should hope judgment never comes on our enemies, but that we should not judge them. There are a couple reasons for this: (1) we are not in position to judge anyone, for the more we judge, the more we deserve the same judgment; and (2) God has not given us wisdom or authority to judge our enemies. We are to be kind to them instead, giving God an opportunity to judge them, suggesting that if we judge them, then God won't, at least, not in this life. Sometimes God will judge our enemies by making them Christians, like He did to Paul, though ultimately He judges them in the life to come. Waiting for eternal judgment requires tremendous faith and patience from us, because we want to see our enemies get what they deserve now. For most people, their judgment will not come until the end of this life and they pass into eternity without God and suddenly find themselves in hell. God will impose a stiffer sentence on those who persecuted His beloved children according to Mat 18-6, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” It says also in Isaiah 66-24, “Then they will go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.” If it weren’t for His grace and mercy, we would all be there. They made sport of the saints and now they must pay the price of eternal destruction, “Away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2The 1-9). (168d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform to the world >> Do not conform to the world and meet God’s judgment -- This verse goes with verse 17 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 12-20,21 (54k) Paradox >> Opposites >> Vengeance makes our offender less guilty of the initial crime Rom 12-20 (63b) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Righteous deception >> Church deceive their enemies – Should we bless our enemies for the purpose of heaping burning coals on their heads, or should we do it in a right spirit, and let God do the heaping? These coals are in reference to their conscience, but there are some who don’t have a conscience that we understand, so to be good to them doesn’t have an effect. Often they continue being mean and brutal, and when we in turn are kind to them, it attracts God’s judgment. For many, the burning coals heaped on their heads will occur in hell, but for those who have a conscience, if they ask us why we are kind to them after they have been mean to us, we should be ready with an answer in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in hope they would get saved. It will be an experience they will not soon forget to receive kindness for evil. Rom 12-21 (57b) Paradox >> Opposites >> Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (112e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Light >> Jesus light in us overcomes darkness >> The light of His truth (127o) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >> Overcome evil with good -- This verse goes with verse 9. This sums up everything the Bible has to say about blessing our enemies and shows the way to deal with evil, not to attack it but overcome it with good. The Bible wouldn’t have said this if it weren’t effective. If every person in the body of Christ were to adopt this philosophy and live according to it and bless their enemies and overcome evil with good, we would overcome the world. Jesus said in Jn 16-33, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world,” and John said in 1Jn 5-4, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world -our faith.” So the world has already been overcome, but there are various levels of this manifestation. Jesus overcame the world through His cross and subsequent resurrection, and then there is the manifestation of the Christian who overcomes the world as Jesus did, through faith. A day is coming when God will manifest this victory even further when He finally sets foot on the Mount of Olives and establishes His kingdom, where He will reign for a thousand years and bring peace and goodness to the earth. God will not use evil to overcome the world, only good. When it is time for God to pass judgment on the world, His judgment will be righteous, but for us to pass judgment would make us like our enemies, even worse, because we know better. (161a) Works of the devil >> Temptation >> Tempted to condemn the weak See next page