Romans 12:11

‘fervent in spirit,
serving the Lord’
(Romans 12:11)

The word translated ‘fervent’ here could also be used to describe boiling water, even mimicking its sound. So the apostle Paul is encouraging us to be hot and bubbling like that, ‘in spirit’. It links to his thought a few verses earlier that the Christian should be like a ‘living sacrifice’(Romans 12:1) – on fire, burnt up and sold out for ‘the Lord’. Paul certainly lived like that, and wrote about being ‘poured out on the sacrifice and service’(Philippians 2:17) of others similarly committed. The idea is that we’re like an Old Testament sacrificial ‘offering’(Numbers 15:7ff., cf. 2 Timothy 4:6), yet made within our New Testament temple of ‘living stones… built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ’(1 Peter 2:5), who similarly ‘emptied Himself’(Philippians 2:7) to become our ‘atoning sacrifice’(Romans 3:25) on ‘the cross’(Philippians 2:8) – hence our being driven ‘by the mercies of God’(Romans 12:1). As Jesus Himself taught: ‘“If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me… whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it”’(Matthew 16:24-25) – sold out sacrifices, on fire and boiling over, ‘fervent in spirit, serving the Lord’.

So fervency is a good thing, and to be encouraged. However, its only ‘good to be zealous in a good cause’(Galatians 4:18), and with the truth. Paul new all about misplaced ‘zeal’(Philippians 3:6) from his former way of life as a pharisee. He fervently persecuted Christians, mistakenly thinking he was offering ‘“service to God”’(John 16:2)! It’s possible to serve enthusiastically, even the true God, but not be ‘saved… zeal for God, but’(Romans 10:1-2) not in the right ‘“way”’(John 14:6; Acts 24:14). In a less problematic sense Apollos, in his early days as a believer, was ‘fervent in spirit… and taught accurately’(Acts 18:25) up to a point, but needed to have ‘explained to him the way of God more’(Acts 18:26) thoroughly. So, alongside the fervency, we’re to ensure that our thinking is thoroughly in line with ‘the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God’(Romans 12:2) as well, as much as that’s possible.

The key to this is allowing our minds to ‘be transformed’(Romans 12:2) by His ‘word’(Hebrews 4:12, cf. 2 Timothy 3:16), applied by His ‘Spirit’(Titus 3:5; 1 Corinthians 2:14). Through such Spirit-led contemplation of the word, ‘we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit’(2 Corinthians 3:18). As we observe and take in God’s living word like this, it’s not just our understanding that changes; rather, we actually become ‘partakers of the divine nature’(2 Peter 1:4, cf. John 14:10-21), through drinking the ‘pure spiritual milk’(1 Peter 2:2) of His ‘“words”’(John 6:63), which become like ‘“living water… springing up to eternal life”’(John 4:10-14) within us. This living water then (super)naturally flows from us too – bubbling springs, even ‘“rivers of living water… the Spirit”’(John 7:38-39).

It’s important to realise that we can ‘stir up’(2 Timothy 1:6, cf. Hebrews 10:24-25) or ‘quench’(1 Thessalonians 5:19) such flows, as they stream through both ourselves and our fellowships. We mustn’t be ‘lagging in diligence’(Romans 12:11) in this regard. Aside from the prayerful contemplation of God’s word, other ways to open up rather than stem these flows include being ‘filled with the Spirit’(Ephesians 5:18ff.) whilst singing ‘psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs’(Colossians 3:16), participating in ‘the breaking of bread’(Acts 2:42), and fellowship more generally to mutually encourage each ‘other’s faith’(Romans 1:12).

And so to the ‘serving’, which interestingly both stokes and flows out from all of this, as we use our ‘gifts’(Romans 12:6ff.) for ‘various kinds of service’(1 Corinthians 12:5ff.), especially when used for ‘the building up of the body of Christ’(Ephesians 4:12), but true ‘whatever’(Colossians 3:23) we do to exercise this bubbling, boiling, fiery and flowing ‘strength which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ’(1 Peter 4:11). Paul not only taught this but ‘mightily’(Colossians 1:29) demonstrated it too, including through the very practical ‘poor’(Romans 15:26, cf. Acts 24:17) relief trip that he was on as he wrote this letter to the Romans, with a mission trip to ‘Spain’(Romans 15:24&28) in mind as well! Yet he bubbled along with the appropriate ‘humility’(2 Corinthians 10:1, cf. Romans 12:3) he teaches here too, all through being properly steeped in the source of this fervour, who necessarily expresses Himself through the ‘fruit’(Galatians 5:22ff.) of ‘love’(Romans 12:10), ‘peace’(Romans 12:18) and ‘rejoicing’(Romans 12:12) that Paul also urges, alongside all that’s ‘good’(Romans 12:2,9&21) and of God more generally.

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