A Commentary by John Stott
Romans 12-15.
The following table supplies the main examples of Paul’s teaching based directly or indirectly on Jesus’ teaching.
| Jesus | Paul |
| ‘Bless those who persecute you’ (Luke 6:28) | ‘Bless those who curse you; bless and do not curse’ (12:14) |
| ‘Do not resist an evil person’ (Mt. 5:39). | ‘Do not repay anyone evil for evil’ (12:17). |
| ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ (Mt. 5:9) ‘Be at peace with each other’ (Mk. 9:50). |
‘Live at peace with everyone’ (12:18; cf. 14:19). |
| ‘Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you’ (Lk. 6:27; cf. verse 35 and Mt. 5:44). | ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him’ (12:20). |
| ‘Is it right to pay tax to Caesar or not?… Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s’ (Mk. 12:14, 17). | ‘Give everyone what you owe him: if you owe taxes, pay taxes’ (13:7). |
| ‘Love one another’ (Jn.13:34) | ‘Love one another’ (13:8). |
| ‘Love the Lord your God… Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments’ (Mt.22:37ff.). | ‘He who loves his fellow-man has fulfilled the law’ (13:8) |
| ‘Do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets’ (Mt.7:12). | ‘The commandments…are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbour as yourself”’ (13:9). |
| ‘How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?’ (Lk. 12:56). | ‘Understanding the present time’ (13:11a). |
| ‘Do not let him find you sleeping (Mk.13:36).
‘Your redemption is drawing near’ (Lk. 21:28). |
‘Wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now… (13:11b,c). |
| ‘Do not judge, or you too will be judged’ (Mt. 7:1). | ‘Why do you judge your brother? Let us stop passing judgment on one another’(14:10,13). |
| ‘Men will have to give an account on the day of judgment…’ (Mt.12:36). | Each of us will give an account of himself to God. (14:12). |
| ‘Alas for the world that such causes of stumbling arise!’ (Mt. 18:7, NEB). | Make up your mind not to put any stumbling block…in your brother’s way’ (14:13). |
| ‘What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him “unclean”. (Mt. 15:10).
‘In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean”’ (Mk. 7:19). |
‘No food is unclean in itself…all food is clean’ (14:14, 20). |
| ‘Do not worry about…what you will eat or drink…But seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness’ (Mt.6:25, | ‘The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness…’ (14:17). |
33).
Turning now from these two general characteristics of Paul’s teaching to its particulars, it is evident that he concentrates on our relationships, beginning with our relationship to God.
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Tomorrow: Romans 12:1-2. Our relationship to God: consecrated bodies and renewed minds.
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The John Stott Bible Study is taken from The Message of Romans: Christ the Controversialist. The Bible Speaks Today John Stott. Used by permission of Inter-Varsity Press UK, Nottingham. All rights reserved.
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