Paul's Summary of the Christian Life -- the fire hydrant of Romans 12
The foundation for all Christian behavior is humility.
Bible Study Ideas and Commentary for Romans 12
Romans 12 is an incredible encapsulation of the entire Christian life -- our attitude toward God, which is the foundation of our attitude toward all people, Christians and non-Christians. Paul's advice can be summarized as "do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good", with easy-to-apply suggestions in many real-world setting.
Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, (12:2)
[No AI is used in writing these notes. I've realized that I need to make that clear.]
When We Covered This Passage in 2020
My notes from the last cycle are disappointingly short. I don't remember why I made them short.
Recommendation #1: HOLD OFF on the POLITICS
I know you can't stop all the politics and election talk (note to future readers: this was an election week), but I strongly urge you to move your group along for two reasons:
See recommendation #2.
Next week, we're covering Romans 13, which is about government.
Recommendation #2: Cover the ENTIRE CHAPTER
I believe that Romans 12 is one of the best summaries of the Christian life in the entire Bible. I strongly encourage you to read the entire chapter with your group. There's not much to debate in here -- not much that needs explaining. Walk your group through the whole chapter, clarify those few things that don't translate cleanly into English, and then lead your group in a personal checklist of things they need to "work on" in their own lives. You and I should do this long before we get to Sunday morning.
Consequently, there's not as much time for chitchat. Here are a few ideas for some "icebreaker topics"; pick one and move on.
Getting Started: Things to Think About
Siblings, for Better and Worse
I'm sure there's a wide range of sibling experiences among the people in your group. To keep this discussion going one direction, set the boundary that in Paul's context, all of the "siblings" are Christian.
What are the ups and downs of having a sibling? (Again -- I'm making that assumption that all siblings involved are Christian. If you have a non-Christian sibling, that can be a very different experience.)
And then more to the point, what is the difference between a sibling bond and a bond with a very close friend?
Paul says something very interesting to the church in Rome: all Christians are now "brothers and sisters" in Christ. What do you think he means by that, and how can our experiences with our flesh-and-blood siblings help us understand the good part of this image?
Would You Scrub a Toilet?
In this week's passage, Paul really celebrates what we call "menial labor". At the risk of creating domestic arguments about who does which chores, who does which chores in your household? What about at your church?
Yes, I have heard all of the "we pay somebody to do that" rejoinders. So let me offer some specific scenarios for you to throw at your group:
The person in your home who cleans the toilets is sick as a dog and just threw up all around the toilet; are you going to leave it there for when that person gets better?
It's a Sunday morning, and you clogged a toilet! Are you going to do something about it? Or is your instinct just to find somebody else to fix it (like the pastor?)?
You can create any number of scenarios that would apply to your unique group.
I'm interested in gut reactions. Are your group members inclined to help, or are they going to insist that it's somebody else's job? ("I'll just close the door and let somebody discover it tomorrow.")
I'll cut to the chase -- Paul says that Christians had better be willing to do the most menial of jobs. Why? Or I guess you would make this a two-part question: what are examples of "menial jobs", and why is it important that Christians be willing to do them?
[Hint (to be safe): use the phrases "washing feet" and "humility" to spark the answers.]
Somebody Has to Do It
Similarly, this topic idea can go awry if you aren't careful. My family has a joke something to the effect of -- we need somebody in our family who can give legal advice, somebody who can give medical advice, somebody who can fix our cars, and somebody who's a handyman. We're just trying to cover all of our bases in life, right?
We all know that the truth is we're not all born with innate skills and knowledge as to everything we need, so we have to learn things. Somebody in your household has to take care of the baby. Somebody has to take care of the dog. Somebody has to figure out the trash schedule and how to pay the light bill and how to use the insulin pump. It doesn't matter if nobody knows how to do something; somebody has to learn it.
What is the chore you've learned to do by necessity that you feel the most "out of your element" doing?
The same mindset exists in a church family. Somebody has to change the light bulb. Somebody has to keep the computers working. Somebody has to properly care for the babies. And frankly, it doesn't matter if everybody says "I don't know how to do that!"
