Romans is my favorite book of the Bible. I love its rich theology and the way the Apostle Paul tackles so many deep issues with such eloquence. The last five chapters contain some more practical advice to the Roman church.
In Romans 12, Paul throws out a bunch of what I call “quick hits.” They’re super-fast, pithy commands on how we should interact with others:
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.
Romans 12:9-13 (ESV)
On the surface, these commands seem scattershot, almost like the verses in Proverbs that jump from one topic to the next. But they’re related in the sense that they’re practical advice for everyday life. John Piper said on a recent episode of the “Ask Pastor John” podcast that these commands all show us how to start off all our interactions with love:
Romans 12:8, the verse just before this paragraph, says that such merciful service, all these seven ways of loving, are to be done with cheerfulness. “[Let] the one who does acts of mercy [do them] with cheerfulness,” which is an affection and emotion. In effect, all these commands, every one of them, involve the heart, the affections, the desires. Paul is not commanding outward behavior that comes from a wrong kind of heart. He’s not interested in that. That’s why that first word is, “Let love be genuine” (Romans 12:9) [emphasis in the original]. And really, the word is anypokritos. You can even see it in English: an-hypokritos — not hypocritical. Let love not be hypocritical.
I hate sham love. In other words, I don’t like outward behavior that looks Christian but isn’t coming from a new heart. He never says just, “Serve,” but “Rejoice to serve.” He doesn’t say just, “Avoid evil”; he says, “Abhor evil.” He doesn’t say just, “Know about hopeful promises”; he says, “Rejoice in hope.” He doesn’t just say to Christians that they should love others; he says, “Love with brotherly affection.” These are just stunning commands, straight to our emotions, our affections, our heart.
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Piper also traces this discussion back to the beginning of the chapter:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:1-2 (ESV)
Paul has spent 11 chapters digging into deep theological truths before turning to the practical. (Of course, we know that those chapter and verse divisions weren’t in the scriptures as originally written but added later.) He kicks off the practical portion of the letter with the admonition to let God transform our minds.
“Don’t be conformed to the world. Be transformed,” Piper added. “That is, be amazed and humbled and happy and empowered by the unspeakable mercies of God toward you in your unworthiness. Be so amazed, so humbled, so happy, so empowered that you are transformed with a mind and heart that have new affections, new desires, new preferences, new approvings and disapprovings.”
Why is the transformation and renewing of our minds so important? Piper answered, “Because the way we are transformed is by seeing the greatness of the glory of the mercies of God toward us in our hopeless sinful condition.”
There are amazing things that accompany this transformation, and Piper mentioned them. Romans 6:6 tells us that “our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” Romans 6:14 encourages us that “sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”
And then there’s the richness of Romans 8:
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-4 (ESV)
Piper concluded that “the key to obeying these commands in Romans 12 is to come at them indirectly through the doorway of Romans 12:1–2, and through all the glorious mercies of God in chapters 1–11. Immerse yourself in these. Let these be your treasure. God will transform you into the kind of person that can gladly obey these verses in chapter 12 from your heart.”
Amen! Let’s live like this today.
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