Fuel for prayer (Romans 12:1-9)

Submitting to Christ means submitting to His great plan and purpose that can only be fulfilled by His body, the church.

God has made it clear in His Word the importance of being a part of a local body of believers (; ).

This speaks not just to weekly attendance, but to a spirit of sacrificial involvement in the body.

Through the Holy Spirit, we have each been gifted in a certain way () and we are to cultivate and use those gifts for the building up of believers all for the glory of Christ.

— Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

— Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

— Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Van Dyke, K. (2015). Complementarianism and the Single Woman. 9Marks Journal. — Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

In view of all that God has accomplished for his people in Christ, how should his people live?

They should present themselves to God as a ‘living sacrifice’, consecrated to him.

The animal sacrifices of an earlier day have been rendered for ever obsolete by Christ’s self-offering,

but there is always room for the worship rendered by obedient hearts.

— Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Instead of living by the standards of a world at discord with God,

believers are exhorted to let the renewing of their minds

by the power of the Spirit transform their lives into conformity with God’s will.

Doctrine is never taught in the Bible simply that it may be known;

it is taught in order that it may be translated into practice: ‘if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them’ ().

Hence Paul repeatedly follows up an exposition of doctrine with an ethical exhortation.

These first century readers would’ve certainly understood the term “sacrifice” more than our modern understanding does.

They were more familiar with the offering of sacrifices, whereas we’re not.

They had stood by their altar and watched as an animal was identified as their own, as it was slain in the ritual manner,

its blood manipulated,

and the whole or part of the victim burned on the altar and ascended in the flames to the Lord they worshipped.

To suggest that they themselves should be sacrifices was a striking piece of imagery.

Paul’s verb “offer” was a technical term for the offering of a sacrifice.

And what is the basis of both v1 and 2? It’s “in view of the mercies of God”!!

Paul’s appeal is made ‘in view of God’s mercy’, mercy encapsulated in the gospel.

The number of times Paul refers to God’s mercy in his letters reveals how important a theme it was for him.

What struck me even more, however, was the argument of leading up to this command. In verses 1 and 2, Paul commands Christians to present our bodies as living sacrifices.

The following verses that explain how this is actually done. Verses 3 to 8 describe how Christians live distinctly from the world within the context of the church community.

Every Christian must use his or her individual gifts to serve the body.

Verse 9 onward provides a list of attributes that should mark what makes every individual Christian life distinct:

genuine love,

brotherly affection,

fervency in spirit,

patience,

prayerful, and,

eventually, showing hospitality.

Apparently, hospitality is a basic of the Christian faith.

It is part of how we present our bodies as spiritual sacrifices.

2. — For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.

Notice what Paul does as a church leader.

Kruse, C. G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (D. A. Carson, Ed.) (p. 461). Cambridge, U.K.; Nottingham, England; Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.

Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 433). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

He takes the grace that’s given to him in his apostleship and uses that grace to speak to others.

“the grace given to me (as an apostle), I tell everyone...”

All Christians are gifted and that means that all Christians are responsible.

And of course our natural human tendency is to think more highly of ourselves that we ought, so it’s a call to humility!

In a sense, to himself, every man is the most important person in the world.

So we all need much grace to see what other people are as we take of oneself with sober judgment.

Paul proceeds to the thought that this is to be done in accordance with the measure of faith God has given.

Without faith none of the gifts can be exercised, and faith is the standard whereby they are to be estimated.

So seeing God as the sole Author of the gifts and ourselves as totally dependent on him for them all,

it is unlikely that we will be arrogant.

Humility proceeds from genuine faith.

It also means that God is the giver of all the gifts and that faith is the measure,

Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 438). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 438). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

meaning that we will not deny our own gifts either.

Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 438). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

Being sober-minded means recognizing what God has given us and being humbly zealous in its use.

3. — Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith;

That there be unity of Christians in the church just as there is unity in the members of the physical body

matters a great deal to Paul.

Clearly he found the illustration of the human body a very useful.

Here his point is that it takes many members to make up the body,

but they do not all have the same function.

Our physical body is certainly a unit, with all the members contributing to the good of the whole.

Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (pp. 438–439). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

In the same way we the many are one body in Christ.

