Romans 12-13

What’s Happening?

In the first eleven chapters of his letter to the Romans, Paul explained how all people were slaves to a cycle of false worship, depravity, and evil. But by God’s mercy, he has rescued his people and made them into a new people and kingdom. Throughout his letter, Paul has described this good news in a lot of different ways. It is salvation received by faith alone (Romans 1:16). God’s people have been given good standing with God and included in the chosen family of Abraham through Jesus’ sacrifice (Romans 3:24-25; Romans 4:11-12). God’s people have been made righteous, saved from death, and given eternal life (Romans 5:19-21). God’s people have died to sin and been made alive to God (Romans 6:11). God’s people have been set free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). God’s people were once slaves, but now are children of God (Romans 8:16-17). In these last chapters, Paul insists that this good news should produce a radical change in the day-to-day behavior of those who follow Jesus. 

Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross should become the pattern by which followers of Jesus live their whole lives. Instead of living lives of self-gratification, they are meant to offer their entire lives as sacrifices to God (Romans 12:1). Before Jesus, our minds were corrupted and unwilling to learn or obey God, but because of Jesus they have been and are being transformed (Romans 1:28). Instead of accepting the patterns of behavior expected by the surrounding culture, Christians are to spend their lives using their redeemed imagination to learn what God desires for them and willingly doing so (Romans 12:2).

Paul says patterning our lives after Jesus begins with humility (Romans 12:3). No one is sufficient for a life of following God on their own. All believers are interdependent members of a singular body (Romans 12:4-5). And God has given each member of the church in Rome unique gifts. Just as each part of a body benefits the whole, God’s will is that the Romans would humbly use their gifts to encourage one another and build up the church (Romans 12:6-8). Humbly obeying God’s will means deeply loving one another, even when it’s costly (Romans 12:9-11, 13, 15-16). Just as Jesus patiently endured persecution and evil, followers of Jesus must follow the example he set on the cross. Just as Jesus prayed for his enemies while they crucified him, God’s people should pray for and bless those who harm them (Romans 12:12, 14). Climactically, humility will express itself when Christians leave justice to God, refuse to take revenge into their own hands, and instead do good to their enemies (Romans 12:17-21). While counterintuitive, one way to leave justice to God is by submitting to the flawed government of Rome. God has placed the emperor and their senators under his authority, and they all serve him. For now, he has chosen them to punish evil, reward good, and avenge those who have been wronged (Romans 13:1-4). Followers of Jesus must never take justice into their own hands; rather, they should trust God by trusting those God has given the authority to execute justice (Romans 13:5-7). 

Where is the Gospel?

Paul summarizes by saying that true humility and true obedience to God’s will are accomplished when followers of Jesus dedicate themselves to loving others (Romans 13:8-10). This isn’t only an appropriate response to what Jesus has done but also an appropriate response in light of what Jesus will do. Jesus has died and risen, but soon, he will return to Earth once again. Jesus’ resurrection was not the end of God’s plans for his people. Our experience of God’s salvation, righteousness, and eternal life in his family has only just begun. Paul says it’s as if we live in the twilight hours just before a glorious dawn (Romans 13:11-12). We are no longer caught in cycles of false worship, depravity, and evil, but have been freed to join God’s arriving Kingdom. And since something new and even more glorious is dawning, we should act accordingly. Instead of sleepily accepting the deeds our world does in the darkness, we should act like alert residents of the light. We have an active responsibility to separate ourselves from the darkness of our current era and align our lives with the expectations, commands, and will of the God who has saved us in Jesus. Instead of living lives marked by self-gratification, followers of Jesus should live lives of sacrifice in service of loving others (Romans 13:13-14).

Being a follower of Jesus is always costly. Loving others hurts. Humility is hard. Submitting to our government is scary, especially when it is capable of murdering Jesus and those who follow him. But Jesus showed us that even when we die following him, we triumph over our persecutors. Christians don’t need to be afraid. God rescues, resurrects, and rewards those who follow Jesus. 

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who has saved us by his mercy. And may you see Jesus as the one who has empowered us to live lives that both know and obey God’s will.