I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Sanctification is a requirement in the Christian faith. It is an ongoing process, and none of us has fully achieved it, even if we have been baptized in the Holy Spirit and received the Second Blessing. We are always struggling against sin in our lives. Romans 12 deals with Sanctification in the Christian’s life.
I was with a pastor. I had read a booklet with the doctrinal statement of his church, and one of the statements said they believed in “Entire Sanctification,” as it is referred in some older Nazarene and Methodist churches. I asked him, “Are you sanctified?” He chuckled, and said, “No, but don’t tell any of my parishioners.” He recognized that he had begun on the road to being fully Christ-like, for that is what sanctification is about, but he also recognized that he had a long way to go. We recognize that there are times in our lives when we are almost completely in tune with the Spirit, but we also know only too well that there are times when the opposite seems to be true.
Some years ago the singer, Evie Tornqvist, sang with words something like this: “You can find Him in the church, you can find Him in the Bible, buy really haven’t found Him until you find Him in the mirror.” Sanctification may be an experience, but it is most certainly a process. We are more sanctified as we become more like Jesus. We want to find him in the mirror when we look at ourselves.
Paul is a realist. He asks the Romans to present their bodies to the Lord. Sanctification is not a sentimental feeling, but a practical discipleship. In the army, when the sergeant says, “fall in,” the soldiers are required to present their bodies, even if they are sleepy or tired. We do not, like so many religions, pretend that the body doesn’t exist or is not important; we present our bodies to do good works.
A woman in our church in Chicago was nicknamed Glory Jacobson. Everything about her was loud and fast, especially her speech. She always talked about the Lord. But she also listened to the inner voice that said, “Present your body,” so she was frequently at the home of a sick sister, scrubbing her floors or helping her with food. Her religion was genuine; it expressed itself in good works. We present our bodies.
Paul tells us to yield our members as servants of righteousness on the basis of the mercies of God. Even the word he uses to ask, or beseech (parakaleo), is a mercy-oriented word. It comes from the word stand beside, the term used to describe the Holy Spirit as comforter.
Paul could have, and sometimes did, appeal to us on the basis of the wrath of God. But for the believer it is not a burdensome duty to present the body; rather it is a glorious privilege. Most serious believers have presented their lives entirely to the Lord, and have said in essence, “Use me as you will.” God has given each of us a special work to do, though some have a higher profile than others. But God is aware when you have presented your body, and your entire substance and being, as a sacrifice to Him. He will use you as He sees fit, and in His time.
The body is presented as a living sacrifice, not as a dead one. God is not so interested in the death of the sacrifice as He is in the offering up of the life. Our mortal bodies, Romans 8 says, are made alive to the Spirit. As such they are offerings that are good, acceptable, and well pleasing to God. It is not the carnal nature that we offer in sacrifice, but the resurrection nature that believes in the Spirit. Chrysostom, one of the church fathers from the second century, said:
How can the body become a sacrifice? Let the eye look on no evil, and it is a sacrifice. Let the tongue utter nothing base, and it is an offering. Let the hand work no sin, and it is a holocaust. But more, this suffices not, but besides we must actively assert ourselves for good; the hand giving alms, the mouth blessing them that curse us, the ear ever at leisure for listening to God.
The sacrifice is holy. To be holy is to be separated from carnal or base motives. Divine service must come from an inward desire born of the Spirit. If our motive in service to God is to be seen of men, the sacrifice is not acceptable to God. Those who give alms and make long prayers to be seen of men have already received their full reward, and there remains no further reward to be received. The Bible teaches that “Whatever you do, do it with your whole heart, as to the Lord.” (Colossians 3:23)
This is reasonable, or rational, or spiritual, depending on how you translate the word. (logikos) It indicates that the logical conclusion of our having presented our spirits to the Lord is that our bodies should follow. Our bodies are logical extensions of our spirits. Paul says in Romans 1:1 that he was consecrated in that way, “set apart as an apostle.” He was set apart from all worldly pursuits and bonds. He became as the off-scouring of the world (1 Corinthians ) in order that he might fulfill his call to apostleship. If the spirit is totally dedicated, then the body must also be totally dedicated.
I am frustrated sometimes about presenting my body because I have said many times, “Here I am God.” And I waited for some special power to come and send me off to save a continent. But God hasn’t done that for me, at least not yet, and I think I know why. I like to be important. Not necessarily to be in the forefront, but I like to be close to influential people, and to have my opinion heard. There is an ego involvement there that I take pride in. The sacrifice is a little contaminated, and therefore not holy or single in its purpose. I desire to present myself entirely to God, but I have this self-interest as well. May He use me according to His own will, and not according to my own carnal desires.
