Romans 12

36. The Cross is the center of the world’s history; the incarnation of Christ and the crucifixion of our Lord are the pivot round which all the events of the ages revolve. The testimony of Jesus was the spirit of prophecy, and the growing power of Jesus is the spirit of history. All the generations that went before him, though they knew it not, were preparing the way of the Lord, and heralding the advent of him who was the desire of all nations and the light of men; and all the generations that come after, though they know it not, are swelling the pomp of his triumph and hastening the time of his crowning and dominion. The tangled web of human history is only then intelligible when that is taken as its clew, “From him are all things, and to him are all things.” A. M.

1. I RESEECH you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies 2 a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye 3 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 hath dealt to every 4 man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members 5 have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one mem- 6 bers one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, 7 whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us 8 wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on ex- hortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he 9 that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that 10 which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.

“WE offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies”—this is our sacrifice, daily and continually to be offered; our spiritual sacrifice, not of brute creatures which know not God, but a reasonable sacrifice of our reasonable minds, of our fancy, our imagination, our judgment, of all the faculties which God has given us to know truth and to know him; and a holy sacrifice of a penitent heart washed in Christ’s blood, of a believing heart, a self-denying, an obedient, and a loving heart; and yet again a lively sacrifice, a sacrifice of living powers and feelings and hopes. And our bodies, too, with all their various senses and powers, we sacrifice to God; a living sacrifice, not to be destroyed or dishonored, but to do God active service. Our bodies so fearfully and wonderfully made; our eyes, our ears, our busy tongues, our active feet, that vigor which youth feels in all its frame, and which makes the very sense of life a pleasure—these we offer and present to God. T. A.

The true, divine idea of religion is a life begotten of grace in the depths of the human soul, subduing to Christ all the powers of the soul, and incarnating itself in a patient, steady, sturdy service. It is the doing of the will of the Father which entitles us to a solid assurance of our redemption by the Son. Doing this will, not preaching it, as something which ought to be done; not indolently sighing to do it, and then lamenting that we do it not; but the thing itself, in actual achievement, from day to day, from month to month, from year to year. Thus religion rises on us in its own imperial majesty. It is no mere delight of the understanding in the doctrines of our faith; no mere excitement of the sensibilities, now harrowed by fear and now jubilant in hope; but a warfare and a work: a warfare against sin and a work for God. And so our thoughts, our cares, our aims get shifted away from ourselves to a worthier center. We look not within ourselves, but above us, for the guiding word; while the roots of our Christian hope are nourished more by our duties than our joys. It is character that is required of us; laid, indeed, in grace, and imperfect at the best, needing to shelter itself behind the perfect righteousness of Christ, and yet a piece of solid moral masonry, to be carried on and carried up by a life-long toil. And this, too, not for our own sake, but for Christ’s sake, and because God so wills it. Our own spiritual comfort, the sure fruit of a careful walk with God, though an incident, is not to be the end of our endeavors; but all we do is to be out of simple loyalty to redeeming love. Mere obedience to conscience is but a pagan virtue, which, in the highest sphere, is not a virtue at all. Virtue, for us, is obedience to God in Christ. Painstaking it will be, that there may be no blot upon the life; self-denying, as against our indolence, our appetites, and our passions; asking only for duty, though we knew it were asking for martyrdom—and all for Christ. Such is the will of God concerning us; and only he who does it should reckon himself a child of God. R. D. H.

THE twelfth of Romans, placed at the beginning of the Epistle, would have been as cold and uninspiring as the ten commandments on the tables of stone; standing where it does, every precept is moistened with tears of divine pity and the blood of redemption; and to the soul that has learned with Paul “the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God,” every word that expresses the will of the Lord Jesus is richer than gold and sweeter than honey. An.—He that gives rules of life without first fixing principles of faith offers preposterously at building a house without laying a foundation, and he that instructs what to believe and directs not a believer how to live doth in vain lay a foundation without following out the building. But in this Epistle we find our apostle excellently acquitting himself in both these. He first largely and firmly lays the groundwork in the foregoing part of the Epistle; now he adds exhortations and directions touching the particular duties of Christians.

