Calling of Believers
Notes
Transcript
A Brief Summary
A Brief Summary
In the previous section, Rom. 9 - 11, Paul discussed the role and future of Israel, this next section, Rom. 12 - 15:13, Paul goes into the purpose and calling of all followers of Yeshua.
I have broken up the last main section of Romans as follows:
Rom. 12:1-8 Ministries of the Congregation
Rom. 12:9-21 Principles governing the Congregation
Rom. 13:1-7 Respect for authority
Rom. 13:8-14 Call to love and hope
Rom. 14:1-12 Respecting one another
Rom. 14:13-23 Pursuing shalom
Rom. 15:1-13 Strengthening one another
Paul had never met the Believers in Rome, and so he has written this letter to discuss: the Good News (or Gospel), salvation, trust in God, the righteousness of God and the dynamics of Jews and Gentiles living together as one new man in Messiah Yeshua. Now he is closing out his letter by addressing many different relational issues.
We live in a broken world, and if we are honest, we are broken people. Some of us deal with that brokenness by controlling every other area of our lives. Others simply react from the pain and end up hurting those near to us. But God commands us to stay in community, to stay connected to others as the author of Hebrews 10:25 writes: “And do not neglect our own meetings, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another—and all the more so as you see the Day approaching.”
This next section should be easy to understand, but may be a little harder to put into practice. So let us begin by reading Rom. 12:1-8
I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy, acceptable to God—which is your spiritual service. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given me, I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think—but to use sound judgment, as God has assigned to each person a measure of faith. For just as we have many parts in one body—and all the parts do not have the same function— so we, who are many, are one body in Messiah and everyone parts of one another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace that was given to us—if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; or the one who teaches, in his teaching; or the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who gives, in generosity; the one who leads, with diligence; the one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
A Living Sacrifice
A Living Sacrifice
Paul begins speaking of this halakah, or “way of walking” by making reference to the Temple worship. At this point in history, before 70 A.D., sacrifices were still being offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, similar to the community in Qumran, Paul is pointing to a sacrifice that is more holy than the ones being offered in the Temple. In the “Manual of Discipline” the Qumran community wrote about the foundation of their community:
The members of the Community...shall practice truth in common, and humility, and righteousness and justice and loving charity, and modesty in all their ways. Let no man walk in the stubbornness of his heart to stray by following his heart and eyes and the thoughts of his (evil) inclination.
Paul is doing the same. Paul points out that living a holy life together requires us to all start from a place of self sacrifice. We are called to lay our own desires and ambitions down, and firstly take up what God wants. Paul calls this our “Spiritual Service”. The word that Paul uses here for service, as David Stern explains,
[Service] corresponds to the Hebrew ‘avodah’ which can mean “work, service” in the every day sense… But ‘avodah’ is also the technical terms for the religious “service” performed in the Temple; and the context demands this meaning here.
This is similar to what Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth, in 1 Cor. 3:16-17
Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that the Ruach Elohim dwells among you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Because of what Yeshua has done, the Salvation Paul spoke of in Chapters 1-3, the Justification in Chapters 4-5, the Sanctification in Chapters 6-8, both Jews and Gentiles can now host the presence of the Living God! We present ourselves as the living-sacrifice, as worship to Adonai.
But where does this start?
Be Transformed
Be Transformed
The transformation does not start on the outside, but rather it starts with the transformation of our mind and heart.
As far as I can see from Scripture, we are a living being, or soul, who is made from the dust of the ground (our physical body), made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26), and filled with the breath of life. As it says in Gen. 2:7.
Then Adonai Elohim formed the man out of the dust from the ground and He breathed into his nostrils a breath of life—so the man became a living being.
In simple terms, we are a living, breathing, being made up of a physical part and a non-physical part.
Be not Conformed
Be not Conformed
So, what does Paul mean that we must not be “conformed to the world but...transformed by the renewing of our minds”? Well, the mind is non-physical, and therefore Paul is referring to the non-physical and/or spiritual aspects of the world. We are called to resist (or be non-conformists) the morals of this world, the temptations of the world, and all the things in this world that are vying for first place in our lives.
Paul then points out the benefits of being spiritually transformed: Rom. 12:2b
So that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
So, without being spiritually transformed, we are not able to even discern what is “morally good, psychologically satisfying, and in practice able to succeed (or: “able to reach the goal.” … “perfect” strongly connontates goal-orientation and accomplishment.) [Stern, p.427.]
Paul is going to use the next 4 chapters to explain what it means to be a living sacrifice and how we are to live once we are spiritually transformed. By the way, in case you are wondering, Paul has already explained how we become spiritually transformed; it is the same as in Zech. 4:6b
“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Ruach!” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
More Highly than We Ought
More Highly than We Ought
Paul now explains the foundation of being a living sacrifice and the primary evidence of a renewed mind, namely Humility. I think that Paul was very careful in how he chose his words. He is certainly warning the believers to avoid and reject boasting, conceit and arrogance as he did in Rom. 2:8 and Rom. 11:18-25, but at the same time he is also addressing false-humility.
