The Christian in Community

Intro

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Romans 12:3-21.

We are continuing our series on the Book of Romans.

As I said last week, with chapter 12 of Romans we are beginning a new section of the book.

This is a section full of instruction and exhortation for holy living, because of the salvation that we have received through faith in Christ.

As we saw last week: Because of the salvation that we have received in Jesus Christ

by his instruction,

and through his power

We can present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

The Christian faith is not only held inwardly, but it is externally lived out through the body.

And this externalization of the Christian faith impacts how we live with one another.

How we live in community.

Community

Now, personally, I tend to roll my eyes when I hear the word “community” nowadays.

It has definitely become a buzzword.

So often it is used to describe groups of people who share some sort of trait but who don’t necessarily live with each-other.

There are “communities” based on ethnicity, sexuality, religion, even hobbies.

But that doesn’t mean these people live in each-other’s midst day to day, they don’t live with each-other.

In our passage this morning, the Apostle Paul instructs us in how to live in genuine community; how we live with each-other.

How we live in community with Christian brothers and sisters,

and even how we live among those who oppose us.

Romans 12:3-21

Romans 12:3–21 ESV

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. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 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. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 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.” 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.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Breakdown

Now, not only is this a longer passage of scripture, there is also a lot of instruction.

But if you look carefully, there is a structure to this section.

In vv. 3-13 Paul is concerned with how Christians are to live in community with other Christians.

Then in vv. 14-21 the focus shifts to how Christians are to live in community with our neighbours, and in particular those who oppose us.

While all of the exhortations and instructions in this passage are of benefit to us,

we do not have the time to go through this entire passage point-by-point.

What I would like to do in our time this morning is focus in on some of Paul’s instruction that I think is of particular relevance to us,

as we try to build Christian community among a society that is increasingly hostile to the gospel.

Exposition

Living in Community with Believers (vv. 3-13)

The first ten verses of our passage deal with how we as Christians are to live in community with each other.

As Christians, we don’t live in a community without a purpose.

We have an aim, we have a mission that we are on. That is the great commission in Matthew 28.

Making disciples of the nations, and teaching them to obey everything Christ has commanded.

As Christians we live in community together to build up the kingdom of God.

And God has given each of us who belong to him, Spiritual gifts to empower us in that mission.

Spiritual Gifts

Paul begins our passage by focusing on how spiritual gifts ought to be used in vv. 3-8.

Spiritual gifts are different than natural abilities or talents.

They are special abilities given to believers by the Holy Spirit.

The gifts of the Spirit are listed in 1 Corinthians 12 and here in Romans 12.

Were not going to spend time this morning going through each gift, I will leave that to your own personal study.

But I do want to focus on Paul’s main point in this section of our passage.

That we ought to use these gifts, but with the right attitude, and for the right reason.

Sober Judgment (v. 3)

Paul uses his own spiritual gift of exhortation to urge the believers not to be proud or conceited as they use their spiritual gifts.

He says this in verse 3.

Romans 12:3 ESV

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.

Paul didn’t come by the skill or the authority to teach on his own,

but he says it is a “grace” given to him, just like every spiritual gift that God gives.

Paul’s spiritual gifts of teaching and exhortation were given to him by God.

As was his authority as an apostle, it was a grace, a gift given to him by God.

And he appeals to that fact to urge us;

not to think of ourselves “more highly than we ought to think”.

Gifts of the Spirit

The gifts of the Spirit are just that, they are gifts.

and it really doesn’t make sense to boast, or think highly about yourself just because you’ve received a certain gift.

You don’t earn a gift, that’s payment, a gift is something you receive.

This is just like what Ephesians 2 says about salvation through faith,

that it is a “gift from God, not by works so that no-one may boast.”

Our Spiritual gifts, are given by God through his Holy Spirit,

So it makes no sense to be proud of them.

But we are given them so that they might be used,

for the good of others and for building up the church.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:7

1 Corinthians 12:7 (ESV)

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit [a spiritual gift] for the common good.

And 1 Peter 4:10 says,

1 Peter 4:10 ESV

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:

This is the purpose of Spiritual gifts, not for the building up of the individual who has the gift, but for the building up of the church, the body of Christ.

And not just for the building up of the church, but also for accomplishing the mission of the church in the world.

Your Spiritual gift is for others.

Pride

This is important to remember because pride can so easily creep in when we exercise our spiritual gifts.

When we see that theres a difference being made in the church, and in the world, because of the spiritual gift we’ve been given, we can so easily start to think we’re more important than others.

This is why Paul urges us, not to be drunk with pride, but to think with “sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

That last line can seem a bit confusing.

What it means is that God gives the gifts,

but he also gives the faith by which those gifts are used for the kingdom, and he assigns it to each of us in different measure.

