In these two chapters Paul explains that the life of a Christian is fairly simple – love God, love others and submit to governing authorities.
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…
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.
We are all called in Christ, but we all have different gifts, 12:3-8. In a day where many of those who say they follow Christ, but do not regularly attend church, it’s verses like these that fly in the face of their non-attendance. We are called to gather and share the gift that the Lord has given each one to edify the whole, What is your gift? If you don’t know, these three things need to be evident in every gift. 1. You have a desire. 2. You are good at it. 3. It is confirmed and affirmed in the word of God for your life. If all of these match up – that’s your gift. If they don’t, it’s not.
Do you want to know if you are displaying the fruit of a Christian? Have a look at Paul’s list of qualifications in 12:9-21. Ask someone else who knows and loves you to help you if you really want an honest answer.
Submit to the government, 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 those who are submissive to God we also need to submit those who rule over us, even the evil rule of such a man as Nero. When should we act in civil disobedience and take Peter’s advice when he disobeyed the ruling authorities in Acts 4:19, 20? This is a line that constantly needs to be discerned. We should never stand for the gospel to be restricted.
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 difficulty in understanding the theology 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, the main one being that 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 and we and others will soon be before the judgement seat of God.
Vision Point for Cell groups
CBC's Vision "To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission".
Cell group questions from Sunday morning’s sermon “We’re in trouble” Romans 3:1-19.
1. Have you ever been so far behind the 8 ball that you were never able to win from there. I remember years ago Qld beat NSW 52-6 in the State of Origin. Discuss.
2. Paul paints a fairly bleak picture of the condition of humanity in Rom 3:10-18. What do you think, is it really that bad? Discuss.
3. Paul uses 3 words – Righteous, Propitiation and Justified. Do you remember what each of these words means with respect to our standing in Christ?
4. We are on the winning team. We are more than conquerors in Christ. We are victors and overcomers. What does this mean for you when have have the occasional lose in life?
Prayer Points
1. CBC Carols and Christmas Day. Pray for advertising and that these events bring many visitors to celebrate the Saviour.
New folk coming to church, pray they are loved and looked after.
2. America still considering who will be their president. Pray for the supreme court challenges. Pray for truth, grace and peace.
3. Keep praying for Zac’s dad, Mark Torrington not out of the woods yet.
4. Sunday’s message. This week – “An object lesson” Rom 9, Graham.
7. Church finances to meet our expenses and to put a roof over our café.
8. Our City and Country – Pray for revival over our city and the leadership of our country even through these challenging times.
Praise Points.
1. Rod’s health and the worship team on Sunday. Great job folks.
2. All those serving in ministry at CBC.
3. All those who served on Sunday with Music, audio, words and streaming.
4. Angelo, Helen, Doug, Maddison, Yuki thankyou for your efforts every week.
5. Unity, peace and grace at CBC.
6. Finances have been blessed. Thankyou.
Announcements
1. Carols Sun 20thDec 6pm. Start with a meal. Carols to start after the meal around 7pm.
2. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
4. Christmas Day service – 9:00am, Friday 25th December. 1 hour service.
