CCC Livestream - It's All About The Gospel - Romans 12:14-21

Live Worship Gathering: 11/09/2025

Preaching: Jason Purdy

Marks Of Christian Living Part 2

Jason Purdy

It’s All About The Gospel / Romans 12:14–21

I invite you to turn in your Bible to Romans 12.

As we walk through the book of Romans, we are going to finish chapter 12 today looking at verses 14-21.

We have activity sheets for the children that go along with the sermon to help them engage as well.

We have come to the section of Romans that tells us that in light of all the great mercies of God we experience in Christ that have been expounded upon for the first 11 chapters,

In light of all God has done for us, offer yourself a living sacrifice, having your mind renewed daily, and living a life of worshipful service.

And then last week, we walked through the first eleven of seventeen commands depending on how you read it that finish out chapter 12 that highlight for us how all the Christian life is motivated by genuine love.

Love Genuinely

Abhor what is evil

Cling to what is good

Love one another with affection

Outdo one another in showing honor

Be zealous in service to the Lord

Rejoice in hope

Be patient in tribulation

Be constant in prayer

Contribute to the needs of the saints

and Seek to show hospitality.

Now today, we will explore the final seven commands that are to mark the Christian life.

And anytime we are considering the commands of God to us, we must keep in mind that it is the grace of God in the gospel that has saved us, and filled us with the Holy Spirit in order to empower obedience in us, and it is the Holy Spirit of God that gives us a taste and desire for obedience in order to please God.

And as we come to the final seven commands of the chapter, we need to keep this in mind all the more.

We need to keep it in mind as we all fail and fall short of God’s standard often, and have to repent often, and entrust ourselves to God’s grace often as we seek to grow, that is never ending in our lives until we get to Heaven and see Jesus face to face.

I don’t know about you, but doing house chores is not naturally my most favorite way to spend my time.

Vacuuming, taking out the trash, loading and unloading the dishwasher, those are not the kinds of things that make me pop out of bed in the morning.

I would never just naturally want to do those things.

But, to be honest, I find myself enjoying and appreciating the time I take vacuuming or taking out the trash far more than I used to,

And the reason is: by God’s great mercies that I could never deserve, God has provided me a wonderful house, and an amazing wife, and four great kids, and a cute dog, and I love being at home with them, and because I love being at home with them and am so grateful for the opportunity of having them, I am taking greater joy in doing the mundane things that need done in order to serve my home and family.

In a much more profound way, we grow to love being obedient to the commands of God when we become more and more aware of just how undeserving we are of our salvation and all that God has done for us in Christ.

The more we come to adore Christ and appreciate the gospel, the more we desire to honor Him through our obedience.

And for the commands we are looking at today, we need to remember that the gospel we have seen in chapters 1-11 is not that we were neutral people who could have gone the way of good or the way of bad, but Jesus came to help nudge us toward the good.

No, not at all.

We need to remember and keep in clear focus that we are naturally enemies of God.

We are glory thieves ascribing glory to ourselves and to created things that should only ever be ascribed to the holy God.

And our sinfulness doesn’t lead toward needing a tune up or a push in the right direction, our sinfulness leads to death and destruction unless God intervenes to save us and bring our hearts from spiritual death to eternal life.

We were rebellious sinners against the holy God when God sent his son to die to rescue us.

And when we realize just how undeserving we are of these great mercies of God, and when we are grateful to live in the environment of God’s mercies that are new every morning and in the love of Christ that we cannot be separated from, we begin to not only obey God’s commands, but we actually desire to obey them and take joy in obeying them.

Keep that in mind as we walk through the passage today:

Romans 12:14–21 ESV

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

1. Bless Those Who Persecute You

Remember, you were God’s enemy when he rescued you and saved you from the wrath to come.

When it comes to God’s glory, you and I were enemies and persecutors of God’s glory until God intervened in great mercy.

So now, we are to bless those who persecute us, bless and do not curse.

We live in the midst of a hostile world.

