Book of Romans Study
Lesson # 33 – Romans 12:14-16
By Rev. James May
As we continue our study of Romans chapter 12 we will see that the Apostle Paul is giving us a lot of practical means of being obedient servants and faithful Disciples of Christ. As we grow in the Lord, the things that Paul is writing to us should become more evident. Growing in the Lord means that we are continually taking on his nature and characteristics while our own are diminishing.
Just as John said in John 3:30, “He must increase and I must decrease”, so shall it be for anyone who is a true follower of Jesus.
Now let us continue as we see more of these practical ways of living for the Lord.
Romans 12:14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
Bless – Greek meaning: to speak well of in a religious sense by invoking a prayer upon them that will make them to prosper in their spiritual condition.
Jesus told us that we would be hated for his name’s sake. He warned that those who chose to follow him would be as sheep for the slaughter. All through history it has been the lot of those who served God to be persecuted for their beliefs, and since Jesus came on the scene and declared that he alone is the Savior, that persecution has increased even more. If you serve Jesus and declare his name, get ready because persecution is coming. You may have already faced some ridicule and persecution, but you must know that as evil increases, persecution will increase too. The world hates Jesus, and because you serve him and preach him, the world hates you too.
If you are being persecuted for your faith in Jesus, how many of us would find it hard to do bless those who are doing the persecuting? You really must have the heart of Jesus to withstand persecution and have a heart of love and compassion for those who are being so spiteful to you.
(This kind of love was seen in the story of the Hiding Place when Corrie Ten Boom’s sister, Betsie, was constantly saying, “pray for the guards. Don’t become bitter toward them.” Instead of calling on the Lord to bring them to judgment and stop the persecution, she said to call upon the Lord to bless them and help them to prosper in their lives to the point of becoming a Christian and joining in the work of the Lord. To have such a heart of love, even while the enemy was destroying her life in Ravensbruck Death Camp is miraculous.)
The nature of the flesh is to call down fire on their heads; to retaliate and seek revenge for the persecution. The flesh would prefer to curse those who are spitefully using you and causing you trouble and pain.
I know that there are many Christians, perhaps some even in this room right now, who would think that what I’m about to say is crazy. But before you call the padded wagon, let me remind you of what Paul is saying. We are to pray for those who persecute us and not curse them.
There are lot of issues going on right now in our country that could easily bring persecution to the church in one form or another as the laws are changed and declarations are accepted, seemingly for the cause of national security or equal rights.
One of those is gun control, where our constitutional right to keep and bear arms and have certain weapons is being challenged and slowly taken away. It begins with assault weapons and high capacity magazines, but the end will only come when no citizen is allowed to have any type of weapon. In so doing, supposedly it will protect us from one another.
Now I’m not going to talk about the many wrong suppositions that fuel this change, because anyone with even the slightest of common sense knows that it’s not the guns, but the condition of the heart of the man who has his finger on the trigger that’s the real problem.
Driven by fear and worried about their safety and freedoms, many Christians are stocking up and declaring, “They can take my gun only if they take it from my cold dead fingers.” It all sounds patriotic and is a declaration that I won’t go softly into the darkness. No one will take my freedoms easily. I’ll fight for them.
The Bible tells us that if we live by the sword, we will die by the sword. I’m not for gun control, but I’m not for stocking up to shoot anyone that comes to take them either. Does anyone here think that he can stop it from happening if it ever becomes the law of the land? How many people are we willing to shoot to keep your guns? Will that stop anything? No, it will only serve to make things worse. It’s hard to pray for your persecutors if you’re shooting them first!
What is the most powerful weapon at the disposal of a Christian? Is it a high-powered rifle or a prayer closet? We can accomplish far more for the protections of our freedom if we would spend more time in prayer, praying for those who are persecuting us, and making our own hearts right with God, than we will by stockpiling guns and ammunition.
God makes a powerful promise to his people in 2 Chronicles 7:14, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Do we really want to see our freedoms protected? Do we really want to see America turn back to God? Do we really want to see the persecution reversed and righteousness to increase? If we do, then we have the answer and the weapon to make it happen – humble yourself and pray! The answer to the whole question is not found in guns and ammo; it’s on your knees before God, seeking his will.
It’s not congress, or a President, or even some misguided police, or even our military that are the real problem here. It’s not really even ISIS or ISIL or any other enemy of our nation.
The problem lies squarely on the shoulders of a church that has cast aside its responsibility of prayer and living for God in obedience to the Word of God and has chosen to revert to fulfilling the desires of the flesh rather than humbling ourselves and becoming more like Jesus.
Through Jesus we have the only way to salvation; to have freedom; or to overcome persecution. But as long as the church lives in the flesh, chasing after the “Big Three” – the Lust of the Flesh, Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life – then all we will do is to invite even more persecution.
The nature of Christ was never to lash out at those who persecuted him.
