Romans 12–14

The New Life in Christ

¹²I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship.^{* 2}Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.^b*

³For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.^{* 4}For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function,^{* 5}so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. ⁶We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith;^{* 7}ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching;^{* 8}the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.^*

Marks of the True Christian

⁹Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good; ¹⁰love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord. ¹²Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer.^{* 13}Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers.^*

¹⁴Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.^{* 15}Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. ¹⁶Live in harmony with one another; do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly;^c do not claim to be wiser than you are.^{* 17}Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.^{* 18}If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.^{* 19}Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God,^d for it is written, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”^{* 20}Instead, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink, for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Being Subject to Authorities

¹³Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.^{* 2}Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval,^{* 4}for it is God’s agent for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority^e does not bear the sword in vain! It is the agent of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience.^{* 6}For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s agents, busy with this very thing. ⁷Pay to all what is due them: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

Love for One Another

⁸Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.^{* 9}The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”^{* 10}Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.^*

An Urgent Appeal

¹¹Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is already the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers;^{* 12}the night is far gone; the day is near. Let us then throw off^f the works of darkness and put on the armor of light;^{* 13}let us walk decently as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in illicit sex and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy.^{* 14}Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.^*

Do Not Judge Another

¹⁴Welcome those who are weak in faith^g but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions.^{* 2}Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables.^{* 3}Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat, for God has welcomed them. ⁴Who are you to pass judgment on slaves of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord^h is able to make them stand.

⁵Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. ⁶Those who observe the day, observe it for the Lord. Also those who eat, eat for the Lord, since they give thanks to God, while those who abstain, abstain for the Lord and give thanks to God.^*

⁷For we do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.^{* 8}If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.^*

¹⁰Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.^{i* 11}For it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,

and every tongue shall give praise to^j God.”^*

¹²So then, each one of us will be held accountable.^k*

Do Not Make Another Stumble

¹³Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother or sister.^{* 14}I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who considers it unclean.^{* 15}If your brother or sister is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. ¹⁶So do not let your good be slandered. ¹⁷For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.^{* 18}The one who serves Christ in this way is acceptable to God and has human approval.^{* 19}Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.^{* 20}Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong to make someone stumble by what you eat; ²¹it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble.^{l* 22}Hold the conviction that you have as your own before God. Blessed are those who do not condemn themselves because of what they approve. ²³But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat because they do not act from faith,^m for whatever does not proceed from faithⁿ is sin.^o