Jesus said:

John 15:20 ESV

20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

In his sermon on the mount he said:

Matthew 5:11–12 ESV

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

I’ve mentioned a few times in our Romans series how the Roman government had kicked all Jewish people out of their homes and the land for a time, and then they were allowed to return.

And the great difference between the Jews who were not believers in Christ and the Jews who were believers in Christ was going to be that the unbelieving Jews would have no trouble cursing those in power who had brought such trouble upon them.

While the believers were called to speak blessing for them instead of cursing.

Jesus said:

Matthew 5:44 ESV

44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Luke 6:27 ESV

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

I cannot imagine a more profound Holy Spirit empowered self control than a wholehearted commitment to only speak well of those and do well toward those who are hating you and making your life miserable.

Martin and Gracia Burnham were missionaries in the Philippines and were kidnapped and help captive for a year by a terrorist group along with some other foreigners.

Gracia survived the whole experience and writes in her book that as some of the hostages were killed by the terrorists along the way, Gracia believes her and Martin were spared because of the love and care that Martin showed to his captors.

He would help them dress their wounds.

He would speak to them with kindness and respect though they were cruel and violent to them.

She said that Martin was always able to see them as lost people in need of Jesus and not just terrorists who were making their lives miserable.

He would often remind Gracia that Jesus commands us to love our enemies.

Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.

2. Rejoice With Those Who Rejoice and Weep With Those Who Weep

What is it that would keep us from rejoicing with those who are rejoicing?

Maybe it is someone who we don’t particularly enjoy being around.

Or maybe that person is rejoicing for getting or having something that you want, so you have jealousy toward them.

Maybe you feel that it is unjust for that person to have what they are rejoicing in and you would deserve it more than they do.

It takes humility and a genuine love for others to celebrate something that is centered on a blessing for someone else, not yourself.

It takes outdoing one another in showing honor and considering other’s needs more important than your own.

This is truly the way of Jesus.

Hebrews says that Jesus had a joy set before him that allowed him to endure the cross.

What was that joy?

That joy was that His Father would be glorified and the church would be redeemed.

Jesus was willing to rejoice even to the cross because the blessing the cross would ultimately be to His Father’s glory and to you and me.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

Once again, we see that the Christian life is so much more than having right doctrine, the Christian life is a life of passionate love for others as we step into other’s sufferings, and seek to help shoulder their burdens, and live a life of compassionate mercy toward others.

For many of us, when someone is hurting or grieving, we naturally want to make ourselves busy with something else, because we don’t know what to say or how to sit still in sorrow, grief, and loss.

Yet, we must consider our Lord Jesus who was able and willing to weep with Mary and Martha at the tomb of their brother Lazarus.

Our Lord Jesus who was willing to slow down and spend time with the crowds whom he felt great compassion toward because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

In order to weep with those who weep, we must be willing to let our lives be interrupted by pain, grief, and loss.

We live in a day and age that is filled with a lot of anger.

We have all this information coming at us at such a rapid pace, and it seems it is those who are quickest to process it and spit out a response that will get ahead.

But I believe if we would stop long enough to process where all the anger is coming from we would weep with those who weep as many would voice fears and grieve losses that are being masked by anger and quick responses.

Weep with those who weep.

3. Live In Harmony With One Another

Verse 16: Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

I am keeping these four commands together because I believe obeying one of them helps us obey all the others.

The original language for harmony gives the idea of the way we think.

Think in terms of harmony with one another.

Paul writes something similar in:

Philippians 2:2 ESV

2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

This would have been crucial in the Roman church given that the Gentiles had to step up and lead the church while the believing Jews were exiled.

And now, the believing Jews are back and the leadership has changed and I’m sure some things were different.

So they had to learn how to live in harmony with one another.

And listen, it is just as crucial for God’s church today.

You may hear verses like this and think like I do: does that mean we somehow have to agree on absolutely everything?

No, that can’t be what it means, because if I could only be the church with others who agree with me on everything, I would have to go to the first baptist church of Jason and I would be the only member.

Let’s be honest, I’d probably be at the second baptist church of Jason because I changed my opinions on some things that the First Baptist church was doing.

