Welcome to Life Group. We invite you to join
us in this verse -by -verse study through the
Word of God. Welcome to Life Group. In this lesson,
we'll be looking at Romans chapters 12 through
13, verse 7. Romans 1 through 11 has taught us
what God has done for us through Jesus. But here
in Romans 12, Paul begins to show us what God
wants to do through us. Paul shifts from doctrine
to daily life. And he starts with one big idea.
Because of God's mercy, the only logical response
is to give Him our lives. So let's begin verse
1. And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead
with you to give your bodies to God because of
all He has done for you. Let them be a living
and holy sacrifice, the kind he will find acceptable.
This is truly the way to worship him. Here in
these verses, Paul is telling us to recognize
and respond to all that God has done, to remember
that he forgave us, he adopted us, he gave us
the Spirit, he never leaves us, and in light
of all these things, we need to give our bodies
to God. This idea of sacrifice, it reminds us
of the altar. But instead of something being
dead placed on the altar, God wants now a living
sacrifice. In this sense, we keep coming back.
We keep surrendering ourselves to God. We say,
Lord, I am yours. Because this is the reasonable
response, right? The giver of life deserves that
life in return. Picking up in verse 2. Don't
copy the behavior and customs of this world,
but let God transform you into a new person by
changing the way you think. Then you will learn
to know God's will for you, which is good and
pleasing and perfect. It's important to realize
that the world is always trying to shape us,
trying to tell us what to think, trying to tell
us how we should think. Culture says, think like
us, value what we value and define your life
our way. But here Paul is saying, don't be pressed
into that mold. Don't conform to it. Don't copy
it even. Instead, we are transformed. He's saying,
be transformed. How? Because it doesn't start
with your behavior and what you do. Paul is saying
real transformation starts with how you think.
Many believers live from their feelings, unfortunately.
Like, how do I feel today? And that determines
how my day is going to go. Or what am I do? You
know, we live from what we do. What do I need
to do? But God says, learn the truth. my truth
in the word, study my word, and then let this,
let him, by spending time in his word, change
how we think. And as our minds renew, our lives
change. We don't just learn God's will, but we
begin to live God's will and look more and more
like him each and every day. Verse 3. Because
of the privilege and authority God has given
me, I give each of you this warning. Don't think
you are better than you really are. Be honest
in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves
by the faith God has given us. Before Paul talks
about spiritual gifts, he talks about pride.
Because gifts often make people proud if they
forget all gifts are from God. Gifts don't equal
maturity. Gifts are ultimately for serving others.
They're not for elevating ourselves. Verse 4.
Just as our bodies have many parts, and each
part has a special function, so it is with Christ's
body. We are many parts of one body, and we all
belong to each other. Here Paul is telling us
that we belong to Christ, and we belong to one
another. But it is important to know that unity
doesn't mean sameness. Each one of us have different
gifts, different personalities, and different
roles in the kingdom of God. But we are one body.
And here, we need each other. The Bible identifies
spiritual gifts that are given to believers in
1 Corinthians 12 and in Romans 12. Let's take
a look at the seven gifts listed in Romans, starting
with verse 6. In His grace, God has given us
different gifts for doing certain things well.
So if God has given you the ability to prophesy,
Speak out with as much faith as God has given
you. If your gift is serving others, serve them
well. If you are a teacher, teach well. Now,
let's take a look at the first gift mentioned
is prophecy. And we're not going to make prophecy
spooky. Prophecy is simply hearing from God and
then saying what God wants you to say. whether
that be to one person or a group of people or
even to a nation we see throughout Scripture.
So prophecy is a spiritual gift, and prophecy
is listed in both lists here in Romans 12 and
in 1 Corinthians 12. So when we have the gift
to prophesy, we need to speak God's truth faithfully.
Say what He tells us to say. And it will always
be biblically what we say will always line up
with God's word. The second gift is serving others
or ministry. This is talking about meeting practical
needs. And we do this quietly and faithfully.