We desire above all to be used of God to further His kingdom, but I suppose all of us have been somewhat frustrated in our dreams to do so. It seems that we have been prepared for ministry, but we haven’t been able to enter into it. Let us not become discouraged. Rather, let us conscientiously present our bodies, what the occupation God has for us at present, and be faithful and holy in the situation we are in. The call of God is not so much a call to do this or do that, or to go here or go there; rather it is a call to be at His disposal, not tied to any thing, not even our own ministry, so tightly that we cannot leave it in obedience to His revelation. We need to faithful in the small things before we can be entrusted with the big things. (Matthew 4:21)
The sacrificial presentation of our bodies is our service. We have a notion of sacrifice that is wrong. We think something must be painful or against our will in order to be a sacrifice. Sacrifice does not refer to doing things you don’t like to do. The service here (latreia) refers to the ordinary, everyday sacrifice that was offered in the temple in Jerusalem. It was no abnormal offering that everyone could look at and say, “Wow!” In Hebrews there is a “sacrifice of praise,” which is the ordinary, everyday offering up of a Christian’s life. We tend to think a sacrifice must be a terrible hardship to perform. But as we respond to the inner voice of the Spirit, both praise and work will be as natural as breathing. The carnal nature sees them as hardships, but the spiritual nature sees them as outward expressions of the inward reality.
Verse 2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
In verse 2, we see that we are not to be conformed to this world (or this age), but rather to be conformed to the age-to-come, the Kingdom of God. This refers to worldliness. We know that the world does not have a monopoly on worldliness, because we see much of it in churches and preachers as well. There is competitiveness, boasting about one church being better than another. There is a following after the latest fashion, whether it be books, movies, dress codes, worship style, or even doctrine.
To be conformed is to be led by the environmental and societal forces around us rather than by the Spirit of God. There are a few whose religion is strictly in non-conformity, or even in being contrary to everything.They don’t like fundamentalists, and they don’t like charismatics. They don’t like those in the middle of the road, and they don’t like those at the edges. The find devils behind every bush, in every pulpit, and in every television program. God has not called us to contrary, for He says later in this same chapter, “If it is possible, live at peace with all men.” The rule of God is in active direction, not in mere non-conformity.
Paul gives us the opposite of conformity; it is to be transformed. The attitudes of this age are transcended by the attitudes of the age-to-come that dominate our lives. 2 Corinthians says we are changed from “glory to glory” as we progress toward the image of Christ. It’s true that “we shall be changed” (I Corinthians ), and we shall put on immortality. That change has begun, and is going on in the inner man now. The thing we put into it is carnal (our bodies), but the thing that results is spiritual and eternal. Or to change the image, we pour water into the pitcher, but God transforms it into wine as He pours it out in service. The “mammon of unrighteousness,” (Luke 16:9-13) which it seems we all present, is used to purchase an eternal inheritance. There is transformation.
How are we transformed? By the renewing of the mind. The renewing makes us able to see and think as God sees and thinks. Isaiah says His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9) Our carnal reasonings are strongholds that must be torn down by learning obedience to the direction of the Spirit. John Calvin said, “The mind, divested of its own carnal feelings, implicitly obeys the call of the Spirit of God.”
Renew is the word new, with a prefix attached. New, as in “old things are passed away, and all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17). It is the newness of the Spirit, and not the oldness of the letter. (Romans 7:6). To be renewed means that the mind directs our life and actions according to the Spirit. To be renewed means that all our actions, all our decisions (including our business decisions) come from sacred thinking.
God is more interested in your renewal and conformity to the image of Christ than you are yourself. That is why He continues to strive with you.
Matthew Henry says that the greatest enemy of renewal is conformity to this age. Often we look to the world to find out how to attract youth or others to the church. We imitate the world’s programs and music. Too often we look at what other churches are doing, and we assume that is what God wants to do in our church as well. It’s true that God uses suggestions from other sources to help us, but we must learn to hear the inner voice of the Spirit.
When we have been transformed by the renewing of the mind, we will “prove” what the will of God is. We establish it, not merely by logic, but by personal experience. Paul defines God’s will as something that is good, acceptable, and perfect (or complete).
Most of us have experienced a time when we said, “this is the will of God.” Then as we matured and were persecuted, we were tempted to doubt what we thought was the will of God. We began to understand that there was a refining process, and we realized that the will of God was something different from what we thought at first. Our minds began to be renewed, and our lives began to be transformed, and after much trial, after finding one door after another closed, after fasting and prayer, after much counsel and much despair, we find ourselves where we are today. We look toward heaven as say, “Grace brought me this far, and Grace will bring me home.” We see that the thing that God is doing is good, because all that God does is good. It is acceptable, because it is the work of the Spirit, and the Spirit works with the perfect will of God. The only thing we wonder about is if it is perfect, or complete. Have I reached the final stage of ministry, or does God have a new horizon for me?
