Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

“Therefore I exhort you, brothers, through the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may approve what is the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2)

For the next four chapters, Paul focuses on the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. Based on everything that has come before, there is now something that is good to give. Chapter twelve focuses on what our state of mind should be. The frame that should become our reference whenever we look at where and how we live. Since we are free from condemnation in Jesus, indwelt by Holy Spirit, sons and daughters of adoption forever linked with Jesus,  predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus, not separated – ever – from the love of God who can hear no charge that is laid against us; it is good, acceptable, and holy for us to present ourselves as a sacrifice to God. Not dead sacrifices unable to do anything, but living sacrifices who choose to dwell in Jesus instead of rebelling and going our own way. We do this because He paid for us. Because He paid for us, we are His and we choose not to rebel against that, but accept it as good and proper. Therefore, we devote ourselves to Him who redeemed our lives and won our freedom. We recognize His claim and so we freely present ourselves to Him. This requires the denial of selfish desires and constant recognition of His claims on us. That means we need to renew our minds from broken and selfish thinking to His thinking. To remove ourselves from the limitations of the box and learn about His objective point of view which is outside the box. He is the ONLY one who has this unique perspective. He is the ONLY one who can truly recognize what TRUTH is.

If we conform ourselves to the world’s patterns – no matter how good and pleasant and uplifting they might seem – we are being unfaithful to the One who we have declared to be Lord and Saviour. We are NOT missing out on anything by dedicating ourselves to seeking after Jesus. God is the source of ALL good things (James 1:17). And ALL of God’s things come without hitches, hooks, or pain (Proverbs 10:22). The entire system of the world contains the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life (ostentatious living – which is living in such a way to attract attention, admiration, or envy by gaudiness or unnecessary show). Self-confidence and boasting become the standard. All things end up tainted in some way by those three principles, though it will not always appear that way. It isn’t that there isn’t good in the world, it is that any good you find is from God and not the world’s systems. We are instead meant to live with our bodies and appetites in subjection to the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 3:16) and keep our imaginations subjected to the mind of Jesus (which we have access to – 1 Corinthians 2:16). This requires the use of the self-control that God gave us just for this purpose (2 Timothy 1:7). This is the daily walk of believers in Jesus: “And we all, with unveiled face, reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory into glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). It isn’t a walk that comes by accident. It is a walk that we choose on a day to day basis (Matthew 16:24-26).

There is a sense of common responsibility during our time on Earth and our efforts to follow after Jesus. We are, after all, connected to every other member of the Body of Christ. We don’t really act independently one from another. We coexist in a way. The gifts we use, we use for one another. The positions we hold, we hold for one another. This only works when our services are not RENDERED to each other but to Jesus. We use gifts for Him. We answer our calling for Him. We do our ‘normal’ work for Him. We raise our families, do our chores, educate ourselves, and interact with each other all for Him. He is the HEAD and we are the body – individually AND collectively. That is why LOVE is our watchword (John 13:35). Because perfect love casts out fear – the opposite of trust (1 John 4:18). It is by clinging to His love that we are able to abhor that which is evil, no matter what the world says about it. Operating from and through love helps us to do everything as a service to Jesus, with zeal and honest business practises. In love, as much as is possible from God’s point of view, we are to live in peace with one another – believer or non-believer, Jew or Gentile. If there is a need for vengeance, we aren’t to take things into our own hands but to let God take care of it. This is not a natural inclination of human beings, but it IS possible when we are following after Jesus and living according to His Spirit Life. This is the example Jesus walked out for us and in Him, using His strength and His fruit, we CAN do the same (1 Peter 2:23; Philippians 4:13; Galatians 5:22-23).

Chapter thirteen is an overview of the will of God in relation to human government and society in general. How He wants us to operate as we navigate our daily lives. In essence, once we become saved and disciples of Jesus, we become immigrants. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God, but we are living in a different nation. We are travelling through a foreign nation, on our way home. We aren’t trying to overthrow the ‘government’ of the kingdom we are travelling through. We are not meant to be anarchists, even as we know it is better to obey God than human beings and their systems. If we disagree with the government, we have prayer to resort to when democratic systems fail or we don’t have them to begin with. God is in ultimate control, and by submitting to Him we let Him overturn what needs to be overturned – we are not meant to walk in rebellion to our governments. We are not to obey an ungodly command – one in direct opposition to what God says should be our moral character – but civil disobedience to those ungodly orders are a far cry from open rebellion or revolt. This means we obey the law (we don’t steal), we keep the covenants we enter into (we don’t speed as part of our driver’s license agreements), we pay taxes, etc.

