Brick by Brick, Part 2
Romans 12:10-12
Well tonight we're going to go back to Romans chapter 12 for a look at verses 9 through 21. We're working our way through this wonderful passage on the duties of practical Christianity. We're having to take it a little at a time because there's so much inherent in all these things that the Apostle Paul has to say.
Every once in a while I like to read biographies of Christians of the past. I...I guess I pretty well understand how Christianity is in the present, I really don't know how it's going to be in the future. But I love to reach back in the past and see what parallels or comparisons or things I can learn from others. And so I...I get out some of my older volumes that have either vignettes or biographical looks at people who lived in the years gone by to find out what it was that sort of made them tick and how they walked with the Lord and what they learned and how they lived and so forth. And I happened to be reading about a very lovely, a very gracious and precious saint of God by the name of Robert C. Chapman who lived a long time ago in England and I suppose today almost no one would know about him. But he was a friend of a man named J.N. Darby and J.N. Darby was an early leader of the Plymouth Brethren. In fact, many of you who have come out of that background have read many of Darby's writings. He greatly influenced C.I. Scoffield who was responsible for the Scoffield Bible and many other things, Central American Mission, Dallas Seminary and a lot of things came from that man.
But this man Chapman was an interesting man, a friend of Darby. He wrote on one occasion that this was his life goal, seeing that so many preach Christ and so few live Christ, I will aim to live Him. And Darby said of him, "He lives what I teach." What a commendation. He lives what I teach.
Another saint of God that I love to read about and I love to read his writings particularly his work on the parables is a man by the name of William Arnot, A-r-n-o-t. And it was said about Arnot this, "His preaching is good. His writing is better. His living is best of all." And so it should be with all of us, shouldn't it? That we live what we learn and that the best of us should be our living. Why? Because more than anything else Christianity is a way of life. Christianity is a way of living. It is a lifestyle. It is a life pattern. It is a life principle. And our relationship to God is not right if that life principle isn't present. It can't be.
So we come to Romans chapter 12 verses 9 to 21 in a very practical section about living right, about the Christian way of life. It is a practical section more than any other section in Romans. It's very simple. It's very easy to understand. There's very little I can do to contribute to your understanding of it because it's so absolutely obvious what he's saying. All I can do is try to enrich and embellish and exhort. But the kind of living that Paul calls us to is abnormal. It is unnatural. In a sense, it is non-human. It is not natural to the unregenerate. It is not normal to the unregenerate. It is not something which human beings can of their own choice do, this kind of living. It is supernatural living. It is living that can only occur when its energized by the divine Spirit of God. It is only the people who have lived through the first eleven chapters of Romans who can live like chapter 12 calls them to live because until you have been justified, until you have come to know Jesus Christ and His Spirit is planted within you, and the life principle of God dwells in your soul, it's impossible to live this way. And so all that we've learned in the first eleven chapters and in the first part of chapter 12 about dedication is to set us up to be able to live this way. And as we have said through the years in the ministry here at Grace, all theology has as its ultimate end that we might live to the glory of God, all doctrine is to result in the proper kind of duty, the proper kind of service.
Listen to the text of 2 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 1 and see if it doesn't sound somewhat familiar in the truth that it conveys. "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Now what he says there is just what Paul says in a capsule, having therefore all these promises, dearly beloved. In other words, because of all that God has promised for us, this is what we are to do in response, "Cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh, perfecting...flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
Look at Ephesians chapter 2 for a moment and you will find there the same thing. This is a very familiar passage. It talks in verse 4 about God being rich in mercy, His great love with which He loved us. In verse 5 that He made us alive together with Christ by grace. He saved us. Verse 6, He raised us up together and made us to sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. He has decided by His sovereign grace to show the exceeding riches of that grace in kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. By grace are we saved through faith, it is a gift of God, and so forth. All of this has God done and verse 10 says, "Now we are His workmanship, we have been created in Christ Jesus...here it comes...unto good works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them." In other words, our salvation is to bring us into a certain life pattern of righteousness, a certain type of living.
A young man in the Navy was visiting our service this morning and he had heard of our ministry through tape and some books and things. And he was anxious to be here and he said, "I want to ask you a very important question," to me. "How does one know when he's truly a Christian and that it isn't just some momentary emotional activity that happened in some past time? How does one really know?"
And I said, "The way you know and the only way you know is to look at your life and see what is there." That's the only way to know. And if you have experienced justification, that is being made right with God, then there will be an outflowing of sanctification, that is a living pattern of righteousness and holiness. And though you don't see all that you would like to see of that, you see it there and it is the expression of the deepest desire of your heart.
