Romans 12

Introduction

Good morning. Praise God for the day that He has made, Amen? Thankful for many things this morning. I’m hopefully going to be thankful for a seamless microphone outing this morning. Maybe no blips or no blurs on the radar here. I’m also thankful for the state of Alabama, which fortunately today I can thank almost in person. So I’d like to thank all of you for visiting here with us. If you want to open your Bibles to Romans chapter 12, that’s where our main text of study will be this morning. For those of you who weren’t here last week at the 9 o’clock hour, we looked at the Beatitudes. And the challenge was to look at what Christ spelled out as those who would be children of Him, those who would enter the kingdom of heaven, and determine, do I stack up like that?

If you notice in Romans chapter 12, in the first two verses, there’s a large challenge set forth by Paul and what what a Christian is supposed to be, what is supposed to happen, but fear not. The chapter continues, and we see another picture. I’m going to undergo a large challenge this morning. I’m going to attempt to canvass the majority of Romans chapter twelve. But first look with me at the challenge laid down by the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter twelve.

Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. That by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Verse 3, for by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them. If prophecy in proportion to our faith, if service in our serving, the one who teaches in his teaching, the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who leads with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness, let love be genuine, abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good.

1. Be Transformed by the Renewal of Your Mind

That’s just a portion of the reading that we are going to get to this morning, but look closely again at Romans chapter twelve and then the first two verses. I want you to look and try to count with me the sacrifice involved, the commitment involved with being a Christian, as spelled out by some vivid words here by Paul. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. There is this idea in these two verses of a complete transformation.

And if I ask everyone this morning who’s here, do I need to be transformed? Do I need to be completely different? Not conformed to the world, but transformed by the renewal of my mind, everyone would say, Of course we do. The question is, have you? The question is, how do we do that? And if you look at what Paul says, a living sacrifice, which is what? Holy and acceptable to God. You cannot help but think of the exhortation to be holy, for God is holy. If you’ve ever put on Christ, if you’ve ever been around a study of God or Christ, have you seen it in the people who you’re studying with? Have you seen it in the people that you are studying in God’s holy word?

Have you seen the transformation that’s involved? Because sometimes I think we view characters in the Bible such as Abraham or Moses, and we say, that’s great. They are heroes of faith. And then our faith-shaped lives seem to come up a little lacking sometimes, don’t they? You think about how in Genesis chapter 22, Abraham was willing, he had his knife out to sacrifice his son. Yes, this spot is still bad. Something we learned last week. There is something difficult. It’s unfathomable, isn’t it? To think about slaying. And let’s make no mistake about it, it was slaying his son. Sacrificing the chosen son. Could you do that to your child? See many children today. See who’s looking, and those are the ones looking at their parents up in fear right now.

Doesn’t seem like there are too many of those. But would you be willing to do that for God? Would you be willing to be beaten, to be put in stocks, to be imprisoned, to go through all the things that the chosen people of God, the people who took up the banner of faith and served him wisely, would you be able to suffer the consequences all the while maintaining your faith? Because I think Romans chapter 12 and verse 9 holds the key between what is true, what are true disciples of God and those who are disciples in claim or in word. What does the text say? Let love be genuine. Hold fast to what is good. But what else does it say? Abhor what is evil. You see, sometimes the line is blurred.

Sometimes in our society today, like Isaiah warned of in Isaiah chapter 5, we’re at a position where we call evil good. In fact, we celebrate in those things which are evil. They’re on our television shows, they’re on our iPads, on our computer. In fact, I can tell you, they’re in our lives. Do you have the strength, the fortitude? Have you undergone the transformation to completely leave them aside and to recognize what it is and hate it? Do you abhor what is evil? Because that’s what someone who’s transformed would be. You see, there’s a difference in disliking evil. There’s a difference in being conformed to the world and being transformed by the renewal of your mind. There’s a big gap there, and that gap belongs to Satan.

That gap, that idea that says, I can be different, I can put off some of that. But it’s not completely the other direction. I mean, I have to live in the world still, don’t I, after all? I have to be a part of what’s going on around me. But that’s not what the idea is. Look again at verse 2. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by what? The renewal of your mind. Look with me in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Let’s get an idea of this renewal that is to take place before we move further in the chapter. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, beginning in verse 16. Notice what Paul is exhorting the Corinthians. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away our inner self is being renewed day by day.

Why, Paul? What are you saying? For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. The renewal of your minds will only take place, will only occur. The transformation can only happen if you accept two premises. One, that God is Jehovah. He is the one God, He is the one Lord. It is He who spoke, and everything that you know of was put into creation. When you know that that is the God who separated the very seed that He spoke into existence. And when you realize, secondly, that without that God, without Him, without completely, utterly, entirely devoting all of yourself to Him, you are nothing.

