Read or listen the Epistle to the Romans chapter 12 online (ESV, Bible Gateway)

In the 12th chapter of Romans, after concluding the section on doctrine, Paul moves on to deal with the Christian life and issues related to it. The same order – first the doctrine and then the Christian walk – is the order that Paul also follows in his other letters. For example in Galatians, the turning point (transition point) from the basics of salvation to the Christian walk is in Gal. 5:13, and in Ephesians it is in Eph. 4:1.

Paul wants all his readers to understand that you do not become a Christian by doing good works, but through the atoning work of Christ. Good works can never be the way to salvation, and in fact they have no place in salvation (Gal. 5:1-6). But, just as clearly, Paul also denies that good works have no place in a Christian's life (Rom. 6:15-23). Christ's dwelling in us also always brings about good deeds, the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). Faith and life are inseparable, but it is their order that is essential: which one is the cause, and which one is the effect.

Faith is the cause of good works, and works are the result of faith in Christ. So not the other way around! We love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19).

The body as a sacrifice of thanksgiving – Rom. 12:1-2

Paul urges Christians to give their whole life as a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God. Jesus' death on Calvary was a once-for-all atonement that made all sin offerings and guilt offerings unnecessary. All that remained were the sacrifices of thanksgiving. A Christian's sacrifice of thanksgiving to God is that you give your life entirely to God.

So we cannot be just Sunday Christians. A Christian is a Christian every day of his life. God does not want half a sacrifice, half a life, but your whole life. This may seem like a tough demand, but if we understand how much God loves us, why would we want to leave even a part of our life outside of God's blessings?

James says that we do not have, because we do not ask (James 4:2). If we do not dare to give our whole life to God's guidance, is it any wonder that we do not see God's blessings in our life? In this too, we can ask the Holy Spirit to do his work in us.

Paul forbids us to conform to this world. A new life began in baptism, there is no going back to the old way of life. Living as a Christian often means swimming upstream. Only live fish can swim upstream, dead fish are carried away by the stream.

In verse 1, “reasonable worship” (KJV) may refer to verbal worship, for ‘logos’ means both word and reason in Greek. This suggests that Paul urges Christians to testify to their faith also in words. On the other hand, it may be that Paul agrees here with the Old Testament prophets, who expressed criticism of trusting only in sacrifices (for example Amos 5:4-6). Sacrifices in themselves do not help anything, but the essential thing is, whether there is a desire to walk according to God's will.

Notice that Paul speaks of transformation and renewal (verse 2). A Christian is therefore called to grow, to progress in his sanctification. Of course, it is also worth remembering that progress in sanctification means "an ever deepening knowledge of sin and grace" (Luther).

Does Paul not trust that the Holy Spirit is doing his work in the Christians of Rome, as he gives such a lot of advice and instructions, even in detail? Paul certainly did trust that God was doing his work in the Christians of Rome, but he knew very well that the devil was also doing his work in them (Rom. 7:14-25). Paul wants to give his support to that battle, because our flesh likes to ally with the devil against God.

Members of the same body – Rom. 12:3-8

"By the grace" (verse 3) reveals that Paul is not declaring his own thoughts, but God's will.

When starting to teach about spiritual gifts, Paul paints a picture of the church as the body of Christ (also in 1 Cor. 12-14, where Paul deals with the issue of spiritual gifts much more extensively). Just as there are many different members in the human body, so the members of the church, Christians, are different. However, the body is one, and therefore its members cannot fight each other. In the same way, Christians should promote the common good with their own activities.

An individual Christian must have his own goals and desires as secondary to the overall good of the church and the kingdom of God. Self promotion is not right if it does not build but destroys. Here Paul is speaking specifically to those who had spiritual gifts. They had exalted themselves above others, and so were scattering and not building up the church. Gifts of grace had become impediments to grace!

It is worth noting that Paul does not at all mention speaking in tongues in this list of spiritual gifts. In no account can it thus be considered as the most important gift!

Prophesying (verse 6) is not so much about declaring prophecies of the future, as it is about declaring words inspired by God's Spirit to solve current problems, and to reveal God's will. The prophesying has probably involved knowing the Old Testament scriptures and applying them to each situation. This was already the case with the prophets of the Old Testament: predicting the future was only part of their task. The end of verse 6 can also be interpreted as speaking about the faith of the church; prophesying must be tested whether it is right or not (cf. 1 Cor. 12:10, 1 Thess. 5:21).