The parallel topic would be something like "what do you do for your church family that you don't feel particularly qualified for?" Last Sunday, we had our deacon ordination. One of my favorite parts of being a pastor is seeing men who thought "I'm not good enough (or whatever) to be a deacon" become a deacon and grow into respected servant-leaders of their church family. God will make sure that our church members are able to do the things our church needs.
Influencer or Influenced?
If you can keep it short, have your group confess if they follow any "social media influencers". Who are they and what have they influenced you to do? (For example, I look up what Matt Ferrell says about home tech and Marques Brownlee about general tech; they're not exactly the kind of "influencer" I have in mind.)
If you don't have any idea what I'm talking about, Dr. Rick is here for you:
In what ways do you find yourself being "influenced" today? Peer pressure is nothing new, and being influenced is nothing new. Are the ways you're being influenced today different then were for you ten years ago? Twenty? Are the ways your kids and grandkids are being influenced different than for you when you were their age?
And then more to the point -- do you feel yourself doing more influencing or being more influenced?
I've been watching the news about the protests and riots in Europe, and they're following a predictable pattern: organized, peaceful, large-crowd protest about specific complaints, then it gets hijacked into riots and looting. If you were a European sympathetic to the complaints, what would your involvement be? Would you go along with the turn to violence? Condone it? How would you handle that kind of "peer pressure"?
Paul says that we can be in one of two categories: we can be shaped by the world, or we can be shaped by Jesus. We can be conformed to the pattern of this world, or we can be transformed by the pattern of heaven.
Which are you?
Where We Are in Romans
We survived two lessons on Paul's very personal pet topic -- the place of his Jewish brethren in God's plan. I hope you found the passages to be quite practical and profound.
Here's a summary of the outline I shared the first Sunday:
Introduction (1:1-15)
Greetings (1:1-7)
Prayer (1:8-15)
Thesis (1:16-17)
The Gospel (1:18-5:21)
True Godliness (6:1-8:39)
The Place of Israel (9:1-11:36)
Christian Living (12:1-15:13)
Our attitude toward God (12:1-2)
Our attitude toward other Christians (12:3-16)
Our attitude toward non-Christians (12:17-21)
Our attitude toward rulers (13:1-7)
Our attitude toward all people (13:8-14)
Liberty, peace, love, and unity (14:1-15:13)
Conclusion, Future Plans, and Greetings (15:14-16:27)
Now that Paul has covered the truth of Jesus Christ, he wants to make it clear how that truth should affect every part of a Christian's life. We have one lesson coming in chapters 12, 13, 14, and 15.
As I said above, I think that chapter 12 is invaluable. I think we should all print it in giant print all over our walls so that we're constantly reminded to live by it every day.
This Week's Big Idea: Gifts in the Church
In this week's passage, Paul talks about "gifts". He does not call them "spiritual gifts", but this passage is regularly included in discussion about spiritual gifts. I am going to suggest that it actually doesn't matter if Paul considers his words to be about "spiritual gifts" or "gifts", but the other spiritual gifts passages are helpful to understand this week's passage.
We've covered spiritual gifts many times, including:
If you're going to cover all of chapter 12, you don't have time to take a long detour on the oft-discussed (and debated) topic of spiritual gifts. Let me show you a table comparing Paul's main writings on spiritual gifts:
Romans 12:3-8 | 1 Cor 12:4-13 | 1 Cor 12:27-31 | Eph 4:4-13 |
Prophecy Teaching | Prophecy | Prophets (2nd) Teachers (3rd) | Prophets Pastor/Teachers |
Exhorting | Wisdom Knowledge | Apostles (1st) | Apostles Evangelists |
Serving Giving Leading Showing mercy | Helping Managing | ||
Faith Healing Miracles Discerning spirits Tongues Interpreting tongues | Healing Miracles Tongues |
[Aside: The way these lists do (and do not) line up makes it exceedingly clear to me that Paul did not mean any of these lists to be considered exhaustive.]
See how Paul talks about some unique "gifts" in our Romans passage? For your personal homework, compare the purposes of Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12; in Romans, Paul is covering the "what a church is"; in 1 Corinthians, Paul is more focused on "what a church does". Might those distinct lists apply more directly to the different topics?