Realizing that we have no hope. We have nothing. There is no use in waiting for the eternal weight of glory that is beyond comparison, if we don’t have the very God with whom we will live eternally, and it makes that eternal life, that eternal glory possible. Does that even make sense to go about that? Does it even make sense to half-heartedly serve God? So the question is as we move forward this morning, do you do what Paul says this transformed life would lead you to live like? Do you have the marks of a Christian? If someone looked at you, would they say they are not only not conformed, they are completely, utterly transformed by God? Are they living in a holy and acceptable way? Because that is our spiritual sacrifice.

2. Recognize Who You Are and Use Your Gifts

That is our spiritual worship. Can you properly discern what the will of the Lord is? Look with me in verse three of Romans chapter 12. For by grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and members do not all have the same function. You see, Paul’s curing the identity crisis that’s set forth with the idea of transformation. Because we don’t like chains. If you’re anything at all like me, you don’t like anything that is outside of the box of your mind. And what I mean in that box sometimes gets even more and more limiting depending on what type of person you are.

If you know me, that’s any type of food that is not probably meat, mashed potatoes, or green beans. That’s about what I digest. We’re working on it. My wife’s working on that with me. But in the meantime, that’s as it stands. What about what about doing things that make you uncomfortable? What about accepting people who are different than you? Because the idea of being transformed, you have to know what you’re transforming to. And yeah, that’s great to say, yeah, Greg, you know, I know I need to be holy and acceptable and perfect to God, but what does that look like? What does that feel like? Think of yourself. What does verse 3 says? Look at that closely. What does Paul’s word to do? Not to think more highly than you ought, but to recognize who you are.

That’s the challenge Paul lays down. Know who you are. Be factual. Why, Paul? Look at verse six. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them. Now you may be transformed and may not be like someone else. In fact, it might be that God has blessed a greater measure of faith to someone else. It might be that someone else has more talents. Although the more likely idea is you just think that someone else has more talents. That’s why the exhortation in verse 3 is so important. Recognize who you are. Have you ever been a part of a team or part of an organization? Raise your hand if you’ve ever been part of a team or an organization. For those of you in a church, I hope your hand is going up.

Well, okay, half-hearted. Oh, we’ve got a good effort there. Okay? When you do that, do you do everything? Are you one of those people who does absolutely everything? Because those people are there. They’ve been assigned a great measure of faith. Good for them. But what about you? You know, when teachers give these assignments sometimes, uh, Brother Rufus Barfield has given assignments like this where you have to work with fellow classmates. You know what he looks for? You know what he mandates in the class if you were to pass that assignment? That you actually work with someone else. Do we think God is deceived? That just because someone can do more, it means I don’t have to do anything. Just because there are elders and deacons and preachers, that the teaching is beyond me, that the serving is out of my realm because I’m not paid to do it.

I’m not elected to do that work. What has God assigned for you? Can you lead singing? Can you pray? Can you do something for those who need it? Look closely. They’ll start looking at the gifts at the end of verse 6. To those given the gift of prophecy in proportion to our faith. If service in our serving. The one who teaches in his teaching, the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who leads with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. Where do you fit into this picture? What part of this is you? Can you do acts of service? Do you have time? Do you have means? I think a lot of us in America today have the means.

Well, whether we identify them as such is up to us. Do you have a serving heart? Do you use the gift that God has given you of your time, of your money? Do you even have the heart of God to be so transformed that you’re focused on using every last cent, every last effort that you have on others? See, transformed life is so transformed because it’s not conformed to the world. And the world today, as the world has for many years, if not centuries, said, it’s about me. You worked hard at work. Go home, sit home, relax on the couch, watch TV. It’s okay. You deserve it. Is that what God expects of us? Certainly God expects us to be good stewards of what He has given us, and that includes resting.

That includes recovering so that we can do more. But do we do anything? Do you teach? Are you a teacher? Do you exhort? An exhortation? What do those things mean? Let’s hold up and look. What is it to exhort? To urge strongly. You may say, I’m not qualified to teach. That’s another category. And that’s okay. If you think that, I hope that’s right. But if you think that, good. But what can you do? Can you contribute with generosity? Are you doing it? Can you serve? Can you do something for others? I think you can. If you have any question ever about what you can do for this local body here, what you can do for other brothers and sisters in Christ, please have a meeting with the elders or the deacons.

3. Abhor What Is Evil: No Excuses

I promise you, they will find something for you to do. There is some way you can help in the kingdom of God because God is not flawed. His plan is not incomplete. He knew what his body would need, and he so designed it to where the needs of his people can be met. But notice, most importantly, moving forward in verse 9. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil? Hold fast to what is good. There’s something strong about this, and I have an odd illustration for it. This idea of abhorring what is evil. Today, we make a lot of excuses sometimes. We say, well, I don’t really like that, so I’m not going to do that. And you know what people oftentimes will say? Tell me if you’ve heard this.

