ROMANS 12:1... OUR COMMITMENT

ROMANS 12:1

OUR COMMITMENT

Psalms 16:8 “I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.”

INTRODUCTION

As many of you know, I do football officiating. I ref games. I am on a new crew this year and the white hat or main guy asked all of us to be committed to the crew for the season.

We all know what committed means but for arguement sake lets look at the definition. There were 3 definitions, the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc; a pledge or undertaking; and finally an engagement or obligation that restricts freedom of action:......TALK....so he was asking me.....

Now all commitments are not bad as long as you are committed to the right thing or right person… ..a made a commitment to my family, a commitment to my job, a commitment to New Hope and a commitment to God......TALK…

And we will see today that these commitments are on a voluntary basis, and there are some requirements for your commitment

And the scripture doesn’t mention it but the benefits can’t be beat.

Our commitment to God is US.....giving ourselves wholly and completely to him.

Romans A. The Exhortation to Personal Sacrifice (12:1–2)

This verse is one of the most important in all the Bible, and contains more key theological terms and truths for its size than perhaps any other verse of Scripture. Having completed his explanation of sin, salvation, sanctification, and sovereignty, Paul now does to the Roman believers, in a manner of speaking, what the Holy Spirit does in our lives—he urges the Rome believers to act on the truth they have received

TALK, PREACH....

Theologian J.B. Phillips, states, With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give Him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to Him and acceptable by Him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the Plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity. .....TALK

Let’s walk in the text

Once again Paul is urging the Roman church to make a commitment to Christ. The commitment of giving their bodies to Him as a sacrifice that is Holy and acceptable.

Just like I stated earlier we see that this commitment is on a voluntary basis and there are some requirements for this commitment......

Let’s go deeper in the text

Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

First we see Paul use the word beseech, the original meaning from the Greek text, is to encourage....So Paul is encouraging them and brings up the mercies of God...

By the mercies of God reminds us that we do this because of the mercy shown to us by God (described well in Romans 1-11), and that we are only able to offer ourselves to God as He works His mercy in us. God commanded us to do this, and He makes it possible for us to do it.......TALK, PREACH...

Here are some of the mercies Paul talked about in chapters 1-11, Justification from the guilt and penalty of sin.

Adoption in Jesus and identification with Christ.

Placed under grace, not law.

Giving the Holy Spirit to live within

.Promise of help in all affliction.

Assurance of a standing in God’s election.

Confidence of coming glory.

Confidence of no separation from the love of God.

Confidence in God’s continued faithfulness…TALK, PREACH...

Church if we think about all of this and what God has done for us just on this morning, I think I will repeat Paul’s word and say New Hope, I beseech you because you know about the mercies of God.....TALK, PREACH..

What is Paul encouraging them to do as well as us? To make a commitment to Christ. A voluntary commitment....Let me show you...

Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

This phrase had numerous meaning from the original text but the ones that apply here are, to present, to provide. to place a person or thing at one's disposal.....in other words you are giving yourself to Him to be used by Him for His purpose but you are giving yourself.....TALK, PREACH, (you have to enter that relationship on your own free will)....

It’s a volunteer thing....

Next what are you committing, YOUR BODIES.....

Scripture teaches that the human body is of supreme importance to God, therefore we should take care of our body as well as humanly possible. The body does not exist for this life alone: it has a far more supreme purpose that to exist for a few years and then cease to be.

1 Corinthians 6:19 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”

Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

TALK, PREACH.....

This body is temple, that’s house the true you. God gave you this body and it has His stamp of approval on it and should given back to Him to be used by Him for His purpose....TALK, PREACH....

So we voluntarly give Him our bodies and now here are the requirements...

Romans 12:1 (NKJV)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

a living sacrifice, it should be holy and it should be acceptable....

Let’s walk some more...

a living sacrifice....

The sacrifice is living because it is brought alive to the altar

The sacrifice is living because it stays alive at the altar; it is ongoing.

The believer is to present their body as a living sacrifice.

a living sacrifice means a constant, continuous sacrifice, not just an occasional dedication..TALK, PREACH..

a living sacrifice means a sacrifice of persons body wherever the body is while it is living....TALK,PREACH (home, church, football game, wherever0

a living sacrifice means that the body sacrifices to it own desires and lives for God....TALK, PREACH

a living sacrifice means that the body lives for God by serving God....TALK,PREACH

HOLY and ACCEPTABLE.....

When we offer our body, God intends it to be a holy and acceptable sacrifice. The standard for sacrifices made to God under the New Covenant are not any less than the standard under the Old Covenant.

In the Old Testament, the offering or sacrifice had to be right.

He shall bring a male without blemish (Leviticus 1:10).

But if there is a defect in it, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God (Deuteronomy 15:21).

God wants the Holy and acceptable offerings.

If we look in Genesis, Cain killed Able because God accepted Able offering and not his.

Now those offerings or sacrifices were animals or the first fruits.

So you could find a nice Holy and acceptable offering according to the texts above.

But now we are talking about sinful mankind, where can we found a Holy and acceptable sacrifice among us?…I am glad you asked

The holiness we bring to the altar is a decision for holiness, and yielding to the work of holiness in our life. As we present our bodies a living sacrifice, God makes our life holy by burning away impurities....TALK, PREACH...

Giving your body to God is a spiritual act, Giving your body to God is acceptable and pleasing to Him....your mind, body and soul...

And God knows we are sinners but He can clean us and make us ready for that commitment…How does He do it?

In the Old Testament, they had the Torah or the law but under the New Covenant, we have the BLOOD....TALK, PREACH, CLOSE