What does it mean to have weak faith? It’s not a bad thing. It doesn’t mean “wrong faith” or someone who does not have saving faith. We have to remember that Paul uses the word for faith in at least two different ways in his letters. There is the sense that we are saved by faith alone – as he says in Ephesians 2:8: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–“. Earlier in Romans he says that Abraham is the father of all believers because his righteousness came through his faith and not his obedience…

Again, if it were not for the insertion of chapters and verses we would read this without even pausing from verse 6. We are to pay everything that is due from us as citizens – regardless of whether we feel it is fair. We are not to be foolish about it since we have the options of tax deductions, offsets, exclusions and other perfectly legal means to reduce the burden but, in the end, we are to pay our debts to the government. Whatever we legitimately owe we are to pay and not be constantly figuring ways to off load our rightful debt to others without the means or knowledge.…

It is easy to see this as a whole new topic for Paul but it is not. It was not a new chapter when he wrote it. As you know, chapters and verses were only added later in the 15th century so there would have been no separation between 12:21 and 13:1. In fact, it is good to read 12:17 through 13:7 as a single passage because there is really no interruption between Paul’s addressing how we are to deal with evil and the role of government and authorities. The governing authorities are one of God’s ways of our living in peace and dealing with evil. We are not to…

We finished our study of the several gifts last week and, hopefully, you will remember what Paul makes clear every time he gets the chance. These gifts are not for personal fulfillment or satisfaction. In fact, if they are used in that way they will likely be misused – if not become harmful. They are for the strengthening of the body and not for the personal development of the believer. In the exact same way, the passage for this morning should be read. These are not moral maxims like something from Confucius or Marcus Aurelius or Benjamin Franklin. They are not to be taken as common sense principles by which…

1.  I should have begun last week with a little more explanation of spiritual gifts and not just jumped into the particular gifts Paul discusses in Romans 12. So let me do that now and then we will look at the remaining four gifts in this passage: encouragement, giving, leadership, and mercy. First, the spiritual gifts are given for the sole purpose of building up the Body of Christ. They are not given for the purpose of growing an individual. “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” I Corinthians 12:7. “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be…