ROMANS 12
It is very encouraging to see that believers can be addressed and exhorted as they are in this chapter. God would have us to derive from it a stimulating sense of the spiritual abilities which His grace has conferred upon us. The saints are viewed here as having become the intelligent servants of divine pleasure. They are set together as “one body in Christ”, so that the will of God may be worked out in them as a united company. We are not exhorted to anything in this chapter that we have not spiritual ability to carry out, or that is not the way of true liberty for us. It can only be worked out in a spirit of complete dedication on the part of those to whom it has become a pleasure to be wholly for God. At the bottom of the exercises of every awakened sinner is the conviction that he has not been for God, and he now realises that it is high time he began to live for God. Every ray of gospel light that comes to him intensifies the desire to be for God until, in the liberty of grace and by the Holy Spirit indwelling, that desire issues in the presentation of his body as a living sacrifice. This is an action of intelligent affection brought about by the knowledge of God in grace, and under a deep sense of His compassion.
Adequate motive has been brought in on God’s part to secure the presentation of our bodies to Him; He has bestowed power by the gift of the Spirit for such a dedication; and His grace has made it possible for our bodies to be presented as holy and acceptable. It tells a wonderful tale of the triumph of grace that our bodies — which were once the vehicle and [p. 194] instrument of fleshly lusts — can now be held as “holy, acceptable to God”. Not a maimed or blemished sacrifice — such could not be acceptable — but one which has the character of holiness and acceptability. To present our bodies pleasurable to God as a living sacrifice is the service to which we are called, and it is to be intelligently rendered.
In writing to the Corinthians, who were carnal and self-indulgent, Paul insists on the rights of Christ and of God in regard to the body. He says, “Do ye not know that your bodies are members of Christ? ... Do ye not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?” He lays it plainly down that they were not their own; they were bought with a price, and were the absolute property of the One who had bought them. Hence he says, “Glorify now then God in your body”, 1 Corinthians 6:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19,20.
But in this epistle to the Romans he is bringing out the normal fruit of the knowledge of God in grace and compassion. So he speaks of the bodies of the saints as being, if we may so say, at their own disposal, and he beseeches us to take advantage of the wondrous opportunity which we have of dedicating them wholly to God. It is, surely, fitting that we should do so, and it is the noblest and most exalted use which we can make of our bodies. They are to be presented to God “a living sacrifice”, and as having been presented and accepted they cannot be recalled; they are ever to retain the character of a dedicated gift. The believer, as having thus presented his body, is ever to minister in a living way to the pleasure of God. There is nothing spasmodic or sentimental about this; it is the settled and definite purpose of an “intelligent service”.
[p. 195] Thus to serve God necessitates that we do not take this world (or age) as our model. It is a course of things which Scripture calls “the present evil world”. It is an age characterised by the activity of man’s thoughts and wisdom, by darkness as to God, and, indeed, Satan is spoken of as its god. The same moral features run right through this age; the forms which they take vary, but the moral features are the same. It is the same age as when the Lord was here, and when the apostles wrote. It is marked by men having high thoughts above what they should think, and being wise in their own eyes, and pleasing themselves, with no thought of subjection to God. It is an age which has no divine features, and the believer is not to be conformed to it. On the contrary, he is to be “transformed” — the same word as “transfigured” in the Gospels — by the renewing of his mind.
The Christian has a new way of thinking about everything, because he judges himself, and has God and Christ and the Holy Spirit and the brethren in his thoughts. He thinks altogether differently from the natural man. This epistle presents the mind in different connections. In chapter 1 we read of some who are given up to “a reprobate mind”, or “a mind void of moral discernment”. The result is that they practise unseemly things. In chapter 7 we have the experience of one who has an exercised mind, though not yet in Christian liberty. But in chapter 12 renewing of mind is spoken of as producing transformation.
This epistle was unquestionably written by divine inspiration, but it is at the same time a wonderful setting forth of how a renewed mind thinks of things. It is as we are brought, through grace and by the [p. 196] Holy Spirit, to think in harmony with what Paul brings before us in this letter, that renewing of mind is brought about. This will not result in conformity to this age, but will transform us into correspondence with the will of God. We shall prove how good and acceptable and perfect that will is. It is not merely that it is so abstractly, but it becomes known to us as being so. Transformation is brought about from within; one might be outwardly very separate from the world, perhaps in a monastery or convent, or wear the plainest garb, and yet in one’s thoughts be fully conformed to this age. But a renewed mind takes account of the will of God, and of what He has brought in for His pleasure. He has set all His saints together as one body in Christ, and He has given to each qualification to fill a definite place in that body. It is not exactly here the body of Christ for the display of Christ — though His features do come out in the things mentioned here — but the saints viewed as “one body in Christ” for the display in their mutual relations of “the various grace of God”.