• Instead, when Peter lashed out with the sword in Jesus’ defense and cut off Malchus’ ear, Jesus stopped him, told him to put away his sword, and then Jesus healed his enemy’s ear.
• Jesus was beaten and tortured in Pilate’s hall, but he didn’t lash back and curse his tormentors. He could have called 10,000 angels and utterly destroyed Pilate and the Roman Army in a moment of time, and turned the unrighteous religious leaders of Israel into crispy critters with a word of his mouth.
• But Jesus didn’t do that, and even when he was dying on the cross, Jesus would pray for those who were killing him, asking the Father in Heaven to forgive them because they were acting out of ignorance.
There are many other changes that are being pushed in our legislature that could have major impacts upon our freedoms as well. I want to mention only one more before we move on. The one I want to mention is called the “Gay Rights Movement”, and it seeks to give equal rights of legal marriage and access to every right that any other married couple has, to every LBGT (Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Gay, and Transvestite) couple in America.
As Christians, we all know that that lifestyle is evil and that none who practice it will never enter Heaven’s gates unless they first repent. But if anyone here is living under the delusion that this will not become the law of the land, including our own state, then you need to wake up and smell the coffee.
We all have heard the rumblings of what this could mean for the church. Persecution, and even prosecution of Christians for refusing to perform wedding ceremonies for gay couples is in the news almost every day and I expect it will become more and more prevalent as time goes on.
Persecution against Christians for defying the law of the land will become commonplace, and there will be preachers who will face jail time, churches that may be closed down and who knows what else may be there result of this ungodly law being passed.
The choice will be to either defy the law of man and face prosecution; or to defy the law of God and perform ungodly ceremonies that glorify and condone sin; or to walk away from the call of God to be a minister in the church that holds to the truth of God’s Word. Any Christian that holds to the Word of God could never perform such a ceremony in good conscious.
So what should we do? Should we curse the gays and ask God to rain fire down on them? Should we treat them like animals and refuse to even recognize that they are human beings?
Of course not? That’s not the answer. In the first place, what makes being gay and worse of a sin in God’s eyes than telling a lie, or stealing a penny? Sin is sin and it can all be forgiven. One sin is no worse than another in the sight of God, and all sin carries the same penalty in the courts of Heaven. Of course, to even call homosexuality a sin is considered as a hate crime in our present society, so the day is upon us that even to say such a thing is an invitation for persecution. How many preachers are going to speak the truth anyway? How many will give in and somehow justify defying the law of God just to keep their jobs and avoid persecution and prosecution?
Somehow I can’t see the Apostles backing down and condoning sin in that fashion. How many times have they faced persecution for preaching the truth. Can’t you hear them now saying in Acts 4:19-20, But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
The gay rights movement is only the tip of the iceberg! If the Lord tarries, the day will come when there will be many other groups that want their equal rights to live the way they want without limitations. We can already see that drug addicts are seeking equal rights, regardless of their habits, because they are legalizing marijuana. What about the pimps and prostitutes? Will they seek equal rights and protection under the law? What about murderers, thieves and robbers? Aren’t they already declaring that they have more rights under the law than their victims?
We are living in a world that is turned upside down! Will cursing the world; cursing those who persecute those among us who still hold to the Truth; and using fleshly means of lashing back against the wave of evil that is coming solve anything?
The answer to it all still can be found in the prayer closet, where we get in touch with Jesus. The answer can still be found in 2 Chronicles 2:14 if the church will fall on its face before God.
And the answer can be found in Isaiah 59:19, where the Lord declares, “ So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.”
Our duty as Christians is not to take up human weapons of warfare and go after our persecutors. We are to let God fight our battles against spiritual wickedness! But we are to do our part too – by being on the front lines of battle in prayer!
I’m not against defending your life or your home if you have someone break in to kidnap, rob and try to do harm to you or your loved ones, or anything you own. You have a moral right to protect yourself, whatever it takes. There’s no sin in self-defense, depending of course on why the attack is made. There are a lot of people who get involved in deals that invite such attacks.
I think we also have a moral, and even spiritual obligation to do our part at the voting booth, and to answer the call in defense of our nation if an enemy should attack us.
But we have a higher obligation to obey the Word of God and not take such actions against those who persecute you because of your belief in Christ and what you do in his service.
The Bible clearly says that we are to pray for those who persecute us and despitefully use us for the cause of Christ.
We are never called, or given permission in God’s Word to be “Spiritual Vigilantes”, with the right and privilege to lash out against those who persecute us.
What the Lord says is, “Vengeance is mine. I will repay.” When persecution comes, or should I say, right now, before persecution really begins in our nation to a greater degree, we must be in constant prayer, ever seeking God’s will and asking him for the ability to face whatever persecution may come and to endure it that God may be glorified through us!