We have some idea of where God is leading us, but we want to see it in our experience, and not merely in our knowledge. Sanctification is taking the ideal, the goal, and making it reality. It is refusing the carnal, and responding to the Holy Spirit. It is being changed from glory to glory, and moving from faith to faith. We have met Jesus in many churches and seminars and special series of meetings. But we long to meet him in the mirror. The Bible promises us that we shall. I John 3:2 says, “We shall be like him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
Romans 12:3-8
Our role in the church
As the first two verses deal with the sanctification of the believer’s personal life, the rest of the chapter continues by dealing with sanctification in relation to the church and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Later the chapter deals with sanctification in relation to the people around us.
Verse 3
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
These words are carefully directed “to every man that is among you.” Paul wants to be certain that nobody can say the teaching is for someone else, and not for him. But in addressing each individual, Paul recognizes that there is much diversity in the church. There are differences among believer that God Himself has ordained, because each believer is allotted a measure of faith.
We each have a measure of faith. It says of Jesus that he was “full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14. It also says that Stephen was “full of grace” in Acts 6:8). In Jesus there was an unlimited anointing of the Holy Spirit. He was the perfect one, possessing all gifts, all wisdom and knowledge. But to us, his church body, these gifts have been dealt out in measure, severally, so that no one of us can be a church unto himself. The greatest antidote to pride is to recognize that we have received a measure of faith and not the whole bushel. This also gives great encouragement when we are used by God in the area where He has given us special gifts. We know that our own part contributes to the well-being of the whole body.
The King James Bible says we should think “soberly.” We don’t get ecstatic or go on a spiritual trip when we think about ourselves or our ministries. Rather, our opinion of ourselves is tempered by our knowledge of our own character and our own weaknesses. It may be that the world thinks we are full of new wine at nine o‘clock in the morning, but when it comes to judging ourselves, we are very sober.
Verses 4-5
For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
We are many members in one body. The reference is to the church, and especially to the local visible church. Each member has a different function, creating diversity within the unity of the body of Christ. When we don’t value and appreciate this diversity, disharmony and disruption often follow. Often in a church you find a person or group who feels offended that someone else seems to have more influence on the decision-making process that they do. Jealousy springs up, and possibly some attempt to force their own will. It can lead to an unfriendly division of the church, and you have two competing churches as a result. The cause is that the members have not recognized that they all belong to one body.
There are stronger and weaker members in the human body. We know that the little finger does not get the same number and size of muscles and blood vessels that the leg gets. The leg has been put there for a special purpose, and it is appropriately equipped with the tools to do its job. The little finger also has its special function, but it doesn’t need the strength of the leg. The leg needs the little finger and the little finger needs the leg. In the church, one has received a great measure of responsibility with all its attendant authority, and another has received a lesser measure of responsibility with its lesser authority. Not every member has the same authority, but every member belongs to the same body.
Some seem to think they have a superior revelation, and so feel able to leave the body to form their own group without the blessing of the body. A few people always go along, and create a little group of people who think they are especially close to God. They frequently sit in their groups and sigh over the ineffectiveness of the churches, and tell each other about their wonderful spiritual experiences. But they aren’t turning the world upside down. The reason is that the finger, will all of its strength, is designed to help balance the burden, and not carry the entire body.
But should we not start new churches? Of course we should. Churches, just like individuals, should reproduce themselves. The natural way to reproduce is through love, not bitterness. A church that is planted with the full support and encouragement of a mother church is like a child growing up in a secure and loving home environment. But one that comes of running away is like a child that runs away to get married without the support of his parents. The home may work out, but there are much greater hardships to overcome.
Divisions most often come when people think more highly of themselves than they ought to think. We need to be willing to submit ourselves to the church. I knew a woman who was a gifted evangelist. Things happened when she ministered in the church. But she was not called to lead the church as a pastor. She tried to do it, but confusion set in and she was defeated. She needed the encouragement of a pastor and elders in the church. She was gifted and she was spiritual, but that didn’t make her a pastor. Her gift functioned well when she was under someone else’s authority. So it is with all of us.
Verses 6-8
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.
Our gifts differ according to the grace that is given us. Paul gives us a list of seven of them. We recognize that the traditional list of the nine gifts of the Spirit is in 1 Corinthians 12. The five ministry gifts are listed in Ephesians 4. There are other spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible as well. Some people list as many as 20. God does not limit the kinds of gifts he gives people through the Spirit.
1. Those with a gift of prophecy should prophesy according to the proportion (analogia) of their faith. It seems that we should not over-extend ourselves in prophecy. When God gives faith in our hearts, we can speak it, and it will happen. But there are times when we are trying to force a faith that God hasn’t placed within us.