The will of God has reference to the place which we have in relation to all other believers, and this is purely a question of grace given. A large measure of grace was given to Paul to say something to every one of us, and he did say it. He illustrates the principle which he is bringing before us; he contributed his part — and it was a large one — to the working of things out amongst those who are “one body in Christ”. He says to each one of us that we are not to have high thoughts above what we should think, “but to think so as to be wise, as God has dealt to each a measure of faith”. All right action must flow from right thinking, and right thinking is determined by the “measure of faith”. This is a serious matter for each one of us to consider. God has dealt to each of us a measure of faith, and that faith determines the function which we have to fill as having a divinely appointed office amongst those who are “one body in Christ”. No believer can say that God has not dealt to him a measure of faith. We have to find out what it is by thinking soberly about it. To think we can fill a place for which God has not qualified us is only to court humiliation and disaster.
But, on the other hand, it is most important that we should not in our thoughts fall below the measure which is dealt to us. We shall find that that measure is sufficient to give full scope to every spiritual qualification which we possess. It is our great business to find our place in the body, and to contribute our full quota to the well-being of the whole. To act according to our measure of faith would secure perfect unity and co-operation, for no action of faith in one could ever be out of accord with the action of faith in others. We each have our particular office, but all that is of faith in one helps what is of faith in others. We are “each one members one of the other”: I am your member, and you are mine. How intimate is our relation to each other, and our interdependence! We are truly indispensable to each other in relation to proving what is “the good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. For that will relates to us not as isolated individuals, but as those who are divinely set together in this wonderful organism.
So that the Epistle to the Romans does not leave us unattached, but shows how we are set in relation to the whole company of those who are “one body in Christ”. It brings us to assembly relations, and [p. 198] prepares us for what is more fully developed in 1 Corinthians. We shall never move in really spiritual liberty and God will never be suitably served and honoured by us, until we fulfil the functions for which He has given us faith. What you have faith to do you can be with God about, and have Him with you, and it will effectively promote the welfare of the saints as one body in Christ. The fact that there is great general departure from the will of God casts each faithful saint back on what we find in Scripture. The departure does not invalidate faith, and those who have the faith of God’s will can walk together according to it, notwithstanding the departure. Of course we suffer by only having a few saints available practically instead of all, but even a few saints can walk together according to the principles of this chapter. J.B.S. used to say, “I have to do without many; I cannot do without any”. If only a few are practically available, let us make the best and the most of the few!
We are to prove what a blessed thing the will of God is in the way we walk together, and get the mutual gain of each other’s contributions. The will of God does not come to us as a legal demand, but as a source of wealth and gain. It confirms and gives scope to every desire that we have as taught by grace. There is something in perfect correspondence with God in every saint as having the Spirit. The mind of the Spirit is there, and God searches the heart to find it. All that I desire to do, as in the Spirit, is in perfect harmony with the will of God. If people regard the will of God as burdensome, or as cutting across what they want to do, it is a clear indication that they are walking according to flesh.
[p. 199] The apostle proceeds to bring out in detail how the will of God works out in the relations of the saints: first in regard to specific gifts, and then in regard to what is general. There are certain “different gifts” — seven being specified — which characterise different members, and then there are a number of things which are to come into activity in all. Any who have a special gift are to be diligent in its exercise, but each of them has also to take up what is general.
