DECEMBER 9

 

Christian Life and Conduct

 

CALL TO HOLINESS. Rom. 12:1,2

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. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

 

USE OF GIFTS. Rom. 12:3-8

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his& faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give gener­ously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

 

SHOW LOVE THROUGH DEEDS. Rom. 12:9-13

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in afflic­tion, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

 

SHOW LOVE IN RELATIONSHIPS. Rom. 12:14-21

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.'1 Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"' says the Lord. On the contrary:

 

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

DUTY TOWARD CIVIL AUTHORITY. Rom. 13:1-7

 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring pun­ishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.

This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

 

LOVE IS KEY TO OBLIGATIONS. Rom. 13:8-10

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and what­ever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."' Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

 

HOPE IS KEY TO MOTIVATION. Rom. 13:11-14

And do this, understanding the pres­ent time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

 

Regarding Mutual Responsibility

 

NOT TO JUDGE CONSCIENCE. Rom. 14:1-4

Accept him whose faith is weak, with­out passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegeta­bles. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

 

MATTERS OF CONSCIENCE. Rom.14:5-9

One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

 

EACH MUST ANSWER. Rom.14:10-12

You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written:

 

" 'As surely as I live says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me;

every tongue will confess to God "" So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

 

CAUSING BROTHER TO STUMBLE. Rom.14:13-21

 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. As one who is in the Lore Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food" is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother i distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Do no allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom o God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

 

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.

 

BASE ACTIONS UPON CONVICTION. Rom. 14:22,23

So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and every­thing that does not come from faith is sin.

 

EXAMPLE OF FORBEARANCE. Rom. 15:1-6

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." For everything that was written in the past was writ­ten to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spir­it of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

CALL FOR MUTUAL ACCEPTANCE. Rom. 15:7-13

 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews'? on behalf of God's truth, to con­firm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written:

"Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;

I will sing hymns to your name." Again, it says,

"Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people."5 And again,

"Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,

and sing praises to him, all you peoples."' And again, Isaiah says,

 

"The Root of Jesse will spring up,

one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him.""

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Closing Remarks

 

REASON FOR WRITING. Rom. 15:14-16

I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaim­ing the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

 

PRIDE IN GENTILE MINISTRY.  Rom. 15:17-21

  Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my     service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done—by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. It has always been my ambi­tion to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. Rather, as it is written:

"Those who were not told about him will see,

and those who have not heard will understand."0

 

FUTURE TRAVEL PLANS Rom.5:22-2

This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.  But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to see you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribu­tion for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this fruit, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.

 

REQUEST FOR PRAYERS. Rom. 15:30-33

   I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ  and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God  for me. Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there, so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed. The God of peace be with you all. Amen.

 

COMMENDATION OF PHOEBE. Rom. 16:1,2

 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant"' of the church in Cenchrea. I ask you to receive her in the Lord

in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me.

 

SPECIAL GREETINGS. Rom. 16:3-16

Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They

risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the

Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ from

the province of Asia.

Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison

with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were

in Christ before I was. Greet Ampliatus, whom I love in the Lord.

Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys Greet Apelles, tested and approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my relative.

Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. Greet Tryphena and Tryphqsa, those women who work hard in the

Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard

in the Lord.

Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a moth­er to me, too. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers

with them. Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the

saints with them.

Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.

 

WARNING ABOUT TROUBLEMAKERS. Rom. 16:17-20

I urge you, brothers, to water out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

 

GREETINGS FROM OTHER BRETHREN. Rom. 16:21-23

Timothy, my fellow worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my relatives

I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.

Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings.

Erastus, who is the city's director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.

 

PRAISE TO GOD. Rom. 16:25-27

 Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him—to the only wise God be glory for­ever through Jesus Christ! Amen.