Romans 12
Daily Bread Romans 12
Living Sacrifices
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
Observation:
Okay if you thought Romans 8 was pretty cool, this isn’t too far behind. At the beginning of chapter 12, we see another one of Paul’s big “Therefore’s”. Again Paul is summarizing, “Therefore in view of all I have taught you about God’s mercy…” Meaning it is response time. Although God starts and finishes the good work He wants to do in us by His grace and through our faith in what He has done, there is still a response that Paul outlines in these first two famous verses.
Paul tells the believers in Rome to do two things. One, they should offer their bodies as a living sacrifice. This is in contrast to the dead animal sacrifices in the Old Testament for the forgiveness of the Israelite’s sins. Paul says our bodies have been redeemed by what Jesus has done. Therefore they are holy and set apart for God’s work. In Corinthians, he teaches that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Secondly, Paul warns us not to be conformed to the world but be transformed. How? We are transformed by the renewing of our minds. As we learn to think according to God’s will for us as laid out in the bible, we begin to be transformed. (Literally this is the same word for metamorphosis – meaning completely new!)
Finally, as we have offered our bodies and minds for God’s transformation, our new mission is to belong to the body of Christ, in which we all have different gifts to use to build up this body. We are not to be cocky about this, as they are gifts of grace we have been given, we didn’t do anything to earn them. Some of the ones he lists are: Prophesying – the ability to speak God’s word into a situation. Leadership – organizing a group of people to pursue God’s preferred future for them. Teaching – making clear the teaching in the bible and being to help people apply it in their every day lives. Serving – giving of one for the various needs/projects that the church needs to do to be run efficiently and be hospitable to its guests. These are just a few of these gifts there are more!
Application:
It is only as one fully understands God’s mercy and grace that He has given you, that you begin this process of becoming a new creation in Christ. Transformation starts the minute you accept Jesus as Your Savior and the Holy Spirit sets you apart for God and His Mission through the local church.
The local church is the place given for us to grow up and understand how to act like Christ, and then also use our spiritual gifts to help the church grow and reach more people with the Good News. As people understand and personally apply this Good News to their life, and offer their bodies and minds to God, they begin to test and approve and show what God’s will is. Ie. Their lives take a different direction and God blesses their obedience to live according to God’s will.
This new, set apart life draws those who are not living that kind of life to seek out and inquire of the faith based community. Many have called this being a “Contagious Christian”. Meaning when you are living with this kind of joy, others will want to know the secret (the True Secret!!!) of your meaning, purpose and peace that you exhibit. Importantly it says in 12:2 “God’s good, perfect and pleasing will.” Meaning God’s will is something enjoyable to us and completes us as persons.
Prayer: God in view of what You have done for me, what can I do in response to such a good and gracious gift? Help me to offer you my body and mind so that you might transform me into the type of person who naturally does what Jesus would do. I know that this is the life I always wanted and you have purchased for me through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Living Sacrifices
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
Observation:
Okay if you thought Romans 8 was pretty cool, this isn’t too far behind. At the beginning of chapter 12, we see another one of Paul’s big “Therefore’s”. Again Paul is summarizing, “Therefore in view of all I have taught you about God’s mercy…” Meaning it is response time. Although God starts and finishes the good work He wants to do in us by His grace and through our faith in what He has done, there is still a response that Paul outlines in these first two famous verses.
Paul tells the believers in Rome to do two things. One, they should offer their bodies as a living sacrifice. This is in contrast to the dead animal sacrifices in the Old Testament for the forgiveness of the Israelite’s sins. Paul says our bodies have been redeemed by what Jesus has done. Therefore they are holy and set apart for God’s work. In Corinthians, he teaches that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Secondly, Paul warns us not to be conformed to the world but be transformed. How? We are transformed by the renewing of our minds. As we learn to think according to God’s will for us as laid out in the bible, we begin to be transformed. (Literally this is the same word for metamorphosis – meaning completely new!)
Finally, as we have offered our bodies and minds for God’s transformation, our new mission is to belong to the body of Christ, in which we all have different gifts to use to build up this body. We are not to be cocky about this, as they are gifts of grace we have been given, we didn’t do anything to earn them. Some of the ones he lists are: Prophesying – the ability to speak God’s word into a situation. Leadership – organizing a group of people to pursue God’s preferred future for them. Teaching – making clear the teaching in the bible and being to help people apply it in their every day lives. Serving – giving of one for the various needs/projects that the church needs to do to be run efficiently and be hospitable to its guests. These are just a few of these gifts there are more!
Application:
It is only as one fully understands God’s mercy and grace that He has given you, that you begin this process of becoming a new creation in Christ. Transformation starts the minute you accept Jesus as Your Savior and the Holy Spirit sets you apart for God and His Mission through the local church.
The local church is the place given for us to grow up and understand how to act like Christ, and then also use our spiritual gifts to help the church grow and reach more people with the Good News. As people understand and personally apply this Good News to their life, and offer their bodies and minds to God, they begin to test and approve and show what God’s will is. Ie. Their lives take a different direction and God blesses their obedience to live according to God’s will.
This new, set apart life draws those who are not living that kind of life to seek out and inquire of the faith based community. Many have called this being a “Contagious Christian”. Meaning when you are living with this kind of joy, others will want to know the secret (the True Secret!!!) of your meaning, purpose and peace that you exhibit. Importantly it says in 12:2 “God’s good, perfect and pleasing will.” Meaning God’s will is something enjoyable to us and completes us as persons.
Prayer: God in view of what You have done for me, what can I do in response to such a good and gracious gift? Help me to offer you my body and mind so that you might transform me into the type of person who naturally does what Jesus would do. I know that this is the life I always wanted and you have purchased for me through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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