Key Verse: "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations." - Romans 14:1 KJV
Romans 14 brings us to an area where Christians have struggled for centuries: how should we respond when sincere believers disagree about matters that are not central to the gospel? Paul begins with a remarkably simple command: “Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.” Romans 14:1 In other words, receive one another.
Key Verse: "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed." - Romans 13:11 KJV
Paul has just told us that love fulfills the law. Now he takes us another step forward. He says: “Now it is high time to awake out of sleep.” There is a spiritual urgency in those words. Paul isn't talking about physical sleep. He is warning believers against becoming spiritually drowsy, going through life without vigilance, without purpose, and without awareness that we belong to Christ.
Key Verse: "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." - Romans 13:8 KJV
Paul has just finished telling us to render to everyone what is due, tribute, custom, fear, and honor. Now he gives us a debt that can never be completely paid: “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another.” There are many obligations in life that eventually come to an end. A financial debt can be paid. A bill can be settled. A contract can expire. A responsibility can be completed. But love is different.
Key Verse: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." - Romans 13:1 KJV
Romans 13 brings us into an area that can sometimes be difficult for Christians: our relationship to civil government and earthly authority. Paul begins with remarkably direct words: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.” The Christian is not called to live as a lawless person. God has established civil authority as part of the order of human society. Government has a legitimate responsibility to restrain wrongdoing, punish crime, protect order, and allow people to live peacefully.
Key Verse: "Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good." - Romans 12:9 KJV
Paul has just explained that believers are members of one body and that God has given different gifts to His people. Now he shows us something that must characterize all of those gifts: Love.
Key Verse: "For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:" - Romans 12:4 KJV
Paul has just told us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice and to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Now he shows us what that transformation looks like when believers live together. Christianity was never intended to be lived entirely by ourselves. We are individually saved, but we are also brought into a spiritual family. We are “one body in Christ.”
Key Verse: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." - Romans 12:1 KJV
The word “therefore” is very important. Paul has spent eleven chapters explaining the wonderful mercy of God. We have seen our sin. We have seen God's righteousness.
And now Paul says, essentially: Because of all that God has done for you, this is how you should live.
Bible Reading: Romans 14:1-12 KJV Key Verse: " Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. ...
