Romans 12:1-8
Notes
Transcript
Paul tries to point out to the Roman church this main thought - our religion is not null and void, but is a living and practical relationship with God. Because it is an ongoing, personal relationship, we have an active role in the practice of our religion. He starts this chapter with an appeal to Christians about their personal actions and lifestyle. In the next six verses, he defends his statement with the gifts we are given as a result of the grace of God. We (as believers) have forgotten what it is like to have to fully rely on God during times of turmoil. We are impatient and grow easily frustrated because we are a people that have grown accustomed to getting everything we want at the moment we want it. If we are hungry, we go to the pantry or the refrigerator. If we need gas, we go to the gas station. If we need a new television, we go buy one. We have become a generation of what I will term “disposability”. When we grow tired of something, we simply replace it. It is disposable - we use it until (or we perceive) it gives us no more benefit and we throw it away. I have a suspicion that many who call themselves “Christians” place themselves in a “disposable church” - they only attend or are active as long as they receive (or perceive) a benefit.
Have you heard Christianity referred to as, “not a religion BUT A RELATIONSHIP”? I partially agree with this statement - it IS a relationship that sets our faith apart from many other religions. BUT, it is not only the relationship that is required - there are religious expectations. We are to gather together as believers -
25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Carey Nieuwhof made this statement in an artilce he wrote “While writing off the church passes as sophisticated thinking, it’s actually the opposite; what if it’s a simplistic and even reductionistic line of thinking that leads nowhere constructive?”
https://careynieuwhof.com/a-response-to-christians-who-are-done-with-church
We are to put time and effort into studying scripture.
2 Timothy 2:15 KJV Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Why have we not gotten to the point that we do not know nor do we care what our personal commitment to the church and to God is?
Have we ever thought that we, as an older generation, have done a good job preparing the next generation? This is why it is critical that we study what Paul says to us individually - and that we teach it to the next generation.
Living Sacrifice
Living Sacrifice
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.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
We have a duty to God to live a life of godliness. This has to be a part of our surrender to God. If this is not part of our theological foundation, it is only advice on how to get along with other “religious” people.
I - Paul, as the author
appeal to you - exhortation (an address or communication emphatically urging someone to do something). Paul is making his plea to the believers he is writing to.
by the mercies of God - Christ has already set the example to us. Gathering together for the teaching/preaching, the mentoring of leaders, the discipleship of others, etc. even willingly giving His own life as a sacrifice for us.
present your bodies as a living sacrifice, - In essence, we should give our whole body as a living sacrifice as a part of true worship. Not only the skin and bone, but the mind and soul. Sacrifice - a willful surrendering of ones life as an offering to God. This contrasts with the legal sacrifices where there was a death that had to occur. No longer do we have to sacrifice an animal, John 1:29 tells us when he saw Jesus coming towards him , he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
holy and acceptable to God - Without blemish and pleasing to God.
which is your spiritual worship - Paul is thinking about the action of worshiping, the wholehearted declaration of heart, mind, willpower, words, and deeds, in fact of all one is, has, and does, to God.
Do not be conformed to this world -
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
Too often we try to fit Christianity into “todays modern and sinful culture”
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind -
Instead of letting Christianity mold us into a “model and righteous culture”.
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
that by testing you may discern what is the will of God -
A believer must find and follow God’s will.
what is good and acceptable and perfect -
good - beneficial, moral
acceptable - pleasing, welcomed
perfect - without error or mistake, flawless, completely fulfilled
Romans 1. Among Believers (12:1–21)
Only the Christian faith, rooted as it is in a supernatural act that took place in history (the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ), has the ultimate moral authority as well as the effective power to transform human life according to the divine intention.
Hendriksen, William, and Simon J. Kistemaker. Exposition of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. Vol. 12–13. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001. Print. New Testament Commentary.
Gifts of Grace AKA/ Your Responsibility to the Local Church
Gifts of Grace AKA/ Your Responsibility to the Local Church
Think of this - if you quit coming to this church, would there be anything missing other than your presence?
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
What was Paul given to be by grace? Apostle - a person who has come into a personal contact with the living or resurrected Christ and called to be His messenger.
Today, no living Apostles - only Imposters
not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think - Two things:
Thinking too highly of self
Thinking too lowly/critical of everyone else
think with sober judgment - think wisely and accurately, making decision after evaluation and prayer, not on personal wants and desires.
each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned - every person has a gift from God, and each persons gift is needed within the local church to function in the whole. No one person has the ability or the gifts to do it all.
You might be vitally important, but none of us is solely sufficient.
4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
Believers can be compared to the human body. The human body has many parts or members, and no two members have the same function. So it is with believers. Believers are many, yet they are one body in Christ. Every single believer has a distinct function to fulfill in the world, yet he is a member of all other believers.
5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;
8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.