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“Peace In and Out of the Church”

Romans 12:9 - 21

I. Peace Inside the Church (Romans 12:9-16)

v9—love w/o hypocrisy. A hypocrite says one thing and does another thing. Do you say you love God’s people but really can’t stand a lot of them?

v9—abhor evil, cling to what is good. Every one of us has admirable qualities and other qualities that aren't so much. Let’s not ignore sin, but let us not throw the baby out
with the bathwater either.

v10—be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Brotherly love = philadelphia. Be devoted = philostorgoi, fond natural affections for close relatives, mom, dad.

v10—give preference to one anoter in honor. Put other’s ahead of yourself. Seek their interests above your own. This is what Jesus did for us, and we were His enemies then

v11– we are all to serve the Lord together. Do not lag behind. Keep pace with the pack. Don’t burn out the few that serve, lets all serve. V6 and Ephesians 4:12

v12—our prayers for each other. Do you rejoice with someone who gets good news? Do you come to the aid of someone hurting from bad news? Do you pray or are you devoted
to prayer?

v13-generous spirit for other Christians. Galatians 6:9-10

v14-interesting b/c it is within the “inside the church” section. Are there Christians that rub you the wrong way. They get under your skin? Bring them into your heart!

v15– tune your heart to your brother’s heart. Two musical instruments may sound good, but if they aren't tuned together the harmony will sound bad

v16-look at things the same way. Your brother in Jesus isn't an idiot and you aren’t all that. We are on the same team. We need the same goals and agree to work side by side

II. Peace Outside the Church (Romans 12:17-21)

Notice there is no transition “I am now talking about unbelievers” these words apply to anyone that does you wrong, whether they are inside or outside the church

v17—even when someone does me wrong, I still do what is right. I am not authorized to sin b/c someone sins against me. I represent a holy God and I respect right.

v18– this is the theme verse of our entire series study. Jesus made peace between us and God. He gives us the ability thru the cross to bury the hatchet with others too

v19– do I really embrace the Gospel when someone does me wrong? One day Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead. Any sin against me is more a sin against God

v20-let God do His part, I do my part, which is to do good even to those who do me bad. “heap burning coals” - doing good exposes the darkness of their sin, it stirs self-shame
more than if you would retaliate by doing bad to them. Ultimately, you want them to repent so that they do not continue in the sin of hurting others around them

v21– those who do you wrong may want to overwhelm you with so much evil that you react with your own evil. But you have the Spirit of the Living God in you and you can end
evil by doing good. Be light, expose darkness rather than be darkness. Be salt, flavor this world and draw out nuanced values of good hidden by evil.

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