Romans 12:1 says, “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” This verse sounds great, but what does it mean? The whole rest of Romans unpacks the implications God’s mercy should have on us. Romans 12-16 addresses this question: “In light of God’s mercy, how should we live?”
One major implication of God’s mercy is that in the church, we ought to love one another—in radical, and refreshing ways. But what about people outside the church? What about people who are not just different from us, but who do evil? And how do we relate to governing authorities? Generally, the government does a lot of good! You would be hard pressed to find a nation that has done more good in the world than the United States. But sometimes people/nations abuse their authority, and do great evil. So what are the ramifications of God’s mercy for us beyond this fellowship?
Allow me to begin with a little known parable of Jesus. In Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.”
Think of Jesus, the Apostles, the early Church, Christian missionaries through the various centuries. The gospel has been sown throughout the world, from the very beginning. Hard soil, rocky soil, weedy soil, fertile soil. The gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
“But,” Jesus says, “while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ … “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.”
The enemies of God are just as evangelistic as the children of God! For every good seed sown, a bad seed is sown by the Evil One. And as we know, people can be just as responsive to evil as they can be to the gospel of grace. And so the issue is, what do we do about the weeds? In Jesus’ parable… “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’”
Isn’t it just like human nature to seek simple solutions to complex problems? “Let’s pull up the weeds.” “Let’s root out the evil.” What can we really do about evil? You can shine brighter lights on the problem. You can install cameras, launch drones, or write computer code to identify the weeds. But every time you pull up one weed, five more appear! And besides, a whole lot of collateral damage occurs rooting out evil. You’re just as liable to destroy wheat as you are weeds.
EVIL is the single, most impossibly complex, most enduring problem, known to man. Every time you think you’ve eliminated evil… there is some tiny root, some tiny stolon, some tiny seed… that’s left behind and the evil reconstitutes itself.
In the parable the Farmer says, “‘No, [don’t pull the weeds]”, “because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
Good and evil will coexist, and grow together, to the end of the age. No matter what measures we take, there it will be, not just among us, but within us. At the end of the age, God will sort everything out in judgment. But until then, we have this question, “In light of God’s mercy, how should the Christian live, especially in an evil world?”
Let’s tackle this question by considering Paul’s teaching in Romans. Paul’s teaching is perfectly consistent with the Lord’s, the Apostle Peter, Apostle John, but also the examples of countless people throughout Scripture. So here we go…
In an evil world, stay rooted (Romans 1-12)
The teaching of Scripture is that at one time, all of us were powerless, and under the control of sin. To borrow Jesus’ metaphor in Matthew 13, it was like every single one of us had an evil, weed-like nature. And there wasn’t a single thing we could do. How does a weed become wheat? It’s impossible. For weed to become wheat, something supernatural must occur. God must intervene and fundamentally transform our nature from one to the other.
Well this is exactly what God has done. In Christ Jesus, God has given us a new heart, a new mind, and he puts his Holy Spirit within us. He didn’t ask us to “evolve” our sinful nature into a holy nature. No, he completely recreated us. If anyone is in Christ, he isn’t “more highly evolved”… no, “He’s a new creation, the old is gone, and the new has come, and all this is from God!” You were weed, but now you are wheat. You were dead, but now you’re alive. You were cut off, but now you’ve been grafted in. You were unholy, but now you are rooted in Christ… and if the root is holy, the branches are holy.
Many sermons leave people with the impression they can simply evolve from one nature to another. “Just take these three steps.” “Just try harder” “Just be better.” No, you must die, and God must raise you to new life. You aren’t just going to mature into holiness. You need to die, be born again… you need to be born of water (baptism) and breath in God’s Holy Spirit… and only then can you grown from infancy to complete maturity in Christ! You don’t need makeover, you need to be recreated in Christ Jesus.
Don’t ever let God’s mercy get out of focus. You are what you are because of God’s own mercy and grace. God has in mind to redeem all creation from the power of sin and death. And he has in mind that we would join him in his work. Part of living in an evil world, is remaining in Christ, abiding in Christ, staying rooted… even as the Father goes about his work. We must keep our faith firmly grounded in the gospel.
In an evil world, choose peace (12:17-21)
Romans 12:17-21, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
There are two ways you can respond to an evil person. You can be a peace-maker or a peace-breaker. It’s easy to recognize a peace-breaker. A peace-breaker’s attitude is, “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, evil for evil.” “I’ll do what’s right in my eyes…” “Who cares what others think, or Jesus thinks, forget God, this is personal.” “Nobody hurts me without paying a price.”
