Narrow Road Christian Fellowship

The book of Romans is arguably the clearest explanation of the gospel from a theological standpoint in the entire Bible. Written by Paul the apostle, an expert in the Old Testament, Romans explains what it means to be a Christian. The book talks about our place in Christ and how we are to live. In chapter 12 Paul turns his attention to the practical living of the Christian and also speaks of spiritual gifts. The 1st 11 chapters explain the theological reasons why we believe what we believe as believers in Jesus Christ.

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2

         The first step in our relationship with Jesus Christ is that we offer ourselves as living sacrifices to the Lord. The image this creates of an animal sacrificed on the altar but yet still alive is meant to create a dramatic image of what we are to be like. We need to die to ourselves, but yet be alive for Jesus Christ, as a living sacrifice. The purpose for doing this, as Paul goes on to explain, is for us to not be conformed to this world, but to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. 

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James 4:4

         The language of this passage is strong in calling people adulteresses, but when we try to remain friends with this world, in a sense we are cheating on the Lord Jesus Christ. This doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy our time here on earth, what it means is that we can’t accept the evil system that seems to control everything around us. Our focus is living sacrifices needs to be on the Lord Jesus Christ and allowing him to renew our mind to a different way of thinking. That different way of thinking cannot be the same as the world it has to be in line with your new creation in Jesus Christ.

For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

Romans 12:3

         Part of that new thought process is understanding our true place in this world. Paul tells us in this the passage that we need to be humble and not to consider ourselves greater than anybody else around us. This is very important because the world seems to have in mentality that every individual is the king of their own world. For the Christian, our king is Jesus Christ, and we should live according to that. Understanding your place in this world will help you understand your place within the church. Each one of us are given these special gifts of the Holy Spirit and understanding your gift will show you the place you have in the body of Christ.

For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Romans 12:4-5

         We all need to understand that we each have a different function in the body of Christ but that no one person is greater than the other because we all work together for the same purpose, the furthering of the Kingdom of God. We may be individual members of the body of Christ but we work together as a whole to complete the work of God. That is why humility is so important when it comes to the operation of the church and the progression of the message and salvation of Jesus Christ. If we don’t work as a team, the body cannot work as a team, and when individual members of the body don’t work correctly, the body doesn’t work correctly. That’s why understanding our own spiritual gifts is so important to the overall progression of the Kingdom of God.

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly…

Romans 12:6a

         The same way that we’ve all been given these special gifts by the Holy Spirit we’ve been given grace through the salvation and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. And because we’ve all received this grace through Jesus Christ we need to operate in our spiritual gift in accordance to that same grace that we receive. None of us deserved the salvation that we received and we need to understand that moving forward, keeping an attitude of humility, and accepting the position that we’ve been placed in, for the furtherance of the Kingdom of God. 

…if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Romans 12:6b-8

         So regardless of what your gift is, we need to operate in that gift in order to bring about a church that can affect this world in a positive way. We can never be part of this world because the evil system will never align with what the Christian belief is, but we can become the body of Christ and affect those people around us. As we allow the Lord to transform our mind away from the evil thoughts of this world we can affect those around us. The Bible tells us that we’re salt and light, salt stops the spread of corruption as it prevents food from spoiling, and light dispels the darkness. That we can help to stop the spread of corruption and dispel the darkness through the light of our lives this world could become a better place. You can never change people’s minds until you change their hearts and hearts can only be changed through the message of Jesus Christ.