Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you.  (2) Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.  (3) Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire.  You have heaped up treasure in the last days.  (4)Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.  (5) You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.  (6) You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

It is generally believed that the James who wrote this letter to Jewish Christians was the half brother of Jesus Christ.  This letter may have been written close to the end of his life – James was martyred in 62 A.D. – or it may have been written earlier around 50 A.D.  In any case, this letter is addressed to Jewish Christians who are described as “scattered abroad”.  There was a persecution of the early believers that Jesus was Messiah and these believers were forced to leave Jerusalem.  James was the leader of the Jerusalem church and it follows that he may have written this pastoral letter on the occasion of this early dispersion to aid them in dealing with oppression by the rich and to encourage them to hold fast to their faith, especially in the light of coming judgment.

James declares that those who are guilty of wrongs and make use of the power of wealth to injure those in humble circumstances will be judged.  James uses the rot and rust of material goods to illustrate the bondage in which the means of doing good was kept, profiting no one.  He prophesied that there would be a swift and total judgment of those leading such a life.  The first crime of the wicked rich is hoarding so much wealth that it has rotted – the crime of uncontrolled greed.  James declares that this greed will result in the destruction of the rich just as the corrosion that eats the material  wealth – clothing, possessions, gold and silver.  The second crime the rich are charged with is that they failed to pay the workmen who harvest their crops.  The rich are also accused of extravagant and wasteful self-indulgence for which there will be judgment.  James indicates that the men to be judged were unaware of their impending destruction.

Finally, the rich are accused of having “murdered the just”.  This is meant literally and the examples are Christ, Stephen and James the son of Zebedee.  The prophesied judgment is a warning for the wicked and a consolation for the righteous.

Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.  (21) For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  (22) But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor, yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.  (23) For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.  (24) Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.  (27) Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ

The city of Philippi was one of the leading cities of Macedonia largely because the Via Egnatia, the main road from Asia to the West, ran right through it.  Phillipians were allowed  an autonomous government and were not required to send tribute to Rome.                                          The Church at Philippi was founded in A.D. 50 by the Apostle Paul who was imprisoned in Rome at the time of writing this letter probably in A.D. 61.  Paul is writing to the Philippians to assure them he loved them and was praying for them.  Joy is a prominent theme in his letter.  Paul expresses that he is in chains but his situation has only helped in the furtherance of the Gospel as he has been able to reach the Roman guards and even the royal house.  The Apostle Paul was a Roman citizen and accorded certain rights and though under house arrest in Rome and chained to guards, he was not silenced – so the guards chained to him on a rotating basis were an unwilling (or willing) audience during this period.  Paul considered his imprisonment to be the working of God’s sovereign will.  He expresses that Christ would be magnified by his continued life or by his death as either would glorify Christ.  If he lived, he would continue to minister to the Philippians and the Church.  If he were to be executed he would be with Christ and that would be gain.  He has confidence that Christ is using him to further the Gospel.  Paul has a certain expectation of future good – it is not that Paul will exalt Christ but that Christ will be exalted by the continued work of the Holy Spirit in Paul.  Remember that Paul was awaiting trial and could either be released or executed.  His point is that his life or his death makes no difference – only that Christ be magnified in him.  Either suffices.  Paul’s goal was to complete his ministry one way or another and to manifest the spirit of Christ by leading a life that magnifies and glorifies him.  The issue was in God’s hands and given the choice, the Apostle Paul could not choose either heaven or earth for himself.  Paul was ready to go but willing to wait.  He was pulled in two directions and in both cases it was for the highest reasons.  The mark of God’s man (or woman) is an unwavering and unselfish spirit.  Paul is urging the Church at Phillipi to live in this world as citizens of another world – to be holy or apart; to be reflective of their standing as citizens of a heavenly realm.

(7)For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.  (8) For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord.. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.  (9) For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Romans was written by the Apostle Paul to the Christian community in Rome about 57 A.D.    In A.D. 49, the Emperior Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome because of disturbances at the “instigation of Chrestus” (Christ).   The Christian Gentiles remained as a relatively peaceful community until the death of Claudius in A.D. 54 when the Jews returned to Rome.  Tensions developed between the Christian Jews and the Christian Gentiles and in Chapter 14 of Romans, Paul addresses these differences out of concern for the full fellowship of the Church in Rome.

Chapter 14, verse 7 refers to the Christian’s use of food, his conduct and observance or nonobservance of days.   The Christian’s life belongs to his Lord.  The same holds true of his dying – he dies when the Lord wills and as the Lord wills.  Paul’s purpose is to disabuse believers of the destructive notions that one set of believers thought themselves to be more spiritual than others who were thought to be more of this physical world. 

A Christian lives his life for the Lord and the Lord is the judge of that life.  So, in life we live to please the Lord and dying we go to  be with the Lord.  Both in life and death we belong to the Lord.  This principle gives us an unerring guide for our conduct.  The Apostle Paul is saying there are questions that each Christian needs to settle and decide for himself.  Paul is not addressing matters about which there can be no controversy.  We are not our own and the duty of devotion and obedience are not founded on creation but on redemption.  We are Christ’s because he bought us with a price.

