01- Christian Living Principles
Romans 12:10-11
Christian living principles – Part 01
Romans 12:9-11, Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honour giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; Offering to the Lord our whole soul, body, mind and will,
Romans 12:1-2.
God wants our life as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to Him, which is the basic act of spiritual worship. That is the entrance into usefulness. There are no two Christians alike. There are no two of us who can serve the Lord alike.
There is tremendous distinctiveness in all of us. The greatest saints in the church's history who changed the course of the world and who impacted the history of the church.
In the New Testament, there are three categories the gifts fall into. Three categories.
- a) Sign gifts,
- b) Speaking gifts, and
- c) Serving gifts.
Sign gifts. They were unique and primarily to the time of the apostles. They were unique to the New Testament age.
2 Corinthians 12:12, For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. Speaking Gifts. In 1 Corinthians we have the gift of the word of wisdom, word of knowledge, very much like teaching.
The gift of prophecy. The gift of faith. The gift of discerning spirits. A great diversity.
Serving Gifts
V 8, he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. ➢ Prophecy proclaims the truth. ➢ Teaching systematizes the truth. ➢ Exhortation calls for a right response to the truth.
Romans 12 9 to 21 is sort of New Testament law. It's not negotiable. It's the law that we are free to fulfil with obedience. We have some of the principles for living the Christian life. In one sense, they are general. In another sense, they are specific.
Romans 12:9 onwards listing of Christian duties, things that are very down to earth and very practical. Have some sort of imagery in your mind, is that it's an ever- expanding circle. It starts small, gets larger and larger and embraces more and more people. For example, verse 9, is pretty much very personal.
Verse 9 Personal. V 10-13 Wider circle, V 14-16 Big wider circle. V 17-21 Final Circle. V 9, Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Paul seems to Favor little triplets. There is three in verse 9.
There is three in verse 11. There is three in verse 12. Personal Duties. 1. Let love be without hypocrisy. 2. Hate that which is evil. 3. Cling to good. Now, as we come to verse 10, the circle widens a little bit to encompass another dimension. Not just me personally, but the family of God.
We can call this as Phase 2. We see it widen to embrace the Christian family, as well as including some direct issues to our own personal life.
V 10, Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honour giving preference to one another; The first of the statements regarding the wider circle, which embraces the Christian family. Brotherly love one to another.
Kind affection speaks of us within the relationship of the body of Christ. The word "kindly affection,"one word in the Greek. The Greek word is philostorg. It is a combination of two words. Both words mean love. You could translate it "Be lovingly loving."
The two words are philos or phile, which means a warm affectionate love. The second word is storg means natural family love. Storg was used in 2 Timothy, where Paul says to Timothy in the last days people will be without natural affection.
There will be a breakdown in normal love relationships within families and love relationships.
Philostorg combines two words. Storg, which means a natural love, not a love induced by desire, not a love induced by beauty or an attractive personality but the natural love that occurs within a family, normal, and kindred love.
As opposed to love that is generated by attraction, personality, beauty, lust, desire, circumstance or anything like that. It is just normal family love. Paul says in the Christian family, we ought to have a phile type family love.
Phile talks about the warm affection of love. So, we ought to be marked by a natural love that we share with all believers. If someone love the Lord Jesus Christ, it doesn't take very long for us to have a very unique sense of love. There is a common bond that stretches beyond culture, time, place, and circumstances.
Even though we have no history and no knowledge of commonness in terms of lifestyle or likes or dislikes, there is an immediate sense of affection with one who belongs to the family of God.
Have you felt that?
Sure, you have. That is to be an affectionate demonstrative kind of love. We are to have love for those within the family. Again, it is not a love built on attraction. It is a love that is given to anyone who belongs to the same Saviour, the same Lord, and the same Father.
Because we are all in the family. There should be a natural attraction and natural affinity. Even though we might hassle a little bit in the family when it comes to wanting to protect each other and comes to each other's rescue.
Matthew 18:3-5, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.
We have a very wonderful family, a marvellous family that we are to love with a warm affection. In the New Testament on five different occasions to greet one another with a holy kiss or a kiss of love because we are to identify ourselves in demonstrative ways with the affection that
belongs to those who have a family, kindred, affinity in the fellowship of the Lord. It not only uses the word philostorg or the word kindly affection, but it says be with brotherly love with one another. This is Phila-delphia.
What Paul says is be lovingly loving with one another with loving love. Love them as if they were intimately associated with you as kindred. So, he uses two words that express kindred love in the same phrase, which makes a very strong statement.
Love each other as kindred and love each other as kindred, twice in a row. That is not just a theological love. It is an affection, a tender, kind, caring, and concerned affection. The pure love of those who belong to Jesus Christ.
1 John 5:1, Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. If you love God then you love those who belong to Him.
There is a warm affection for brothers and sisters in Christ.
Ephesians 4:32, And be kind to one another, tender- hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
We are to be tender identified as those who love.
2 Corinthians 12:15, And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. That love that ought character all of us.
It is a caring love, a concerned love, and a compassionate love.
Do we really have that love to give? Yes.