1. The first thing to be done with a soul is to convince it of sin and death, then to address and lead it in to Christ, our righteousness and life; this done it should be taught to follow him. This is Christianity, to live in Christ, and to live to Christ; to live in him by faith, and to live to him in holiness. The exhortation that begins this chapter hath in it the whole sum of Christian obedience fitly expressed and strongly urged; and in that are all particular rules comprised. One said well, “The best way to understand the mysterious and high discourse in the beginning of Paul’s Epistles is to begin at the practice of these rules and precepts that are in the latter end of them.” The way to attain to know more is to receive the truth in the love of it, and to obey that you know. L.—One must first be cleansed, and then cleanse others; first be instructed, then instruct; become light, then enlighten; draw nigh to God, then lead others up to him; be sanctified, then sanctify; have hands, then lead by the hand; save prudence, then give counsel. No one is worthy of our great God, both sacrifice and high priest, who has not first presented himself to God as a holy, living sacrifice, nor exhibited that reasonable service which is well-pleasing to him. Greg. Naz.

The whole tone of our New Testament religion is searching and high. It allows no laxities and no apologies. It is satisfied with nothing less than entire consecration. The piety it asks is both active and ardent, warm and constant, ever burning and ever advancing. It summons into the master’s service every power, every energy, every affection, every hour of life. F. D. H.—The absolute unselfish oblation of the whole man—mind, heart, and will—as a sacrifice to Christ, out of thankful regard to his dying love, is the living sacrifice, the reasonable service, with which God is well pleased. To keep back anything is to deny our Lord. He asks only the heart, but he asks it all. And in gracious souls he has it. It is his. He has bought it with his Cross and passion, and carries it away in triumph; embracing in almighty arms the ransomed one, who desires no other master, and is happy to be borne away captive by him, whose commandments are not grievous, whose yoke is light, and whose service is freedom. J. W. A.

2. Conformity to the world does not consist in joining in the pleasures with which God who made the world has filled it. It does not consist in pursuing the occupations by which the work of the world is done. It does not consist in allowing proper play to the natural impulses. All these things, though they can be made worldly, yet are not worldly in themselves. By being conformed to this world, the apostle plainly means the molding of the life and character by the system which prevails around you, and not by the higher teaching which reaches your heart and conscience. The world has another voice which does not come from God at all, and which speaks to our weakness, to our folly, to our vanity, to our love of popularity, to our fear of offending. And this is the voice which we are tempted to make our guide, and even to enthrone above our own consciences. Those who begin with the world almost always end with the flesh, or sometimes with what is worse still. They begin by talking lightly of serious faults because they are common, because they are not thought much of, because the temptations to them are great. And such invariably, if they do not repent, go straight on from mere laxity of judgment to downright indulgence in fleshly sins. And hence conformity to the world does the same kind of mischief now that idolatry did long ago. It leads by a direct and rapid course to a low moral standard, to stifling the higher nature, to a weak and perhaps a positively corrupt form of religion, and to a degradation of the life and character. F. T.

We must avoid as much as in us lies all such society, all such amusements, all such tempers which it is the daily business of a Christian to subdue, and all those feelings which it is his constant duty to suppress. Some things, which are apparently innocent and do not assume an alarming aspect or bear a dangerous character—things which the generality of decorous people affirm (how truly we know not) to be safe for them; yet if we find that these things stir up in us improper propensities—if they awaken thoughts which ought not to be excited—if they abate our love for religious exercises, or infringe on our time for performing them—if they make spiritual concerns appear insipid—if they wind our heart a little more about the world—in short, if we have formerly found them injurious to our own souls, then let no example or persuasion, no belief of their alleged innocence, no plea of their perfect safety tempt us to indulge in them. It matters little to our security what they are to others. Our business is with ourselves. Our responsibility is on our own heads. Others can not know the side on which we are assailable. Let our own unbiased judgment determine our opinion; let our own experience decide for our own conduct. H. More.—I have found nothing yet which requires more courage and independence than to rise even a little, but decidedly, above the par of the religious world around us. Surely, the way in which we commonly go on is not that way of self-denial and sacrifice and cross-bearing which the New Testament talks of. Then is the offense of the Cross ceased. Our slender influence on the circle of our friends is often to be traced to our leaving so little difference between us. J. W. A.

3. To every man.** This is more pressing than if he had said simply, to you, or generally, to you all. Thus we ought to speak, and thus ye ought to hear. We to speak, not as telling some unconcerning stories, but as having business with you; and you to hear, not each for another, as you often do, “Oh! such a passage touched such a one,” but each for ourselves. Not to think more highly. The first particular the apostle recommends is that gracing grace of humility, the ornament and the safety of all other graces, and which is so peculiarly Christian. Somewhat philosophers speak of temperance, justice, and other like virtues, but these rather to swell the mind with conceit and confidence of itself than to dwell together with self-abasement and humility. But in the school of Christ the first lesson of all is self-denial and humility. It is written above the door as the rule of entry or admission, Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart. And, out of all question, that is truly the humblest heart that hath most of Christ in it. L.—A false, imaginary perfection makes way for too many real imperfections. Christ has been disparaged in all manners by this infidel fervor; disparaged in his nature, his dignity, and holiness. There is not one of those schools which, by stretching certain cords to excess, have not in an equal degree slackened others which ought to have been kept stretched. There is not one of those schools whose progress has not been marked by the destruction or weakening of some one of the fundamental truths of religion or morality. A. V.