Sometimes people just seem to exercise their spiritual gifts with greater confidence, ease, and effectiveness than others.

But this is the result of faith that God gives, not raw talent, and therefore it shouldn’t be something generates pride.

God has given the gift and the faith to achieve his purposes in building up his church, and fulfilling his mission in the world.

So we all ought to faithfully exercise our spiritual gifts, which is what Paul encourages so clearly in verses 4-8.

Let me just read this section.

Members of One Body (v. 4-8)

Romans 12:4–8 (ESV)

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 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.

All of us should discover and exercise our spiritual gifts, to build up the body that we are all a part of.

Your Spiritual gift is given to you for others.

If you are a believer, and do not yet know what your spiritual gifts are, you can talk to myself or one of the pastors, and we would be happy to try and help you discover them.

So often, God uses others in helping us recognize or to affirm our gifting.

This is how Christian community is built; If you are in Christ, God has gifted you by his Spirit to serve in his body, and fulfill his mission.

All of us are gifted in different ways and in different measures.

But all of us, if we use our spiritual gifts faithfully and with the right attitude, have an important role in serving the body, in serving others.

Paul shows us what our attitude should be in building Christian community in verses 9-13 of our passage.

A Christian’s Attitude (vv.9-13)

You’ll notice a change in Paul’s writing style starting in v. 9 and going to v. 16

Paul begins writing his exhortations as proverbs. Just like the Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament.

Now, the variety of these statements make it difficult to preach them, so were just going to focus on a few.

But writing his instructions like this make them really easy to memorize. So that is why Paul wrote them this way.

So that you can call them up in your memory when you need them.

He says,

Romans 12:9–13 ESV

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

I love the energy in this passage!

If this is a community, it is not one that is fractured.

If this is a body it is not on that is asleep.

This is not dead orthodoxy, this is not the frozen chosen.

This is a body that’s alive, this is a community that is harmonious.

There’s a vitality and a vigour to what we see here!

As v. 11 says, “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”

A big part of how we serve the Lord is by passionately serving our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Genuine Love

Paul urges that in this community, love ought to be “genuine”.

You may remember from just over a year ago we did a mini series on the definition of agape - Love.

We are actually going to revisit this definition again when we look at the second half of Romans 13.

But here is the definition: Love is the character of God, and we participate in it by doing what is of benefit (it is doing good) to others according to the law of God.

We even see it in this passage, “Abhor [hate] what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”

God’s moral law is how we determine what is good and what is evil.

Within the community of the believers we want to actively resist evil and promote good.

And this is more than something that we do out of duty, this is seeking the good of our brothers and sisters in Christ genuinely from the heart.

He says later on in v. 10, Romans 12:10 “Love one another with brotherly affection.”

We are brothers and sisters in Christ.

We are not like Cain was to his brother Able - we are our brother’s keeper.

We have a vested interest in the welfare of our brothers and sister’s in Christ.

As v. 13 says, “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”

We want to make sure the needs of our brothers and sisters are covered,

whether that is clothes on their backs, food in their bellies, or a roof over their heads.

We ought to have a real, genuine care and devotion to one another.

My question to you is this: How can we as Faith Baptist Church, better reflect what is taught in this passage?

I think we have a great community here at Faith, but how can we continue to mature into this kind of vibrant christian community?

I think it starts with all of us, having faith, and a heart, and a willingness ,

to serve God and each other with the Spiritual gifts he has bestowed on us.

I’m going to finish this section about Christian Community with this; I just love what he says here in v. 10, “Outdo one another in showing honour.”

Think about what a Christian community with more of that would be like?

Think about how different that would be to the world around us.

Where the world is busy competing to honour themselves, we compete to honour one another!

We are oriented to others, we love others.

Isn’t that the kind of community you’d want to live in?

Don’t you think that would be the kind of community that others would want to become a part of?

Living Among Unbelievers (vv. 14-21)

Many Bible scholars see verses 14-16 as a transitional passage,

where we see a move from how Christians ought to live in the community of believers,

to how we ought to live amongst people who oppose the mission we are on.

Once again, Paul is writing his exhortations as proverbs. And they can seem a little disjointed.

But actually the contrast between each statement helps us to remember them individually.

Starting in v. 14 it says,

Do good to everyone (vv. 14-16)

Romans 12:14–16 ESV

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

We will return to v. 14 in a moment, but all these proverbs instruct us to be oriented towards others,

As we live alongside both believers and unbelievers we ought to be considerate of others.

That is the disposition we are to have.

We are to genuinely care about those around us.

Feelings

That includes being considerate of the feelings of others, “As v.15 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”

If your anything like me, this can be kind of difficult.

You kind of wish people wouldn’t feel so much.