Prophesying is given the first place as it is also in 1 Corinthians. It must always be the most important service in the assembly, for it brings to bear upon us the present mind of God. It must never be forgotten that what God has to communicate to us is more important than anything that we can say to Him. Prophecy rebukes and sets aside the fleshly and the natural by bringing in the spiritual. The word of the prophet comes home with arresting power; it makes the saints conscious of what is of God in such a way that they judge what is not of Him. It is the bringing of divine light in prophetic power to the consciences and hearts of saints in these last days that has led to the judgment of what is unsuitable to God in the Christian profession, and to separation from it. God has brought out His present mind in a wonderful way, and I trust we have all in some measure benefited by it. The one who prophesies is to do it “according to the proportion of faith”; he is not to be governed in the exercise of his gift by impulse, or feelings, or zeal, or by what he knows of Scripture, but by faith. That is, God is distinctly before his soul, and he does not speak beyond what is of present faith. Peter would have prophesying in mind when he says, “If any one speak — as oracles of God”
([p. 200] 1 Peter 4: 11). What profound and holy exercise this would give to any who “desire to prophesy”! (1 Corinthians 14: 39).
Then “service” is more general. Phoebe was a servant of the assembly in Cenchrea, showing that sisters can serve the assembly. So far as we can judge there are more sisters than brothers in the body, and it is the will of God that a very large part of the service in the body should be taken up by sisters. Because they are not sent to preach, or permitted to speak in the assembly, they must not conclude that it is not their privilege to serve. Whatever service we have faith to take up, let it be our business diligently to pursue it. It is a pleasure to ask some brothers and sisters to do any little service, because you can see how it pleases them to do it. Something for the good of the brethren! That is enough: they are ready!
“Let us occupy ourselves in service”. A very great deal of trouble and sorrow would be avoided if believers engaged themselves more in Christian activities. If there were more service there would be less room for things which lead to envyings, jealousies, evil speakings, and personal differences and misunderstandings. Practically deliverance from what is of the flesh is found as we move in activities which are of the Spirit.
Then teaching and exhorting are always needed; if one has gift and grace to do it, let him go on diligently with it. Giving is to be marked by simplicity — a readiness that does not grudge what is given. Diligence is to mark the one who leads; he is set on finding the way for the saints, and he must not get slack; one who has the place of a leader, but who [p. 201] does not lead, is a positive hindrance to the saints. His tardiness hinders their progress.
Then it is remarkable that the ability to show mercy is spoken of here as a distinct gift of grace. I think it would refer to circumstances arising amongst the brethren which are an opportunity for mercy. If a brother or sister falls amongst robbers and gets wounded, it is a test as to how much we are in the spirit of the Samaritan. He succoured the poor man cheerfully, not stopping with what just met the urgent need, but being rich in mercy. We see from this scripture that amongst those who are “one body in Christ” there are some specially endowed with the ability to show mercy. It is a gift that might be coveted as among “the greater gifts”, for it is very like God’s way of acting.
Verses 6 - 8 are “different gifts” — functions which different members exercise — but from verse 9 onwards the things spoken of are general. To pursue the figure of the body we might say that we come now to what is constitutional. Underlying the normal and vigorous activity of the members is a healthy constitution. It is obvious that an impaired constitution will lead to weakness or defective action on the part of the members. These chapters bring out in a wonderful way the capability of the saints, as set free by grace; for such exhortations would not be addressed to persons incapable of answering to them. It is not here members with different functions, but features which are to pervade the whole company of those who are “one body in Christ”. Hence I regard them as constitutional. It would be well if we all got a better conception of what is normally characteristic of us as subjects of divine grace and working.
“Let love be unfeigned”. A simple, unaffected desire for the good of others would mould the lives and spirits of saints in a wonderful way. It would lead to our being laid out for their good. And no one can stop us on this line. However naughty a person may be, it need not stop me from desiring his good and seeking to promote it. Timothy was a beautiful example, as a man with genuine desire for the good of the saints. But evil is injurious to saints, and therefore unfeigned love must abhor evil, because it is mischievous and destructive. Love is beneficent, and it cannot be complacent while its object is suffering from what is evil. How perfectly is this seen in the Lord Jesus Christ! He loved righteousness, but He hated lawlessness. The consideration of this keeps up continued exercise because of the surroundings in which we find ourselves. The natural man has the knowledge of good and evil, but he does not cleave to good and abhor evil; the saints are to do so.
These chapters are a great help to us as those “who, on account of habit, have their senses exercised for distinguishing both good and evil”. I am to abhor evil wherever I see it, in myself or in others; but I must never forget that Christ abhorred evil so much that He took the full judgment of it upon Himself. Hence it is “Jesus Christ the righteous” who is the Advocate “if any one sin”. He is entitled to be the Advocate because He has borne what was due to the sin. All our exercises in regard to what is evil are taken up in the light of that. If evil appears in a believer, we must never forget that Christ has borne in love the judgment due to it. This preserves a sense of grace in the soul. We cannot touch anything rightly save as we touch it in harmony with Christ.