Third gift mentioned is teaching. It is also
on both lists. So what is teaching? What does
it come down to? Well, it really just comes down
to helping people understand God's Word by studying
and teaching and being faithful in that gift
of teaching. Let's continue in verse 8. If your
gift is to encourage others, be encouraging.
If it is giving, give generously. If God has
given you leadership ability, take the responsibility
seriously. And if you have a gift of showing
kindness to others, do it gladly. So let's continue
breaking down the list. The first one is exhortation.
Have you met someone before who was just always
encouraging? This is a person who probably has
that spiritual gift of encouragement. encouraging
people and just lifting people, not being a load
to others, but being a lift to others. And especially
encouraging people to live out what they know
according to God's word. The next spiritual gift
is giving. And this is resourcing the work of
God in the earth and doing it generously and
joyfully. I met a man one time who told me that
his goal in his business was to be so successful
in business that he could give away to ministry
90 % of his income and be able to live on 10%.
To have a heart like that, I believe we could
agree that he had the spiritual gift of giving
because that brought him great joy. The next
gift is leading or administration. This is a
spiritual gift to help guide other people and
to lead other people in ministry. The next gift
is showing mercy or showing kindness. This is
a spiritual gift of caring for hurting people
with joy, not resentment or duty, but... That
just brings you the greatest joy is helping someone
who is going through a difficult situation. And
in these seven gifts, we need to realize that
whatever God has given us, we don't need to bury
it. We need to use it. And we need to operate
in these gifts with the right heart always. Now,
talking about these gifts. Every one of us, I
believe, can prophesy. We can speak what God
has spoken to us and share with other people.
We can all serve. We can all teach. We can all
encourage. We can all give. We can all lead.
We can all care for other people who are hurting.
And I believe we should be involved in all of
these things. Everyone should be involved in
all of these things. But this list lets us know
that God gives special gifts and anointings to
people in different areas. You may say, well,
how could I know what gift God has given me?
Well, gifts are often recognized through having
a deep concern in one or another area of ministry
or a passion for a different area of ministry.
So those are ways that we can recognize the gifts
that God has given us. Let's pick up with verse
9. Don't just pretend to love others. Really
love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to
what is good. Love each other with genuine affection
and take delight in honoring each other. Here,
the Bible tells us that we don't need to pretend
and don't just put on our church face and act
like we're concerned and we love. No fake smiles.
As followers of Christ, we need to walk in real
love. Real love, kindness, and affection. But
right in the middle of talking about this love,
the Bible says, hate what is wrong. Now, as followers
of Christ, we don't approve of sin. We should
never approve of sin. And we should never excuse
sin. But in the midst of that, we need to remember
that we should never be mean or hateful towards
another person. Our society today kind of has
the idea that disagreement, if you disagree with
someone over what is wrong or what is right,
then that is hate. But that's just not true.
Disagreement is not hate. You see, a follower
of Christ can't embrace sin and approve of sin
or excuse sin because there's a problem with
sin. Sin always harms those who are trapped in
it. So we should never approve of that. We need
to cling to what honors God as we love other
people. Picking up with verse 11. Never be lazy,
but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.
There's no laziness in serving Jesus. We need
to stay spiritually focused in our lives. We
need to stay passionate for the things of God.
And when we talk about serving and not being
lazy, We can also understand that serving God
also looks like serving other people. And when
I thought about that and read this verse, I thought
about John chapter 13. The night before Jesus
was crucified, he gathered together with his
disciples in the upper room. And normally when
someone came into the house, someone volunteered.
to be at the door with a bowl and a towel and
wash the feet of the guests coming into the house.
But John 13 says that that did not happen. I
mean, that was normal, customary, just serving
each other. Someone would do that. And if there
were servants in the house, it was always the
lowest servant. But the Bible tells us that in
the middle of the dinner, Jesus got up, wrapped
a towel around his waist, took a bowl of water
and went around and washed the disciples' feet.
See, who knows what was going through their minds.
Maybe they thought, well, I'm not the lowest
here, so I shouldn't be washing the feet, right?