No spiritual gift should be overestimated, we should not place those who have them above all others, but each one should serve God's church with the spiritual gift he has. We can trust that the Holy Spirit knows better than I with which gift I can best serve (cf. 1 Cor. 12:14-25).

Notice the spiritual gifts: service (verse 7), teaching (verse 7), encouragement (verse 8), giving (verse 8), leading (verse 9), and helping the poor (verse 9). We usually do not think of these as spiritual gifts, but as ordinary things that belong to life. But they can also be spiritual gifts; God can also share his grace through them. It is also likely that the management of these matters in Rome was partly connected with the office of deacon (Acts 6:1-7).

Fill your own place!

Christians are in constant danger of either overestimating or underestimating their part in God's plans. The sin of pride especially threatens those who get public attention or who have been blessed by God in a special way. They may begin to think that their part or their spiritual gift is better than that of the others. "Only what I have is something! Other spiritual gifts are nothing compared to this."

Others have the opposite of this as a risk, i.e. they are underestimating, belittling their own part. If you have low self-esteem, you may belittle yourself and your works. For example, "This is nothing. Speakers and preachers are something, a layman is nothing." But how many Christian gatherings would not have been held if there had been no one working in the kitchen. These people are often just forgotten, and that can in part also lower the esteem in which they themselves hold their own work. One leader of a Christian organization stated that it is quite easy to find preachers, but it is hard to find people to do practical work. However, for example in missionary work, we necessarily need people who will send letters, bake for church bazaars, take care of financial things, etc.

Christians suffering from low self-esteem are in danger of falling into the sin of envy. "Oh, if only I were like him..." But we must always remember that God knows better than us what kind of part he gives to us. Your part is invaluable. No one else can fill it. If you do not do it, no one else will! So, you are irreplaceable in God's plans!

The faith is seen in deeds of love – Rom. 12:9-21

"...God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
(Rom. 5:5)

The Christian's task is to share the love he has received. In verses 9-21, Paul gives a lot of practical advice for this.

Christian love is unconditional by nature: it loves without requiring love in return. It is sacrificial love. It loves, even if the object of love is not worthy of love. God loves sinners in exactly the same way! Secular love is often benefit-seeking: "I love in order to receive love in return". Such a motive does not go with true Christian love of neighbour.

Paul exhorts the Christians to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (verse 15, which is a quote from the Apocrypha, Sir. 7:34). Rejoicing is the more difficult of the two, because envy of the other person's happiness and success gets in the way so easily. However,

Christians must overcome their selfishness and rejoice in the success of others. It is often difficult for us to believe that someone else’s success is not something that has been "taken away from me". The fact that God blesses someone else does not mean that he cannot bless me at the same time, but maybe in a different way.

"Harmony" in verse 16 refers to working towards the same goal. It is necessary to work together and not argue and compete with each other. The only Christian "competitive sport" is competing in showing honour to each other (verse 10).

Not revenge but love

The concept of neighbourly love is also in the Old Testament, but it was to be shown among the Jews only (Lev. 19:18. Cf. the question that the teacher of the law posed about the great commandment in the Law, Matt. 22:34-40, and the story of the good Samaritan, Luke 10:25-37, "Who is my neighbour?"). Repaying evil for good was also forbidden (Gen. 44:4, Ps. 38:20-21). Paul's advice is even more radical: you must love all people, not just those of your own nation, and you must also reward evil – not only good – with good. In verse 20, the idea, which is difficult to interpret, of heaping burning coals on the head of the enemy, is apparently related to exactly this. When Christians do not respond to evil with evil, but with good, it causes shame in their opponents, and so calls them into fellowship with God.

So a Christian should not only refrain from revenge, but he should try to draw others to God with love. If you want to avenge evil with evil, you remain a prisoner, a prey of evil. Then evil has defeated you, and not the other way round, as it should have been. A Christian must always leave judgement and vengeance to God. Everyone will be at the last judgement, and everyone will then receive a just sentence. A Christian should not become a judge instead of God.