Romans 13:8-14

Our Mission:

Outfitting the Body to Reach the Searching

Our Purpose:

Fellowship - Building a supportive community where believers can grow together in faith. Discipleship - Guiding individuals in spiritual growth and maturity, helping them understand their faith deeply. Worship - Connecting people with God’s presence through a lifestyle of devotion to Him. Ministry - Reflecting Christ’s love through action by serving others both inside and outside the church. Evangelism - Intentionally sharing with others the message of the hope we have in Jesus through genuine relationships.

Recap

We’ve been walking through the practical elements of the faith these last several weeks as we quickly approach the end of our study in the book of Romans. The practical side started in chapter 12 with the charge to:

Romans 12:1 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Paul continues by describing what offering your bodies as a living sacrifice actually is.

When we come to faith in Jesus we come through a salvation that is Free. It states this in Romans 6.

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In other words we know that we pay nothing to be saved. It costs us nothing. Our salvation through Jesus Christ is completely free. We can do nothing to earn it. The sacrifice that is being mentioned here in Romans 12 is voluntary. It’s part of the choice that we have to make. We can choose to live lives of selfishness and self-centeredness in the flesh and not live lives of worship to the Lord. We can choose to still walk in the sins of the flesh and be saved and yet not live lives of true worship to the Lord.

Remember, God is looking for those who will worship Him in Spirit and Truth. This is the hope for every believer in Christ, but sadly many settle for salvation but as through fire.

1 Corinthians 3:15 ESV

15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

The life that Paul is describing in Chapters 12 and 13 so far is a life that is lived sacrificing what we would normally do in the flesh. We sacrifice our own comfort and make others the focus of our hospitality. We forgo the seeking of our own honor and outdo one another in showing honor. We allow God to fight our battles for us, allowing His perfect vindication to take place. We take the curse we wanted to give to our enemy and give a blessing instead.

Last week we looked at what it looked like to