Romans 12:14-21
Our witness to the World
Welcome!
Would you open your Bibles to...
Mt
Mt 5:15 “Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
Mt 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Pray
Intro
√ "The light of the world…"
You might be wondering how this section of scripture applies to our study in Romans 12!?
One word - witness!
At the core of Paul's instructions to Christians in Romans 12:14-21 is how it is that we are to…
Behave
Speak
Think
…toward the unbeliever.
√ Who's the best witness that we can look to for our example?
Jesus Christ of course.
The point - we'll never win the unbeliever to Christ by our own nature and character - at best we're still human beings with a sin nature!
Rather, the way that win people to Jesus is by shining the Light of Christ in our lives…
Where they can see His character and nature in our lives!
Ex. How many of you were brought to faith in Christ by getting beat up? Or, condemned into faith?
√ So, the instructions in Romans 12:14-21 for our behavior are really a description of the character and nature of Jesus.
The point is that our treatment of those in the world is critical - imperative to winning them to Christ!
Ap. If you and I are serious about winning the lost to Jesus, we've got to be serious about how it is that we…
Treat them
Speak to them
Think of them
Ex. Ministry in Manhattan following terrorist attacks - "patient evangelism" produced fruit while bull horn condemnation did not!
The Christians behavior toward the unbeliever
Rom. 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Rom. 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
Rom. 12:16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
Rom. 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.
Rom. 12:18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
Rom. 12:19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
Rom. 12:20 Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
Rom. 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
√ The unbeliever
While the instructions here could apply toward our behavior and attitude toward all people - Christian and non-Christian…
…this is specifically focused toward how it is that we are to represent Christ to the unbeliever.
Note the context:
Vs. 14 - "Bless those who persecute you"
Vs. 17 - "in the sight of all men."
Vs. 18 - "live peaceably with all men."
Vs. 20 - " If your enemy is hungry"
Vs. 21 - " Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome
evil with good."
So, the context of Paul's instructions are on how it is that the Christian is to interact with the non-Christian.
√ Radical!
Completely opposite the behavior of Man's religions toward those who reject their teaching.
Ex. Many cults are allowed to lie to those outside of their religion if it will help to win them to their faith!
Islam - they just kill you!
Surah 9:5 "So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the
idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is forgiving, merciful."
David Koresh, Jim Jones, and even misguided Christians (the Crusades)
We're called to win people to the Gospel message, not at the point of a sword, or the end of gun barrel…
…rather, by extending the same love to non-believer that Jesus displayed toward us!
Radical!
√ How do we do that?
Great question - the answer is found in vs. 14-21. You'll notice that as we go through these verses you'll find that Paul gives us the definitions of the Fruit of the Spirit!
Ex. Rather than say be "compassionate" - here he defines what compassion is!
For your further study you'll find parallel texts in…
Matthew 5 - the sermon on the mount
Galatians 5:22-23 - the fruit of the Spirit
Philippians 2:1-11 - the mind of Christ
Remember, this is how we are to represent Jesus to the world!
Love (vs. 14)
Rom. 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
√ Agape love
We're called to express the God kind of love by blessing those who persecute us.
How's that?
It's easy to love those who love us; or to love those who do good things for us.
But, true agape love is the kind of love that Jesus displayed toward sinful Man when we pinned Him to a cruel wooden cross!
Ex. I have no problem expressing love to my wife and children - because they love me!
I have all kinds of problems expressing love toward someone who would burn my house to the ground simply because I'm a Christian!
Yet, that's exactly the kind of love we're called to express!
√ We find that Paul echo's the words of Jesus in the sermon on the mount.
Luke 6:27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
Luke 6:28 “bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.
So, our witness to the unbeliever must be marked by an expression of true love…
…that the world might see in our lives something radically different than they see and experience in the world.
Compassion (vs. 15)
Rom. 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
√ Compassion defined…
"Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it"
The God-given ability to walk in someone else's shoes, to feel their joy and their pain.
We find that Jesus in His ministry on earth was marked by a unique ability to relate to people no matter what their condition.
Ex. Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus - wept
You'll find that people sought Jesus out, from the highest level of society (Nicodemas), to the most rejected sinner (the prostitute that wept on His feet).