Everyone, listen closely to this idea. Have you ever heard this excuse? Well, there’s some, they give some reason, some excuse for why, well, then that can’t be necessary. For example, with baptism, what if someone died on the way to being baptized? Well, then would they be saved? Are you really saying that God would reject them? What about modesty? I I I kid you not, I read this last night. Well, a guy can like eyes or lips or anything, so why should we even try if it’s just his problem? Are you serious? Are we using excuses? Let me ask you. Who here would like it if I threw a whole bunch of cold water on you? No one? What if you were on fire and that was the only way to put it out?

Would you want me to then? Yes, I would want you to douse me if I was on fire. But I don’t think I want to be doused with water every single day, every single moment of my life. The exception has never proven the rule. It is an excuse to not be transformed. The transformed soldier, the transformed Christian so seeks Christ, so goes after him that there are no excuses, only action to be taken. That’s what it’s about. That’s what being transformed is the essence of it. Why did Paul start the chapter with that? Because that’s what it takes. The idea of a sacrifice is the very idea from the Greek words as being slain. God does not expect us to be physically slain, otherwise we would have no service to him.

4. Marks of a Christian: Outdo One Another in Showing Honor

He expects us to kill our old self, to be different, to commit solely to him, doing what he has asked us to do. Have you done it? Look at verse 10. Look at verse 10. Tell me how you stack up with this list this morning. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, but fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.

Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. The love and never avenge yourselves. But leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. You see the picture Paul has built from Romans chapter 12. He starts out with the first two verses. Here’s what is expected.

This transformation. The next section, verses 3 through 8. Everyone has a part. Everyone has a role. You are not excluded from the list. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you are, where you’ve been, it only matters where you’re going and where you are committed. And from verses 10 on, it explains. Here’s some marks of a Christian. Here’s some examples of a transformed life. Let me ask you do you love one another with brotherly affection? Do you seek to outdo one another in showing honor? Can you imagine the result of that? Can you imagine if every person in here, whether you go you worship here all the time or you worship elsewhere, can you imagine what the world, what the church, what the local community would be like if every person in here just seek seeked to outdo one another and showing honor towards others.

If everyone in here just said, you know what? I want to be better. I want to have these people to be better through me. I don’t mind being stepped on if it means they can represent God in a better way. I don’t care about me because I have been slain. I have spiritually offered myself as a sacrifice to God. This is my spiritual worship. I have so discerned what the will of the Lord is that I am okay. In fact, I am only acceptable to God. I am only pleasing to him when I am outdoing everyone and showing honor. That is, I race to make everyone else foremost in the kingdom of God. Jesus was consistently and constantly dealing with his apostles’ questions, and he always maintained it is about God’s plan.

Christ himself. Always live. The words, not my will, but thine, Lord. Have you truly taken on that attitude? Have you truly taken on the idea of serving others to the point that it is at the extent, at the expense, excuse me, of yourself. Because sometimes it seems that we want to help others when we can. And we may even be good about scheduling it in and saying, you know what, I helped this person today, I helped this person on Tuesday. I did pretty good this week. The kingdom of God never rests, so why should we? If you have spiritually slain yourself, if you have put on the new man, it’s not just a costume that you put on that you can take off at the end of the day.

The new man constantly seeks to glorify God. Have you done it? Look at verse 11. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer. I love verse 12. Please look at it. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer. This one is difficult. You can love God. You can be all for Him. You can be all about that transformed, committed life. But can you be patient? Can you rejoice? Do you have the hope that so moves you to where nothing throws you from the path of light? Life is hard. Death is sometimes excruciatingly difficult. If you’ve ever lost someone that you love, especially if it was unexpected, you understand that sometimes there is nothing but hope.

There is nothing but faith left to grasp onto. But the beauty is God wants us to seek him. God wants us to go for him, to cling to him because it is only when we have shaken up and pulled up all the roots except the one which is God Himself and His glory that we are truly with Him in the way He expects us to be. What do you cling to? Do you cling to your husband or wife for your spiritual fortitude? Do you cling to your mother or father? Or do you trust in God ultimately? Do you use the advantages of others? Do you accept the promises of God and the setup of God to cling on your brothers and sisters in Christ, to cling to your spouse for encouragement?

Or do you allow it sometimes to interfere? Do you sometimes allow someone or some situation that you thought was going to go in a certain direction, and when it goes the other way, allow it to shake the very faith that you are supposed to be living every day. We need to cling to God because the truth is God has never moved. If you ever think God is from you, consider did you move or did God? Who do you wish to blame? Verse 13 contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show. Seek to show hospitality. I don’t know if you’ve truly grasped that idea. We think a lot about contributing the needs of the saints.

