The Hardest Call (1)

Romans 12:1–2 “1 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. 2 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.”

INTRODUCTION:

What’s the hardest thing anyone has ever asked you to do?

I remember being in football in middle school and our coach asking us to do push-ups.

So we get in the push-up position thinking he’s gonna ask us to crank out a couple, maybe 30 or so.

Well he blows his whistle and he tells us, now back up against the wall and put your feet up in the air.

I thought I was gonna die by the time we got to 15 pushups.

Paul in this section of Romans calls his readers to something much much harder, and something that’s much much more important.

It’s been said that this text is the perfect summary statement of all of Paul’s written work (Moo, NICNT, 787).

I. An Appeal (1a)

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy…”

Paul is transitioning from 11 staunch chapters of some really intense theology by saying “therefore I urge you.”

Uh oh, the Apostle Paul “urges” us. Before we see what he’s asking us to do, lets just note what he’s saying when he “urges” us.

This is a word that Paul would use when he’s about to drop something super important.

This word falls somewhere between “request” and a “command.”

Think of it like a parent saying “I’d like for you to clean your room.”

It’s presented as a request but really, you better do this.

Paul is speaking authoritatively, not as a superior issuing a command, but as the mediator of God’s truth.

Paul says “therefore” and whenever you see a “therefore,” what do you have to do? You have to see what it’s there-for.

Paul is demanding that we look back to everything that he’s just written.

This is the application of the last 11 chapters.

11 chapters where He details the love of God, the problem of sin, and the work God has done through His Son to redeem us from this sin.

He summarizes all of this as “God’s mercy.”

We read this as singular—as if their is one merciful thing, but the word here is actually plural— “in view of God’s mercies.”

In view of God’s pattern of being merciful.

Paul is saying, because God has so richly blessed you this is how you ought to respond.

II. A Presentation (1b)

“…to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

Woah, a living sacrifice? This is a foreign concept to the people Paul is talking to.

These were people who understood very well what sacrifice was.

Sacrifice wasn’t something that was unique to the OT—everyone in the ancient world participated in sacrifices; really, if you studied the ancient world you’d find out that these were a people that were obsessed with sacrifice.

Look at these modifying words Paul throws in there for this sacrifice.

He says this sacrifice is to be holy and pleasing—these are ideas that we find repeated throughout the OT.

The grain offering is called holy (Lev. 6:17).

Ezra 6:10 refers to sacrifices being pleasing to God.

And I’m sure pagans had similar sentiments for their sacrifices, but neither the sacrifices of the OT or of the pagans had any conceptualization of what a living sacrifice is.

Think about what a sacrifice is…it’s a dead thing!

A living sacrifice makes as much sense as a married bachelor.

But Paul calls his readers to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

We’ll see this the more we read Romans 12, but Paul is calling his readers to offer their lives to God.

Just sit with that for a moment.

I feel like many in Christianity suffer from the same problem that the Jews faced in the OT.

We have our lists of things to do on Sunday.

We go to church, punch our card, and then behave

III. A Transformation (2a)

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Paul tells us the “what” in verse one, but now he gets into the “how.”

How is it that I get to the point where my life, what I do, is holy and pleasing to God?

It starts with your thinking.

Paul here contrasts

IV. An Ability (2b)

“Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

CONCLUSION:

In these opening verses of this chapter Paul has called each of us onto the altar, and throughout this series of lessons we’re going to be studying what it looks like for us to be on the altar—offering our lives to God.

We’ll close each lesson this way, are you on the altar?

Have you offered, not just part of your life, but your whole life to God?

Know that in this series this isn’t just for the non-Christian, but for every person here who still has more of their life to give.