To think soberly. A low self-esteem doth not wholly take away the simple knowledge of what gifts and graces God hath bestowed on a man, for that were to make him both unthankful and unuseful. He that doth not know what God hath freely given him can not return praise to God nor make use of himself for God in his station. The apostle’s caution intimates a sober, humble reflection on the measure God hath given a man, which he not only allows but requires; and himself gives example of it in his own present expression, declaring that he speaks these things through the grace that is given to him. In this dependent notion of freely given, a man shall never be puffed up by any endowments, though he see and know them; yea, the more he knows them thus, will be the more humble still, as being the more obliged. L.

4-8. The second constituent of Christian duty is reciprocal justice and kindness between man and man, like the harmony and helpfulness which the Creator has established between the several members of a living body. Mark how the hand comes to the defense of the eye in its weakness; and how the eye with its sight, and from its elevated position, keeps watch for the welfare of the lowly, blind, but laborious and useful foot. The mutual helpfulness of these members is absolutely perfect. Such should be the charity between brother and brother of God’s family on earth; such it shall be when all the sons and daughters are assembled in the many mansions of the heavenly home. In the remaining portion of the Epistle, Paul labors with all his might to stimulate practical charity, in one place reducing the whole law to one precept, to one word—Love. After devoting so much attention to the roots, he will not neglect to gather the fruit. Arnot.

6. The gospel, as taught by our Lord and his apostles, is pure, transparently clear, radiant alike with the glory of God and the happiness of man—of that there is no doubt; yet what twists has the

8. In the scheme of evangelical charity the principle which actuates the giver is of paramount importance. “He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity.” The gospel rejects alike the tax which is reluctantly paid by fear, the bribe which is given to silence importunity, the sacrifice which is offered to a vain ostentation, and the price which is intended to purchase a place in the divine favor, or as a ground of justification before God. The only offering which it accepts is that which originates in a principle of love and obedience to Christ, and which hopes and asks for divine acceptance through him alone. And having made its appeal at the Cross, having provided and plied him with the grand motive of redeeming love, it will accept nothing which overlooks the constraining influence of that principle. J. H.

9. The duty here meant and commanded is, that we love one another, and our love must be unhypocritical and sincere; such as, though it may consist with, yet doth not wholly consist in civilities of expression and behavior, but a real benevolence of soul and good will to all—a love disposing readily to forgive evil and do good upon all occasions. Cleave to that which is good. This expresses a vehement and inseparable affection; loving and rejoicing in all the good thou seest in others; desiring and seeking after all the good thou canst attain unto thyself; such as will put thee and keep thee most in mind of thy home, and the way thither, and admonish and reduce thee from any declining steps.

10. In honor preferring one another. Putting all possible respect on one another; for though a man may see the weakness of those he converses with, yet he ought to take notice of what is good. All have something commendable, and none hath all; so the meanest may in something be preferable to the highest; and Christian humility and charity will seek out for that. L.

11. Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope; patient 12 in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; distributing to the necessity of saints; given 14 to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them 15 that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. 16 Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own con- 17 ceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, 19 avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is 20 mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, 21 give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

CARRY holy principles with you into the world, and the world will become hallowed by their presence. A Christlike spirit will Christianize everything it touches. A meek heart, in which the altar-fire of love to God is burning, will lay hold of the commonest, rudest things in life and transmute them, like coarse fuel at the touch of fire, into a pure and holy flame. Religion in the soul will make all the work and toil of life, its gains and losses, friendships, rivalries, competitions, its manifold incidents and events, the means of religious advancement. Lofty or lowly, rude or refined, as our earthly work may be, it will become, to a holy mind, only the material for an infinitely nobler than all the creations of genius—a pure and godlike life. To spiritualize what is material, to Christianize what is secular—this is the noble achievement of Christian principle. If you are a sincere Christian, it will be your great desire, by God’s grace, to bring every gift, talent, occupation of life, every word you speak, every action you do, under the control of Christian motive. Caird.

