All the items mentioned in Romans 12 through 13 are for the living of the Body life. Each item requires us to be ruled by the divine life. All these items are small things, yet they can be done by us only when we are ruled by the divine life.
To present our bodies a living sacrifice (12:1) is a matter of reigning in life. Without reigning in life, no one can present his body a living sacrifice. When we reign in life, we are not being fashioned according to this age but are being transformed by the renewing of the mind, proving what the will of God is (v. 2).
When we are controlled by the divine life, we surely will think so as to be sober-minded, as God has apportioned to each a measure of faith (v. 3b). Our thinking about ourselves is like a wild horse. But by reigning in life our thinking is bridled.
Often the deacons or deaconesses may not take their proper position. This means they are not ruled by the divine life. When they are ruled by the divine life, they will serve faithfully in their particular service (v. 7a).
As we are under the ruling of the divine life, we are able to teach, exhort, give in simplicity, lead in diligence, and show mercy in cheerfulness (vv. 7b-8). Likewise, when we are a person under the ruling of the divine life, we will take the lead in showing honor one to another (v. 10b).
Romans 12:9-21 is a section on living a life of the highest virtues for the Body life. We must realize that in ourselves we could never practice these virtues. We can have such a living for the Body life only by reigning in life. If we check our church life, we will find that we are short in nearly every point. Romans 12:15 says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep." When others are rejoicing, we may be jealous, and when others are weeping, we may despise them. To rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who weep are impossible except when we are under the ruling of the divine life. Our natural life cannot make it; but by living a life under the ruling of the divine life, we are able to live the Body life with these virtues. To see the Body life built up as a practical reality, we must reign in life, and to reign in life in practice is to be under the ruling of the divine life.
God's will is to have the Body life. Romans 13 presents some additional aspects of the life of one who is living in the Body life. As we have seen, we cannot have this kind of living in ourselves. Only by living under the ruling of the divine life can we be this kind of people. We must be subject to all authorities, realizing that they have been established under the sovereign arrangement of God. Furthermore, we must owe nothing to anyone except to love one another, loving our neighbor as ourselves. Finally, we must live a watchful life "in the day" (v. 13). One effect of our reigning in life is that we are awakened, made alert, made watchful, and not lulled to sleep by this age. We must be those who make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts, but rather are awake as in the day, putting on the Lord Jesus Christ as our second garment (Psa. 45:13-14) to live Him as our subjective righteousness and to magnify Him.
God's complete salvation is for us to reign in life by the abundance of grace (God Himself as our all-sufficient supply for our organic salvation) and of the gift of righteousness (God's judicial redemption applied to us in a practical way). When we are all reigning in life, living under the ruling of the divine life, the issue is the real and practical Body life.