And for this reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge self control; and to self control patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness love.

For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For even to this were you called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judges righteously: Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed.

For you were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. 1 Peter 2:21–25 KJ2000

For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower thereof falls away: But the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Come now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is rusted; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as if it were fire. You have heaped treasure together for the last days. […]

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain. Be also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draws near.

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.

In Romans, Paul speaks of our inexorable duty toward God, as well as duty toward the church. But he also develops a concept of duty towards civil government. The 13th chapter of Romans is fairly familiar to most of us, and today I’d like us to take a look at this particular concept. It is very important, and to really understand it—to really grasp what Paul is saying—we have to understand the historical background in which these words were written.

1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2 Whosoever therefore resists the power, resists the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves judgment.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Will you then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and you shall have praise of the same:
4 For he is the minister of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid; for he bears not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that does evil.
5 Therefore you must be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience’s sake.
6 For, for this cause pay you tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

That is a fascinating scripture even taken in our modern context. What should this mean to us? What obligations goes this lay upon us today? What is our relationship to the civil government in our time? Even before asking these questions, however, I’d like to take us back to the time when Paul wrote this…

(This message is a direct continuation of Romans: The Heart of the Gospel.)

My perspective has changed on the Book of Romans. It’s not that I didn’t understand it before, but there are a lot of different ways of looking at this book. There are a lot of historical concepts that one might not be aware of, leaving some things left unseen.

In the process of studying it, I began to ask myself a lot of questions about this book. One thing has become very clear to me: It is easily the most important of all the New Testament epistles. I am sometimes hesitant to say the most or the greatest or the best, as superlatives are sometimes a little hard to support. But in the case of the Book of Romans, it is easy to support—and for a deceptively simple reason…

As we work our way through these last chapters of Romans, it’s a good thing to remember what a different world those disciples lived in compared to ours. The recipients of this letter lived and worked in the Eternal City—Rome. And this Rome was the center of empire—a very powerful place. Morally, the place was bankrupt. Being the one great power in the world had the obvious effects of power—it corrupted. The pagan religions were, at one level, a very big deal, but I often find myself wondering just how seriously they took it all.

Having left these previous religious backgrounds, there was quite a variety of belief among the disciples in Rome. They must have come from every corner of the empire, bringing with them every kind of religion. Paul wants them to be understanding and tolerant of one another’s peculiarities. They didn’t have to be tolerant of sin, but there was a wide range of custom to be tolerated. He begins chapter 14:

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.

At this point in Romans, Paul seems to be moving away from his preoccupation with the Jewish Christians, and starts talking like a pastor. That said, we still need to remember who the first readers of this letter were and how it would impact them. What does it mean, for example, to offer your body as a living sacrifice?

Well, normally, a sacrifice was slain. We are to be a living sacrifice. And it is our bodies—not merely our hearts and minds. We are to act with our feet, our hands, our bodies, as a sacrifice to God. Now, to be sure, their bodies were in danger in that world, but they had to throw themselves into the fight, anyhow.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.

Paul’s word choices here for what some translations render spiritual service of worship deserve a closer look. So let’s get started this evening in Romans, chapter 12.

I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. Romans 9–11 shows us that Paul had not expected the lack of response (or even hostile response) he received in synagogues all over his mission field. Here, he shares with us the thought process he went through trying to understand their reaction.

He begins with the emphatic assertion it would not necessarily be the natural children of Abraham who are God’s children, but the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. Why is this important? Remember, Paul is thinking of his readers in mostly Jewish terms. Why? Well, because at this time most of the Christians in the world were Jews. Those who weren’t were often "God-fearers"—associated with Judaism and synagogue before they ever became Christians. To them he says:

[…] I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom pertains the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. Not as though the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel, who are of Israel: Neither, because they are the descendants of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall your descendants be called. That is, They who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the descendants.