E.1 Consequences

12 [E.1 The practical consequences of the thesis - as in all the epistles, the advice for living which follows from the gospel]

1: I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
2: Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
3: For by the grace given to me I bid every one 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 which God has assigned you.

4: For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, 5: so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
6: Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us:
if prophecy, according to the proportion to the faith; 7:
if service, in the serving;
or the teaching, in the teaching; 8:
or the one exhorting, in the exhortation;
the sharing, in simplicity;
the leadership, in diligence;
the showing of mercy, in cheerfulness.

9: Love is without pretence [ Listen to the sound of the string of participles as above- (Barrett suggests a Semitic source - Dunn a hurried summary) like an outline of things he had said before (to the Corinthians).]
hating evil
holding fast to good
10: being devoted to one another with brotherly affection
preferring one another in honor
11: not lazy in zeal
being on fire with the Spirit
serving the Lord
12: rejoicing in hope
showing endurance in affliction
persisting in prayer
13: contributing to the needs of the saints
practicing hospitality.
14: Bless those who persecute you
bless and do not curse.
15: To rejoice with those who rejoice,
To weep with those who weep.
16: Minding the same thing toward one another
not being haughty
but associating with the lowly.
Do not be wise in your own conceits.
17: Not repaying evil for evil to anyone
but taking thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
18: If possible, so far as it depends upon you, seeking peace with all.
19: not avenging yourselves, beloved, but give place to wrath;
for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."
20: But, "if your enemy is hungry, feed such a one;
if your enemy is thirsty, give such a one drink;
for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon such a head."
21: Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.

This series on Romans begins here