But more to my point here, I don't think Paul is worried about dictionary definitions in this chapter. Whether something is technically a "spiritual gift" or a "plain ol' gift" makes no difference how God wants it to be used in the service of the church.
In other words, you don't have to consider "cleaning toilets" to be a spiritual gift for you to understand how God has put gifts and abilities in the church for the well-being of that church.
Part 1: Our Attitude Towards God (Romans 12:1-2)
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
The response to salvation is simple: we should live in grateful service to God. And if we are truly living right with God, we will do right by everyone around us. (That's the rest of chapters 12 and 13.)
The "therefore" makes it clear that our behavior should be a product of what we believe. Jesus Christ died for us, making salvation freely available to all who call on Him as Lord and Savior. We don't have to check off every box of an imposing law code. We don't have to look over our shoulder every moment for another trip to a sacrificial rite of penance. Salvation is ours because of the grace of God and the love of Jesus.
Therefore.
Note that Paul is "urging", not "commanding". This sort of surrender cannot be forced. It can only be given willingly.
The image of "sacrifice" would have been very familiar to Paul's audience, even the non-
Jews. Imagine standing in a temple setting watching an animal be slaughtered, placed on an altar, and burned, all in a ritual designed for your benefit.
Now imagine Paul telling you that you need to be that sacrifice. What do you think that even means? The CSB calls us a "living sacrifice", but the Greek is more straightforward: "present your bodies as a sacrifice, living and holy and pleasing to God". That actually makes more sense to me. With that clarification, what do you think Paul means that we are to be sacrifices?
Where the CSB has "true worship", the NIV has "spiritual worship", and the KJV has "reasonable service". Based on the sacrifice imagery, I think the CSB has the right of it. Those sacrifices were attempts to worship God, but what God really wants is our heart:
Mic 6:6 What should I bring before the Lord when I come to bow before God on high? Should I come before him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? 7 Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousand streams of oil? Should I give my firstborn for my transgression, the offspring of my body for my own sin?
8 Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.
"True" can also be translated "intelligent" or "rational"; choosing to spend our lives in sacrifice to God is the only behavior that makes sense.
And then Paul reminds us of that tension we talked about earlier -- between "flesh and spirit" or "body and soul" (however you want to word that).
Rom 7:22 For in my inner self I delight in God’s law, 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
The world we live in wants to "feed" our desires (our bodies). We can indulge that, or we can resist. We have the Holy Spirit in us! We have a taste of glorious life eternal with God Almighty! Would we rather then just engage in whatever the latest self-indulgent trend is?
Paul uses the present tense -- being transformed and renewed is something that happens every day, continually. It's a never-ending process.
The result is that we will always be discerning God's will --
what God is doing
what God wants us to do
how God wants us to do it
Is that not the "holy grail" of Christian living? Can you think of a more important set of data? Paul is saying that the more we live in tune with God -- by being living and holy sacrifices to Him -- the more clearly we will understand God's will.
Ask your group -- what are the areas you want to better understand God's will for your life? Your group can together pray for those answers, and you can offer wise counsel together.
Paul believes that a lot of those questions can be answered by a simple overview of human behavior. "How should I treat this neighbor who is driving me crazy?" "How should I act in a workplace with a lot of debauchery in it?" "What do I do when the government tells me to behave contrary to my convictions?" And that leads us to the rest of chapters 12 and 13!
Part 2: Our Attitude Towards Other Christians (Romans 12:3-8)
[Focus on the Church]
3 For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. 4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. 6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; 7 if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; 8 if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.
Lifeway calls this section "in the church", which is fine, but Paul intends this more broadly. Remember that there was basically just one church in each town. Paul is thinking of how Christians are to treat other Christians -- yes, at the very least in the church, but also all the Christians around you. That makes more sense to us today where we have some 30 churches in Thomson alone.
The foundation for all Christian behavior is humility.
I think you should repeat that a few times and make sure everyone in your group really understands that. How does humility provide a solid foundation for personal relationships?
Here's a good saying: humility doesn't mean thinking less of yourself; it means thinking of yourself less. Does that make sense? You're a child of God, a precious creation unique in all of history. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. But God wants you to be a living and holy sacrifice for Him -- that's not something to crow about.