Living in harmony with one another does not mean we have to think the exact same way about everything.

Living in harmony with one another means we should think and act in ways that promote harmony and unity even when we disagree.

Paul helps us in Ephesians 4 by listing the things we must unify around as a church.

Ephesians 4:2–6 ESV

2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

You see, if your disagreement with your brother or sister in Christ does not have to do directly with your conviction that the church is the body of Christ, that we have all been saved by the same Spirit, that we all have the same hope of eternal life, that there is one God, and one true faith that we identify with through baptism, and that God is our Father who is sovereign over all things, Paul would simply urge us to agree in the Lord.

Seek to think and act in ways that promote unity.

Our membership covenant states it this way: Together, we will seek to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We affirm that we are God’s church and not our own. Therefore, our preferences, needs, and desires are secondary to the mission and vision of the church.

Now, if someone is being false to the faith of the gospel, that’s another story.

But in 99% of the other cases, seek to live in harmony with one another.

The only way we do this is by not being haughty.

To be haughty is to be proud. To think too highly of one’s self, one’s position, one’s ideas and preferences.

Instead, we should associate with the lowly.

One of the great beauties of the gospel is that everyone finds themselves on a level ground when it comes to God.

When we are gathered as the church, there are no socioeconomic categories or social advancement or standing.

There is no hierarchy of spiritual positions.

In fact, those who are called to be pastors or leaders are called to be slave to all.

So, do you struggle with being haughty? Maybe believing that your ideas or preferences are somehow more right than others?

Is there a job or position you consider yourself too high to do?

I had a professor in seminary tell us that we better not go into pastoral ministry if we think scrubbing the churches toilets or sweeping the floors is beneath us.

Are you willing to associate with the lowliest of jobs, of situations, of society, and of tasks?

The church should be marked by humble concern for one another and all should be treated as equally valuable persons made in the image of God and saved by Him.

The verse concludes: never be wise in your own sight.

We will see in:

Romans 15:14 ESV

14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

Why are we able to instruct one another in the church?

Because no one sees themselves as having the corner market on all the wisdom.

We all have some wisdom from God, and we all need the wisdom that God has given to others.

If you are the type who is always seeking to dispense wisdom, are you also a good listener to hear and consider what others share with you?

Never be wise in your own sight.

Live in harmony with one another.

4. Seek What Is Honorable Even Toward Enemies

Verse 10 told us as the church to outdo one another in showing honor, but now:

Verse 17: Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.

Our children teach us about ourselves because they react the same ways we tend to, they are just more honest about it.

Why did you hit your sister?

Because she made fun of me.

In other words: why did you do evil against your sister?

Because I was repaying the evil that was done to me.

Repay no one evil for evil.

Evil never justifies evil.

You cannot do evil expecting a good result.

Yet, how could I possibly honor an enemy who is intent on my harm?

By leaning into the Lord Jesus who saved us from God’s wrath and positioned us in a place of honor even when we were his enemy and seeking to steal from His glory.

Notice, it’s not about just seeking to act honorably for the sake of that person, but in the sight of all.

Because when we carry the name of Jesus, we are to put the character of Jesus on display for all to see.

Seek what is honorable even toward enemies.

5. Live Peaceably As Far As It Depends On You

Verse 18: If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

One of the most important life lessons that I have to remind myself all the time is that I am responsible for my words and actions, but I am not responsible for how anyone else chooses to respond to me.

So, as far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Seek to live in a way that promotes peace with your friends, with your enemies, and with everyone in between.

Matthew 5:9 ESV

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

The Christian is one who is characterized by a pursuit of peace, as far as it depends on you.

You may think: well, I’m not going to apologize because that person is never going to forgive me.

No.

You living at peace as far as it depends on you means you apologize no matter how they choose to respond.

Listen, you may have an enemy or a persecutor who will never be at peace with you, but you can lay your head on the pillow at night knowing that before God you have sought to live peaceably with them as far as it depends on you.

A Christian is one who delights in peace and harmony, not arguments and division.

