ROMANS CHAPTER 12
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 saddle and continue in His
word. We don't have to love our enemies alone; God will help us through the Spirit
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. The message loving our enemies conveys
is that if they
don’t believe in Jesus, they will go to hell.
(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
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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
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Tempted to condemn the weak
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