How We Should Live
I'm not going to break down Romans 12 verse by verse. It really doesn't need much explanation. We just need to read it and follow it. The Christian Church would be a much better organization if we did.
But here are a few thoughts that everyone needs to consider. Many times we wonder whether or not someone is a Christian. Truly, only God knows for sure what the state of any person's heart is at any point in time. Additionally, people who haven't grown up as Christians and been trying to live as Christians for a long time may struggle with some items that Paul has listed because they are diametrically opposed to how that person may have acted before becoming a Christian. So the adage to not judge still holds true.
But in general terms, when examining an individual I believe that we should see at least some progress on some of these fronts in every Christian's life. That is true no matter how long a person has been a Christian. Christian's shouldn't just blow this chapter off thinking that they are already Christians so it couldn't apply to them. Every Christian needs to be working toward imitating the life of Christ and not the life of some other human we might choose to look up to. Humans will always let us down and fail in some way. Christ never did and won't.
Our Place in the Body
So what are some of the major points of the chapter? We are called to live holy lives before God. This life that we live will of necessity include sacrificing much of the sinful practices in which the world delights There is a cost to being a Christian. If you believe that living as a Christian doesn't mean you will have to give up some things, Satan wins.
Every Christian has a place in the body of Christ. We all have one or more jobs to do. God has gifted us with abilities that will predispose us to excelling in certain things that others may find difficult. God can help us do things He has called us to do, even if we don't think we are able. The key is His calling. If He calls, He will provide.
Whatever are talents and however He calls us to fit into His kingdom, we are called to do something for God. When we excel at something ,we need to give the glory to God for what we have done. Regardless of our talents, it is God who gives the increase. The best pastor in the world with the best sermons are useless unless the Holy Spirit convinces a sinner's heart to come to church or wherever the minister is doing their work to hear or to click on an internet search or social media feed to read or hear the message. If the Holy Spirit doesn't convict the heart by the message, saving the person, then regardless of how good the minister is, they have accomplished nothing.
And the work of the Holy Spirit needs to be uppermost in the all the church. How many people received as a kid or gave as parents some big train track or race track sort of toy where the track was in multiple pieces and maybe there were separate buildings that also had to be put together. Most kids, presented with such a big mess of pieces will be overwhelmed and will only play with a few pieces if the toy set is too advanced for them. Even if it is age appropriate, they may struggle to get something connected and end up with something that is forced to fit with impossible inclines or curves that are bent at unnatural angles that are too tipped for the train or race car to stay on the track.
How like that plastic marvel is the church today without the Holy Spirit's leading. Parts of it are completely disconnected with the other with a particular group jealously guarding their pieces and protesting that their set does just what the instructions say it should do - the gates work - you can run the cars for a little bit - but it isn't connected to anything. And without those pieces, the larger chunks of the track can't be put together to anything connected because critical pieces that should have been part of the whole are missing. I'm not sure that man will ever be able to put the Christian church fully back together. But I do know that with the Holy Spirit leading each and every part, much more could be done in every community and country.
God wants every city to give all of their churches to Him to control and move forward and for unity city to city. That's going to mean that some beliefs are going to have to be modified to line up with the scripture. Practices will also need to line up with scripture. We can all still maybe worship a bit differently as long as the music lifts God up. But what is preached needs to present a uniform front.
Every church member needs to adopt an attitude and every church be so well directed by Christ that we can tell anyone we witness to about what every service in every church is like and direct a person to where we think they will be blessed most rather than our way or the highway. We're going to have to make the same stands against sin. We're going to have to help each other financially and by providing room for special services in bigger churches. Our outreaches will need to be coordinated.
Additional Characteristics of Christians
Paul lists a large number of characteristics that should follow Christians in all they do through the rest of the chapter. Love each other. Work hard. Serve God. Bless those who persecute you. Don't curse. Don't try to get even. If someone wrongs you, don't wrong them in return. Bless them instead. Live peaceably with everyone to the greatest extent possible. Don't be overcome with evil but overcome evil with good.
If much of this passage seems repetitive of another section of the Bible, it is. Christ Himself commanded many of these things when He gave what is usually termed the Sermon on the Mount. And He put them into practice in His own life. So if you don't want to listen to Paul, realize that you are choosing to not listen to Christ either.
Is it easy to not get mad if someone wrongs you? Well, it isn't natural. I'd certainly admit that. But the more you go about letting God deal with things and not trying to deal with them yourself, the better off you will be and the more you will appreciate the grace that God has shown you. After all, no matter how someone has wronged you, the wrongs that we have committed against God are more numerous and worse. And He has forgiven us. Forgive more. Fight less. Repeat until the fighting never starts again.
So when people ask whether I think someone is a Christian or not, there may not be a way to truly tell for sure. All I can do is look at how they live their life, what their speech is like, whether or not they have forgiveness in their hearts toward their fellow man and especially for those who have wronged them. And I make a calculated judgment that there is a good chance that they are Christian or there is a good chance that they are either not Christian or are a very new Christian based on what I see and hear. I don't like to make those judgments because one doesn't know for sure and won't know for sure until we all get to heaven and see who is there.
But sometimes it is necessary to make a judgment because the future matters. Perhaps you are looking for someone with whom to share your life. Perhaps you are looking for someone to do work on something you own. Perhaps you are looking for a job. Perhaps you are trying to decide for whom to vote for. Maybe Christian or not won't be your deciding factor in some of those things. But in some, it should be the most important thing.
Who you marry will have consequences for yourself and any children you bring into the world. Picking someone who is a Christian is the most important thing you can do in that case. Who you choose as friends will determine the things you are exposed to and must stand for or against. Peer pressure is real. Don't think you will save them by the power of your testimony. It is possible that you will, but in this day and age it is much more likely that you will not and they will drag you away from Christ or at least away from the support system of the Christian church. Make your choice based on your own judgment of their lives compared to Romans 12, listening to God and not basing your decision on what your friends tell you to do.
All to often in this country who we vote for is determined by many criteria the least of which is whether or not they are a Christian. Perhaps your view is colored based on how someone has told you a Christian should vote and a voting record of a candidate. I won't say that has no merit. But Romans 12 is a much better yardstick than how someone has voted in the past or what they say they support or don't support as a candidate. And this also has long term effects on whatever part of the government they control. Pay attention to Romans 12 when evaluating the candidates and then vote for the one who most exhibits the life of Christ. Maybe both are failures and you have to use other criteria, but make the judgment yourself listening to God and not based on what someone tells you to think.