[p. 203] If a believer has sinned, and is not right about it, it is possible for me to be right about it. I abhor it because Christ has had to suffer for it, but I do so as conscious that I am a debtor to mercy myself. And it is a great relief, if we have had to think of something uncomely in a brother or sister, to be reminded of the good that is there — to see something to which we can cleave.
“As to brotherly love, kindly affectioned towards one another”. Brotherly love would take account of all the conditions and circumstances in which the brethren are found, and would be affectionately concerned about them, as to their families, their health, or their business. “As to honour, each taking the lead in paying it to the other”. It supposes that each saint can be regarded as worthy of honour. It is worth while to take pains to discover the honourable features that are there — those features by which saints contribute to the organism in which they are divinely set. I am not to wait for others to honour me as a contributor, but I am to take the lead in paying honour to them. It is right to honour every believer, for he is called, redeemed, justified, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and is an essential part of the company who are “one body in Christ”; the purpose of God could not be completed without him.
“Diligent zealousness” would intimate that one has a definite purpose in life. Not merely kind and gracious sentiments, but a fervour of divine warmth in one’s spirit leading to active service. Surely, we all covet more of this, and to be more definitely “serving the Lord”! Much that is sorrowful amongst the people of God arises from slothfulness. There is lack of definite purpose to serve the Lord, and people [p. 204] get engrossed with all kinds of selfish pursuits. “The house of Stephanas” is a good example for us all; they had appointed themselves to the saints for service; 1 Corinthians 16: 15. The Lord greatly values a definite committal of this kind. If then: were more of it, how greatly should we benefit, and time would be redeemed instead of wasted!
“As regards hope, rejoicing”. There is unmixed joy in all that is a matter of hope. But the present is the time of tribulation, and endurance is to mark us there. We do not look to be relieved of pressure, but for support that we may endure. So there is perseverance in prayer. The Lord would have men “to always pray and not faint”. Confidence in God is expressed by continuing in prayer. You have really to say to God about things! Think of the privilege of it! We can pray about everything that stands connected with the will of God; it is the way we get inward support and power to go on. As to particular requests, I believe that often the soul gets the assurance of being heard — the sense of having an audience, as J.B.S. used to say. If a man presents a petition to the king, and the king says, “Your request is granted”, the man goes away satisfied, though it may be some time before he actually gets what he desired. This is a time when exercise, dependence, and confidence have to be maintained continually. So perseverance in prayer is most essential. The parable which the Lord spoke in Luke 18 in this connection is very striking. He speaks of a judge who would not avenge a certain widow, but did so in the end “that she may not by perpetually coming completely harass me”. We might have hesitated to use such a figure with reference to prayer if the [p. 205] Lord had not done so. He would encourage us to persevere in prayer. Sometimes people say, “I have made it a matter of prayer, and now I leave it”. To “leave it” might mean sometimes that we are not much in earnest about it!
“Distributing to the necessities of the saints” implies that God does not intend to keep the saints immune from necessities, but that those necessities furnish opportunity for His grace to come out in others. “Given to hospitality” would not be social entertaining of persons we like, but a readiness to receive saints who might have need of care, such as strangers passing through. Gaius stands out as one specially marked by this grace (see 3 John and Romans 16: 23).
It would be helpful for us to let all these exhortations come to our hearts as the voice of the Lord Himself. Paul was a true representative of the Lord; Christ spoke in him; and the recognition of what he writes as being the commandment of the Lord is the test of our spirituality.