I remember hearing that Art Kats and his wife would repent every day for pride, and I think that there is wisdom in that. At the same time, we need to remember that we are made in the image of God and therefore have inherent value. Meaning that we are valuable because God made us and redeemed us. Period.
Joseph Shulam points out that, “Humility was one of the traits with which the Rabbis sought to fill the gap left by the absence of actual offerings of animal sacrifices following the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E.”
Whoso offereth the sacrifices of confession honoureth Me (Ps. 50:23) R. Joshua b. Levi said: When the Temple was in existence, if a man brought a burnt offering, he received credit for a burnt offering....but he who was humble in spirit, Scripture regards him as though he had brought all the offerings, for it is said, The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit (Ps. 51:17). And furthermore, his prayers are not despised, for it is written, A broken and contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.
The point being made is, that our journey toward Adonai always begins (and remains) from a place of humility. For just as King David demonstrated in Psalms 50 - 51, Adonai is looking for us to remain in a place of humble repentance.
Paul goes on to contend that there is an “Ought” when it comes to how valuable we see ourselves. It is true that we are more valuable than trees and animals, but we all have the same value as every other human. As believers, we must remember that we are all loved by Adonai regardless of what role we have in the community.
Spiritual Gifting in the Body
Spiritual Gifting in the Body
With a foundational understanding that we all have equal value based upon the “measure of faith” that God has given each of us, we can now look at different roles/spiritual gifting in the Congregation. There are summarised as:
Prophesy
Service
Teaching
Exhortation
Giving
Leading
Showing Mercy
These roles are very similar to the Roles discussed in 1 Cor. 12, 13 -14. Much of the same structure is used in both letters.
God’s people are an organic unity, a body (Rom. 12:4-5). Each member of the body is given gifts (Rom. 12:6-8) meant to be used properly and not abused (Rom. 12:6-21), within an overall framework of love (Rom. 12:9-13, 13:8-10) in which evil is to be overcome with good (Rom. 12:14-13:7)
Next week we will have a closer look at each one of the Spiritual giftings.
Two Stories & a Lesson
Two Stories & a Lesson
I know that today has been somewhat of an introduction for the section that we are going into, but as I started writing the details of each of the gifts I found that there is too much to cover in one week. But there is one topic that we covered today, it is based upon Rom. 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Firstly, I would like to read you a short story.
I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost. I am helpless. It isn't my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I still don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I am in the same place. It isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it there, I still fall in. It's habit. It's my fault. I know where I am. I get out immediately.
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.
I walk down a different street.
Second, I want to show you all a video that I believe I have showed before about the man who forgot how to ride a bicycle. I will give you a hint, the reason I am showing this, has nothing to do with riding a bicycle.
https://youtu.be/MFzDaBzBlL0?si=rirg_Y2JhFZavmMI
At the end of the Bicycle video, he had a Scripture verse pop up. Did you notice what it was? Prov. 4:20-27
My son, pay attention to my words— incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them and health to their whole body. Guard your heart diligently, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away perversity from your mouth, and keep devious lips far from you. Let your eyes look directly ahead, and fix your gaze straight in front of you. Clear a level path for your feet, so all your ways will be firm. Do not turn to the right or to the left. Divert your foot from evil.
Paul covers the same idea in Eph. 4:22-32
With respect to your former lifestyle, you are to lay aside the old self corrupted by its deceitful desires, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self—created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. So lay aside lying and “each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. “Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun go down on your anger, nor give the devil a foothold. The one who steals must steal no longer—instead he must work, doing something useful with his own hands, so he may have something to share with the one who has need. Let no harmful word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for building others up according to the need, so that it gives grace to those who hear it. Do not grieve the Ruach ha-Kodesh of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness and rage and anger and quarreling and slander, along with all malice. Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other just as God in Messiah also forgave you.
Many times. as Believers, we find ourselves continually doing the same bad habits that we did before, and we pray and wonder how we will ever change. Paul gives us the answer in the above passage. It is not enough to simply stop doing the bad or sinful behavior, we must walk in the opposite direction.
If we stole before, now we need to work so that we can give. If we spoke harmful words before, now we need to choose to speak the truth in love, speaking only what is beneficial for building others up. If we bitter, or filled with rage and anger before, now we need to choose to be kind, compassionate and forgiving.
And once again, as it says in Zech. 4:6b
“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Ruach!” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
Adonai has not left us alone, but has left us a comforter who will help us in all our weaknesses.