We know I got to do that, brother or sister so and so, who I love, is there, we need to take care of her. But I want to give you a quick illustration growing up. My dad was known for saying this one, well, several things, but this one particular phrase has stood out to me in addition to some others. And it was this idea of how Kaylee and I growing up, my sister did not like to do certain things because, after all, why should we? Why do I have to do it? And he would sit down and he’d say, Okay, that’s fine. Who do you think should do this? Whether it was picking up the living room, dusting, cleaning. Who should do it? Because it needs to be done.

Are you gonna do it? Okay, fine. You don’t want to do it, you think it’s beneath you? Fine. But that means either mom, myself, talking as dad, or Kaylee has to do it. Of course, now as a brother, it’s easy to say, well, Kaylee should do it. That’s easy. You can laugh. I understand. We’re getting to a point where I’m gonna make that clear. The idea in the church is there is stuff to be done. If you don’t do it, somebody else has to. The transformed life, the one that is not conformed to the world says, I’m going to do it first. What did verse 11 say? Outdoing one another and showing honor. What’s the point? Doing, filling, helping others. Being the person who is the difference, being the example, being the light that God so desperately has laid out for us the pattern with which to conform to be.

Have you ever considered what would happen if everyone took on the mindset of you in a church? If every single person in this congregation acted like you, what would get done? Would the preaching be good? Would the song leading be good? Would the prayers be led? Would the needs of the widows be met? What about those who are in the hospital? Would they be visited? What about evangelism? Would any go on? What would the church be like? And conversely, what would it be like without you? I’m not foolish enough to believe that any individual props up the church. Christ is the only cornerstone. Christ is the only foundation which can be laid. But the only examination I would give you this morning is to test yourself.

Would we move along without even missing a beat? Would someone not even miss your presence and what you did? Because there are people who have made a profound impact, and there’s a reason why. People like Jim and Edith Caps. They made a big difference in people’s lives. Why? Because they wrote cards to everyone. And when Brother Jim passed away and with Edith sick and recovering and growing older and more feeble, you feel a difference because those cards are no longer coming from that source. You notice. And although it’s not about notice, there is something to be said about a child of God that is so known that when they leave, when their presence is gone, that everyone takes notice. Make no mistake. God is not mocked, God is not fooled, God is not hidden from.

5. Bless Those Who Persecute You

God knows what you are doing. The question is, what, if anything, is he judging you on? As we move forward, look at verse 14. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so as so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves. But leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him.

If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for by so doing you will reap burning coals on his head. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them. I think that pretty well sums up the section. Bless those who persecute you. You know, it’s one thing to take care of the brothers and sisters. It’s another thing to even be neutral and to say, I’m just I’m gonna stay away from that person because they they tempt me, and after all, I shouldn’t put myself in a tempting situation. That’s not what the gospel calls you to. It’s not a gospel of an avoidance, it’s a gospel of love. It is a gospel of sacrifice, and that means going to the very people who persecute you.

We get our feelings hurt because people say cross things, or people say things that we don’t agree with, or that offend us or hurt us. But I dare say many of us, at least myself, has not been persecuted. And I’m called to bless those who persecute me. That is a love, that is a sacrifice that will probably only show itself in someone truly and utterly committed to God. Have you shown that facet of a Christian? Have you shown that facet of transformation? Has God so moved you that this is second nature?

For the most part, it’s not going to be second nature because our natural state is selfishness. Our natural state is to please ourselves. And verse 21 says, Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Because in the end, in it all, God will prevail. The question is, whose side will you be on? Not whose side do you claim? After all, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Not what side do your bodily actions show on Sunday morning, but where is your heart? Has your transformed life been so moved to where you bless those who persecute you? To where you live trying to outdo one another and showing honor. Do you prop others up even when your back is tired of being stepped on?

Conclusion

Have you chosen to love the way God has? Have you chosen to be such a spiritual sacrifice where you live in a way that is considered holy and acceptable? And you can know what the will of the Lord is. Please pray with me before being dismissed to Bible class. Our dear God and most gracious Heavenly Father, we praise you for your greatness, O God, you are Jehovah. We thank you for choosing to bless us, for giving us extents of your grace, your mercy, your compassion and your love. O God, we know that we should love for you are, and we find you difficult. Please teach us, instruct us, guide us to love as you would have us do. Oh Lord, thank you most most of all for sending your Son Jesus to come to this earth to not only give us an example of how to live, to not only give us the words of which we will be judged by, but to die on the cross, shedding his blood, through which Him and His blood alone can we have the forgiveness of our sins.

O God, we are so unworthy in your sight, and yet you have chosen to give us a path of redemption through your Son. May we never spite that. May we always recognize it and truly devote ourselves to you, truly, be transformed by the renewal of our mind. O God, forgive us when we stumble, and please keep us safe, guide us, and keep us in your path until the end. It’s in your son’s name we do pray. Amen. We’re done now dismissed the Bible.