Romans 12:14-18 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. 18 If possible, so far as it depend...  Read More

Romans 12:10-13 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; 11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, 13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.Christians offering themselves to God as living sacrifices (12:1) both love and hate—havi...  Read More

Romans 12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.As every Christian knows, acting in accordance with one’s faith in every situation life gives is not easy. Behavior that glories Christ is not necessarily natural, but since believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, it is of course attainable. The Christian, having been saved by the Lord Jesus Christ, now has the ...  Read More

Romans 12:6, 8 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly… 8 he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.               A fifth spiritual gift given by God to the Church for those who would offer themselves to Him as living sacrifices is “he who gives” (Gr. metadidōmi), or the...  Read More

Romans 12:6-8a Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; 7 if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; 8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation…               After prophecy, Paul lists service (Gr. diakonia) as a spiritual gift, from which the English wor...  Read More

Romans 12:6 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith…            Paul’s urging from the outset of Romans 12 concerns the ongoing worship of God in view of His mercies (v. 1). Christians are to worship God with their lives, refuse to conform to the world around them, be trans...  Read More

Romans 12:4-5 For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.Verse 4 explains v. 3, specifically concerning how one Christian measures himself against another. The truth is, the Church of Jesus Christ is a group of people—a body—who have placed their faith in Chri...  Read More

Romans 12:3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.In Romans 12:3 Paul speaks of both the grace given to him by God and the faith God has measured to him. It is grace, God’s first gift to man, that opens the door to His second ...  Read More

Romans 12:3 “For I say through the grace given to me, to all those among you, do not think too highly of yourselves than that which is necessary to think, but think with sound-thinking—each as God divided a measure of faith” (author’s literal translation).It is only by the grace of God that anyone can exhort others in God’s ways as Paul does. He could have said anything at this point in his letter...  Read More

Romans 12:2 …Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.            The purpose of having a transformed mind is found in the second part of v. 2: “so that you may prove what the will of God is…” Without a transformed mind, or a mind that is being transformed by the Spirit and His word (Scripture), one ca...  Read More

Romans 12:2b Do not be conformed… but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Whereas v. 1 issues an urgent plea for Christians to offer themselves to God, v. 2 issues two complementary commands on how Christians should offer themselves to God. First, by way of a negative command, Christians are told...  Read More

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world…            As any Christian can attest, being a follower of Christ, sadly, does not always entail actually following Christ. There are times when Christians choose to follow their own ways or the ways of others who are not Christians and are thus not pleasing to God. Being a Christian does not keep us from being tempted to follow that which is wicked,...  Read More