Today, we return to our study of Romans 12-16, the last section of the book. Everything in this section is predicated upon the command to "present your body as a living sacrifice" in Romans 12:1. So, this last section in the book of Romans describes what a living sacrifice looks like in the every day life of the believer in Jesus Christ. And, as we have pointed out before, to be a living sacrifice, we must have experienced the mercies and the grace of God.
In v.3 of today's passage we read, "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you."
The Apostle begins this verse with the words: "For by the grace given me." Paul is not referencing saving grace; this is the grace specifically that God extended to Paul when He called him to be an apostle. Here, the Apostle Paul puts humility on display, even in the way he refers to his apostleship. Paul was made an apostle by the mercy and grace of God.
The verb "think" is related to the noun "mind" used in v.2. The renewing of our mind results in the kind of thinking called for here where the Apostle Paul reminds us: "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought." Paul is not saying that we should not think of ourselves, it is that we should not think "more highly than we ought." The believer in Christ must not cherish exaggerated ideas of our own importance. This is the way the enemy trips us up. He tries to get us to think that we are more important than we really are. Remember, he does not get us to follow him directly, no, he gets us to follow him indirectly by tempting us to follow ourselves.
Our natural reaction to God using us in His work in this world is we tend to think that we are pretty awesome. And, when God works in and through our lives, we tend to want to take credit for it. We are in great danger when on the heels of God doing something awesome in or through our lives that we entertain exaggerated ideas of our importance. It is always at this point that we must remember that God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise.
In today's passage, the Apostle contrasts pride with faith. There is a humility to faith and that humility produces dependence upon the Lord. This is the best place we can be in a given day, dependent upon the Lord. The problem is we tend to be most reminded that we need God when life is not going so well. We tend to forget God when life seems to be going well. And, biblical humility flows out of selfless abandonment to the will of God.
In v.4-5 of today's passage we read, "4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others."
As we considered in Romans 6-8, our sanctification is the process whereby God is changing our souls which is made up of our mind, will, and emotions. Most think that the point of our sanctification is that God is making us better. This is not biblical. When we conclude that our sanctification is about us, we throw a wrench into the process that God designed it to have. The point of our sanctification is pointing others to the One who transforms us: the Lord Jesus Himself.
On the currency of the United States is the latin term "E pluribus unum" which means "Out of the many One." This 13-letter motto was suggested in 1776 at the time of the American Revolution. E Pluribus Unum was once the motto of the United States of America and referenced the fact that the cohesive single nation was formed as the result of the thirteen smaller colonies joining together. It was a must in those early days when this country was so young that the colonies needed one another to survive. This is the same for believers in Christ; we need each other. And, the greatest threat to our unity is our pride.
Diversity is necessary for unity, and unity gives diversity purpose. Each of us is different and therefore special, but in our uniqueness, we belong together in Christ. The fact that we are one body “in Christ” unifies us in our uniqueness and gives us purpose. This allows us to appreciate our differences instead of being threatened by them. God implores us to appreciate our uniqueness, the uniqueness of others and our interconnectedness brought about by our position in Christ.
If we want to know how unity and diversity work together so that each person’s value is appreciated, we can do no better than to consider God Himself. He is one God, but He is also the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The members of the Trinity have separate roles, but they’re connected to each other. God exists in a relationship that takes action for the sake of love. The Father creates. The Son redeems. The Spirit empowers. Each member of the Trinity has value that is recognized and appreciated by the others. When we in the Father’s family unite under the lordship of His Son, we will enjoy the power of the Holy Spirit, we will honor God and we will fulfill His purposes in this world, especially with the body of Christ. We reflect the Trinity when we embrace both unity and diversity. And, we embrace unity amid our diversity when we resist the self life.
