The Attitude and the Argument of Paul (Rom. 12:1)

With this verse, we move into the practical section of this amazing letter. It was Paul’s custom when writing some of his letters to use the first section for explaining doctrine and then use the remaining section to highlight some matters of practical importance. It is said that some Christians prefer doctrine to practice and vice versa. The best and God-glorifying response is to value both. It may be the case that our denomination has been regarded as being stronger on doctrine than on practice. Whether that is the case or not, we should find out if our congregation is by the time we come to the close of this section because it will tell us what actions God wishes us to engage in, and whether or not we want to do them. Since we are liable to take a few sessions to go through this section it would be useful if we were to read it once a week at home and spend some time thinking about it.

We can imagine someone speaking to one of the recipients of Paul’s letter and asking him where he came from and what he believed. He would have replied, ‘I am a Roman Christian.’ We too can give that answer, although in a different sense, but only if we believe what Paul taught about doctrine and what he taught about Christian living. So we can ask one another frequently over the next few weeks, ‘Are you a Roman Christian?’

It is important for us to remember that the quality of living that Paul describes in this section was revolutionary at the time, and still is. Rome had seen many teachers come along with various ideas about how life could be lived. None came close to the radical nature of the beliefs and expectations connected to the Christian message, and that is because it is the expression of the life of God in the soul of man, as Henry Scougal entitled his famous book. If we take on board what Paul says in this section we will have a personal and a community life that will make others sit up and take notice.

Not only is this way of life revolutionary in nature, it is also beautiful when displayed. Paul had seen this transformed way of life displayed in numerous communities of Christians. Of course, he had also seen some of those communities marred by individuals or by groups who refused to implement his teaching for one reason or another. Paul is going to describe a way of community life that transcends ethnic, educational, age, gender, social status and other barriers that disrupt togetherness.

The basic requirements for living this wonderful community life are detailed in Romans 12:1-2. We can see from what Paul writes that we should be able to discover the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. At the same time, we will discover a way of life that can be described as real worship. Therefore I want to take a couple of sermons to look at those verses before we move on to consider the various features of community life that Paul will mention.

The attitude of the apostle

We may be surprised at the way Paul speaks here. After all, he is an apostle possessing the authority of Jesus Christ. Yet he approaches this section with the attitude of imploring his readers to listen to his words. Perhaps he has this attitude because he has witnessed some churches, such as in Corinth from where he was writing this letter, who had failed to practice some of the requirements expected of them.

What does Paul’s style of language here tell us about him? First, we can see that he wanted the best for them. It was Paul’s longing that the Christians in Rome would experience as much of God’s abundant grace as possible. Elsewhere we find him saying that he wanted to see Christians receiving great rewards on the day of accounts from Jesus. Paul knew that it was possible for them not to get as much as they could have received and therefore he implores them to live well for God.

Second, his style of language reveals that he wrote from the heart. Often the impression is given that Paul was only interested in deep doctrines and that somehow he thought them up himself. The doctrines that Paul wrote about were not invented by him. Instead Jesus gave them to him in order that, as a chosen apostle, he would pass them on. This was Paul’s burden and ambition, to convey the message of Jesus and its transforming effects to as many as possible. And he did so as a man full of emotion.

This way of speaking is very powerful and produces appropriate effects in those influenced by it. When Paul would eventually get to Rome, the believers there would already know that he was a servant dominated by love for God and his people. They may have wanted to ask him about some of the details in his letter, but they would not have to ask if they loved him.

Third, Paul here is obviously a mature Christian, which means that in his use of language we have an example of how mature Christian leaders speak and get things done. When spoken to in this way, believers who have grown in grace will not be sullen or resentful when such a Christian addresses them. Instead conversations between mature Christians will have this longing that the best would be produced, and their words will always express deep affection in their hearts.

Paul’s use of the language of appeal informs us that the best way to speak and to get things done is to speak gently. After all, this was the way that Jesus interacted with his disciples. Indeed in Matthew 11, when giving an invitation to the disappointed to follow him, Jesus stressed the fact that he was gentle and lowly in heart. And we can see that Paul the leader had become like his Leader.

Of course, his use of language thus becomes very encouraging because Paul would never have spoken like this before his conversion. Even in the way he addresses others, we can see the sanctifying work of the Spirit changing the angry Saul into the appealing Paul. And when we think of him in that way we are reminded that the Lord can make sinners beautiful.