You can’t fight fire with fire. Evil only multiplies evil. Peace-breakers might feel satisfied for a moment, but in the end, they reap a whirlwind of destruction. Violence begets violence. Personal vendettas, vigilantism, never produces righteousness. If you live by the sword you die by the sword.
In contrast, Jesus taught “blessed are the peacemakers.” Paul says, “As far as it depends upon you, live at peace with everyone.” In the realm of personal ethics, it’s in your utmost self-interest, to be gracious and merciful always. You are not God’s personal avenger, and that’s a good thing! As we’ll see, God has a completely different mechanism in place for avenging evil. But individually, we are God’s instruments for righteousness. Nowhere does God ask us to be his “personal” instruments of wrath. We’re called to pray for our enemies, to live at peace, to go the extra mile as necessary.
In an evil world, respect authority (13:1-3)
Romans 13:1-3, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.”
I mentioned that God has a different mechanism for avenging evil. If you’re concerned for justice, and you’re not to avenge evil, and take justice into your own hands… than what should you do?
One of the more profound teachings of Scripture is that God has instituted various levels of authority throughout all creation… with ultimate authority residing in Himself. Instead of avenging evil, we should entrust our cause, to the various levels of authority God has instituted among men. But ultimately we should understand, that it is God himself, we are entrusting ourselves to.
The most basic authority structure is the family. If you’re a child, and your brother/sister smacks you in the face, you take the matter up with your mom or dad. As a child, God commands you to obey your father/mother, and to honor them. God put a parent’s authority is there to keep kids from killing each other… to grant child long life!
Another authority structure is marriage itself. Some of the hardest passages for people to accept are passages like 1 Corinthians 11:3 which says, “I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” God singles out the man, and asks him to lead his wife, and to lead his family, and most critically, to be led by Christ (just as Christ is led by God). When Christ is the head of man, his authority is a beautiful and power force for good in the home. But when Christ isn’t the head of a man, his authority can be abusive and disastrous. There is no stronger marriage, or home, than that home being led by a godly, Christ-centered, man…
In the Church, God grants authority to Elders to govern the church. In passages like Hebrews 13:17 we’re commanded, “Obey your leaders and submit to them.” But in that same passage were reminded that leaders “must give an account” of themselves before God. Authority isn’t for the leader’s benefit, no more than authority is for a husband’s benefit or a parent’s benefit. Authority is always for serving others. Jesus says a house divided against itself will fall. But a church united? Mighty fortress!
Think about a time you really resented your parents, or a spouse, or a church leader. We resent authority when its abusive, self-serving. But when parents, husbands, and leaders serve… we bless God.
Whether authority is in the home, or in the world, the Bible teaches that all authority is instituted by and accountable to God. In other words, authority is a gift. Yes, there can be abuses. But in general, it’s a gift for our well-being and protection. When confronted with evil our default perspective ought to be to trust, support, lean on the authorities God has instituted. A child ought to trust his/her parents. Spouses ought to lean on one another. Members ought to seek out their leaders. Citizens ought to seek out the appropriate officials.
In an evil world, await vindication (13:4-7)
Romans 13:4-7, “4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. 6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
When I read these verses, the word that most sticks out to me is “servants.” The Greek word for “servants” is “ministers.” Just like God appoints ministers to his church, God appoints ministers to government. This is why in many nations, the highest elected officials are called “Ministers… Ministers of Commerce, Ministers of Defense, etc.” Its because in those societies, they once had a biblical perspective that leaders were appointed on behalf of God to administer commendation or punishment. If you do good, it’s the job of the state minister to issue commendation. If you do evil, it’s the job of the state minister to issue punishment. Just like you contribute tithes to support the ministry of the church, so you also pay taxes to support the ministry of the government.
If you are an individual and you are wronged, your impulse is to demand justice. God wants us to choose mercy and love, and entrust justice to him. If you are an elected official nowadays, your impulse is to compromise justice, and accommodate special interests. Government officials have a tendency to go hard on the weak, and soft on the powerful. God wants governing authorities to be trustworthy, and administer justice.
Whether God’s ministers are faithful or unfaithful, … Jesus parable reminds us that in end God will sort out wheat/weeds… our confidence is in Father…
Jesus did all four, even unto death… leaving us an example!
- He stayed rooted, in faith.
- He chose peace, even unto death.
- He respected authority…
- He awaited vindication…