The Transforming Power of Grace
Notes
Transcript
Chapter 12 of Romans is one of the most incredible chapters in all of the Bible in my opinion.
It is all about how Christians are called to live mercifully:
Serve one another
love one another
outdo one another in showing honor
Contribute to the needs of others
Bless those who persecute you
Show hospitality
Live in harmony with one another
Bless those who curse you...
Live peacably with all people...
All of these are things that require us to have much mercy towards other people… is all about living a life that is literally merciFUL…Full of Mercy
But before Paul tells us that we should live mercifully, he gives us a plea about worship...
The Appeal
The Appeal
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
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 essentially says this: Because of God’s unending, unconditional, uncontainable, exuberant, unrelenting, unstoppable, grace…do this…make your life a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God as an act of worship...
This is always almost always how Paul begins any command that the Holy Spirit has given him. He always basis any command in the foundation of the cross. In the Bible, the cross of Jesus Christ is the foundation where any command of God is rightly understood.
Paul
In Romans, Paul spends the first 11 chapters laying out this incredible picture of the beauty of God’s grace. The question that Paul is dealing with is, How in the world can God save sinners and yet not ignore their sin? And the answer to that question is simply this: Grace
And look at how jacked up Paul get’s about this whole idea of grace at the end of chapter 11.
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
romans 11:34-
God saves sinner
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
And this is how Paul concludes his whole discussion about
Romans 1:
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
Romans 3:10-
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Jesus offered himself up as a living sacrifice wholly and pleasing to God as His spiritual act of worship for the salvation of sinners....
Consecrate Ourselves
Concise Oxford English Dictionary Consecrate
consecrate /ˈkɒnsɪkreɪt/
■ verb
1 make or declare sacred.
Concise Oxford English Dictionary Consecrate
consecrate /ˈkɒnsɪkreɪt/
■ verb
1 make or declare sacred.
▶ (in Christian belief) declare (bread or wine) to be or represent the body and blood of Christ.
Paul says that we offer up our bodies…the word means “our entire selves”
It means that the way that we respond to the gospel is that we literally give everything to God as an act of worship.
The word that Paul uses
Our minds, our hearts, our souls...
But those things can be confusing even…so what does it mean for us to give everything to God as a living sacrifice?
I think it means this:
We give God our time
We give God our money
This doesnt mean that you have to sit and read your bible all day…but it means that even the responsibilities we have…we do them
we give God our material possessions
We give God our sexuality
We give God our Hopes and Dreams
It literally means this…everything I do…God, I want to do for you.
So let me ask you this question, Christian...Have you given God your everything? Have you given you time, money, possessions, sexuality, hopes, and dreams up to God? Can you
Have you given God your everything?
Jesus offered himself up as a living sacrifice wholly and pleasing to God as His spiritual act of worship for the salvation of sinners....