Romans 5:5, Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of
God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
1 Thessalonians 4:9, But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by
God to love one another; Of course, he praises that that love would abound, yet more and more. They know how to love.
Philippians 1:19, For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, That love should abound more and more. So, we are to love with a tender gracious affection that belongs uniquely to those in the family of God. V 10, in honour giving preference to one another;
We even go a step beyond. Love is the general environment. Second is to prefer one another over ourselves. This introduces us to another ingredient essential in family life in the church and that is humility. If we are to love everyone the same, if we are to have the right kind of compassion then we need to Gods love.
Philippians 2:1-4, Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfil my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than
himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. If we are to show mercy to people, we must look on the things of others and not on our own things. We must prefer others.
Preferring others idea is a very beautiful idea. It has the sense of leading the way. It has the sense of leading the way. That is, being the example. We are not to wait till someone else shows honour to whom honour is due, love to whom love is due.
We are not to wait until someone else takes care of something that needs to be done to the sacrifice of their own time and talent and resource. But we are to lead the parade. In other words, we are to be the first to do that. That is the essence of the term. We are not waiting but leading the way in honouring others.
To prefer others means is to lead in bringing to them the honour that we would give to one we esteem more highly than ourselves.
- Quick to give honour,
- Quick to give reward,
- Quick to give respect,
- Quick to give love, and
- Quick to meet a need.
That is the truest test of humility! Some people, on the other hand, when someone else is honoured get very angry and jealous, and envious. Just the opposite should mark a believer. We prefer others, and we lead the parade in bringing honour to others in meeting the needs of others.
In this second circle, which includes the family, we have that personal identification there as well. So, we are still there. Three essential matters that relate to us come in verse 11. V 11, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; Not lagging in diligence.
The actual Greek term would be best translated this way. "Not lazy in zeal."The Greek word is spoud, means hurry, haste. Don't be lazy in your haste. You are in a hurry.
We have the King's business to do, and the King's business must be done while we can do it. While it is day, we must work. What is to be done has to be done, and it must be done now. Don't lose your zeal in hurrying. Don't grow lazy in the work.
The issue here is a spiritual issue. Regarding spiritual zeal, don't be lazy. Regarding the haste and the need for a fast and total commitment and staying with it, don't back up.
Galatians 6:9, And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
2 Thessalonians 3:13, But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.
There must be haste. There must be intensity in the Christian life. There is no room for laziness. Proverbs speaks so much about on laziness and how appalling laziness is to God. There is no room for laziness in the work of the Lord.
There is no room for indolence. It demands hastiness, a hurry, a spirit that is moving fast.
Ecclesiastes 9:10, Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.
Matthew 25:26, “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. An indolent servant who was given one talent and was too lazy to make anything of it, buried it in the ground, and it cost him his eternity.
Isaiah 56:10, His watchmen are blind, They are all ignorant;
They are all dumb dogs, They cannot bark; Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Blind, ignorant, dumb dogs who can't bark, sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. In other words, the people who were supposed to be on spiritual watch in Israel went to sleep and became dumb dogs who didn't bark when they should have barked, useless as watch dogs, blind and ignorant, sleeping, lying down and loving to slumber.
What Paul is saying here is that we who are in the ministry of Christ are to be busy at all times at a maximum output effort to do the work of the Lord while the work can be done.
Proverbs 18:9,"He who is lazy in his work is brother to him who is a great waster."
The greatest waster I know is the one who wastes not money but time.
Who wastes time? We are not to be wasters of time.
Ephesians 5:16, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Hebrews 6:12, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Many Christians rust out when they should wear out. I haven't met very many Christians who wear out. Our attitude toward that gets transmitted over into Christianity. V 11, being fervent in spirit. You cannot be lazy, but you can have a rotten attitude about it.
I am going to do it because it must be done, but I certainly don't like it. I would like to get out of this whole thing. The word "Fervent"means to boil with heat, boiling. The spirit is the human spirit, your own inner man.
What it says is "Be a boiling point believer."Just be boiling all the time, raring to go, anything but lukewarm or cold. The Christian life ought to be filled with enthusiasm, with zeal, with excitement, with joy, and with total effort.
We can become weary in welldoing. We can lose our zeal and our excitement and our enthusiasm, and it's too bad. The Christian life needs to be filled with that energy, that thrill, that dynamic that moves out, not only committed to do the task and not grow lazy but boil in the spirit to get it done, excited.
There were many such in the scriptures, but there's one that comes to mind and uses the same phrase to describe him. Acts 18 Apollos.
Acts 18:24-25, Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came
to Ephesus. 25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. He was fervent in spirit. He ways man whose spirit was a never stop, never slow down, aggressive, enthusiastic, excited spirit, spiritual fervour.
The apostle Paul said never stopped. He said, "I run to win the race. I fight to hit my opponent."
1 Corinthians 9:19-27, For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; 20 and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 22 to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you. 24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may [i]obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an
imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
Not only on the outside was he forced to that effort, but on the no idea he had a fervent spirit. V 11, serving the Lord; Not only are we not to be lazy in our zeal but to be boiling in our spirit, ready to go, excited, bubbling over. But all of this in serving the Lord.