I don’t think God will receive much glory through a Christian who will take up arms and threaten to shoot anyone who gets near. It’s hard to win souls when you’re shooting at them or beating them away with the butt of a rifle, or refusing to share what you may have that they might need simply because they don’t live for Jesus. Where’s the Love of God in that?
We are to love our enemies, pray for those who spitefully use you, pray for those who persecute you, and pray for God to bless them that they may also come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior! That’s not always easy to do, but it is what God has commanded us to do.
Romans 12:15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
In another place in Paul’s writings he says that he tries to become all things to all people so that in some way he might be able to win some of them to Christ. Of course, Paul is not talking about joining them in their sin, but in joining them in their culture and in their lives in a way that he might both remain faithful to the righteousness of Christ and be relatable to them as best he could.
So let’s just say that this idea of rejoicing with them who rejoice does not mean that we are to shout for joy because a bank robber is happy for having gotten away with robbing the bank, or shout the victory for a dope dealer who just made the biggest deal of his life and is now very wealthy. There are limitations to this idea of rejoicing and weeping with others that we must be aware of!
If they are rejoicing over a blessing; something good that is come into their lives, then we should rejoice with them and be glad that God is blessing our neighbor. Likewise, should their sorrow be of a legitimate reason, we to have compassion and learn to be there for them in the midst of their sorrow.
If that same bank robber or drug dealer gets caught later and is sorrowful for losing his fortune, I’m certainly not obligated to be sorrowful for his loss and being caught. But I can be sorrowful for the condition of his heart and soul, and still pray for him.
Romans 12:16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
Does God expect us to all have the same opinions, thoughts, beliefs and convictions about everything?
I don’t believe that this is what Paul is saying at all. We do not all judge everything and everyone the same way. Some may think of another person as a man not to be trusted because of some past experience that was beyond his ability to control all the circumstances. By the same token, someone else may think of this man as an absolutely trustworthy friend. Experiences can make a great difference in who we trust and why.
Do we love all men the same and have the same compassion for all people equally under all circumstances? Here again is that word “circumstances”. While we might have the love of God for all men and desire that all come to know him and make Heaven their eternal home, yet there are many people in this world that I carry little love for in the flesh and certainly wouldn’t want them as my next door neighbor.
Is it impossible, while living in this world, to have the same love for all men? Some, in our opinion, and according to what’s right and just, deserve to be punished, perhaps even executed for their actions.
Even if the circumstances are not so extreme, perhaps just being a clash in personality types, things we like to do or not do, or anything that we think differently about can affect our feelings toward one another. It’s just part of the human nature that we have to put up with as long as we live in this mortal body.
And looking at the doctrines of the Bible, do all Christians think alike and believe the same things? Of course not! If it were so, there could be one universal church, all believing the Truth and all united in a great Spirit of Unity, and the church would be unshakeable in its power to influence the world for Christ!
But the divisions are there, even in the church. And just because one denomination, or group believes one thing, and another group believes something else, does that make one group the only one with the answers? How often do we see different faiths, or denominations, or groups try to make such a claim!
If one group believes that Jesus is One, that he is the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost and that there is only one member of the Godhead, all parts in Jesus alone; does that destroy their salvation? If their faith is placed in Jesus Christ and his blood for salvation; is that not what gives us all salvation?
And then there is another group that believes in the Trinity of the Godhead, where the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are three separate manifestations of one God, where all three dwell in complete unity, agreement and purpose, and yet those who believe in the Trinity also trust only in the blood of Jesus Christ for salvation? Is this group wrong?
I have seen both Oneness Believers and Trinitarian Believers filled with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues. I have seen both praising the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. I’ve seen souls won to the kingdom of god who became ministers and great workers, teaching and leading many others to Jesus! Could any of this have happened without them being genuinely saved?
Who is right? There again, it depends upon which group you talk to.
Can we not work together under the banner of the cross and let Jesus be Jesus in us, letting the world see the unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace among God’s people, and let them see the love we have one for another so that they know we are disciples of Christ, and let God be glorified through us?
Yet, these kinds of doctrinal differences make a big difference in the way one part of the church treats another part.
And what about receiving the Baptism in the Holy Ghost? Can you be saved without it? Some say yes and others say no! Who is right? Suddenly there are great divisions here too.
We believe that a soul can enter Heaven without the Holy Ghost Baptism with speaking in tongues, but we preach that you really need to get baptized in the Holy Ghost to be an overcomer! Some are saved and receive it, and others are saved and never receive it for whatever reason that only God knows.
Other churches belief that without it you can’t go to Heaven, so they all earnestly try to receive it, and most do. So they get the Holy Ghost and go to heaven. But those who don’t receive go to Heaven too if they are saved, so what does it matter?