Note that Paul says this to everyone. That means you.
I love the phrase "think sensibly". Being arrogant is objectively dumb. Why?
God has given everyone
faith
grace
gifts
There is one faith and one grace, but there are different gifts. How might that help you understand how we are all equal before God, and yet some Christians seem to have more "public" gifts?
None of this is arbitrary. I like the saying that "there is no appendix in the body of Christ"; God has put you where He wants you with the gifts you need. You church has all of the gifts God wants you (as a church) to have (at this time).
Paul goes so far as to say that the diversity of the gifts in a Christian community is necessary for the unity of that community. (Note: I'm going to start using the word "church", but I want you to remember that Paul expects us to treat all Christians with the same humility and service, even if they're not church members.) How is diversity of gifts helpful for the unity of a church?
Paul only lists a few. He may as well have started the list with "for example . . ."
prophesying -- not predicting the future, but saying clearly and confidently what God's Word has to say for a given situation (aside: "the proportion of one's faith" either refers to one's personal faith or (more likely) "the faith" meaning "the Christian faith passed down to us in the Bible"; in other words, a true prophet cannot be a sincere heretic).
service -- this is the word for "deacon" (diakonos), which generally designated any kind of "lowly" or menial service. Did you realize that the ability to do menial service well is a gift of God's grace? Do you see why?
teaching -- in the early church, where there were few people who could read and fewer copies of any part of the Bible, the responsibility of teaching was enormous. The Christian faith was passed down by people who carefully studied and clearly taught the truths of the Bible.
exhorting -- this is probably just as well understood to mean "encouraging". Martin Luther said that "the teacher transmits knowledge; the exhorter stimulates". That makes a lot of sense to me; when life isn't going well, just knowing the truth isn't always enough to remain faithful to it. You need a "coach".
giving -- this shouldn't need any explanation. The word for "generosity" may be better understood to mean "single-mindedly", meaning "without ulterior motive".
leadership -- has been equated with specific job titles like "elder" and "bishop", but Paul is thinking about the ability itself (which doesn't need to be exercised in a specific office). I shouldn't need to tell you the importance of a good leader(s) in a church.
showing mercy -- we know what this is, but we're not exactly sure the context Paul has in mind. A lot of scholars believe it's related to people who are sick or suffering (which would have been common in the early church and difficult to handle), but I don't think we should restrict where we show mercy.
Again, this is not a comprehensive list. But it's pretty helpful. What are you doing in your church to help it fulfill the job God has given you? Everyone has a gift from God, and everyone has a responsibility to use it in His service.
Part 3: Our Attitude Towards Other Christians (Romans 12:9-13)
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. 10 Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another. 11 Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. 13 Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality.
This blast of exhortations is so practical, and it applies to every part of our lives every day of our lives.
"Without hypocrisy" is an important theme in the New Testament and something we need to assume when we're studying the Bible. What does "without hypocrisy" mean?
What a way to start a list of "rules" -- you're expected to love everyone, and you're expected to mean it. Why do you think Paul would start here?
"Detest evil" -- this is as strong a verb as Paul could use. We should be completely horrified by everything that is evil. "Evil" is basically everything that is not "good" in the biblical definition.
"Cling to what is good" -- this is another strong verb, the equivalent of a weld in modern terms. Our attitude toward good and evil should be extreme -- if we think of "good and evil" as a scale, we should always, ever, and only be completely oritented toward "good":
"Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters" -- you might be surprised to learn that the Roman world didn't have a place for this. Romans could get as far as "countrymen" or "fellow members of a religious society" but not "we're part of a family".
"Take the lead in honoring one another" -- this is a difficult Greek phrase, and it basically means "be eager to honor one another". (Remember that there should be no hypocrisy here.) Do you default to taking credit or giving credit?
"Do not lack diligence in zeal" -- I think the best way to undestand this is "never slack off in your service to God"; Christians don't get days off.
"Be fervent in the Spirit" -- another difficult phrase; the NIV has "but keep your spiritual fervor". Literally, Paul says "with respect to the spirit, boiling". We can take that to mean "continually kindle the fire of the Holy Spirit within you" -- this would be related to Paul's urges not to get "drunk with wine" but filled with the Holy Spirit. By our actions, we can quench the fire of the Spirit; we should not do that.