For example, I was in a church in South America that was trying to get funds together for a construction project. A man was preaching and telling them to go ahead because God would provide. He quoted all the usual scriptures, and then he sat down. I agreed with his words, but they didn’t reach my heart and they didn’t move me to action. Afterwards, I asked the pastor if the brother had given any money towards the project. He hadn’t. He was not preaching in accordance with his own faith, and they came out as empty words. If we preach that others should give, we should be giving ourselves.
The word of faith is powerful, and it can create things that were not there before. But it must be born in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and not in our minds by our carnal natures.
If there is a cautious side to speaking, there is also a bold side. There are times when faith for something is born in our hearts, and it is our obligation to speak it forth to encourage others. A friend was in a service in Sweden when God laid it on his heart to speak about their international radio mission. He spoke, and then they took an offering of about two thousand dollars. They hadn’t announced that there would be an offering. But the words he spoke were in accord with the faith God had placed in his heart, and they produced results.
It’s serious that we prophesy according to the proportion of our faith when you consider the judgment that came on Old Testament prophets who were wrong. They were to be stoned. In short, when they prophesied, they committed their lives to the fulfillment of that prophecy. Prophecy is not to say, “I feel that this may be the case,” but a dynamic, “This is the word of the Lord.” We don’t stone false prophets any more, but we are required to judge prophecy. (1 Corinthians 14:29) This is generally done in subtle way by the leadership in the church. When a prophecy has been received as the word of the Lord, we must pay attention to it and adjust our lives. God does not speak empty words.
2. The second charismatic gift in this list is that of serving, or ministering. (diakonia, from which we get the word deacon) The commentators discuss whether it refers to the ministry of the word or the ministry of the deacon. But whichever it refers to, he is admonished to give himself to that ministry. It might seem that you are serving in the church in a low position, but it is still an important position. The one who serves well (“who uses the office of deacon well”) purchases a good degree. (1 Timothy 3:3) The temptation in having a seemingly unimportant job in the body of Christ is that we try to assume other more visible jobs that we were never called to. We must not neglect the ministry we have, and we must not presume to have a ministry that we don’t have.
Sven was the caretaker of the church property in Chicago, where winters are cold and there can be a lot of snow. He had what I call a charismatic gift for keeping the church clean.On Sundays in the winter he would start at five in the morning, making sure the snow was cleaned off the sidewalks and that the furnace was running so the church would be heated properly. He had the patience of Job with the children we used to pick up from the poor areas of the city and bring to church. They would mess up the toilets and do other things that children do to make life difficult for those who have to clean up afterwards. A couple of times, when I needed to go to the furnace room during the week, I found him there reading his Bible. When people tried to bring up church gossip with him, he would quietly and quickly leave. He was a gift of the Holy Spirit to that church. But as far as I know, he never said a word in a meeting. He had a different gift—cleaning—and he gave himself entirely to that gift.
3. The one who teaches comes next, and he is to give himself to his teaching. I realize this more because that is where I fit in. Someone came to me once and said, “You ought to be a pastor.” I used to be one, but it seems that I am not gifted to be a pastor. Those who give themselves to teaching must also give themselves to studying, for you can’t teach unless you study. They buy the necessary books. They learn from others, and soon learn who can help them become a better teacher.
I find that now, after many years in teaching ministry, I am more focused than ever on developing other teachers, especially those willing to teach village pastors. We are five Americans on the team that I coordinate. We also have national teachers that I sponsor in Uganda and Argentina. In this way the teaching isn’t centered on me, but on the people who are being taught. I think each of these teachers can teach better than I can. God has called me to help raise them up and put them into ministry.
4. The one who exhorts devotes himself to that ministry. Certain people among us have a special ability to give the right encouragement or the right testimony at the right time. They stand alongside us and we feel strengthened by their presence. They may not be preachers, and they may not be eloquent, but they have the word of the Lord that helps or admonishes someone. If the teacher gives body to the doctrine, the exhorter gives heart to it. But he is not to simply sit back and wait for inspiration to strike him. He must devote himself to his special ministry. It cannot be for Sunday alone, but must be a ministry for which he constantly lives in the Spirit.
5. The next charismatic gift is the charismatic gift of giving. There are those among us who function in this way. God has blessed them with abundance in some thing, and they are privileged to share it with others. But they also are given special instruction. They are to give with liberality, or simplicity, or sincerity. I remember a teaching we had in Honduras. The pastors asked if we could do the next one in the same church, because they got so much and such good food. The pastor’s wife was in charge of the food, and she decided to treat them as if they were her own children.She gave with liberality, not with a stingy spirit.
