Living Sacrificially like Christ
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.
Humility and Love
Humility and Love
Relation to believers in church
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.
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Relation to persecutors
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Relation to governing authorities
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Relation to neighbor
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
Relation to believers with differing opinions on matters not dictated by our Lord
Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.
If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died.
Humility and Love
Humility and Love
To live sacrificially for the Lord is to live in humility and love in all of our relationships, and in all circumstances.
The best picture of this is Christ...
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.
For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had,
so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 15:1 (NIV)
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
Bear with - endure something unpleasant or difficult
Romans 15:1 (NIV)
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
We are not to please ourselves…
That is, we should not just be thinking only of ourselves and what makes us happy. What do I want? What would make me happy in this situation?
The cry of our flesh, our sinful nature, is to be self-centered in every detail of our lives. As we interact with people, if things are not the way we want them, then we cut off those relationships.
That is our old way of thinking and living. Now, as living sacrifices, living for our Lord we are to...
Romans 15:2 (NIV)
Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.
Please our neighbors - accommodate oneself to… do what makes them pleased
the world says that we should not try to accommodate everyone else. Trying to please everyone, as one pundit put it, is like juggling flaming torches while riding a unicycle on a tightrope!. The world says that we need to know and live for what makes us happy.
Remember Romans 12:2. We are living sacrificially for the Lord, and having our minds renewed by the Holy Spirit.
God’s way is to accommodate oneself for our neighbor, rather than living for ourselves.
A wise chef once said, 'If you only cook to please your own taste buds, you'll never master the art of creating a delicious meal that satisfies others.' In the same way, when we live solely to please ourselves, we miss out on the joy of enriching the lives of those around us. Let's strive to serve others and honor God through selfless living.
Now, there are some good qualifications here in the verse...
Romans 15:2 (NIV)
Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.
for their good
to build them up - helping them come to completion, maturity
This is an important guideline. We are not just to simply please our neighbor, giving in to every whim and notion.
Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
When pressured to Change the gospel
to change the gospel and make it about following the law destroys the gospel
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
1 Cor 5. Deal with Sin! Do not wink at it, or make light of it.
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.
You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”
But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—
having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
Romans 15:2 (NIV)
Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.
We please our neighbor for their good. We do what we can to accommodate ourselves to them when that is going to be good for them, to help them on to maturity. We do not do this when it will leave them in bondage to sin and worldly thinking that leads to sin.
Romans 15:3 (NIV)
For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”
and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Romans 15:3 (NIV)
For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”
Quote from Psalm 69:9 “for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.”
Ps 69, by David
speaking of being surrounded by enemies and attacked
many foretellings of Christ’s life and experience.
Romans 15:4 (NIV)
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.
I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.
If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.
But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
You, God, know my folly; my guilt is not hidden from you.
Lord, the Lord Almighty, may those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me; God of Israel, may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me.
For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face.
I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children;
for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
When I weep and fast, I must endure scorn;
when I put on sackcloth, people make sport of me.
Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of the drunkards.
But I pray to you, Lord, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation.
Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters.
Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me.
Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me.
Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.
Come near and rescue me; deliver me because of my foes.
You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed; all my enemies are before you.
Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none.
They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.
May the table set before them become a snare; may it become retribution and a trap.
May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.
Pour out your wrath on them; let your fierce anger overtake them.
May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
For they persecute those you wound and talk about the pain of those you hurt.
Charge them with crime upon crime; do not let them share in your salvation.
May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
But as for me, afflicted and in pain— may your salvation, God, protect me.
I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.
This will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hooves.
The poor will see and be glad— you who seek God, may your hearts live!
The Lord hears the needy and does not despise his captive people.
Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them,
for God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. Then people will settle there and possess it;
the children of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell there.
Romans 15:4 (NIV)
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
We are not alone.
As we go through life, we need the scriptures to keep us from evil
Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.
And to keep our eyes focused on Him
You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,
Romans 15:4 (NIV)
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
Endurance - steadfastness, patient endurance
continuing to do right, even when it costs us
Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;
in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;
in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;
Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
Romans 15:4 (NIV)
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
expectation
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
Romans 15:5 (NIV)
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had,
Romans 15:6 (NIV)
so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.