The argument of the apostle

Paul’s appeal is connected to what he terms the mercies of God. This phrase covers the various doctrines that Paul has mentioned in the previous chapters of Romans. So we wanted a title for the first eleven chapters of this book, we can call them ‘The Mercies of God.’

It is possible to consider the actions of God described by Paul in a variety of ways. For example, we could say that his actions reveal his wisdom or they reveal his power or they reveal his love, and all of them would be true. Yet Paul wanted his readers to look at those divine actions as expressions of mercy, which is interesting because some of them refer to what God does for us after conversion as well as before. I don’t often hear Christians say that their sanctification is an experience of divine mercy.

When we say that God is merciful, we mean that he is kind to the undeserving. The reason why we are undeserving of his mercy is because we have sinned against God. It is important to remind ourselves that all the blessings God has given or will give to us are undeserved. Indeed we deserve the opposite of his grace, which is his judgement.

God’s response of mercy also points to our inability. When we show mercy or compassion it is given for or to persons who are unable to help themselves. As Jesus instructed his disciples, without his enablement we can do nothing in the spiritual life that is of any use.

As mentioned briefly above, Paul uses a plural term here when speaking about God’s mercy. He wants his readers to think about the details or stages in the great salvation he has mentioned in the previous chapters. There are several that could be mentioned but I will limit our focus to four of them.

The first is the status of justification in which we are regarded as righteous in the sight of God. Two elements were necessary for this, and remember justification is an expression of divine mercy as well as of his justice. In his mercy, God provided us with what we needed but could not perform – a life of perfect obedience and the payment due because of our disobedience. Jesus provided both by his perfect life and his atoning death. Our gratitude for them should be accompanied by the realisation that they express mercy for the undeserving and the unable.

The second is the ongoing work of sanctification in which each believer is being changed into the image of Jesus. While it is essential that we use the means of grace and express dedication to the process, the change does not happen merely because we are very dedicated. Instead progress is made because of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Our lack of dedication can hinder the process, yet even it becomes a feature that is changed by his power over time. When we examine ourselves and deduce that we are not what we were, we should thank God for the many ways he has shown us mercy in our sanctification. We read about examples of his mercy in the Bible in the lives of his people.

The third expression of divine mercy concerns the final state of affairs after Jesus returns and the whole creation enters into the glory of the children of God. It is beyond our ability to grasp what life will be like there, but we can say that our presence there will be undeserved. The individual glory that will be given to God’s people will be far above what they deserve, even of the best of them. Writing in another letter, Paul refers to the appearance of an eminent believer at the judgement seat and says about him: ‘May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me – may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day! – and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus’ (2 Tim. 1:16-18). I don’t think Paul doubted that Onesiphorus would get a reward from God, but neither did he doubt that it would be an expression of mercy. When we stand on the doorstep into glory, we will say that it is all mercy, and when we have been there a billion years we will say that it is all mercy.

The fourth aspect of divine mercy is the future prosperity of the church that Paul outlined in Romans 11 in connection with the conversion of the Jewish race to their Messiah. He mentioned the prosperity that came to the Gentiles before Israel’s conversion and the prosperity that will come after it, and both periods of prosperity are due to his mercy, as will be the conversion of the Jews. As we look at the church today we say the same about it as our predecessors said about the church in their time, ‘Lord, have mercy on us!’ We speak about good churches and faithful churches, and we are thankful for them, but the reality is that the best if them is only a church constantly needing mercy.

Thinking about such spiritual blessings should cause us to dedicate ourselves to the Lord’s work. The fact that he has shown mercy and intends to show mercy should lead us to serve him out of gratitude for his kindness.

The application to the adopted

Paul uses the word ‘brothers’ as he addresses his readers and there is an obvious reason why he does so, which is that the only people who can have the power to perform the various matters he will mention in this final section are believers. They have been given the Holy Spirit in order to live differently. If they refuse to do so, they will be chastised.

There is another reason why he uses the term ‘brothers’ and that is that the behaviour required in the final section is expressed together. They cannot be lived out in isolation. As we will see, the church in Rome needed each believer in Rome to do his or her part in order for spiritual family life to progress. Whatever was required of them, they had to remind themselves it had to do with the expression of family life.

So we can see why it is important that we become members of the family before we start living like the members of the family. We come into the family by trusting in Jesus and what he did for the undeserving and the helpless, and we are told about his work in the gospel.