Giving is also to be done with simplicity, not blowing the trumpet or calling attention to oneself. Give quietly and unobtrusively. I find myself wanting this gift of giving, but then I look at my expenses and wondering if God has really called me to it. The scriptures tell us that it is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts ) I remember a testimony of a couple who had a financial emergency, and they testified how God had met the need at the last minute. As I listened, I thought of how much better it was for the one who helped them, but never spoke of it. There is special reward in heaven for those who give with simplicity.
I notice that preachers these days want to preach about offerings. They think they are exhorting people to give. Something in me reacts, because I mistrust their motives. A friend wrote to me on my 60th birthday saying I still hadn’t raised the biggest offering of my life. I challenged him. In fact, as far as I know, I’ve never tried to raise an offering at all; God instructed me not to follow that pattern, and He has provided what I need. We must learn to trust God’s ability to speak to people’s hearts without our having to force His word on them.
6. The one who leads, or rules, is to do it with diligence. God gives authority to certain ones in the church, and they must give an answer to God for the state of the church (Hebrews ). They must be alert to the needs of the people. They must be in tune with the Holy Spirit. They must be aware that spiritual decisions are made not only in board meetings, but are made as they are constantly in communion and fellowship with God.
This means keeping the spiritual disciplines of studying the scriptures, praying, fasting, sharing your faith with others, and being at the meetings of the church. God rewards those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
7. The final gift on the list is mercy. He who shows mercy should do so with cheerfulness. Showing mercy can be a disagreeable job at times because we deal with people who really need it. So it might be done in a non-caring way, grudgingly. That sort of attitude defeats the purpose of mercy. There was a black man in Chicago who had a gift of mercy. He went around in the hospital cutting the toenails of the patients. From room to room, patient to patient, he went in the joy of the Lord, and he made their feet more comfortable. As he helped them, he shared his faith in Christ. He showed mercy with cheerfulness.
In the Pentecostal churches that I have known, some of these charismatic gifts have taken a second place to the more spectacular gifts, like prophecy and healing. All the gifts are important. Some of us have said to God, “Please let me be used in a gift of the Spirit.” It may be that God is already using you; you just don’t see that the thing you are doing is a gift of the Spirit. God wants to use you more and more. When God uses you in a gift, apply your whole life to it. Become expert at it, so God is glorified. The place of your gift is your place in the body of Christ.
Romans 12:9-21
Christian love as a sign of sanctification in the believer
The previous two verses speak of the gifts believers use in the church. The next section is for all the believers, and is not related to a specific gift. They are not gifts of the Spirit, but the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. If the Holy Spirit is genuinely ruling our lives, thoughts and actions, these will be the natural results.
The exhortations given us seem obvious and self-explanatory. It is that way with most of the ethical requirements in Christianity. They are simple, straight-forward, and they require simple obedience. As we go through them, let us not think of them as qualities of only the very spiritual, but let us place ourselves in the position of an ordinary believer in Rome, perhaps being persecuted for our faith, but having chosen to receive the grace offered in Christ Jesus.
Verse 9
Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
Let love be without dissimulation, or without hypocrisy. Naturally the first virtue mentioned is love. (agape) It is the greatest of the virtues. Here we see that it can be coupled with the most reprehensible and destructive vice, hypocrisy. Proverbs says, “The blows of a friend are faithful, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” (Proverbs 27:6) Jesus exposed Judas on this basis when he said, “Betrayest thou the son of man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:48) We must always, always examine our attitudes to be sure that our actions spring from a heart filled with love. If an action is impatient, it is not love. If it is unkind, it is not love. If it is arrogant or self-seeking or spiteful, it is not love.
How can we increase our love and make it pure? By giving it attention. They said of AB Simpson, the founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, that he never entered a room, but that he prayed for everyone there. Not out loud, of course, but within himself. There are people, both in the world and in the church, who irritate us. When we go home at night and reflect on the day, we sometimes recognize that our attitudes and actions have fallen short of the glory of God. How can we correct this? Before we go into the unpleasant situation let us silently says to God, “God bless this my adversary.” And as we approach the person, let us silently say to ourselves, “I love you.” Then we commit ourselves to acting lovingly. Not necessarily sentimentally, and not necessarily giving in to the other. But necessarily acting in love.
A challenge in ministry is to keep a heart of compassion. When a leader begins to merely perform rituals in praying for or counseling people, it may be time to go apart alone with God to recover the right spirit in your heart. We do get tired of people, and that is a signal that we need some rest. A few hours or a few days of rest can help us recover. It is our genuine compassion that helps people more than our good advice. Because of that we must find ways to keep God’s love burning in our hearts.
