Unit 2

Choice 1 Romans 12-16 Live as Saints should live

Romans 13:11 says, "for now is our salvation nearer than we believed."  I think that by using the word nearer, Paul is reminding us that we must endure to the end.  We can not live a righteous life then fall into temptation by not repenting of our sins.  We must continually repent of our sins, work towards perfection through the atonement of Christ.  For a person who has lived a righteous life, often the trap is: that they have been good and worked hard, and it is okay to give into temptation because they rarely do.  But this is what Paul is warning us of.  

I have made a list from Romans 12-13 of counsels that Paul has given, for us to live, to help lead to salvation.

• sacrifice ourselves (Romans 12:1)
• be in the world and not of the world; have self mastery; repents and renew your mind; test, try and prove good things; do the will of God (Romans12:2) 
• Hold on to the good, let go of the bad, and love unconditionally (Romans 12:9)
• Law of consecration (Romans 12:13) 
• Be understanding and humble (Romans 12:16)
• "Overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21)
• Be submissive and obedient, the only power is God's power (Romans 13:1)
• Do not fear men if you are righteous (Romans 13:3)
• Love one another (Romans 13:8)
• Keep the commandments, and "briefly" keep the commandments that, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (Romans 13:9)

In Romans 14 and 15 we learn to not judge others.  I really like Romans 14:3 it says, "Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him." This verse says a lot about judging others.  What is most important to remember is that God receives everyone, no matter what they believe or how they live their lives.  So we should also receive and accept everyone by not judging them.  Doctorine and Covenants 38 also teaches us that we should not only refrain from judging others, but we should "esteem his brother as himself." (verse 25).  The term that Paul frequently uses to refer to the members of the church in his day is Saints.