So we were the recipients of all of God's grace, have received that so that we might live an obedient, godly life that we might point others to Him and that we might show forth His praise who can turn us from children of darkness to children of light, from those who serve the devil to those who serve God. You see, when you live a godly life, you bring honor to the One who transformed you and you attract others to the One who transformed you and He receives the glory and you also are blessed by your obedience and then you glorify Him for the blessing you receive. So the Lord has redeemed us then to live a certain kind of life, to live out practical Christianity.
Now look at Philippians and I want to take you to a text for a moment that is often misunderstood and perhaps has confused some of you as you've read it. In Philippians chapter 2 and verse 12 we read this, "Wherefore, 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."
Now some have told us that means that we have to work our own salvation out. In other words, we are a part of saving ourselves. And some have been distressed by what that verse says, work out your own salvation when we have just read Ephesians 2 which says salvation is not of...what?...works. Is this a contradiction? Is he saying in one place it's not of works, and somewhere else work it out? What is this troublesome verse really saying?
Well let's back up in Philippians and kind of get a running start. Go back to chapter 1 verse 27. He says this, "Only...and this is a single most important exhortation...let your conduct be fitting to the gospel of Christ." You see what he's saying there? If you claim to have been redeemed by the gospel, then your conduct ought to show it. "Let your conduct," he says to the Philippians, "be as it is fitting to the gospel of Christ that whether I am present, whether I come and see you, or whether I'm absent, I may hear of your affairs, or if you will, your lifestyle that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel," and so forth.
In other words, he says...Look, if you're truly saved, then let your conduct show it whether I'm there or not. In other words, let it be so genuine and so true that it doesn't need to be policed by my presence. Let it be that if I'm there or if I'm not there you still have a conduct fitting to the gospel.
Notice verse 5 of chapter 2. Paul says, "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. And then he describes it, doesn't he, in verses 6 to 11. It was an attitude of humility. "He didn't think it something to hold onto...in verse 6...to be like God, but He made Himself of no reputation, took upon Him the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men, was found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." He humiliated Himself, humbled Himself for us. And verse 9 says, "Wherefore God is highly exalted Him, given Him a name above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven, in earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."
So he says 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.
Now you come to verse 12 and he says, "Wherefore, or so then, 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." Now in the context I think it's very clear what he means by that. Listen now, since you belong to Christ through the gospel, as chapter 1 verse 27 said, since you belong to Christ through the gospel... Secondly, 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, verses 9 to 11. Christ is obedient in verses 5 through 8, 6 through 8, and He's rewarded in verses 9 through 11, right? He humbled Himself and God...what?...exalted Him. Since you belong to Christ, since He is your example, since you see what happens to one who obeys, wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, keep on obeying, implied, whether I'm there or not. They had been obedient 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 he is saying to them and the same thing in chapter 1 verse 27 is, "Now that I'm not there don't be less obedient, you've always obeyed in my presence, now keep obeying in my absence just the same so that it isn't a question of me policing you. Let it come from within, and let it be...and here comes 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 of me, but of God, reverently, whole-heartedly, humbly, meekly you obey. And he says, "Continue...here it comes...to work out your own salvation." Now 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...where?...in.
In other words, all he is saying is the salvation that's in you ought to be visible outside. This is the Christian life, to live on the outside what is already on the inside. And it is a word of great encouragement in verse 13 when he says, "For it is God who works in you both to will and do of His good pleasure." God is working on the inside to do His will, and to fulfill His good pleasure and let it happen on the outside. And so we are then to live on the outside what we are on the inside. It's another way of saying what we saw in 2 Corinthians 7:1 and Ephesians chapter 2 verses 4 to 10, since God has done all of this, since you've seen the example of Jesus Christ, the One who obeys is exalted, as you have obeyed in my absence...in my presence, keep on obeying in my absence and do it with fear and trembling because you regard the holiness of God and work on the outside what is on the inside. And that's to be the standard of Christian living. We're to live on the outside what we have on the inside so that the people who don't have it will desire it, right? And God will be glorified.
Now what does it mean? You say, "All right, I'm willing to cleanse myself and live the way I ought to live, I want to work on the outside the salvation that's on the inside. What do I need to do?" Well that takes us back to Romans chapter 12 and that is where we're going to find the practical duties that make up Christian living. Now remember, he's already given us a doctrinal base, already called for a total commitment in verses 1 and 2, already encouraged us to use our spiritual gifts in verses 3 through 8, so first we have to be saved and then we have to be totally committed and then we have to be in the ministry of our spiritual gifts. And in the flow of that we begin to live the practical Christian life that he describes starting in chapter 12 verse 9 and going all the way into chapter 15...many things he has to say about practical living.
Now he starts with a grocery list really of things, just rapid fire from verse 9 on. And it's like he drew a circle, as we said last time, and just keeps widening the circle to embrace another category or another group of ideas.