— in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.

Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 439). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

The unity of the members of the body for all their diversity, a unity brought about by the fact that they are all in Christ.

Notice that phrase, “...we who are many are one body in Christ...”.

Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 439). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

— Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function,

In our union with Christ by faith, we are reconciled and joined to the One who is “the image of the invisible God,” “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (; ).

We become his body, the church.

And though we come from every tribe and language, every color and race, we are united in Him as a single people of God, a single race, a single nation.

The confusion and curse of are removed in Christ.

Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 438). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

In Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others ().

Through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus ().

— According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith;

Lawrence, M. (2006). Where Is Your Story Written? 9Marks Journal, 3(9), 13.

Here Paul begins his treatment of the Spiritual gifts.

On an interesting side note: in v3 we read that this grace comes from God.

In , making a similar point, the apostle speaks of the gifts given to each one ‘according to the measure of the gift of Christ’.

In Paul makes the same point but says there that it is the Spirit who gives the various gifts to believers.

The apostle clearly functions with a Trinitarian concept of God.

Paul says, “If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith”

Kruse, C. G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (D. A. Carson, Ed.) (p. 470). Cambridge, U.K.; Nottingham, England; Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.

This ‘faith’ here is the body of Christian belief. Just like in

— For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.

— They simply kept hearing: “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith he once tried to destroy.”

This sense would mean, then, that inspired preaching must not contradict Christian faith, for there can also be false prophecy ()

But this grace given to us is all ‘different’.

This brings out the truth that God does not make Christian into a collection of uniform droids.

We’re different from one another in both our natural abilities, talents, capabilities, and features & also the gifts that God gives us through His Spirit.

These differences are not just random, but according to the grace given us.

The thought of grace persists. And the word ‘given’ is important.

It is not a matter of the believer making an earnest effort in order to produce some spectacular result in Christian character or achievement, but something God has given.

4. (vv6-7)

Kruse, C. G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (D. A. Carson, Ed.) (p. 470). Cambridge, U.K.; Nottingham, England; Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.

Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 440). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

In v7 Paul moves to ‘serving’. It is a very general term which became the normal New Testament word for the service Christians perform.

Every spiritual work is a ministry.

Then he mentions ‘teaching’. The teacher is to be about his work.

In the early church with its fewness of books and with most of its members having little or no education

4. (vv6-7)

the place of the teacher must have been very important.

There was no question of the ordinary church member learning about faith

by reading many books at home.

He learned from what the teachers had to say.

We do not wonder that Paul makes much of this gift.

Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 441). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

5. — Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good.

At this point Paul moves from the charismatic gifts, functions exercised by individuals, to virtues he expects to see in all believers.

Characteristically he begins with love.

At the beginning of he passes from the topic of “spiritual gifts” to that of love, and

in he puts “love” first in his list of the fruit of the Spirit.

In similar strain he passes here from the “gifts” to the love that should characterize Christians.

Perhaps we can say that what follows is little more than a spelling out of what love means.

Verse 9 onward provides a list of attributes that should mark what makes every individual Christian life distinct:

genuine love, brotherly affection, fervency in spirit, patience, prayerful, and, eventually, showing hospitality.

Apparently, hospitality is a basic of the Christian faith.

It is part of how we present our bodies as spiritual sacrifices.

‘Detest what is evil’.

Then we know that love isn’t genuine if it leads a person to do something evil or to avoid doing what is right, as defined by God in His Word.

‘cling to what is good.’

For Paul, the ‘good’ is essentially

what is pleasing to God (cf. 12:2)

Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 443). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

but includes doing what is right in the in the eyes of the authorities (13:3; ),

Kruse, C. G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (D. A. Carson, Ed.) (p. 475). Cambridge, U.K.; Nottingham, England; Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.

doing good to one’s neighbors and to all people (15:2; ; ), and returning good for evil (12:21). Believers, he says also, are to be given to good works (; ; ; ; ).

doing good to one’s neighbors and to all people (15:2; ; ), and

returning good for evil (12:21).

Believers, he says also, are to be given to good works (; ; ; ; ).

Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 433). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

Bruce, F. F. (1985). Romans: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 6, p. 222). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.