In Romans 12 and 13 Paul explains that the life of a Christian is fairly simple – love God and love others.
Romans 12: A Living Sacrifice
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Gifts of Grace
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,
5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;
8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Marks of the True Christian
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honour.
11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honourable in the sight of all.
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."
20 To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head."
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 13: Submission to the Authorities
1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.
7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honour to whom honour is owed.
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
9 For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself."
10 Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.
13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarrelling and jealousy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Things to think about…
1. You want to be known as someone who is spiritual? Paul says present your bodies as a living sacrifice, Rom 12:1. What does this look like? He tells us in vs 2, transform your mind and reform your life as a result. Then you will know God’s perfect will for your life. Sounds easy and it is. Daily bible reading, meditating and thinking about God’s word and how it should be applied into your life along with an engaged prayer life result in spiritual growth and what the Lord requires – worship.
2. Those who are part of the family of Jesus all have a spiritual gift, 12:3-8. What is your gift? If you don’t know, there are four things that I use to confirm one way or another. 1. You have a desire to use/act in something. 2. You show some ability in it. 3. It is confirmed and affirmed in the word of God for your life. 4. An opportunity presents itself for you to use the gift. If all of these match up – that’s your gift. If they don’t, it’s not.
3. Do you want to know if you are displaying the fruit of a Christian? Have a look at Paul’s list of qualifications in Rom 12:9-21. Ask someone else who knows and loves you to help you if you really want an honest answer. As we gather each week, this is also a time to encourage one another in of these areas. Of course if your practice is not to regularly attend, you miss out on these vital opportunities to grow more like the Saviour you claim to serve.
4. Submit to the government, Rom 13:1-7. Is Paul having a joke with his readers? You do remember who was on the throne at the time of Paul’s writing? That’s right, Nero – the violent man who killed family members including his own mother and lost his mind – likely because of syphilis (or lead or arsenic poisoning). Paul says here that God appointed Nero and as such we as those who are submissive to God need to submit to the evil rule of such a man. When should we act in civil disobedience and take Peter’s advice to disobey the ruling authorities in Acts 4:19, 20? When it conflicts with being obedient to the Lord. This is a line that constantly needs to be discerned.
5. Paul’s best advice is given in Rom 13:8, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” There is no difficult theology to understand here.
6. Why should we honour God and turn away from immoral living? There are a number of reasons given in scripture, but Paul gives one of the reasons here in Rom 13:8-14, because we haven’t got time for it, vss 11, 12. Let’s encourage each other to “make no provision for the flesh”, because the time is short when we and others will soon be before the judgement seat of our Lord.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Cell groups off over the school holidays.
Prayer Points
1. Pray for Angie as she lost her mum. Praise the Lord for the gift of faith and the example she has been to many. Continue to lift Angie and family in your prayers.
2. Pray for the new year that 2024 may be when the Lord visits his people. May He begin with me.
3. Pray for the families that have lost loved ones in the storms over the new year period. Pray for Christ’s peace.
4. Pray for the new arrivals at Christmas to CBC, may they find a home with us.
5. Please continue to pray for Glenys Zawada. Back for rehab as a day patient.
6. The conflicts in Israel and Ukraine. Praise for the peace of Jesus to reign.
7. Mathys has a prayer time at church on Monday afternoons. He would be happy for you to join him and to send prayer requests.
8. That we be bold in our witnessing for Christ. Pray for a heart to see those around you to be saved. Pray for the blessing over the new pastoral care and hosting program.
9. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. Praise god for Sunday’s message and ministry – Thanks Graham, Ben, Zac, Suzy, Ashley, Ric, Bec, Doug.
2. Praise God for the new year. Pray He gets the glory as we make our plans that He guides our steps.
3. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
2. Tune in again this week on our YouTube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for January...
Q. 16. Who were our first parents? A. Adam and Eve.