Circle number one starts with us, and we looked at this last week and I'll just mention it, verse 9. It starts with three basic attitudes, the matter of Christian living. Love is to be without hypocrisy...the dominant characteristic of a Christian should be...what?...love. What kind of love? Genuine love, that is the mark of a believer, John 13:34, "By this will all men know you're My disciples if you have love one for another." There's faith, there's hope, and there's love and the greatest of these, 1 Corinthians 13 says, is love. And so love is the primary mark, a legitimate godly love without hypocrisy or deceit. Secondly, he says hate what is evil, a strong hatred for sin. And thirdly, cling or stick like glue to what is good.
Now that's the...that's the first phase of the circle. And that just kind of is around us. These are three things that ought to be true in our lives. We love genuinely. We hate evil. And we stick to what is good.
Now as we come to verse 10 the circle widens a little bit to encompass another dimension, just not me personally, but the family of God. And in this second section, verses 10 to 13, some of what he says will direct itself to the family, some will back up and direct itself to me as an individual. So when the circle widens it doesn't exclude the primary...the prior issue, it just embraces it a little wider. So as we look at the circle phase two we see it widen to embrace the Christian family as well as including some direct issues to my own personal life.
Notice verse 10 and see where it starts. "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love." That's 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. Now the word "kindly affectioned," it's one word, is a very interesting word in the Greek and it helps us to understand what he means if we understand the word. It's a combination of two words, there...in fact both words mean love. You could translate it "be lovingly loving." But in order to really get the richness of what it means, the two words are philos or phileo which means a warm affectionate love. And the second is storge, the word is philostorge. The second word, storge basically means natural family love, it is the word, for example, used in 2 Timothy where Paul says to Timothy, "In the last days people will be without natural affection," and what he means is there will be a breakdown in normal love relationships within families, in normal natural love relationships.
Now philostorge combines two words then. Storge 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 natural 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. And it's...it's marvelous that he uses it here because he says in the Christian family we ought to have a phileo type family love, and phileo talks about the warm affection of love. So we ought to be marked by a natural love that we share with all believers, and I think you've experienced that. I know I have many, many times. I can go into an environment where I do not know anyone and if they 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 and time and place and events and circumstances and 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. And that is to be an affectionate demonstrative kind of love. We are to have love for those within the family. And again I say, it is not a love built on attraction, it is a love that is given to anyone who belongs to the same Savior, the same Lord, the same Father. That's why in Matthew 18 our Lord says, "Under no circumstance are you ever to look down, kataphroneo, think down or think someone to be less than you are who is in the family of God because we are all in the family." There should be a natural attraction, a natural affinity. And even though we might hassle a little bit in the family when it comes to wanting to protect each other and save each other and secure each other and come to each other's rescue, it's marvelous how we do that, isn't it? It's marvelous.
I don't like to use home illustrations but I'm going to use this one because it fits so well here. My kids say, "Don't talk about us, Dad," so I try not to, but this one isn't here tonight, she's over there, so it will be all right, don't tell her. The other night, in the middle of the night after Mark had played a football game, he...he was in pain, as you often are the night after a football game. And in the middle of the night he came flying out of bed with a cramp and a whole lot of noise and "Yeow," you know, and I can identify with that. I had a few of those kind of nights in years past. And he was in pretty much pain. And the cramp was relieved. And the next day I happened to go into his room and he had gone to school and I found a little card on his desk. And it was interesting, I opened it up and inside it was taped a roll of LifeSavers and there was a note from his little sister. And it started out something like this, "Dear Mark, I know sometimes I'm a brat and I'm a hassle, but when I hear you cry out in pain I feel bad and I want you to forgive me for all the wrong I've done and I want you to know that I love you and I'm glad you're my brother." Signed "Melinda."
Well see, no matter what goes on in the backseat of the car on long trips...when you really come down to looking at what that relationship is and you know somebody might be hurt, there's a real sense of care, isn't there? That's how it ought to be in the family. And in Matthew chapter 18 Jesus also said, "However you receive one of the little ones that belong to Me is how you receive...whom?...Me...Me." We have a very wonderful family, a marvelous family that we are to love with a warm affection. That's why, as we saw a few weeks ago, the New Testament enjoins us 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, a kindred affinity in the fellowship of the Lord. I was so thrilled this morning, I think Dennis McBride was telling me that some of the disabled folks, the handicapped came into the Galileans class, some of you were there, and a blind fellow came in and was telling the story of how they needed a blind...a Braille duplicator, it's like a Xerox machine only it duplicates in Braille so that they could get the Word out to more people and just shared the need. And they said if you want to give a little, after Sunday School class is over, just stop at the door and they counted it up and it was $2,100. Well I don't know that anybody in Galileans ever really personally knew that individual who shared that need, that blind individual, or maybe they don't know the other blind people, but they have an amazing sense of affinity and concern and care for the needs of someone else. And that's the way it ought to be. That's the kind of love our Lord calls for.