But when Jesus stooped down to wash the feet,
the Creator was stooping down to wash the feet
of His creation. Jesus modeled what it means
to serve, to be a servant. And then he goes on
to say that, you know, the greatest person in
the kingdom of God is those who serve. So we
should never be lazy in serving Jesus and in
serving each other. As a matter of fact, we need
to be the first to take up the towel. We need
to attempt to out serve one another. No, you're
not going to serve more than me. I'm going to
serve because we're not lazy. in serving God.
Picking up in verse 12, rejoice in our confident
hope, be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
Our hope, our confident expectation, is in Jesus
and all his promises. And here Paul is saying
that if we keep our eyes on him, that this gives
us reason to get happy, even in the hardest of
seasons. You see, difficult times require waiting
on hope's assurances. This is what true, genuine,
godly patience is and what Paul is telling us
here. And instead of filling this time in between
with worry, we should fill our waiting with prayer.
We should always pray. Verse 13, when God's people
are in need, be ready to help them. Always be
eager to practice hospitality. It's important
to realize here that he's talking about God's
people and what God's people are called to do
with one another. And we are called to be ready
in season. We should always be ready to help
one another. We should be always ready to open
our doors, to share our table and our supply
with one another. Godly hospitality is not just,
oh, I'll pray for you, but it's, I will help
you. It is love in action towards one another.
Verse 14, bless those who persecute you. Don't
curse them. Pray that God will bless them. How
dramatically different. Is this compared to how
our culture says that we should respond when
someone unjustly or unfairly treats us? And all
this is really impossible, like what Paul is
talking about. It's all impossible without the
infilling of the Holy Spirit and looking to him.
Because where the world cries to avenge, Jesus
calls us and his children to bless. We don't
curse others. We don't tear others down. Here,
we're being told that we need, and our obligation
is to pray for them. Verse 15. Be happy with
those who are happy, and weep with those who
weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don't
be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary
people, and don't think you know it all. How
many of you have been around somebody who just
has that air of, I know everything, right? But
God's people are not to act like that. We need
to genuinely care about other people's stories,
care about other people's lives and what's going
on. Everything is not a competition. We shouldn't
have to compete for the promotion and compare
our lives to the Joneses down the street. We
really need to genuinely celebrate others' wins,
and we need to stand with them in times of loss
and in seasons of hurt. Verse 17. Never pay back
evil with more evil. Do things in such a way
that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all
that you can to live in peace with everyone.
Dear friends, Never take revenge. Leave that
to the righteous anger of God. For the scriptures
say, I will take revenge. I will pay them back,
says the Lord. It's important that we trust God
with all injustice. We know that God sees and
God knows and he promises to handle judgment.
Sometimes peace with others isn't always in our
control, but what is our responsibility is to
not create conflict. Verse 20 Instead, if your
enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty,
give them something to drink. In doing this,
you will heap burning coals of shame on their
heads. Here, Paul is teaching us that evil is
defeated when we respond with Christlike goodness.
Kindness, therefore, softens others' hearts.
Sometimes kindness even convicts. Sometimes it
will even win back a former enemy. But it's important
to realize that the world's ideal of killing
someone with kindness is not God's way. God's
way is so much far above that mindset. It's the
heart of God's way is still love. We're not seeking
harm to someone else. We're seeking to genuinely
respond as God would respond, and that would
be to love one another as he loved us. despite
all the things that we've done against him, right?
He still loved us. And that's how we're supposed
to treat and carry our lives and in every arena
in our dealings with other people who seek to
even do us harm and do us wrong. Verse 21, don't
let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing
good. Here, Paul is saying that we must not give
in to the lure of pride, of hate, and now revenge.
This is not the way of Christ. Instead, though,
we must stay focused on copying his will and
his ways. So Romans 12, it's painted this picture
of a transformed life as one that is surrendered
to God. is one that thinks differently than the
world. It walks humbly. It serves faithfully.
It loves sincerely, responds graciously, and
trusts God with justice. Let's pick up in Romans
chapter 13, starting with verse 1. Everyone must
submit to governing authorities. For all authority,
comes from God. And those in positions of authority
have been placed there by God. So anyone who
rebels against authority is rebelling against
what God has instituted, and they will be punished.
