Studies in Romans

Studies in Romans

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SUMMARY OF CONTENTS:OPENING REMARKS: 1:1-17BAD NEWS : Universality of sin and its condemnation 1:18 - 3:20GOOD NEWS : A gospel that changes our relationship to God 3:21- 5:21HOW TO GROW AS A CHRISTIAN : 6:1- 8-39

Sanctification 6:1-23 Union with Christ and its implications The Place of the Law 7:1-25 Life in the Spirit 8:1-39A SHORT DETOUR : Questions concerning Israel 9:1-11:36HOW A CHRISTIAN OUGHT TO LIVE : 12:1-15:13In our various relationships 12:1-13:14

1. Our relationship to God v1-22. Our relationship to believers v3-133. Our relationship to our enemies v14-21

PERSONAL GREETINGS : 16:1-27 Presentation 25

Studies in RomansHOW A CHRISTIAN OUGHT

TO LIVE Part 1 Chap 12v1-21

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We now enter the practical section of the epistle. Paul answers the question, ‘What should be the response of the person who has been captured and captivated by the gospel of God's grace?’

The ethical instruction given in the following verses is built on the doctrine laid down in Ch. 1-8. So that only the justified man is able to respond to the instruction that follows.

How a Christian Ought to Live 12:1-15:13

In Our Various Relationships 12:1-13:141. Our Relationship to God v1-2

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Verses 1-2 form the springboard for all subsequent Christian behaviour.We are to ‘present our bodies’. The verb ‘to present’ [translated in 6:13 as ‘offer’ ] is a word used in sacrifice. So, to present our bodies means laying them on the altar as a sacrifice before God.



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Why is our attention focused upon our bodies? Because any idea of consecration that does not involve our bodies is deficient. Just as our speech reveals our true identity [cf. Matt 18.34 ‘out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks’ ],so too our behaviour expressed through our body, should reveal the inner transformation of our lives.



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In 6:11-14 Paul argued that our bodies were once used to express our sinful nature but now we are to offer them to God, so that through them our new nature might express Christ’s righteousness.

This sacrifice is described as a ‘living sacrifice’ because the Christian is both someone who has been made ‘alive from the dead’, and someone whose life is being poured out all day long. When Paul describes this sacrifice as our ‘spiritual/ reasonable service,’ he is not thinking of an advanced stage of consecration but as the most basic response of being a disciple of Christ.



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What is meant by the word ‘world’ as it is used in v2… “do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world”? It refers to a ‘system’ that is absolutely opposed to God’s rule.

Down with God!



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The ‘world’, wants us to conform and to allow ourselves to be pressed into its mould, into its way of thinking and behaving accepting its values and beliefs.Just as a jelly mould dictates the shape into which the jelly will set, the world wants to squeeze the Christian into its way of thinking and living.



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Note that the world makes its appeal to men through the senses; it is along this route that it exercises its influence cf. Gen 3:6. In contrast, the new order makes its appeal to men through their minds – it is the renewal of the mind that leads to a transformation of life.

mind

senses



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Our character and our conduct are no higher than our thoughts. Therefore we need to control what we will think about [Phil. 4:8].

Paul is quite clear that victory over sin is something that comes through the mind. This is not to suggest that the believer’s heart or will are disengaged from the process but our understanding of and submission to God’s Word is fundamental.



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This digested knowledge of God’s Word plays a vital role in the matter of guidance. We know God’s will as our minds are renewed.

Our mental powers are not diluted but heightened by conversion. How are we to use God’s Word to guide us? By sticking a pin on our Bibles hoping that the verse it lands on will apply to the business of the day? No! It is as we work at the text of Scripture, and absorb it into our spiritual bloodstream, that our minds become tuned into the mind of God.



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One of the reasons we are so often unsure of guidance is that we have not truly consecrated our lives to God. We have failed to,“put everything on the altar of sacrifice”.

The young Augustine found himself praying, "Lord give me purity but not yet". We think wrongly that there are areas in our lives that we can legitimately withhold from God. As a result of all that Christ has done for us, complete and total consecration is our reasonable service.



