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“As with any true benediction, Paul gives God all the glory for causing believers to persevere in faith to the end. This perseverance has its roots in the power of the gospel, which centres on Jesus Christ. This ability of God is one deserving of worship, which makes it a common theme in doxology: ‘Now to him who is able…’”
“Many today are uncomfortable with the idea of obligation to God…or at least find it difficult to square with their idea of grace. But the biblical view of grace and reciprocation is much closer to the Greco-Roman norm of Paul’s day in which, it is well documented, there are certain obligations placed on the recipients of grace. The greater the gift, the more the recipient was obligated to respond in honour, thanksgiving, faithfulness, public rejoicing and reciprocal gifts…
God’s grace is unconditioned - that is, given without prior conditions being met - but it is not unconditional - in that it does expect a response in the form of faith, obedience and moral transformation. Faith apart from works is useless, it is dead (James 2:26).”
“All of this takes place in the church, among genuine believers who have serious disagreements and cause harm to one another, willfully or unintentionally. Each is in a process of maturing and sanctification. Rather than to despise each other’s weakness, rather than to judge and slander one another, we must bless. Rather than to repay evil in vengeance, we should love those who have been our enemies. Christ did not please himself. He bore reproach when he had the power not to have been reproached. He suffered when he had the power not to have suffered what he suffered, had he been minded to look to his own pleasure. He suffered for the sake of those who caused his suffering. This is the love genuine…”
“Paul’s main point here is not to try to overturn the convictions of the weak, but to call for unity despite these matters which should not divide the church…here he gives instructions on how to love one another despite our differences. The genuine love of living sacrificially will be concerned for the unity of the church, the spiritual health of our brothers and sisters, and the glory of Christ will be our ultimate goal…”
The main point of this passage is this: strong and weak Christians alike need to stop despising and condemning each other because it is the Lord, and he alone, who has the right to assess the believer’s conduct on issues which are left to conscience…Church, we must cease from despising and condemning each other because it is the Lord, and he alone, who has the right to assess our conduct on issues which are left to conscience. On any given divisive issue, there will be those who are correct - the strong - and those who are incorrect - the weak. In either case, it is never acceptable to reject fellowship with another genuine believer over doctrinal disagreements that do not distort the gospel: God has already welcomed them.
For Paul, one is either in Adam or in Christ—the old person or the new person. But this reality must also be lived! Although believers are in Christ, they must actively renounce sin and vigorously embrace righteousness! “Cast off” and “put on” are action words. We have a choice to make. God does not call us to simply rest in Christ - He calls us to act in light of the fact that Jesus is now our Lord. To put on the Lord Jesus Christ is a command to be what we are in Christ. This is the morality of the NT: Be who you are!
Paul masterfully defends the grace alone gospel by asserting that obedience is the central demand of the gospel, in that it produces sincere love for our neighbour, and thus provides for the law’s complete fulfillment. Obedience is part and parcel of the gospel, not separate, not a balance of grace and law, but obedience comes as a result of hearing and believing the gospel…
“Our passage this morning still falls under the main heading of Romans 12:1-2. We are still exploring what it means “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship,” and this will require that we are not “conformed to this world,” but instead are “transformed by the renewal of your mind,” so that we will be able to discern the good and acceptable will of God…We are also still exploring the subheadings of Romans 12:9 and 21, and what it looks like to live out The Love Genuine by “overcom[ing] evil with good.” Giving ourselves wholly to God, and being transformed in our thinking, is expressed in how we relate to all of the various earthly authorities in our lives. God’s instructions regarding how to relate to our government are part of “the obedience of faith” to which we are called, part of what it looks like when the gospel transforms our lives, and part of how we ensure that our worship to God is holy and acceptable…”
“Even though believers can be severely mistreated by others we should never forget that we are dearly loved by God, chosen to be his own. Rejection by others is a deep wound, but remember the mercies of God. The salve of God’s love is our healing. But because God created us with an innate desire for justice - at least when it comes to others - we will not be able to conquer feelings of revenge unless we recognize that God will eventually set all accounts right. We will fall prey to retaliation in the present if we did not know that God will vindicate us in the future. The recognition that God will judge our enemies is crucial for overcoming evil with good. When we are mistreated and abused and our rights are infringed upon, we are not to give in to the desire to set things right. We are not to give into the desire to make this fair…to get back at them. Rather, we are to place the fate of our enemies firmly in God’s hands, realizing that God is the only one who is qualified to judge, and the only one who can really give people what they truly deserve. It is only appropriate and reasonable, with this in mind, to resist seeking revenge, because you and I cannot rightly judge…”
“Paul is not now just listing random pious acts. But he is teaching us that a church which offers itself to God must do so out of a sincere love that expresses itself in these ways. And if the impetus - the motivation for these acts - comes from knowing the mercies of God, and this gospel is all about being reconciled to God and adopted into his family, then we must devote a great deal of our energy to communicating with God so that our relationship can grow. If the genuine love we express to one another is motivated and empowered by the love of God experienced, then we must grow in that love. Friends, your relationship with God is not an individualistic thing, because it affects all of us; everyone around you and everyone who is influenced by them and so on and so on until the whole church is strengthened by the Spirit’s work in you!”
