Romans verse by verse lesson 13

Romans 13 is a practical application chapter; Grace has been established and the goodness of God proclaimed we are encouraged to walk in divine influence in every area of our life.

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Romans 13:1  Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.  2  Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

This covenant of grace comes into our life with direction for victory.  Last week we ended with blessing and not cursing our enemies.  Grace empowers us to live in as the newly created creature God has made us.  Grace calls us to submit to the governing authorities.  The instruction is clear, the authorities that exist are appointed by God.  To resist the governing authority is to walk outside of God’s divine order!  To resist the governing authority is to bring judgment from them.

Romans 13:3  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.  4  For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.

Governing authorities are a terror for evil.  This is the God stated purpose for them.  Do what is good and you will have praise from them.  God calls the governing authority His minister for our good.  The governing authority does not bear the sword in vain; the governing authority is to avenge and execute wrath on him who practices evil.

Romans 13:5  Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake.  6  For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing.  7  Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

God is always concerned our about our motives.  Being subject to the governing authority should be for conscience’ sake.  Give taxes to whom taxes is due; customs to whom customs is due!  Respect to whom respect is due.  This includes respecting the one in office even if you disagree with they way they govern.  One trick of the enemy is to get us to complain about the leadership and come away from divine order.  Many believers have given the devil a foothold in this area.

Romans 13:8  Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.  9  For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

We are called to live from the motive of love.  If love is the motive of our actions, submitting to leadership will not be hard.  Love your neighbor as yourself.    

Romans 13:10  Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.  11  And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

When our actions are motivated from the love of God it is the fulfillment of the law.  We have been called to know the time!  It is time to awake out of sleep and walk in the fullness of God’s divine influence in our lives.  It is time to walk as the newly created being God has made us; our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

Romans 13:12  The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.  13  Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.

There is no time to walk in darkness the hour is late.  The call is great, put on the armor of light and walk in the day!

Romans 13:14  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh.  The struggle can be won with victory over the flesh.  We must remember all we have learned in the building blocks of Romans.  We are freed from sin by the power of One man’s obedience.  Reckon yourself dead indeed to sin and alive unto God.  Present yourself as alive unto God.

Romans 16:1  I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea,  2  that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also.  3  Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,  4  who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.

We skip to Romans 16 and will pick up in Romans 14 next week.  We see Paul begins to close his letter with instruction to help Phoebe a sister who was doing the work of the ministry.  Paul greets Priscilla and Aquila a husband and wife pastor team.

Romans 16:5  Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ.  6  Greet Mary, who labored much for us.  7  Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.  8  Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord.  9  Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved.

Romans 16:10  Greet Apelles, approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus.  11  Greet Herodion, my countryman. Greet those who are of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.

Romans 16:12  Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, who have labored in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis, who labored much in the Lord.  13  Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.  14  Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren who are with them.  15  Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.  16  Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you.

Romans 16:17  Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.  18  For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.  19  For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.  20  And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Paul begins to give some last minute instructions to the church warning them to note those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine.  Avoid them is the instruction!

Paul also instructs the church to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil.  What a great promise, the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly;  Grace be with you!

Romans 16:21  Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen, greet you.  22  I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord.  23  Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a brother.  24  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Romans 16:25  Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began  26  but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith;  27  to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

The heart of God being revealed in the closing lines of Romans 16.  God wants the hearts of every believer established in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  This gospel message has been revealed for obedience to the faith!  To God be the glory…

Romans Verse by Verse lesson 12

A living sacrifice with a transformed mind is a Christian in pursuit and fulfilling the destiny God has for them.

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Romans 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

I can hear the heartbeat of Paul as he is pleading with the believers in Rome.  His passionate plea was, in view of God’s mercy present your bodies.  When you put the mercies of God in the forefront does it change what you do?  Does it change the motive and the way that you do it?  Presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice is the call of God to every believer.  Romans has established that one is save by grace through faith in Jesus Christ; in view of the magnitude of the truth, present you bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship.

Grace has been given so your life is an expression of worship; the Father is seeking the one who will worship Him.  The sign the believer has a full revelation of grace is the believer presents their body as a living sacrifice to God.

Romans 12:2  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Don’t be conformed be transformed.  Transformation of the mind comes by receiving the truths found in God’s word.  It is by trusting wholly in the good news of the gospel.  Our mind is renewed by exalting the truth of gospel above anything we believed before.  It is the Spirit of truth changing our mind and bringing our thought life unto the obedience of Jesus Christ.  Some believers walk in bondage and the only resolution is to renew their mind.  We will prove the good, the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.

Romans 12:3  For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

Your thought life is so important!  Grace makes all equal at the foot of the cross.  We have been called to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one the measure of faith.  I love to say it “There is nothing wrong with your faith.  God has given the measure of faith.

Romans 12:4  For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,  5  so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

One body and many members; the heart of God is for the unity of the body!

Romans 12:6  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;  7  or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching;  8  he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Let  us use the gifts to minister to one another.  Grace teaches, grace gives, and grace ministers to the body.  The purpose of God’s grace is fulfilled when the body begins to minister to one another through the gifts of the Spirit.  God’s desire is for the whole of the body of Christ to do the work of the ministry.