If we are to love, we are also to hate. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to what is good. We are known for the things we hate as well as the things that we love. Jude 23 says we are to hate even the garment that is spotted by the flesh. David caught on to this in some of the Psalms. He learned to hate the things that God hated. Proverbs 6:16-19 gives a list of things that God hates; among them is the person who sows discord among the brethren. If we, as a body of believers genuinely abhor the God hates, I suspect there would be many who would not dare to join themselves to for fear that their sins would be exposed. As noble a figure as Peter was exposed when Paul called him a hypocrite for eating only with the Jews at a conference in Antioch. (Galatians 2:11-14) To take up the cross is to be willing to receive rebuke, even eager to be rebuked if something is wrong with your life. The sign of the sanctified life is not merely to shun the wrong, but to openly hate it, for that is the implication of the word abhor. Obviously, we don’t use this text as an excuse to go around rebuking people. Remember that the first exhortation is to love without hypocrisy. We must first of all abhor the evil in our own lives before we can expose it in other people’s lives.
Cleave to that which is good. The contrast to the hatred of evil is to cleave to the good. The word cleave refers to the marriage bond, and implies growing together. It is an intimate, loving, committed, life-long relationship with that which is good.
Oh, that we would be so of the mind of Christ that we would hate evil and love good. As fallen humans, we are inclined to love evil and hate good. Paul himself says in Romans 7 that he is that way. The carnal mind is enmity against God, and must be dealt with. (Romans 8:7) We must walk in the Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who knows the mind of the Father and can imprint that law of God on our inward parts. Let us be married to that inward, good law of the Spirit. Let us be faithful to Him, in the face of all kinds of temptations to be unfaithful by yielding to carnal reasonings. We can never, no matter how talented we are, use our carnal minds to glorify God; it is only that which is born of the Spirit that can bring glory to God. We cannot do favors for God of our own free will: that is filthy rags righteousness. (Isaiah 64:6) We can only respond to the Spirit directing us, and in that obedience we bring glory to God.
Verse 10
Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another;
The next injunction is to be devoted to one another in brotherly love. The fellowship of the saints is viewed here as a family relationship. I must treat my brother in Christ, my fellow member in the church, as if he were my brother in the flesh. A pastor once described some of his members this way: “They love each other so much that they would go to hell for each other.” That is the way Moses felt about the children of Israel. He said to God, “Accept the people, or else blot my name out of your book.” (Exodus 32:32) Paul said he wished he could be cursed if it could lead to the salvation of Israel. (Romans 9:3) Jesus, in fact, did become a curse in order to save us. (Galatians 3:13) These are examples of the devotion we are to have for one another.
When it comes to honor, we are to prefer one another. That means we seek position for the other person and not for ourselves. It does not refer to the gifts of the Spirit or the ministries, because Paul is very bold to exercise the authority of his apostolic office. But still, he says that he is the “least of the saints.” (Ephesians 3:8) His letters abound with references to people who were serving God, and people who had helped him. He gives them honor, and recognizes how much he needs them.
Verse 11
Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
There are three related injunctions in this verse. In business or in diligence, we are not to be lazy. Rather we are to be fervent in spirit, and we are to be serving the Lord. The first two commands are obvious to anyone who works in business. If you are not diligent, your business can be destroyed within six months. If you are not fervent, or excited and energized about what you are doing, you will never make the progress you should make. This verse could also be translated as, “fervent in the Holy Spirit.” That would mean that we give careful diligence that all that we do is Spirit directed. Remember that all that we do, whether in our jobs or in the church, is done “as unto the Lord.” (Romans 14:8) If we are picking up garbage, we are picking up the Lord’s garbage, and we do it with grace, style, and beauty. If it seems that we work for an impossible employer, let us remember that we are first of all working for the Lord, and we choose to give Him honor in the difficult circumstance. If we bear in mind that we are always serving God, we will be diligent and not lazy.
Verse 12
Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer
Hope has reference to the future, so that our eyes are never bound by what is seen and what is temporal. We hope for the glory of god, for the morning when there will be no clouds, and no mixture of good and evil, but only good, joy, and rejoicing. We do not wait until the fulfillment of the hope to do our rejoicing. Rather, we rejoice in that hope here and now. But we are tested by tribulation. We still continue to rejoice in hope know that the trials of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)
As for tribulation, we do not merely endure it; we are steadfast in it. A friend was about to move to the United States from Sweden when his daughter got sick. He wondered if they should take it as a sign to postpone their trip. But his wife said, “We shall not listen to the words of the enemy when we have already heard the word of the Lord.” They stayed faithful to God’s direction. The girl recovered. When temptation comes, we don’t stop being obedient. We continue to obey the voice of God. Faith continues steadfast on the way God has appointed. It continues without murmuring and without considering the onslaught of the enemy. (In Nehemiah there are good examples of how Nehemiah resisted the enemy’s attempts to distract him from the work God had given him to do.)