(8) Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.  (9) For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  (10) Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

In Romans 12, the Apostle Paul turns from laying a doctrinal foundation of the Gospel to the application of principles for living.    Our obligation to God is the primary theme in our lives and in the Old Testament as emphasized by Jesus Christ.  We are now presented with the second great theme of the Bible where we love God by loving each other as the dominant and central theme of the New Testament.  

Paul commands us to owe nothing  to anyone,  meaning we are not to take on debt or obligations which we are unable to discharge.  The word except is then used here and references our duty to love one another.  The Greek word for love used  here by the Apostle Paul (agape) indicates an active selfless love which is more a decision than an emotion and is at it’s foundation, behavior.  

 The commandments which guide our relationships with each other, here enumerated by Paul in verse 9, will be satisfied by loving our neighbors as ourselves for, with this love/behavior, we would do them no harm.    We would fulfill the Law.   This is not a command to love ourselves – that is assumed – but we are to love others as an act of will.  We do not have this unconditional love by nature but we are empowered by the Holy Spirit and this love is manifested by specific action.  It is directed to all our neighbors including the unlovely and the unlovable, those who do not return our love and includes those we do not like. 

In Alcoholics Anonymous there is a saying “drag the body, the mind will follow”.  C.S. Lewis observed “Do not waste time bothering whether you “love” your neighbor, act as if you did.  As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets.  When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.  If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more.   If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.”

I BESEECH YOU, THEREFORE, BRETHREN, BY THE MERCIES OF GOD, THAT YOU PRESENT YOUR BODIES A LIVING SACRIFICE, HOLY, ACCEPTABLE TO GOD, WHICH IS YOUR REASONABLE SERVICE.  AND DO NOT BE CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD, BUT BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, THAT YOU MAY PROVE WHAT IS THAT GOOD AND ACCEPTABLE AND PERFECT WILL OF GOD.

Chapters one through eleven of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans explores the mysteries of God’s plan for the redemption of sinful man.  The letter to the Romans is more of a doctrinal exposition of the Gospel than a letter, written to the Christian audience in Rome about the year 58 B.C.  The Apostle Paul has laid his foundation and now, beginning with chapter 12 of Romans, he turns to application of these theological principles.

Paul begins by using the word therefore which is a bridge or hinge connecting what has been said earlier with the conclusions which are to come.  Paul has the authority to command his audience to obey the precepts he is about to present but instead the word beseech is chosen.  This choice of word underlies the principle of our free choice. (Remember, the Bible is God’s words spoken to us and was written under the complete supervision of God, using man as his agent.  It is perfect.  Nothing can be added and nothing can be taken away.)

We are urged to present our bodies – meaning our whole selves – body and soul, to God.  Jesus Christ is the full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the world and here Paul is asking us to be a living sacrifice.  We are urged to dedicate all that we are to God:   to make a choice as to how we are to live.

The first step of Alcoholics Anonymous calls for surrender and acknowledges the powerlessness of the alcoholic.  This is followed by an admission that only a power greater than ourselves could restore sanity and finally, a decision to turn the will and the lives of the alcoholic over to the care of God.  What the Apostle Paul is saying i Romans 12 is, we must surrender to the will of God, based on the knowledge of the theology that Paul has laid before us in Chapters 1 through 11.  This foundation does make a difference, because what we believe determines how we behave.

The Apostle Paul explores conformity to this fleeting temporal world we live in.  Instead of adapting to this world we can and should – by surrendering to the will of God – be transformed by the renewal of our minds.  Our outward expression is what is represented by our inner being –  the regeneration of our sinful nature.  We are urged not to be conformed which is external and does not express what is on the inside.  It is putting on an act and accepting a pattern of life that is imposed on us from without; a manner of life that is unstable and changing.  Paul calls for a decisive commitment and a maintenance of that commitment.  William MacDonald explains that the word conform is used here as the society or system that man has built in order to make himself happy without God; a world that is hostile to nonconformists; a world that is self centered, self pleasing, self indulgent, self concerned and indifferent to the needs of others.

Renewal of our minds is a continuous process – an essential change in the character of our thinking.  This is the process of new life that emerges from the new birth by the Holy Spirit.  The word of God, most especially through the Bible, is not merely to inform but to transform.It is not merely about feeling and doing but meditation and study which will lead to discernment and desire to do that will of God.  This ultimately leads to the transformation and renewing of our minds.

Verse 2 ends by saying that with our renewed minds we will be able to test and prove the perfect will of God.  This gift of discernment  is an increased power or ability to perceive what it is God’s will we should do – a stripping away of this temporal sinful world to be replaced by eternal truth and life.

another quote from my favorite, C.S. Lewis:  It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird:  it would be a jolly sight harder to learn to fly while remaining an egg.  We are like eggs at present.  And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary decent egg.  We must be hatched or go bad.