Do Your Part
Notes
Transcript
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,
so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;
if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach;
if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
What does offering ourselves as living sacrifices to God look like?
What does it mean to not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds? What would that be like?
Paul is going to make this practical, and show us the answers to these questions in the next few chapters of Romans.
He begins by showing what the renewed mind would be like in Romans 12:3-8.
Think properly about yourself
Think properly about yourself
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Do not think too highly of yourself
Do not think too highly of yourself
literally hyper thinking, over thinking, over estimating oneself
Paul’s example: by the grace granted to me
Worldly thinking is all about ourselves
Prideful
Self-deprecating… but still thinking of ourselves way too much
Think with sober judgment
Think with sober judgment
think with sound thinking
same word used of the demon possessed man after Jesus cast out the legion of demons.
sober thought is when you are in your right, proper state of mind, thinking clearly, properly
according to the measure of faith God has assigned to each one.
Standard rather than quantity
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
also in the context of gifts given to members of the body...
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
The standard of Christ’s gift… what is that standard?
“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.
Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.
Such confidence we have through Christ before God.
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.
He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
Thinking soberly is not thinking about how much I have received vs. how much others have received.
Thinking soberly is thinking that we do not have anything except what we have received by faith. We have nothing to boast about. We have no reason to downplay what we have received. Does God give bad gifts?
We have all received grace upon grace. We have all received God’s blessings! We should think about that and remember the standard is Christ, not the world’s thinking...
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.
Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Think properly about the body of Christ
Think properly about the body of Christ
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,
so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
Unity, Diversity, Mutuality
Unity - one body
Diversity - Body has many parts, all of them necessary for the body to function properly
Mutuality - Each part belongs to the others, we are not our own
Football team
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,
to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Act as Living Sacrifices
Act as Living Sacrifices
However, since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them properly: if prophecy, in proportion to one’s faith;
Gifts - grace gift
Given - Granted
to us… all the way through, Paul has used language which makes is apparent that us means each and every one of us, no one is excluded
Prophecy
Prophecy
declaring God’s word, proclaiming, whether warning, blessing, or direction
But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.
We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith;
Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;
However, since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them properly: if prophecy, in proportion to one’s faith;
in proportion? in agreement with
your faith, our faith, his faith, one’s faith, actually… THE faith
what is declared must be in agreement, in accord with the faith, the sound doctrine, the word of God
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.
If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching,
they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions
and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach;
Serving
Serving
rather generic and all encompassing
Work that is done to benefit another
serving in Christ’s strength, and with His wisdom
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
Teaching
Teaching
not just proclaiming, but making things clear
Not our thoughts, but in accord with scripture
if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Encouraging
Encouraging
This word is the one for coming alongside, or calling alongside
Sometimes encouraging
Sometimes exhorting, warning
Sometimes comforting
Always helping… Just as the Spirit is called the helper, using this same word
And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
Giving
Giving
generously, with simplicity/sincerity of heart
We give but what we have been given
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Leading
Leading
with diligence
Not just a title to hold
We must be on the alert, protecting the flock
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.
Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.
So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
Showing mercy
Showing mercy
cheerfully?
Not always easy to show mercy
The burdens can weigh you down...
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
But we need to joy of the Lord to share with others
Be merciful to those who doubt;
save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
True mercy is always pointing to the joy of salvation, the hope of Christ
Let our hearts be full of that joy, and let our faces reflect what is in our hearts as we come to those who need mercy
Think properly of yourself
Think properly of the body
Act as living sacrifices
We belong to one another
We need the whole team to be functioning, not working for another team, but this team
Living for God, sacrificing our bodies, our time, our strength to worship him by giving back what he has given to us!
Not exhaustive list what has God given you to use for others?