"Serve the Lord" -- this is not diakonos service but doulos service -- that of a slave. Live like a slave to God. Paul means this as a challenge, not a threat.
"Rejoice in hope" -- amen!
"Be patient in affliction" -- amen, amen! Note that the verb for "be patient" is active -- affliction isn't just something that you take, but something that you face.
"Be persistent in prayer" -- amen, amen, and amen! Paul's word for "persistent" is very strong; it's not just a habit but who we are.
"Share with the saints in their needs" -- the needy are not in a class below you; those with means should contribute to help those without.
"Practice hospitality" -- this makes more sense when you remember that people didn't have cars and "inns" weren't always reputable.
If you have time, take your group through an exercise:
Summarize 3-8 on a whiteboard, then "overlay" the actions in 9-13 on the actions in 3-8.
I think you'll find that everything in verses 9-13 reinforce and explain what Paul means in 3-8.
Part 4: Our Attitude Toward Non-Christians (Romans 12:14-21)
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. 18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord. 20 But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head. 21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
I think these verses are critical, especially as it becomes clearer just how fractured our country is (and we face the unknown of just how against us our government will be -- but more on that next week!!). Most of the people we deal with on a day-to-day basis are probably not Christian. That was definitely the case in Paul's day. How does God want us to treat them?
I think this list is incredibly practical, even if you don't like what Paul says.
"Bless those who persecute you" -- if you have a problem with this, you have a problem with Jesus, who made this a central feature of His Sermon on the Mount. [Note: Paul means "ask God to bless" here.]
"Bless and do not curse" -- just in case you thought you had a loophole.
"Rejoice with those who rejoice / mourn with those who mourn / live in harmony with another" -- the perfect trifecta that eliminates pride, judgmentalism, and factionalism. Imagine your life and your church if you defaulted to these attitudes.
"Do not be proud" -- have you caught onto this theme?
"Associate with the humble" -- this is the same root as for "menial service"; in other words, don't just be nice to the laborer, be friends with them.
"Do not be wise in your own estimation" -- or "do not be conceited". Sadly, the conceited person is often the last to know he is conceited. Conceit is delusion and ignorance.
"Do not repay anyone evil for evil" -- we'll double down on this in a moment.
"Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone's eyes" -- this is related to what Paul said earlier, but magnified: "don't just be quick to show honor to everyone else; live so as to be worthy of honor from others".
"If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone" -- we'll come back to this next week when we focus on the government. Paul is very clear about the "if" here; Christians should never be the cause of a disturbance of the peace. But if somebody else has disturbed the peace, Christians should never hesitate to stand up for what is right.
"Do not avenge yourselves but leave room for God's wrath" -- now we get to the irrefutable crux of this unpopular directive. Don't take the law into your own hands. Why? Because you're taking it out of God's hands. And who do you trust more? Let God pass judgment and punishment. God's judgment is hell, and what a terrible thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God.
"Heaping fiery coals" -- this cannot mean anything negative, like some people have tried to make it ("do nice things for your enemy and you'll really get 'im in the end"). Remember, the whole point of this section is genuine, sacrificial love for all people, include those who persecute you. I like the interpretation which sees "coals" as "purifying fire" (as in Isaiah 6) -- i.e., doing good for your enemy might be the catalyst for their repentance.
And then Paul comes back around to how this chapter began:
Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
I think that this is the great catch-all explain-all (like "love your neighbor as yourself"). This choice you're making, this action your considering: is it shaped by the world or by God? is characterized by good or by evil?
Challenge your group to pick some of these and live by them (very intentionally) this week. And then pick a few more the next week. They should know which of these is the hardest for them. I'm going to try to turn this into a one-page handout for my group. Once I've done it (and think it's worth anything), I'll attach it here.
Closing Thoughts: Bible Quiz!
Lifeway just released this quiz, and I love quizzes.
It's 25 questions. Some of them are trivial, some are big-picture. I challenge you to take it! It only took me 3 minutes (but I am a fast reader).
God bless you guys!
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