We are to not be lazy in seal. We are to be fervent in spirit, as we serve the Lord. People who can get excited about a lot of things. People get excited about things they sell in the marketplace. They get excited about new houses, new cars, new wardrobes.
People get all turned on at football games, baseball games, basketball games and act like absolute idiots, enthusiastic about many things. It just totally controls every waking moment of their life, and they go to sleep and dream about it.
They get enthusiastic about that. If we have ever experienced that in terms of serving the Lord Jesus Christ. What a thrill, what an exciting thing. It's hard to sit on that. It should be. It ought to be just boiling over.
Serving the Lord is what we are for.
Romans 1:8-12, First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, 10 making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. Paul loved the thought of serving the Lord.
God has given me the privilege that he has given me. The sense of satisfaction in the service of Christ outweighs any other satisfaction the world has to offer.
We are called to serve the Lord and to serve Him with haste, to serve Him with zeal, to serve Him with a fervent spirit, enthusiastic, full of joy and excitement. If you can't serve Him that way, the problem is not where you are serving. The problem is in your own heart.
The problem is not that the accommodations aren't right or whatever. The problem is in you. Serving the Lord is so wonderful. Romans 12, in this chapter, there are three distinct words used for servant. The first one is in verse 1, your act of spiritual service, the end of verse 1, the word is service. That's the word latreu, that's the verb form of it.
Latreu, it means reverential service of worship. It is the worship kind of service. The service of reverential awe. The offering of ourselves to God like a priest bringing an animal.
Verse 7 talks about service and waiting on service, and that's the word diakone, and that has to do with practical service, waiting on tables. We serve the Lord as priests who bring an offering in reverential service. We serve the Lord as servants who wait on tables, doing menial test being, simple tasks, whatever needs to be done.
In verse 11, the word is douleu, third word in this chapter that can be translated service. It is the intense service of slavery. It is bond service. The emphasis here is that we see ourselves as slaves to Christ, to give total service to Him. Having no other master and rendering that service with enthusiasm, excitement, eagerness, and zeal.
Paul knows this level of living will not be easy. It is not easy because we have opposition. When you go to serve the Lord with enthusiasm and you to serve the Lord with zeal, and you go to serve the Lord with a whole heart abandoned to that then you are going to have problems.
It is going to be difficult. So, he adds three more exhortations in verse 12. rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;
Conclusion
Philippians
Philippians 2:12, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; Some have told that that means that we have to work our own salvation out. In other words, we are a part of saving ourselves. Some have been distressed by what that verse says, "Work out your own salvation."
Ephesians 2:8-9, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. "Salvation is not of works."
Is this a contradiction?
Is Paul saying in one place it's not of works and somewhere else work it out?
What is this troublesome verse really saying?
Philippians 1:27, Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, If you claim to have been redeemed by the gospel, then your conduct ought to show it. Let your conduct be as it is fitting to the gospel of Christ, that whether I am present, whether I come and see you or whether I am absent. I may hear of your affairs or your lifestyle, that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel and so forth. If you are truly saved, then let your conduct show it whether I am there or not. Let it be so genuine and so true that it doesn't need to be policed by my presence. You still have a conduct fitting to the gospel.
Philippians 2:5, Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
Be like Christ, think like Christ. Have the attitude of humility that Christ had.
Philippians 2:6-11. It was an attitude of humility. who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but]made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Let the mind be in you that was in Christ.
It was a mind of humiliation. It was a mind of submission. Let that mind be in you.
Philippians 2:12, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; Since you belong to Christ through the gospel,
Since Christ has, in his humble obedience to God, given you the example of how you ought to live, in humble obedience to God, since Christ has shown you the reward of that obedience. Christ is obedient in verses 5-8, He is rewarded in verses 9-11.
He humbled himself and God Exalted him. Since you belong to Christ, since He is your example, since you see what happens to one who obeys, 'therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, keep on obeying whether I am there or not."
They had been obedience in Philippi. But, no doubt, their obedience was an obedience that was leaning heavily on Paul. When he was present, he set the pace. When he was present, he taught. He exhorted. He challenged. He helped.
He confronted. He answered their questions. He solved their problems. He unscrambled their dilemmas.
But what does Paul say to them? The same thing in chapter 1, verse 27 is "Now that I am not there, don't be less obedient. You have always obeyed in my presence. Now keep obeying in my absence."Just the same place. So that it isn't a question of me policing you. Let it come from within. One of the most important things, at the end of verse 12 "with fear and trembling."
In other words, because it is such a serious thing to obey, do it with fear and trembling, not fear of me or trembling about me but of God, reverently, wholeheartedly, humbly, meekly, you obey. "Continue to work out your own salvation."
What does he mean? It simply means by great effort, by constant desire to be pleasing to God, by constant dedication to the spirit of God and obedience to the word of God, you work out what is already in. In other words, all he is seeing is the salvation that's in you ought to be visible outside.
He preaches good. He writes better. He lives the best. About William Arnott.