You can only be relationally reconciled if both parties are willing to forgive and reconcile, but regardless, you can live at peace as far as it depends on you.

There may be times where the truth of the gospel is at stake, so you challenge and correct, but if they cling to what is false, you will not be at peace though you sought it as far as it depends on you.

Here is the hard and honest truth: you will either disobey God by isolating yourself from relationships, isolating yourself from church community, and isolating yourself from real relationships with people in your life.

And if you do, that is disobedience to God.

You will either do that, or you will press in to real relationships with your family, your coworkers, your church community, and whoever else, and you will be hurt, disappointed, and sinned against at times.

It is going to happen because we are all sinners in desperate need of God’s grace, and none of us is going to arrive at full Christ likeness in this life.

I’m not naive, you get close to me, I am going to disappoint you and sin against you at some point.

I had the privilege of speaking at chapel at Southside Academy, the Christian school connected to the Peacemakers ministry here in Rocky Mount on Friday.

And right before I spoke, the worship song was called “yes,” and the song asked “Will your heart and soul say yes, will your spirit still say yes, if I told you what I really need from you, would your heart and soul say “yes?”

And that spoke to me because I had unintentionally offended someone the day before, and I was heartbroken over it, and I apologized.

But God used that song to ask me: “If you would have been aware of how difficult relating with others would be at times when I first called you to ministry,

If you would have been properly aware of the ways you would be hurt and sinned against, and even worse, properly aware of how your sins, failures, and weaknesses would sometimes hurt others, would you still say “yes” to my call on your life to love, serve, and share Jesus with people?

Oh God may my heart say “yes.”

May I say “yes” as I seek to live peaceably with all, pointing to God’s glory when I get it right, and humbling myself and asking forgiveness and grace when I fail which is often.

In order to obey God, you must lovingly relate with people, so learn to apologize, learn to truly forgive, and seek to live peaceably with all as far as it depends on you.

6. Do Not Pursue Vengeance

Verse 19-20: Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

I love how Paul begins the sentence addressing the reader as “Beloved.”

Because it reminds us again how loved we are by God though we were an enemy of His glory.

And because God has saved us from His wrath, we must never take wrath out on others.

Seeking revenge is the opposite of Christian living.

Now, make no mistake, there is a proper place for justice in a society, but we will see next week, God has assigned the role to governing authorities.

We are not to seek personal vengeance against wrongdoing done personally to us.

But leave it to the wrath of God.

You see, because we live in a world ruled by a perfectly just, righteous, and sovereign God, there is no evil or injustice that will not finally be avenged by the just wrath of God.

And I’ve known some people to say that they cannot love a God who will avenge evil.

But, you ask a Christian who has been imprisoned, beaten, lost a family member through evil and persecution done to them, they only way to be free from a life of bitterness is to entrust their hearts to the God for whom vengeance belongs and He will repay.

So, how do we personally respond to evil done against us?

If your enemy is hunger, feed him.

If he is thirsty, give him a drink.

For by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.

Now, that doesn’t mean that God will somehow turn your blessing them into vengeance.

A few other places in Scripture use the picture of a burning coal as having a purifying effect.

Blessing an enemy who has done you evil is a clear demonstration of just how evil and wrong that person has been.

It may lead them to see their wrong and repent.

Or it may lead to an even clearer judgment from God as the contrast of good and evil is made all the clearer.

Have you ever committed your heart, words, and actions to love and bless someone who is desiring evil for you?

This is the power of the Spirit of God in you.

Do not pursue vengeance?

7. Overcome Evil With Good

Verse 21: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

I’ve heard it said that it is when God brings us to the end of ourselves is where He truly does his best work.

No one lives out the Christian life very long before coming face to face with evil from within and evil from without that will tempt us to give up and give in.

We will all face moments where we are tempted to believe that evil has won, and I might as well get on board and do evil as well.

But in those moments, you remember:

1 John 4:4 ESV

4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Do not be overcome by evil, but entrust your heart to the God who has defeated evil in you and will finally defeat all evil in the world, and you overcome evil by loving and doing good.

Let’s pray.