Still others say that you receive this baptism in the name of Jesus at the moment you are Born Again and it has nothing to do with speaking in tongues at all. So the divisions in doctrine come, and the fleshly nature arises and the arguments continue to drive wedges in the church. Who’s right? Who’s wrong?
Where is the line between pursuing unity in the Body of Christ while being of the same mind, and going too far by tolerating sin and allowing the Bible to be put aside for the sake of unity?
I believe that Paul is trying to tell us to not allow the differences to separate us unless they are diametrically opposed to the Truth of God’s Word. Leave room for spiritual growth. Leave space for yourself and other people to change and to learn and to do their best to accurately understand the Word of God. The only time we can allow divisions is when someone blatantly disobeys or grossly misinterprets the Word and goes off the deep end in forming their own religion such as was the case in David Koresh, Jim Jones, and others like them.
The biggest problem, and it is a dangerous one, is when some point of doctrine actually causes someone to turn away from God through lack of faith, confusion and inability to receive something that they think they must have.
In that fashion it is a danger, but only to those who do not search out the Word of God and work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that their soul is at stake and they will stand before a Holy God to answer for their choices.
Your salvation is your responsibility, and making it to Heaven or not making it to heaven will fall squarely upon your shoulders regardless of what church you attend or what doctrine you believe.
Surely those teach wrong doctrine and cause others to stumble and fall will answer for their actions, but salvation is a personal matter, pure and simple. It’s an individual responsibility to make sure of your own salvation according to God’s plan through Jesus Christ.
What is more important to the church in the greater picture of what God wants to accomplish in us and through us? I’m not saying that we must all agree on everything! That’s just about impossible! We were all brought up under different circumstances, learned from trusted and respected sources, even studied the same Bible, but somehow we learned different doctrines that are hard, if not impossible to lay aside.
• Can we agree to disagree and move on when it comes to doctrine others teach that doesn’t line up perfectly with our own?
• Can we lay aside differences and look for the common ground that is in accordance with God’s Word?
• Can we just let God be God, stop judging one another, and work together to win souls for the cause of Christ?
One of Satan’s greatest tools in destroying the effectiveness of the witness of the church for Jesus has always been the divisions that he drives within Christianity.
If what someone else believes isn’t exactly what you believe, yet they still preach that Jesus is the Son of God, believe in the power of his blood, look forward to the resurrection and lead souls to the cross; doesn’t that make them just as Christian as you or me?
God help us to not be judgmental but use wisdom in working with our brothers and sisters in the Lord no matter what banner hangs over the door of their church, as long as Jesus is the central figure in their teaching and they don’t go off into private interpretations and heretical teachings.
I think that we should take on Paul’s attitude when he says in 1 Corinthians 2;2, For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”
I don’t care about your pet doctrines, and I don’t care what you think of my pet doctrines. I care about what WE BOTH teach and believe about Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Savior of all mankind!
I’m not preaching that every church, and everyone that claims to be Christian, should automatically be embraced. Neither am I saying that we should automatically exclude anyone whose doctrine is different from our own.
The unity of the Spirit can only be had if the Spirit is in the church. Man’s idea of a universal church casts aside the Word of God for the cause of tolerance and acceptance and allows every little wind of doctrine to enter in and cause havoc in the ranks. We must adhere to the truth of the Bible but also allow people to learn and grow. We will never give up the presence of the Holy Spirit in the church just to say that we accept everybody. That’s foolishness.
So what is this same mind that we should be towards one another?
• We are to think alike in our interest in the Love of God.
• We are to think alike in believing that we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus.
• We are to think alike in believing that God is God and that he rewards whose diligently seek after him.
• We are to think alike in knowing that the hope of our calling in Christ is that we shall have eternal life and rule and reign with him forever.
• We are not to think of ourselves as better, richer, poorer or less than anyone else, but to know that we are equal in the sight of God.
• We are not to think that we alone are the “great ones” with all the right answers, but be loving and tolerant of others, realizing that no man is perfect, and that it’s not by our perfection that we shall ever enter heaven.
If God allows for our shortcomings and counts us righteous through Christ in spite of the sin in us, why would God not to the same for other Christians who are trying to be just a diligent to be obedient to the Word that they know?
We should “condescend to men of low estate”! In other words be content with where you are and allow others to be the same way until the Holy Spirit moves us onward. Realize that we all fall short of the glory of God and we all are just searching, hoping and believing in the mercy and grace of God.
Allow some to be weak in the faith and bear with their infirmities. After all, someone is doing the same for you right now. Do what you can to help all people and to encourage everyone else in the church. The day will come when you will need it too if it hasn’t already.
And remember this, “No matter how mature you are in Christ; no matter how much you know and have learned; no matter how much more you might understand the Bible or how close you are to the heart of God – THERE’S ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT! So don’t think too highly of yourself! We are all in this together, and not one of us has God and his word locked in a box. We are all still working out our own salvation. Let other people do the same thing!
