Reading through Part One of this article, I discovered an oversight. Having referenced Romans 12:1-3 as the personal perspective of the Romans “anchor”, I failed to comment on verse three. As it turns out, verse three can be viewed as a bridge. So, rather than go back and update Part One, we will cover it here before exploring the church-in-fellowship perspective of Romans 12:4-8 in Part Three.

Those of you that have not already read Part One will find it a useful introduction. The order is important – individual application working its way into the corporate body. Furthermore, there is a connection between the renewal of our mind (Romans 12:2) and the way we are to think in the community of faith.

Humble and Sober Thinking

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Romans 12:3

As we endeavor to transition from theology to its practice, we must consider our mind and how it thinks. We have already learned from verse two that our mind requires renewal; it is not prepared for the life our theology requires. For many, this is a bitter pill to swallow. We have been encouraged since our formative years to trust our minds and our innate ability to reason. Our carnal mind has convinced us that it deserves the control most of mankind has given it.

We think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. We desperately need to sober up and recognize that much of our thinking is humanistic. Even in the church, we have come to rely on the doctrines of man. We attempt to live out of our reason, rather than our faith. It is high time we become suspicious of the way we think, because much of our thinking is outside the faith.

Consequently, the introduction of faith at the end of the verse above would seem strange to many in the church. What does a measure of faith have to do with the way we think? Our perplexity demonstrates how far we have drifted from the truth concerning our heart and mind. We have allowed our blame-shifting carnal mind to convince us that our heart is corrupt.

But, how can this be? What do the Scriptures tell us?

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. John 7:38

So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Acts 15:8-9

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:5

For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Rom. 10:10

Does this sound like we have a corrupt heart? Would God entrust His word for our faith to a corrupt heart? Of course not!! He gave us a new heart when He redeemed us (Ezekiel 36:26).

Please don’t miss this: The life we are called to live in community begins with the measure of faith dealt to us by God. That measure makes its home in our heart and grows there as we mature in Christ.

The mind can be a powerful instrument of God’s grace, but only under the control of His Spirit. The righteous live by faith, not reason. In other words, God has given us faith as the anchor between theology and its practice, for both our individual walks and our life in community.

God bless you with a renewed perspective of your heart, and a healthy suspicion of the way Christians think.

Humbly yours and forever His,

Rob

Note: Over the past year or two, we’ve written quite a few articles on the carnal mind and the process of faith. We encourage you to search for those at inLightAdventure.blog, and/or buy our new book on the subject, An Enemy Lies Within.