The Gospel: 4 Critical Questions in Romans, Part 4b

When do we apply the Gospel? (Part 4 cont’d Romans Chapters 12-16)

Romans Chapter 12 is about applying the Gospel message to our life and relationships in the household of faith (which begins by a Christ-conformed transformed mind vv. 1-3) starting with ourselves…

We Apply the Gospel to worship in the household of faith

Romans 12:1-2 

I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

God’s mercy shown to us through Jesus Christ (i.e. what the Gospel message is about) is intended to bring about a certain result in our lives. It is supposed to create in us new hearts and lead us to the true worship of God. Do you remember the note we left off with at the end of Chapter 11? Was it not worship?

Romans 11:33 

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! 34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? 35 Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? 36For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

Now, “therefore” (12:1) if by God’s mercy you believe in the gospel message then by God’s mercy worship God the way He intended for us to do so. How did God intend for his people to worship him? By presenting “your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (12:1). Your very life is to be presented to God all the time and this is your worship of God. In other words, we apply the gospel to every area of our lives (!) so that our very lives become a spiritual sacrifice pleasing to God.

You cannot present or offer up to God what you do not have or what is not clean and perfect and acceptable to God. In the Old Covenant under Moses there were certain animals that you could offer up to God in sacrifice and others that were not clean or acceptable. If you offered a lamb it had to be without blemish, it could not have any defects. Defects in an animal was symbolic of sin. But the animal had to be clean and perfect in order to atone for the sin of the worshiper. The problem is: everyone has sinned and falls short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23) so we cannot present or offer up our bodies as sacrifices to die. In ourselves we don’t have a perfect sacrifice to offer up to God. But the worshipper who trusts in faith in Jesus as a perfect clean and acceptable sacrifice gets to partake or participate in Jesus’ offering up of his own body as a sacrifice. Jesus died for us – all that is left is for us to live for him. Thus, we are instructed here to take what has been given to us through Jesus, namely life (eternal life), and present or offer up our lives to God. A person becomes a true worshiper of God according to God’s mercy and because of the change brought about in his or her heart by faith in the gospel message. Only when you have put your faith in Jesus does your heart become clean and acceptable to God – something you can present to Him in worship.

We apply the Gospel to our relationships in the household of faith.

Romans 12:3

For through the grace given to me I say to every man 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.

As we have said before when discussing the tensions and racism between the Jewish background believers and the Gentile background believers in the church at Rome, the gospel message brings equality between people and levels the playing field. Remember, Paul basically explained there are only two kinds of people in the world – those who have received the forgiveness for sins by God’s grace through faith in Jesus and those who have not. So, in the church, in the relationships we share within the household of faith, we are supposed to be dealing with those who are in the “forgiven-by-God’s-grace camp”. Don’t misunderstand me, just because you come to church doesn’t make you a forgiven person. You must publically put your faith in Jesus and confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord (Rom 10:9-10). If you have done that and you have joined a church then this applies to you. In Romans chapter 12:3-8 Paul explains that the relationships you have in that community, the family of faith, will be governed by grace and you are all like different parts of one body. The rest of chapter 12 spells out what that looks like with details(Romans 12:9-21) This is such an important chapter of instructions for our relationships within the body of Christ that Pastor John MacArthur wrote a 72-page-long study just on chapter 12 alone! It would be possible to take every one of those instructions and preach an entire sermon on each one. For our purposes notice that you can summarize the whole list of instructions with verses 9-10:

“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.  10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;”

The rest are the details of practicing this in real life situations. It would do every believer here well to read through this chapter several times in a row and let each instruction set in and ask yourself if you have been truly putting these things into practice in your relationships with other believers. So, we could answer our question, “When do we apply the gospel?” this way: We apply the gospel to our relationships in the household of faith, the church, by showing love because we were loved with the highest love by God through Jesus; by showing grace to others because we were shown the greatest grace by God through Jesus; by showing mercy to others because God showed us the deepest mercy through Jesus, all the while holding fast to what is good because it glorifies our good and perfect God.

We apply the Gospel to our relationships in the world

Chapter 13 is primarily another set of instructions only this time it is taking the same gospel message of the grace of God provided to us through Jesus and applying it to our relationships with the rest of civil society and people in the world in general. Again, we’ll see that the key to the whole body of instruction is demonstrating the Love of God through showing love to our neighbor. In light of this we are instructed to(Romans 13:1-8):

(vv 1-2) Don’t resist government authority “be in subjection to the governing authorities” For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”  2

(vs. 3-4) “Do what is good” according to the law because the laws are there to protect you. “But if you do what is evil, be afraid”

(vs. 5) So, be in subjection” to the governing authorities  “for conscience ' sake.” 

(vs. 6) Pay your taxes as an expression of your submission to the laws of the land.

This week I received a wonderful phone call. The Lebanese post office wanted to make sure they had my correct address. Why? They had an important piece of mail for me - a speeding ticket! I was so excited. I've never been so glad to get a speeding ticket. Let me explain. Recently the Lebanese Government installed radar cameras along the highway to nab you if you whiz by them too fast. The fact that they actually are enforcing the law is music to my ears. Two months ago a 17 year-old was speeding on the strip that runs parallel to the beach in Tyre and trying to pass another car he killed two pedestrians. Two weeks later he was back on the road again with a brand new sports car and getting ready to go with the Junior class on a school trip to England. How is that possible? His dad paid off the offended family, and bought the kid a new car. When I heard that I gave up on Lebanon with regard to law enforcement. "There's no law in this blasted country!" you might hear me exclaim on any given occasion of a traffic violation happening before my very eyes. So, to find out first-hand that Lebanon is actually enforcing laws by sending me a speeding ticket is a beautiful thing, indeed. I will gladly pay the tax of a speeding ticket if it means we're coming one step closer to law and order...because law and order is God's idea and I'm %100 behind promoting anything that is God's idea worked out in society. So, Paul encourages us to...