Now, when we read this verse, this is not only
for the good Christians or the ones who agree
with the government at the time. It says everyone.
Christians shouldn't live with rebellious attitudes.
We aren't called to chaos. See, we live under
authority, and a Christian knows what it means
to live under authority. And we do it with humility.
And just to remind you, during this time, when
Roman soldiers would come and tell you to carry
their gear, you had to. It was a law. You had
to carry... They're gear for a mile. And if,
you know, Jesus, the word of God says, don't
just carry it one mile, carry it two. That's
the way Christians should act. And that's the
attitude that we should have as followers of
Christ. Now, this doesn't mean that every leader
is godly. Here's what it does mean. God allows
leaders to rise. and God removes leaders. God
works through authority, sometimes even through
imperfect authority. As we look through the Old
Testament, God gave leaders to bless the nation,
but he also allowed other leaders to correct
a nation and lead people back to him. When we
constantly fight against authority just because
we don't like it, we're not just resisting people.
We're resisting what God set up. But there's
a balance. If government ever tells us to do
something that clearly disobeys God, then Acts
4 .19 tells us we must obey God rather than men.
Picking up with verse 3. For the authorities
do not strike fear in people who are doing right,
but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like
to live without fear of the authorities? Do what
is right, and they will honor you. You see, in
God's design, government is meant to basically
do three things. To protect people. To punish
wrong. and to keep order in society. And if we're
living right, we don't have to live in fear.
If we're following the rules of law, we don't
have to be afraid. Christians should be the kind
of people who tell the truth, respect others,
live peaceful lives, and make their communities
better. Picking up with verse 4. The authorities
are God's servants sent for your good. But if
you're doing wrong, of course you should be afraid,
for they have the power to punish you. They are
God's servants sent for the very purpose of punishing
those who do what is wrong. So you must submit
to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also
to keep a clear conscience. This verse tells
us that government officials are servants. They're
servants of the people. Their authority, however,
is borrowed. Because everyone who has a position
of authority in this world is ultimately going
to answer to God for how they operated in that
authority. God has given government the right
to punish evil and to protect society. And when
government refuses to punish evil, they stop
doing what God designed them to do. We don't
obey and follow the law just because we're scared
of getting in trouble. We obey because it honors
God. It keeps our conscience clear. It reflects
Christ well. We obey out of faith, not out of
fear. Picking up with verse 6. Pay your taxes
too, for the same reasons. For government workers
need to be paid. They are serving God in what
they do. Give to everyone what you owe them.
Pay your taxes and government fees to those who
collect them and give respect and honor to those
who are in authority. I don't know if this is
an exciting verse or not, but it says that we
need to pay our taxes. We need to pay what we
owe. Why do we pay? Because government workers
serve the public. Order and structure costs something.
God uses systems to maintain society. And sometimes
we may not love the process, but we're supposed
to live honestly before God. Give people what
they're due. If they're due money, give them
money. Just like Jesus said, give to Caesar what
is Caesar's and give to God what is God's. So
if we owe money, that's what we need to do is
give the money that is owed. We also need to
give the respect that is due when it's appropriate.
And we are to honor when it is due. When someone
holds a position that God has allowed, we need
to treat them with honor. Now, we don't worship
our leaders, even though some people can be accused
of that, right? We're not supposed to worship
our leaders when we think they're a good leader.
They shouldn't be worshipped. Just like we shouldn't
insult everyone we disagree with. If we don't
like our leader, we shouldn't go around insulting
them as followers of Christ. We need to live
differently because our ultimate loyalty is to
Christ. Now, these verses aren't about trusting
every politician. It's about trusting God more
than politics. So, in trusting God more than
politics, we respect authority, we obey when
we can, we refuse only when obedience would mean
disobeying God, we pray for our leaders, and
we live with integrity. Ultimately, governments...
The governments of this world, they rise and
they fall. But Jesus is King forever. Thank you
for joining us for Life Group. Allow God's Word
to build your faith and transform your life.