We are also to continue to be devoted to prayer. There is a relationship between our steadfastness in tribulation and our diligence in prayer. Prayer is the means by which we open ourselves up the resources of God. We find a special need of it in times of tribulation. Prayer can take our mind off of the tribulation and put it on the Lord. When you are under pressure, there is a temptation to think you don’t have time to pray; you must be “doing” things to overcome the problem. Prayer pulls us away from the heat of the battle, so we can get clear direction from God.
Verse 13
Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
The first phrase in this verse could also be translated as, “identifying with the need that the saints have.” Our brotherhood in Christ makes us aware of the needs that those who worship with us have. We accept those needs as our own needs, and act accordingly. That means we don’t just put our money in the offering box, but we suffer together with the one who suffers. Our giving is then an expression of our identity with the saint as a brother.
To be given to hospitality is especially important where the church is persecuted. In the early church, people were sometimes evicted and forced to flee for their lives because of the Christian commitment. The only ones willing to help these families were their fellow Christians. People would frequently appear in Rome, needing help. They moved in with some family, and probably stayed there until they could find work and establish themselves.
To be “given” (koinoneo) to hospitality indicates a full identification, to be pursuing hospitality. They don’t merely wait for something to happen, but they seek out opportunities to show God’s love to others. It says in Hebrews 13:2 that in doing this, some people entertained angels without knowing it. Fortunately, in most places we don’t have the same desperate need for lodging that they sometimes had in the early church. But we do need to come closer to one another. We need to know one another more intimately in situations outside of the church meeting. We need to pursue hospitality, to eat together, to learn to open ourselves up to one another. It is a part of our sanctification.
We need to understand hospitality as that which makes the visitor feel comfortable and accepted. It is not necessarily feeding a lot of food. There are times when visitors are made to feel uncomfortable because people make too much of a fuss over them. To be hospitable is to be observant and sensitive to your guest. You don’t want him to feel as if you are doing him a big favor. This goes back to “giving with simplicity.”
Verse 14
Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
There is probably no practical exhortation that places greater demands on our spirits than this one. It implies that the persecution is undeserved and malicious, provoked not by our ill behavior, but by our doing good. The unreasonableness of the persecution is liable to provoke animosity in our minds against those who persecute. And yet we are called upon to bless, and as if to reinforce that commandment, Paul adds, “and curse not.” Not a mixture of blessing and cursing, but a pure blessing upon those who persecute us. Our ministry is to bless and not curse, to pray and not to malign. Speaking evil or maligning another person is a way of cursing them.
Persecution comes in many ways, even in disguise. In the Roman situation, it was open—they killed Christians, banished them, refused them work. And as a reward for their maltreatment of Christian they received an unmixed blessing from the Christians themselves! The carnal mind cries against such blessing, but the Spirit says Amen. There were also subtle persecution, I am sure, where a man said, “You are free to believe what you want,” but he just wouldn’t do business with anyone who believed that way. Paul was also familiar with “perils among false brethren.” (2 Corinthians 11:26) These false brethren were people who had infiltrated the church with a legalistic mentality that wanted to destroy the teaching about God’s grace by establishing rules for Christians. There was backbiting and gossip by those who couldn’t do anything constructive, and felt constrained to destroy things. But whatever the form of persecution, the Christian, sanctified by the washing of the word, will respond with a blessing, an act of love toward those who persecute him.
Verse 15
Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep
This verse relates to our identifying ourselves with the needs of others. We do not rejoice at the one who rejoices, but with him. We have a relationship with the brother or sister such that his cause for rejoicing is also our cause for rejoicing. We enter into it as if the occasion were our own.
I heard a pastor tell how difficult this was to do in ministry. A preacher would come in and talk about his wonderful victories while the pastor was going through hardships. The temptation is to say, “I’m glad that you are happy, brother,” and then to be jealous. It can be easier to week with those who weep than it is to rejoice with those who rejoice. It says, “Rejoice.” It doesn’t say you should warn them of the inherent dangers of being too excited, or of the dangers that might wait around the corner. We all know that those things will come, but when there is a time for rejoicing, let us rejoice. It is good to celebrate the blessings we receive.
We weep with those who weep. It doesn’t say rejoice with those who weep, for it also says in Proverbs 25:20, “As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart.” There is a time for weeping, and then we should identify ourselves wit the sorrowing one and weep. It is important to be able to grieve properly, and not to deny the fact of grief. God has ordained this to help us move through our sorrowful experiences. We cry out, “Why, God?” and even if we don’t get an understandable answer, our cry is a way of putting our confidence in His sovereignty. We can praise the Lord with a heavy heart; sometimes our best worship comes in the midst of such experiences. We identify with those who are suffering. We don’t weep for them; we weep with them.