Romans 12:9  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 honor giving preference to one another;  11  not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;  12  rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;  13  distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

This life of faith is practical.  Love what God loves and abhor the evil.  When your thought life gets in agreement with the truth found in Jesus Christ victory is being unveiled. Every line is practical application for the believer.  We must be sure we see this truth from the grace perspective; that is the only way it is life giving.  What a procession of direction, affectionate, honoring, diligence, fervent, serving, rejoicing, patient, steadfast, giving, and hospitable. Only the renewed mind can live up to it!

Romans 12:14  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.  15  Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.  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.

Bless and do not curse; have a heart for one another.  Some wonder why they don’t walk in victory.  However when it comes to applying the work of grace practically they do not follow the call of the Spirit.  The renewed mind can live in the instruction.

Romans 12:17  Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.  18  If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.

Mere men cannot live this way; however those living as a new creation.  The renewed mind does not repay evil for evil, it has regard for good things, and pursue peace.

Romans 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.  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."  21  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

We have not left the subject matter from verse one.  We have been called to be a living sacrifice.  God is calling us to walk through the stages and mature from the good, the acceptable, to the perfect will of God for our lives.

Giving place to wrath is not a popular message; it is a powerful message!  We can trust in God.  As a living sacrifice we can do good to our enemies; God will take care of the rest.  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans Verse by Verse lesson 11

The life of faith in Jesus Christ is what we are called to! If Romans 10 is a call to righteousness exclusively through faith then Romans 11 is a warning to exclusive trust in the divine influence and hold on to that confession of faith. Jesus is the root that the branch must be connected to. All other connections are outside of God's divine order.

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Romans 11:1  I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.  2  God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,  3  "LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life"?  4  But what does the divine response say to him? "I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal."

Paul is affirming that God has not completely cast away His people the Jews.  However, they must come in through faith in Jesus Christ just is Paul did.  Like Elijah, walking in righteousness can seem like a lonely road.  It is a scheme of the enemy to make you feel isolated and alone.  There is a divine response that says you are not alone.  We can look at the wicked society and feel what Elijah felt but God has a divine response; God has a people who have not caved into the wickedness of the world.  This is a people who have responded the grace found in Jesus Christ alone.

Romans 11:5  Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.  6  And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

The Jews can come in but it must be through grace.  If one can make it into covenant by works then it is not grace.  If one can make it into covenant with God by grace it cannot be works.  It is by grace alone!

Romans 11:7  What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.  8  Just as it is written: "God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see And ears that they should not hear, To this very day."  9  And David says: "Let their table become a snare and a trap, A stumbling block and a recompense to them.  10  Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, and bow down their back always."

A spirit of stupor came because the way of faith was rejected.  Remember the Election according to God’s foreknowledge principle.  They stumbled at the cornerstone Jesus Christ.  God allowed their eyes to be darkened.

Romans 11:11  I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.  12  Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!

God’s heart is still toward Israel.  Now He is using their fall to provoke them into jealousy.  It is God’s will they see those who have relationship with God so great, it stirs up desire on their part to return to a fullness of relationship with God.  Prophetic utterance is here!  If their fall resulted in our blessing, how much more will their fullness of relationship bring blessing.

Romans 11:13  For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,  14  if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.  15  For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

The Jewish nation being cast away was the reconciling of the world through Jesus Christ.  How much the more shall their acceptance be.  Here is a prophetic word declaring a greater manifestation of Jesus Christ at the reconciling of Israel to God.

Romans 11:16  For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.  17  And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree,

The firstfruit is Jesus!  Jesus Christ Himself is the root of this tree!  The cornerstone indeed.  We were grafted into the tree through Jesus Christ; we became a partaker of the root and the fatness of the olive tree.

Romans 11:18  do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.  19  You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." 

Do not boast against the branches!  Careful what you speak.  The word of wisdom is we do not support the root, but the root supports us!  Israel was broken off so the church could be grafted in; no room for boasting!

Romans 11:20  Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.  21  For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.

Faith or unbelief is the defining factor; we stand by faith, being properly placed, in Jesus Christ being our righteousness.  If one walks away from faith , like the natural branch, that one will not be spared.

Romans 11:22  Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.

The fullness of grace teaching declare the truth; consider the goodness and severity of God.  We must continue in His goodness.  If the object of ones faith is taken away from being in Christ that one will be cut off.

Romans 11:23  And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.  24  For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

If Israel does not continue in unbelief God will graft them in again.  This is a prophetic promise to all Israel.

Romans 11:25  For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

The blindness of Israel was only in part; God’s heart is still toward them.  Can you hear the heart beat of the heavenly Father to graft in Israel at the fullness of the Gentiles.

Romans 11:26  And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;  27  For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins."

Jesus will come out of Zion; He Himself will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.  Jesus brings the covenant that takes away their sins!  The Father has brought us the blood of the everlasting covenant.  Jesus will accomplish what the law of Moses could not.

Romans 11:28  Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.  29  For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

The time of the Gentiles will conclude and the Father will turn His heart back to Israel.  The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable!  God’s gifts are given without repentance.

Romans 11:30  For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience,  31  even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy.  32  For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.

God’s plan has always been to bring mercy to the sinner, mercy o the children of Israel, and mercy to the children of promise.  His intent is that none should perish but all should come to repentance.

Romans 11:33  Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!  34  "For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?"  35  "Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?"  36  For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Consider the goodness of God.  Consider His desire to extend to you the specter of righteousness.  Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  I love these verses!  It seems Paul is overwhelmed meditating and declaring the fullness of grace.  God is great and is to be glorified and magnified, and indeed is above all!