But we are instructed here to empathize with people’s in a healthy way.

We don’t want to be steered or manipulated by people’s feelings, but we do want to “live in harmony” with one another,

and that includes coming alongside others in what they are going through in life - the good and the bad.

Lowly

And our care towards others should not be influenced by their station in life, or their popularity, or their wealth, or their lack of those things.

We see this in v. 16 in the warning not to be haughty, or arrogant, but to “associate with those who are lowly.”

Lowly here means those who are of low social status.

When you are spending time with someone,

don’t think about how your association with them will impact your self image, your social status, you’re popularity.

Leave those questions back in high school.

If you want to be mature, if you want to be Christlike, don’t give a rip about what others think about you.

The King of Kings associated with the lowest of the low and so should we.

Galatians 6:10 is a great verse for summing up this whole section, it says:

Galatians 6:10 ESV

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Dealing with Opposition (vv. 14, 17-21)

Now even though we seek to love, to do good to others, there will be times when we encounter people who oppose us.

The word for this opposition that is used in our passage and throughout the New Testament, is “persecution”.

In Greek it is literally, “pursue,” like a lion pursuing it’s prey.

But even though a persecutor’s disposition towards us has become hostile,

our disposition towards them does not change.

Bless Your Enemies (v. 14)

We see in verse 14,

Romans 12:14 ESV

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

This is just like Jesus’ teaching in Luke 6:27-28. Where the Lord says,

Luke 6:27–28 ESV

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

We ought to Love our enemies. Do the greatest good to them.

Again our disposition does not change.

Now there’s something I want to make note of here.

There seems to be this tendency among evangelical Christians to think that we should never have enemies.

Like I said last week, many Christians and churches and denominations seek to ensure they will not have enemies by going along with the spirit of the age. Embracing what the world around them embraces.

But directly before this command to love our enemies in Luke 6, Jesus says this in Luke 6:26

Luke 6:26 ESV

“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

We will find ourselves in situations (as individuals, as families, as a church) where to be faithful to the Lord will be to invite real hostility from unbelievers.

Faithfulness to Christ, will bring about the enmity of the world in a real, tangible way.

This is why v. 18 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

We ought not to seek to make enemies with people.

There is a wrong way to bring on the hostility of unbelievers.

If you’re causing fights online, or cheating people in business, or throwing garbage on your neighbours lawn, their response to you is not persecution.

When Jesus says in Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account,”

it needs to be spoken falsely, it needs to be a lie, it needs to be slander, and it needs to be said about you on account of your faithfulness to Christ.

We need to be ready for that, not afraid of it, but we need to have our souls prepared.

And that is what vv. 17-19 of our passage is all about.

Never Take Vengeance (vv. 17-19)

Paul continues in vv. 17-19 to describe to us how to live among those who are hostile to us for the sake of Christ.

Romans 12:17–19 ESV

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 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.”

We are not to seek out vengeance or revenge for ourselves.

Now this does not mean that we cannot seek justice.

If someone persecutes you in such a way that a crime is committed, it is entirely appropriate for you to appeal to the authorities.

The Apostle Paul appealed to the justice of the Roman Law courts in the book of Acts.

But if persecution comes in a way that is not criminal, or maybe the authorities wont deal with it, or if the persecution comes from the authorities themselves,

we do not seek out vengeance ourselves but leave it up to God who will enact perfect justice.

We trust God as judge; who will judge those who do evil to his people, and who will bless those who endure suffering for the sake of his Son.

Dealing With Enemies (vv. 20-21)

What we do instead of seek vengeance, is love our enemy. We do the greatest good to them. We meet their needs.

Paul says the very same in the final verses of the chapter by quoting proverbs 25; he says in vv. 20-21,

Romans 12:20–21 ESV

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.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Conclusion

There is so much in this passage. So I would really encourage you to spend some time studying it with your family or on your own.

Spend some time memorizing some of these proverbs that Paul gives us, I think you’ll be surprised at how easily you can commit them to memory.

But here is the point of the chapter:

Through Christ, you and I have been saved by faith to a new life, and this new life is lived in worship to God. We are a living sacrifice.

We worship God, we glorify Him, by being oriented toward others, by loving others.

In the community of believers, we glorify God by loving others.

We build up the community of believers by using our spiritual gifts for the good of others.

We fulfil the mission God has given us by zealously, passionately, serving others.

As we live among those who oppose us, in the same way we glorify God by loving others.

We don’t seek revenge for those who persecute us, but we seek to love and to serve our enemies.

We glorify God by loving others.

With our gifts, with our passion, with our affection, with our compassion,

with our patience, and with our forgiveness, to our brother’s, sister’s, neighbours, and enemies.

We glorify God by loving others,

and may he be glorified as we are obedient to his instruction.