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When our thinking is Christianised, all our relationships should be transformed. We will not ‘think of ourselves more highly than we ought’ or hold exaggerated ideas of our own importance. This means that we will face up to our God-given limitations. Humility is the first fruit of true consecration. A true surrender to Christ shrinks the inflated ‘ego’ to its proper size. It is always better to be real, even if being real means being quite small, than to be an unreal, inflated individual.



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The body analogy is developed in v4ff. It stresses our individuality - God has made us all gloriously different. Paul challenges the belief that the Christian can survive without dependence upon fellow believers. Note that we discover our God given gift and function within the church as a result of our consecration to God. The different gifts found in a church fellowship should not give rise to either feelings of superiority, or inferiority because they are grace gifts distributed as God chooses.


In Our Various Relationships 12:1-13:142. In Relation to Fellow Believers 12:3-13

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The issue is not one of superiority or inferiority, but of discovering our God-given duties, and doing them. We cannot be more useful to God than he chooses to make us. And because God has gifted us differently we are both necessary to and dependent upon one another.

Consecration and dependence go together. If we refuse to yield our lives to God and live in submission to his will, accepting the gifts he has given us, then we will experience a restlessness of spirit, and a growing sense of unfulfilment, as we desperately try to become something God never intended us to be.



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In v6 ff. we have one of the N.T. lists of spiritual gifts. They are an enduement for service, given for the maturing of the people of God. Seven gifts are mentioned here. The first one is ‘prophecy’ which can refer either to predicting future events or to prophetic preaching. This gift is to be exercised in ‘proportion’ to the possessor’s faith. The prophet ought not simply to speak whatever comes into his head, but in agreement with what has already been revealed by God. The prophet must not make wildly exaggerated statements, and if he fails to believe what he proclaims with conviction, then he leaves himself open to the charge of hypocrisy.



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Paul next speaks of ‘serving’ v7. We must guard against downgrading practical service to something ‘unspiritual’ or second-rate? Nor should not be ashamed of doing the most menial of tasks allotted to us. The gift of ‘teaching’, follows, the church needs teachers to bring out the plain sense of scripture, and make it understandable. The gift of ‘encouragement’ v8 literally means ‘to call another in’, ‘to speak for one’ and includes exhortation, encouragement and comfort. The next gift, ‘giving/sharing’, seems to refer to individual contributions towards the help of others, rather than to the church treasury. Giving is to be exercised ‘with simplicity’, that is without fanfare. When in giving, we draw attention to ourselves, we devalue our service. Matt 6.2-4



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Next is ‘leadership’ a gift not to be taken lightly, and so ‘diligence’ is called for. Remember Eli: 1 Sam 3 11-14. The final gift is ‘showing mercy with cheerfulness’. It may have special reference, either to those in positions of responsibility, or to those who have the resources to help others. Our service should never be reduced to mere duty. When we lose sight of the privilege of helping others we stop communicating loving concern, which is the mark of God’s mercy. It is possible to so patronise the needy, that our gift of service seems insulting. Instead, we should help in a way that makes them feel that they are conferring an honour on us, by being there to be served. It is not the deed, but the spirit in which it is done, that is of supreme importance.



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In v9-13 Paul turns from particular gifts, to consider qualities and patterns of behaviour, that should be found in every believer. First of all ‘love is to be genuine/sincere’ . The background to the word ‘sincere’ is from the potter’s stall in the marketplace. In manufacture, some pots would crack when fired in the oven. Dishonest potters filled the cracks with wax so they could sell them. The honest potter would have a sign to say that his pots were ‘sincere’ i.e. “without wax”. No pretence. No hypocrisy.



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The Christian Church is the one place on earth where we should be able to trust one another’s love.

Love’s genuineness is seen in its hatred of evil. Real love will neither, accommodate evil in ones own life nor, be indifferent towards it in the life of a fellow believer - for it harms his relationship with God. Genuine love will cling on to what is good. It always looks for the best in another, for something that is praiseworthy.



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Genuine love should be:-

1. Faithful and trustworthy.2. Intolerant of evil in the object

of love.3. Warm and attractive and not

forbidding and harsh.4. Self-giving, not self-

gratifying. It wants the best for others.



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Documents

Studies in Romans