(vs. 7) “Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.”

(vs. 8) Pay all your debts: “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.”

All the law of how to govern yourselves in society is summed up with the second part of Jesus’ great command:  (Romans 13:10) “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.”  

So, we apply the gospel to our civil duties in society by acknowledging that God is supreme authority in our lives and has a perfect plan. Part of that plan involves setting secular rulers & governments in place to reward those who do good and punish those who do wrong. Under these systems of government we demonstrate our submission to the sovereignty of God by submitting to the ruling authorities. This also demonstrates the nature of the covenant of Jesus that is revealed in the gospel. In the covenant of Jesus the people of God are not like they were under Moses. Under Moses God’s people were an ethnic nation with a king and borders and an army. But now God’s people are anyone who puts faith in Jesus and receives the grace of God, Jews and Gentiles alike; they’re are all the same in Jesus, no nation, no earthly king, no geographical borders, no army. So, by not setting up a physical kingdom on earth we are demonstrating the spiritual nature of God’s Kingdom as revealed in the Gospel message when we submit to the governing authorities of the countries we live in all around the world.

We apply the Gospel to differences in opinion or preferences (Chapters 14-15)

Because the subject of loving one another and serving one another in unity in the church is so important the Apostle Paul returns to the issue of relationships between believers again in chapters 14-15. And this is something that comes up a lot. Not everyone understands certain teachings of the Bible the same way. When it comes to the Bible’s teachings and doctrines there both non-negotiables and negotiables. There are doctrinal principles that remain the same no matter what, but there are also some practical preferences that depend on our circumstances and choice. We must not confuse the two. The instructions of Romans Chapters 14-15 are about how to relate to one another with regard specifically to our practical preferences, the "negotiables". And once again, Christ’s gospel of grace applies.

Because of the religious background of the formerly Jewish believers in the church at Rome, many of them would hold to the ancient practices that God instituted in the past but were no longer necessary in Christ. For instance, they might abstain from certain foods and observe certain feast days. All these things were instituted by God for a time in order to point forward to Christ. The Jews were welcome to practice these things so long as they understood that these things were all fulfilled in Jesus and therefore “optional”. The problem is that they were likely insisting that their brothers and sisters in Christ who were not from a Jewish background keep these practices as well and they were judging and not accepting the others. The apostle Paul seemed to identify with the Gentiles in this instance and looking upon the Jews who were being legalistic as weak in their faith Paul wrote:

 “Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.” (Romans 14:1)

Who is the one who is “weak in faith”? It seems from the context that it is the one who is passing judgment; the one who insists on the legalistic practices.

Romans 14:6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.

There is no law in the Word of God requiring or prohibiting certain foods or ancient feast days and if they are observing such preferential practices and doing it unto the Lord, providing there is no idolatry involved (c.f. 1Cor 8-11), then there is no reason to judge a person for observing or not observing, eating or not eating. But the instruction here is not just about feeling free to do what you want because there is no law against it. We must also be pro-active (take initiative) in our relationships with one another:

Romans 14:13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this-- not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way.

So it is not simply about doing what you are free to do, but it is also about not doing that which will cause another person to stumble in their faith. If you believe it is alright to watch certain movies but another believer has struggled with an addiction to entertainment which has become a "stumbling block" for him in his life, do not push him to watch a movie or tempt him with that when he has purposed in his heart to abstain from it. He knows his weakness so he has disciplined himself to abstain from movies. Don't talk about movies in his presence or make him feel left out because he hasn’t seen something you have seen because you feel free to watch them. Why? “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17)

These things are opinions, they are preferences, they are not the core of what the kingdom is about. You should be able to live with or without these things. But you cannot live without righteousness, showing peace to one another, or having the Joy of the Holy Spirit – these are non-negotiables. So, if you are in a situation where your brother or sister in Jesus has an opinion or preference that does not contradict the gospel message but you disagree, then you have freedom to think what you want but keep it to yourself and don't cause your brother to stumble. Here is the rule to live by:

Romans 14:22-23 The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.

In other words, hold onto your convictions. If another person has different convictions about personal preferences or opinions and you begin to doubt your own convictions then better to abstain from something than have a guilty conscience. Give it up because everything is supposed to be done in faith. This is how we biblically accept one another and it all has the gospel message as the basis of acceptance & unity. This section is summed up with verses 15:5-7

Romans 15:5-7 Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus; 6 that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Wherefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.

Here is the gospel applied to our differences in opinion. Drinking or eating or abstaining from certain foods, observing or not observing certain holidays that do not contradict the gospel are all a matter of opinion. They are negotiable. But the non negotiable is that we accept each other on the basis of our mutual acceptance in Christ. It’s because of the gospel: though we were all sinners and objects of the wrath of God and bound for eternal judgment, yet Christ accepted all of us who have believed. When Christ accepted us he forgave our eternal sins! How could we then hold such petty differences against our brothers and sisters who Jesus has accepted?

The Gospel inspires worship and the obedience of faith (Chapter 16)

We end where we began in this final installment of our study. Chapter 16 ends with greetings and instructions but for this study we want to focus on the final praise and worship “break-out” of Paul at the end of the letter where he once again emphasizes the centrality of the gospel message to all aspects of our lives, reminding us of the worship-inspiring nature of the gospel message of the transformed life which results in the display of righteousness in our lives (the obedience of faith):

Romans 16:25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, 26 but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; 27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.