Where true piety exists, fidelity to man is transmuted into worship before God. This is the great truth which sanctifies all human life. Broken up as life is into myriads of little, insignificant acts, it is hard sometimes to redeem it from contempt. It becomes a holy thing, when we realize that, with the heart unreservedly given to God, even the most trivial duty becomes an act of worship. Glowing with the warm affection by which it is inspired, it glides into the frame of devotion itself; which, as grateful incense, goes up to heaven from the altar of God within the heart. Our worship consists not only in formal acts of praise and prayer, when we bow before God in the sanctuary, or kneel at his feet in the closet; but in the workshop, in the counting-room, in the office, everywhere, and in the hourly transactions of common business, the whole life becomes a sacred chant. The ten thousand little obediences are the sweet notes which compose it, rising above the din of this poor world, and mingling in the universal psalm of praise that is heard before the throne. Duty is felt in all its sacredness, and a soft radiance beams upon the path of the most obscure and patient of the Lord’s saints upon the earth. B. M. P.

11. The words seem to imply that religion is not so much a duty as a something that has to do with all duties; not a tax to be paid periodically, but a ceaseless, all-pervading, inexhaustible tribute to him who is not only the object of religious worship but the end of our very life and being. It suggests to us the idea that piety is not for Sundays only, but for all days; that spirituality of mind is like the act of breathing, like the circulation of the blood, like the silent growth of the stature, a process that may be going on simultaneously with all our actions—when we are busiest, as when we are idlest; in the church, in the world; in solitude, in society; in our grief, and in our gladness; in our toil, and in our rest; sleeping, waking; by day, by night—amid all the engagements and exigencies of life. For you perceive that in one breath, as duties not only not incompatible but necessarily and inseparably blended with each other, the text exhorts us to be at once “not slothful in business,” and “fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.” Caird.

Suffer the mind to revert to the thought that what we are about to do is the task assigned to us in the order of God’s providence, that it is a task which he will inspect, and that it must be executed as well as we are able in order that it may meet his approval. Do the work under the eye of your heavenly master, and look up in his face from time to time for his help and blessing: an internal colloquy with him ever and anon, so far from being a distraction, will be a furtherance. For no work can in any high sense prosper which is not done with a bright, elastic spirit; and there is no means of keeping the spirit bright and elastic but by keeping it near to God. And never think of your work as a distraction or a hindrance to piety. Think of it as contributing to healthfulness and cheerfulness of mind, as a steady and sobering influence, preventing those extravagances into which without it the mind might run. E. M. G.—There is many a secret sin that is best contended against, not by first thinking about it and then resisting it—for, while you think about it, it takes the form of a temptation—but by crowding our days so full of duty that the tempter will find no treacherous door open. Work is chaste. Work hallowed by prayer is chaster still. Have no fears that God will not help. F. D. H.

Fervent in spirit. The fervor whereof the apostle speaks hath religion, or the service of God, for its object. Love to God is the principle, the law of God is the rule, and his glory the end, of all its operations. The fervent Christian is habitually on the stretch to answer the great purposes for which he was made and redeemed; his understanding is employed in searching out the mind of God so far as it regards the conduct of his creatures; his will is firmly and resolutely determined to perform whatever shall appear to be his duty; his affections are inspired with holy life and vigor; in consequence of which his executive powers are all ready to perform their several parts: the tongue to speak, the hands to give or to do what is required, and the feet to run in the way of God’s commandments. In short, the whole man is engaged in the service of God, so that religion becomes his constant and most delightful occupation; he counts nothing too much to be done or too hard to be endured for the enjoyment of that God whom he most ardently loves and to whom he is entirely devoted. This is to be fervent in spirit. R. W.

True manly strength in religion is nurtured at the mercy-seat and at the foot of the Cross. The world has already half destroyed us when we are too busy to pray. Better forego food or rest, especially better forego any amount of profit, than learn to live without communion with God. The man of business, who from morning till night scarcely redeems a moment for stated reflection, must, by stern resolution and self-denial, gain some hour to hear God speak and to speak to God, or he will inevitably shrink and wither down into the every-day worldly professor, who is bold at a bargain and cowardly in faith, earnest on week-days and half asleep on the Sabbath, indefatigable in trade-labors and unheard of in operations for Christ’s kingdom or his poor. J. W. A.—Believer, the more worldly business lies upon thy hand the more need thou hast to keep close to thy closet. Much business lays a man open to many sins, many snares, and many temptations. Brooks.—Most businesses have wide gaps; all have some chinks at which devotion may slip in. Be we never so urgently set or closely intent on any work, be we feeding, be we traveling, be we trading, be we studying, nothing can forbid that we wedge in a thought concerning God’s goodness, and a word of praise for it; that we reflect on our sins, and spend a penitential sigh on them; that we desery our need of God’s help, and dispatch a brief petition for it. Barrow.—Often a man in the multitude and pressure of his avocations exercises a more God-pleasing humility and real waiting upon God than in highly favored moments of elevated devotion. Beng.