Then also would you notice, it not only uses the word philostorge, or the word kindly affectioned, but it says, "Be that way one to another with brotherly love." And this is amazing, this is philadelphia. So what he says is, "Be lovingly loving with one another with loving love." I mean, it's just redundant. It's again phila, again the affection, and adelphos, brother, again the same idea, 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. It is not just a theological love, it is an affection, a tender, kind, caring, concerned affection. The pure love of those who belong to Jesus Christ, it's what John talks about in 1 John 5 in that very lovely statement that he makes, "Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and every one that loves him that begot loves him also that is begotten of Him." A marvelous statement.
If you love God, you love those who belong to Him. And there is a warm affection for brothers and sisters in Christ. And that's why in Ephesians Paul says, "Be ye tender hearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you." We are to be identified as those who love. The Apostle Paul told the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 12:15, "I'll love you more though you love me less," he said. That was the love that ought to characterize all of us. When he wrote 1 Corinthians in the fourth chapter he said, "Look," he said, "I love you, you're my beloved children and as my beloved children I want to take care of you. Now if you keep disobeying, I'm going to come with a rod, but if you get your act together, I'll come in gentleness. You make the choice but my love will reach out to you, either in the warmth of affection and gratitude for your obedience, or in discipline because I want you to be all God wants you to be."
That's the kind of love we're talking about. It is a confrontive love. It is a caring love, a concerned love, a passionate love. You say, "Well do we really have that love to give?" Yes, Romans 5, we remember, "The love of Christ is...what?...the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts." Paul in writing to the Thessalonians in chapter 4, I believe it is, verse 9 says, "But as touching brotherly love, you need not that I write unto you for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another." You're taught by God to do that. And, of course, he prays that that love would abound yet more and more. They know how to love, that love should abound more and more, that's Philippians 1:9. So we are to love with a tender, gracious affection that belongs uniquely in the family of God.
Then notice the second in verse 10, "In honor, preferring one another." Now we even go a step beyond. Love is the general environment and it sort of works its way into this second thought and that is to prefer one another over ourselves. And this introduces us to another ingredient essential in family life in the church and that is humility. If we're to love everyone the same, if we are to do that, if we are to have the right kind of compassion, Philippians 2:1 to 4 says, 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. And the preferring idea is a very beautiful idea. It has the sense of leading the way. Did you get that? It has the sense of leading the way. That is, being the example. To put it another way, starting the parade, if you will, being out front on behalf of others.
In other words, we're not to sit back and wait until someone else honors the other one, till someone else shows preference to the other one, till someone else meets another's need, till someone else gives to another's request. We're not to wait till someone else shows honor to whom honor is due, love to whom love is due. We're 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're to be the first to do that. That is the essence of the term. We're not waiting but leading the way in honoring others. And that is what it means to prefer others, to lead in bringing to them the honor that we would give to one we esteemed more highly than ourselves. What a great thought...great thought.
Quick to give honor, quick to give reward, quick to give respect, quick to give love, quick to meet a need, that is the truest sense of humility that I know about. Some people, on the other hand, when someone else is honored get very angry and jealous, right?, and envious. Just the opposite should mark a believer. We prefer others and we lead the parade in bringing honor to others in meeting the needs of others. So that takes us into a little wider circle, doesn't it?, and embraces attitudes toward the family of God. We could say a lot more about that one but let's go on.
Now in this second circle which includes the family, we have that personal identification there as well. So we're still there so he backs up to hit us a few times. And here it comes very personal, three essential matters that relate to me and to you come in verse 11 and they're very, very important.
The first one, in the King James it says, "Not slothful in business," that's not a very good translation by modern terms. It may have worked well when King James authorized the translation of this Bible in old England, but right now it doesn't get the idea across. It sounds like having something to do with businessmen and has been erroneously used in that reference.
The actual Greek term would be best translated this way, "Not lazy in zeal...not lazy in zeal." The word isn't business, the word is spoude and it literally means "hurry...hurry...haste." I remember one of the classic sermons I heard from a black preacher one time was a sermon on hurry. That was his whole sermon. "We got to hurry," and he went on and on and on and on like that for about 35 minutes and then he said, "Now that we is hurrying, where is we hurrying to? That's my second point." And by the time we were done, we about trampled each other to get of the place we were in such a hurry. I don't know we all knew what we were hurrying to do but we were definitely in a hurry. And that is the idea here. Don'