James Nisbet Commentary - Romans 12:5 - 12:5

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James Nisbet Commentary - Romans 12:5 - 12:5


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‘
MEMBERS ONE OF ANOTHER’

‘So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.’

Rom_12:5

There are some moral and spiritual truths which it seems to be almost impossible to impress upon the practical life of the world, although they meet with a sort of universal acceptance.

I. The purpose of Christ’s revelation is to crucify the selfish instinct in us, and to rouse us to the life of self-devotion, to the idea of consecrated energies; and this being so, all Christian life is of the nature of a warfare; and a warfare which begins afresh with each generation of men; because selfishness, with all its tribe of attendant appetites and passions, springs afresh in every single soul, and is nurtured, strengthened, cultivated, by so many of the conditions of life. If, then, the Spirit of Christ is really to prevail in our life, it must be by effecting our emancipation from selfish instincts, and rousing in us the spirit of devotion to the good of other lives.

II. In proportion as you diminish selfishness in your own life or in any other, by fostering generous affections and cultivating the spirit of social duty and religious aspirations, by walking in the footsteps of Christ and living in the light of His presence, you are laying the only possible foundation of any lasting progress, you are following the one true method by which the mystery of sin is to be overcome.

III. We may wonder that this should be so difficult; for of selfishness we should say that we all dislike it. In its grosser forms we repudiate it. The very word is one which we articulate with a certain accent of contempt. But when we come to its refined and subtle workings in our nature, when we think of its Proteus-like changeableness, its power of assuming the various guises even of duty or religion; when we reflect how it can clothe itself in the choicest garb of art, or science, or Divine philosophy, we find very likely that we are always in danger of being enslaved by it.

And we do well to pray in all sincerity that grace may expel our selfishness; for indeed the influence of true religion is to be gauged by the extent to which this prayer is being fulfilled in us. The fulfilment of it is what we mean by the regenerate life.

—
Bishop Percival.

(SECOND OUTLINE)

UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD

We who realise our brotherhood remember what it is to be children of the one true Father Whose name is Love, members of that one body with the life of Christ pulsing in our souls and drawing us into a constant union.

I. Brotherhood of nations.—Look at some of its widest and clearest issues. Look at the pictures of all families, families of men north, south, east, and west. We preach the Christ and we profess the Christ, and then we fight, and the most hideous witness against our Christ is war. God made of one blood all the nations of men on the face of the earth. The hideousness of war comes home to us, and we ought not to forget nations at war. We should pray for them and do more. We should so live, so strive, that the world may learn to be Christian, to hate war.

II. Brotherhood in the Church.—Can I narrow it down? There is the family of the Church with fuller responsibility and with fuller knowledge. And that family, the sacred immaculate Body of Christ, is rent and torn asunder by our unhappy divisions. Nay, it is much worse than that, it is by our deliberate sin, by our slothfulness, our carelessness, our refusal to spend any time or trouble upon religion. Those divisions in Christendom are criminal. Do we realise what this disunion means? It means utter confusion, it means many a soul sent to the despair and abyss of perplexity, and it means that many a soul is not won for Christ because the world does not know what He teaches. We must pray for the reunion of Christendom. There is much we might do with sure conviction, and do it in all charity. Do not condemn; do not reject; maybe you are condemning and rejecting Christ. Then by the sweetness and the purity of your own faith speak the truth in love.

III. Brotherhood in the parish.—In our own parish there is the awful need for brotherhood and love, and for sympathy, and all of you may spend your energy in Christ’s service. We have lost our inspiration, we have lost our enthusiasm because we do not believe in the Christ. If you did you could not sit still; if you did you would offer yourself for His work; you would go out from your homes and churches, and you would bring some one single child, man, or woman to the Christ. Realise your brotherhood. Start it in your own homes. If you are parents, do not put anything in the way of your children when they want to go to Christ; and if you are children bear your witness faithfully, and let father and mother see that you are Christ’s. In your work, too, you might give some witness to the Christ. Take one single friend each week and lead him nearer to Jesus. You might let him know that you care for God, and you might make your profession of God a living reality. If this were done the papers and the statisticians would not then have to talk about our empty churches, because every one would come and do his homage to Christ.

Rev. E. Rogers.