Verse 16
Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
We don’t always agree with one another, but we are still of the same mind toward one another. We still love each other. We continue to know one another after the Spirit. We still honor one another in the Lord, recognizing that in spite of our differences of interpretation here on earth, we shall spend eternity together because we have been chosen by God to receive salvation.
The other phrase in the verse, condescend to men of low estate, is revolutionary. The Head of the church said, “I am meek and lowly of heart.” (Matthew 11:29) He is not pompous, not position-conscious, not seeking titles for himself. He is our example. A man named Meyer wrote, “The lowly things ought to have for the Christian a force of attraction, in virtue of which he yields himself to fellowship with them, and allows himself to be guided by them in the determination of his conduct. Thus Paul felt himself compelled to enter into humble situations.” As Christians, we are not asked to raise ourselves up so we feel at home in the palaces of kings, but to lower ourselves so that we feel most comfortable in the houses of widows and orphans. The Frenchman, Godet, said, “The reference is to the most indigent and ignorant and least influential in the church. It is to them that the believer ought to feel most drawn. The antipathy felt by the apostle to every sort of spiritual aristocracy, to every caste-distinction within the church, breaks out again in the last word.” We are guilty at times of seeking” influence” in the church, and we do so by fawning to the church leaders. We should be on good terms with them, of course, and we should share our thoughts and revelations with them, but we should not seek inordinate influence; rather, we should seek out the least influential and those in the greatest need, and minister to them. The heart of the shepherd goes out especially to the lost sheep. They require time, of course, but they must be found and helped. Remember that Jesus left heaven to come to a manger in Bethlehem.
The next part of the verse, “be not wise in your own conceits,” coordinates with verse three, to not think more highly of yourself than you ought. Just as there is to be no social aristocracy in the church, neither is there to be an intellectual aristocracy. We do not recognize caste distinctions. The church is to be led of the Spirit, of by the position in society, and not by human intellectual prowess.
Verse 17-19
Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
This carries on the thought of blessing those who persecute you. We, as disciples of Christ, must never retaliate for the evil done to us. Remember that Jesus said from the cross, “Father, forgive them.” (Luke 23:34) It is only for God to execute vengeance. It says, “Give place to wrath.” (v. 19) That means in essence that we don’t get in the way of the wrath of God by trying to administer the wrath of man. Allow God to do His own judging and punishment, and commit all of it to God.
Human revenge can feel sweet, but it doesn’t come from a right spirit. We are to seek to live at peace. Paul recognizes that it isn’t always possible. But we also recognize that it is usually possible, if we show a right attitude. It is very tempting to say that the one who hurt us has the responsibility to come to us to make it right. We, however, take a different view because Jesus said, “If your brother has anything against you.” (Matthew ) you are to go and seek reconciliation. Lack of accord between brothers in Christ affects your ability to worship. The responsibility for reconciliation always lies with me, and not with the other party. I am responsible to take the first step, no matter who caused the offense.
In contrast to vengeance, we should provide an honorable and honest testimony in the sight of all men, and we should do all that we can to live peaceably. To provide an honest testimony means literally to take thought in advance that your actions will be upright and above reproach. Sometimes we do things without thinking of their consequences. We have been sincere in doing them, but we haven’t had full understanding of what the action or the word implied. We may have offended, or inadvertently cheated someone. To provide things honorable is to see beforehand how the situation will look, not only from our own point of view, but also from the point of view of the one with whom we are dealing. It says you should not put a rock in a blind man’s path (Leviticus ); you must be completely honest in all your dealings.
Verses 20-21
Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
The word used for feed implies tenderness, as when a mother feeds her child. We don’t try to take the place of God in executing vengeance. To try to do so would be going back to the first sin, to try to be as God. But we administer the principal quality of God, the essence of God: Love. We feed the hungry, even as they are persecuting us. We give drink to the thirsty, even when they want to kill us. In so doing, we heap coals of fire on their head.
Hopefully, the “coals of fire” refer to the Holy Spirit bringing a sense of remorse and repentance to the enemy, by working on his conscience. But if his conscience is not responsive to the love we show, he is due to receive greater judgment because of his rejection.
These last four verses don’t deny the wrath of God; they leave it to God to execute His wrath. As believers, we show love to people, even when they are experiencing God’s judgment in their lives. We always are to show the fruit of the Spirit.
Sanctification is to overcome evil with good, not to repay evil with evil. The carnal mind doesn’t think that way, but we choose to have the mind of the Spirit. He will direct into more sanctified living all the time. This sanctification, as we have seen in this chapter, has great consequences in the life of the church and in our social relationships in society.