The awesome thing is that we find they all felt welcomed by Him!
That's not to say that Jesus consented to their sin…but, He made each person feel that no matter what they had done they could find a compassionate heart in Jesus.
Ap. Christians need to do a better job of being compassionate with the unbeliever.
So often we set up all sorts of barriers that keep the unbeliever at arms length from us.
Don't be afraid to show compassion to the worst sinner - show a Godly concern for their troubles and extend the love of Jesus to them.
Ex. The "hug" ministry - breaks down walls of resistance.
Humility (vs. 16)
Rom. 12:16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
√ Christians are called to treat people with equality - true humility is expressed in the way in which we treat other people.
Recognize that every human being is made in the image of God and is due our…
Respect
Love
…regardless of their social status!
Ex. Be willing to hang out with the person that others might see as not worthy of their time.
Ap. The truth is that all too often we're more concerned about what other people might think if they saw us hanging out with someone that the world has rejected.
Paul's instructions here are that we ought to be more concerned with what Jesus would think…
…and He wants us to see all people as equal in His eyes - all of us sinners - some dressed better than others - some better educated than others - some with more money that others - but all sinners the same!
Mercy (vs. 17)
Rom. 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.
√ Mercy defined
"Not getting what we deserve!"
Or, as Paul says here…
" Repay no one evil for evil"
Once again we see how different God's way is than that of Man.
Ex. The world says - get even!
But, Paul tells us that the way of Christ - the way in which we witness to the world is by not giving someone what they deserve…
…instead - extending to them the same mercy that we have received from God through Jesus Christ.
Ex. Justin Alfred getting beat up
Ap. Let it go! You may have been, or may be now, the victim of some evil perpetrated against you.
If we are to be a true witness for Christ then we've got to extend forgiveness to the one who had offended us and pray that God might reach them with His love.
Aren't you glad that Jesus said…
"Father forgive them for they do not know what they do."
Peace (vs. 18)
Rom. 12:18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
√ Called to be at peace
The Christian life is to be characterized by peace, a lack of strife.
Note the condition…
"If it is possible"
Note the responsibility…
"as much as depends on you"
Ap. You won't always be able to work out a peaceful solution - but make sure that it's not because of you!
Patience (vs. 19)
Rom. 12:19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
√ Christians are called to place the injustice done to them into God's time frame.
Jas 1:20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
We're limited in our understanding of why it is that people do things for which we want to kill them!
Therefore, in our individual lives we must leave the judgement and wrath for that person with God.
Ex. What if the apostles had got together and killed Saul!?
Ap. We will never win anyone to Christ through violence - rather, we will win the unbeliever by following Jesus' example on the Cross.
Ex. Stephen - first martyr - the way in which he reflected Jesus at his death pricked the heart of Saul leading to his salvation.
Kindness (vs. 20)
Rom. 12:20 Therefore (in view of vs. 19) “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
√ Kindness defined
Note that once again rather than just say, "be kind", Paul gives us a real life example of kindness in action.
Ex. Do something nice for someone who hates you!
Ap. Rather than seek revenge
Feed your enemy
Give your enemy something to drink
The result…
"you will heap coals of fire on his head."
Goodness (vs. 21)
Rom. 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
√ Be like God!
Christians are called to be like God!
Mark 10:18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
Jesus wasn't saying that He wasn't good, rather, He was forcing the man to acknowledge that what he observed in Jesus' life was Godliness…
…for God alone is truly good!
As for the Christian…
…a Christian can never lower himself to use evil means to accomplish some "good".
We must always use Godly means to do His work.
Ex. The evil of abortion cannot be overcome by killing people who perform abortions.
Rather, as Christians we're called to overcome evil with good.
Ap. We're called to a higher standard than the world - you are a prince, or princess of the King - we are therefore called to behave according to the kings standards.
Close
√ Do you see how important our witness in…
Behavior
Attitude
Speech
…is toward the unbeliever!
A true witness for Christ is found in the life of the person who…
Acts
Speaks
Thinks
…to unbelievers the way that Jesus did.
√ We all have a witness, is it a good one or a bad one?
√ How brightly does your light shine?