12. Wilt thou resolutely strive against slothfulness? Then rejoice in hope—in the hope of that glory which is the portion of the true Christian. Wilt thou be and remain fervent in spirit? Then be patient—that is, at once enduring and resolute—in tribulation. Patience strengthens the power out of which true zeal is born; and, in order to do much for the kingdom of God, we must have learned to suffer, if need be, for his sake. Wilt thou, finally, serve the Lord uprightly in thy work? Continue instant in prayer. To work and pray are not to the Christian two opposite things; far less does the one exclude the other—they flow together incessantly in higher unity. Persevering, believing prayer alone will give thee enjoyment, courage, and strength for the daily service of the Lord, even in a post which perhaps thou wouldst not have chosen for thyself. The hidden power of the prompt, busy hand lies in the constantly bowed knee. Van O.—If afraid of fainting, yea, if at the point of fainting, prayer revives the soul, draws in no less than the strength of God to support it. And what, then, can surcharge it? Oh! acquaint yourselves with prayer, and by it with God, that, if days of trouble come, you may know whither to go and what way; and, if you know this way, whatever befalls you, you are not much to be bemoaned. L.

15. Rejoice, weep.** This indeed is a characteristic trait that distinguishes the Christian faith from every religious pretension that was ever set up. It is not one-sided, as being all for melancholy or all for mirth—not stoical or epicurean. It has as many sides as our life has, goes with us wherever we can go, and only asks that it may consecrate everything with its blessing. F. D. H.—I am obliged to great thankfulness to God for the mercies of this life which he has shown to my friends. That which promotes their joy should increase mine. Nature and grace teach us to be glad, when our friends are well and prosper. Do good to men’s bodies if thou wouldst do good to their souls. Say not, “Things corporeal are worthless trifles for which the receivers will be never the better.” They are things that nature is easily sensible of; and sense is the passage to the mind and will. Dost thou not find what a help it is to thyself to have at any time any ease and alacrity of body; and what a burden and hindrance pains and cares are? Labor then to free others from such burdens and temptations, and be not regardless of them. If thou must “rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep,” promote then thy own joy by helping theirs, and avoid thy own sorrows in preventing or curing theirs. Box.

16. Mind not high things.** In order to escape the perils of a false elevation, to avoid falling either into the snares of the flesh or the snares of pride, aspire to things higher than all those to which the world unjustly gives the name of high things. Neither to the right nor to the left, but upward! Upward! in the practice of all the duties which God has given you to fulfill. Upward! in simple love to him who has loved you, diligently seeking his glory while despising your own. Upward! in the exactness, not the scrupulous and legal, but the tender and zealous exactness of Christian obedience, in humility truly humble, and that childlike simplicity which so admirably accords with enlightened reason in the intelligent but docile acceptance of the gifts which God has given, and the truths which he has taught you. A. V.

17. All that is required of us is that we should not suffer our resentment of injuries to carry us beyond the bounds of justice, equity, and Christian charity; that we should not recompense evil for evil, or repay one injury by committing another; that we should not take fire at every slight provocation or trivial offense, nor pursue even the greatest and most flagrant injuries with implacable rancor; that we should make all reasonable allowances for the infirmities of human nature, for the passions, the prejudices, the failings, the misapprehensions of those we have to deal with; and, without submitting tamely to oppression or insult or giving up rights of great and acknowledged importance, should always show a disposition to conciliate and forgive; and rather to recede and give way a little in certain instances, than insist on the utmost satisfaction and reparation that we have perhaps a strict right to demand. P.—It is not manhood but childishness to be quieted with striking the thing that hurts us. Though enemies be not worthy to be loved by us, yet malice is unworthy to be lodged in us. ‘Tis true, the precept of loving enemies is contrary to unsanctified nature. But God alone knows how to punish our enemies without passion and inequality. It is

our duty to weary persecutors with patience. A Christian must not, like the flint, seem to be cool but be fiery when struck. He that takes up fire to throw (though against his enemy) hurts himself most. To be kind to the kind argues civility; to be unkind to the unkind argues corruption; to be unkind to the kind argues devilishness; to be kind to the unkind argues Christianity. Jenkyn.