The life of mercy: the church, the state and the weak and strong in Romans 12-16

12Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ²Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. ³For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you. ⁴Just as each of us has one body with many members, and not all members have the same function, ⁵so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another. ⁶We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith; ⁷if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; ⁸if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. ⁹Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another. ¹¹Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹²Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer. ¹³Share with the saints who are in need. Practice hospitality. ¹⁴Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. ¹⁶Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but enjoy the company of the lowly. Do not be conceited. ¹⁷Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody. ¹⁸If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

13Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God. ²Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. ³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval. ⁴For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not carry the sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience. ⁶This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God’s servants, who devote themselves to their work. ⁷Pay everyone what you owe him: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. ⁸Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. ⁹The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. ¹¹And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹²The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. ¹⁴Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

14Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on his opinions. ²For one person has faith to eat all things, while another, who is weak, eats only vegetables. ³The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him. ⁴Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. ⁵One person regards a certain day above the others, while someone else considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶He who observes a special day does so to the Lord; he who eats does so to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷For none of us lives to himself alone, and none of us dies to himself alone. ⁸If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ⁹For this reason Christ died and returned to life, that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. ¹⁰Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. ¹¹It is written: “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.” ¹²So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. ¹³Therefore let us stop judging one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. ¹⁴I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. ¹⁵If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died. ¹⁶Do not allow what you consider good, then, to be spoken of as evil. ¹⁷For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸For whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. ¹⁹So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification. ²⁰Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to let his eating be a stumbling block. ²¹It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything to cause your brother to stumble. ²²Keep your belief about such matters between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. ²³But the one who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that is not from faith is sin.

15We who are strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak and not to please ourselves. ²Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. ³For even Christ did not please Himself, but as it is written: “The insults of those who insult You have fallen on Me.” ⁴For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. ⁵Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you harmony with one another in Christ Jesus, ⁶so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring glory to God. ⁸For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs, ⁹so that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to Your name.” ¹⁰Again, it says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.” ¹¹And again: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and extol Him, all you peoples.” ¹²And once more, Isaiah says: “The Root of Jesse will appear, One who will arise to rule over the Gentiles; in Him the Gentiles will put their hope.” ¹³Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁴I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, brimming with knowledge, and able to instruct one another. ¹⁵However, I have written you a bold reminder on some points, because of the grace God has given me ¹⁶to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷Therefore I exult in Christ Jesus in my service to God. ¹⁸I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, ¹⁹by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. ²⁰In this way I have aspired to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. ²¹Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about Him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” ²²That is why I have often been hindered from coming to you. ²³But now that there are no further opportunities for me in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to visit you, ²⁴I hope to see you on my way to Spain. And after I have enjoyed your company for a while, you can equip me for my journey. ²⁵Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem to serve the saints there. ²⁶For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. ²⁷They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual blessings, they are obligated to minister to them with material blessings. ²⁸So after I have completed this service and have safely delivered this bounty to them, I will set off to Spain by way of you. ²⁹I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. ³⁰Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. ³¹Pray that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there, ³²so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed. ³³The God of peace be with all of you. Amen.

16I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. ²Welcome her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her with anything she may need from you. For she has been a great help to many people, including me. ³Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, ⁴who have risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. ⁵Greet also the church that meets at their house. Greet my beloved Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. ⁶Greet Mary, who has worked very hard for you. ⁷Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow countrymen and fellow prisoners. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. ⁸Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. ⁹Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. ¹⁰Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. ¹¹Greet Herodion, my fellow countryman. Greet those from the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. ¹²Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, women who have worked hard in the Lord. Greet my beloved Persis, who has worked very hard in the Lord. ¹³Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. ¹⁴Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers with them. ¹⁵Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them. ¹⁶Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send you greetings. ¹⁷Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them. ¹⁸For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. ¹⁹Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil. ²⁰The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. ²¹Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you greetings, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow countrymen. ²²I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord. ²³Gaius, who has hosted me and all the church, sends you greetings. Erastus, the city treasurer, sends you greetings, as does our brother Quartus. ²⁵Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past ²⁶but now revealed and made known through the writings of the prophets by the command of the eternal God, in order to lead all nations to the obedience that comes from faith— ²⁷to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.