“Bless them that persecute you; bless, and curse not”. One can understand with what feeling Paul said this, for he had been a persecutor himself. It is well that we should remember what we have been ourselves. (See Titus 3: 3 - 7.) It would preserve a sympathetic feeling in regard to those who are opposed. God did not meet us with curse but with blessing. We should never suffer our hearts to forget the character of the dispensation; there is always a tendency to slip away from the spirit of the new covenant. The first desire of the Son of God for His own in John 17 was that they might be kept in the Father’s Name. The revelation of God in infinite [p. 206] grace as the Father is characteristic of the present time. We need to be kept in that Name. Our natural tendencies, and the influences of the religious world, tend to move us away from it. As kept in the Father’s Name we should be always in the spirit of blessing, overcoming evil with good. God’s government goes on, for He says, “Vengeance belongs to me, I will recompense, saith the Lord”, but we are to leave that to Him. His present dispensation towards men is one of grace; He is not cursing but blessing; and this is to be the character of His called and divinely taught ones. If men persecuted Paul, it reminded him surely that he had been “a blasphemer and persecutor, and an insolent overbearing man”. The earthquake woke up the jailer, but what broke him down was the spirit of grace and blessing in Paul. He had cast them into the inner prison and secured their feet to the stocks, and yet Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do thyself no harm!” That broke him down, and he said, “Sirs, what must I do that I may be saved?” It was as much as to say, I should like to be such a man as you are.
Sometimes when a wrong has been done there may be a secret desire that the Lord would bring some punishment on the evil-doer. No doubt He will recompense evil in His righteous retributive ways, but that is not what the heart taught by grace cherishes. Grace would lead us to think of the overcoming power of good, and of the irresistible force of divine blessing as known in Christ. We must beware of yielding that mixed stream of blessing and cursing against which James warns us; James 3:8-10.
Then the sympathetic spirit is to mark us generally; rejoicing with those that rejoice, and weeping with those that weep. We are to “have the same respect one for another”, looking on our brethren, not according to what they are naturally or socially, but as subjects of divine calling and grace. Not allowing ourselves to be influenced by “high things”, but going along with the lowly. The child of Ham (the Ethiopian eunuch), the child of Shem (Saul of Tarsus), and the child of Japheth (Cornelius), would have the same respect one for another, for God had wrought in each of them. All distinctions were merged in the new status which each had acquired as a subject of grace. When the Son of the Highest was here He went along with the lowly; not the kings and great men, but the saints, were to Him “the excellent”.
If we are wise in our own eyes we shall have to learn experimentally how foolish we are. Then there is to be no spirit of retaliation, no recompensing evil for evil. That things should be provided “honest before all men” is an important exercise. “Taking care by forethought that there should be what is comely and seemly” (note to New Translation). Much reproach is sometimes occasioned just from lack of forethought as to what the effect of things is likely to be. In the next chapter we are exhorted not to take forethought for the flesh to fulfil its lusts, but there is a forethought which is commendable. Every Christian would be exercised and troubled about being in debt; but this would have a wider bearing and would refer to all that is comely in a saint before men. And we must remember that no one is so observed as the Christian, and people have — quite rightly — an entirely different and much higher standard for Christians than for others. So careful consideration is needed that no occasion for reproach should be given.
“[p. 208] If possible, as far as depends on you, living in peace with all men”. We cannot ensure that there will be peace on their side, for all men are not “sons of peace”. “I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war”, Psalm 120: 7. But we are to see to it that there is nothing contrary to peace on our side.
Then if we have been injured, there is to be no avenging of ourselves. There is, on the contrary, to be a looking out for an opportunity to show “the kindness of God” to an enemy. We could have no greater dignity here than to be set up by grace so as to act like God. It was His original thought. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”. God would have us to feel ashamed of any action or spirit that is unworthy of Him. If we are wronged we have the privilege of taking it all as from God’s hand. The Lord when here was defrauded of every right, but He “gave himself over into the hands of him who judges righteously”, 1 Peter 2: 23. In the New Translation there is a beautiful note to this verse: “I think therefore the sense must be ‘gave himself up to, suffered all, as accepting all from his hand’, gave himself up to take whatever he sent who would in the end righteously judge”. The word used has not the sense of committing a wrong to another to vindicate, but that He took everything as from God’s hand, and put His trust in God as the One who would, in due time, judge righteously. If I take things from men I may feel very resentful, but if I have grace to accept them as from God my spirit will be kept right. The time of vindication will come, but in the meantime it is ours to accept all wrong and injury as from God. David exemplified this when Shimei cursed him: “So let him curse, for Jehovah [p. 209] has said to him, Curse David! Who shall then say, Why dost thou so? ... Let him alone and let him curse; for Jehovah has bidden him. It may be that Jehovah will look on mine affliction, and that Jehovah will requite me good for my being cursed this day”, 2 Samuel 16: 10 - 12.
We are not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good.