We are to be blessers, not takers. Givers and generous. We don’t operate by debt, but in the black so that we can be a blessing to all those around us. How can we be free to give away whatever those around us need if we owe money on the given thing? It isn’t really ours yet. This isn’t about collecting or amassing riches and possessions. It’s about God being our Source so that we can own outright what we have. So that we can enjoy what we have. And so that we can bless others with those things or with the means to secure those things whenever the Spirit of God shows us a need. This is true for ANY and EVERY possession be it physical, financial, emotional, educational, or whatever. All of our lives are to be in service of the Lord and we can’t do that if we owe on what we have. So we sow into debt freedom and work toward debt freedom in all areas by viewing God as our Source and obeying what He tells us to do. We bless as we go along that journey in order to be a bigger blessing at the end of it. And if we’re following Him whole-heartedly it ALWAYS works – no matter what level of debt we’re dealing with or what area of the world we’re living in. We are meant to be beholden to none but Jesus and a blessing to all those we encounter (3 John 2). It’s always a powerful witness of our Good God and Wonderful Father. After all, we can’t love our neighbour as ourselves if we’re not generous and sharing. In all ways, governmentally or socially, by giving ourselves over to Jesus we give no space for the desires of the flesh.

Which leads us smoothly into the next chapter. Chapter fourteen is a look at the will of God in regard to our relation to those who are weak in trusting in Jesus. It is a handbook for how to help and not hinder the growth of our brothers and sisters in the Lord. How we get understanding on something, seeing it from the Lord’s point of view, is to get His light to shine on and through it. We are all in the same boat. Some will have revelation in one area, others will not. We need to never look down on those who don’t have Jesus’ like on a particular area of their lives, because we’re all seeking His light in one way or another (John 1:16; Luke 11:33-36). When fellow believers have questions or doubts, we’re not to judge them. We’re to help them, not abandon them to their struggles. We’re not to behave in a way that doesn’t contribute to their doubts and questions, instead walking in ways that won’t help other believers stumble. Some might be more legalistic, fearing defilement. We shouldn’t judge them. And they shouldn’t accuse others of being too permissive. If it is not wickedness being embraced (1 Corinthians 5), then we should each act according to our consciences in Jesus (Romans 14:5-9). Holy Spirit will guide and correct our actions, revealing through the Word God’s point of view on each and every issue – if we’re willing to listen to Him and study out what He says in the Word (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

We are all, each member of Jesus’ body The Church (Jew and Gentile), servants of Jesus. We aren’t here to take dominion over each other, but to serve Jesus in all things. We don’t live for ourselves, but we seek to live as Jesus did. To act in private and in public just as if Jesus was standing beside us – because He truly is (Hebrews 13:5). Regardless of whether we WANT to, our words and actions have an influence on those around us. Because of this, we need to act in alignment with Jesus, the One who we serve and whose we are (Romans 14:8; Ephesians 2:13; Galatians 3:9; 1 John 3:1). We are not to judge each other. In the end, we will all appear before Jesus and He will judge what actions, words, and thoughts of ours were in accordance with God’s will and point of view. We are to cherish one another, not seek to harm each other (1 Corinthians 8:11-12). It is better to keep from doing/saying what would trouble someone who is weak than to insist they practice a liberty they don’t have the revelation or trust to back up. We ought to help our brothers and sisters, not be responsible for their failure. Besides which, we ALL have areas that we struggle in. If we act contrary to what we believe to be right – from the Word and from our instruction by Holy Spirit which NEVER contradicts the Word – even though there might be nothing morally wrong in our behavior, we are sinning against conscience and thus against God. Whatever is not based on our trust in Jesus is sin because sin is NOT trusting in Jesus (Romans 14:23). Everything in our lives should be based on Jesus because Jesus is the author of our lives and it is only in Him that we have true freedom (Acts 3:15; John 8:36, 10:10; Galatians 5:1).

Summary

Key Players: God, Jesus, Paul

Key Verse(s): Romans 12:3-11; 13:1-8; 14:1-12