Living SacrificesMy Understanding: Paul began this section of his letter to the Romans with the word “Therefore.” I have heard that when a sentence begins with this word that we should look to see what it is there for. In other words, he is beginning his statement here by saying, “As a result,” or “For that reason,” so we need to see for what reason or as a result of what that we should do such and such. And, then he tells us the reason that we are to have in view here, i.e. in view of God’s mercy, which he had been writing about so far in his letter.
1 Therefore, 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. 2 Do 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.
3 For 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. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We 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. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if 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.
Love
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
The Reason
He began this letter to the Romans by explaining to them his calling of God as an apostle (sent out one), set apart for the gospel of God. Through Christ Jesus and for his name’s sake, Paul was set apart for the ministry of calling people to obedience that comes from faith. Then, he went on to tell how we, in our flesh natures, are all under God’s wrath, yet he explained how men are without excuse because God had placed within each person the knowledge of God. Next he discussed the subject of religious hypocrisy from those who judged others’ sins while they were doing the same things, and in this discourse he explained how God’s kindness (his grace) leads us to repentance and that the unrepentant will face God’s eternal judgment. So, he was, in essence, saying that obedience to Christ and repentance are necessary components of faith that leads to eternal life with God.
He continued by explaining that outward works and religious activities, rites and/or rituals performed in the flesh will not inherit us salvation. We are not truly saved if we are Christians only outwardly in the things we do. Our religious rites and rituals have no merit if they are done only outwardly. We are Christians if we are so inwardly, in our hearts, through a spiritual transformation of our hearts via the Holy Spirit in cutting away or in crucifying our flesh natures and burying them. So, no matter how religious we may seem to others or how many good works we may perform, they do not result in eternal salvation if they are outward only and do not reflect a heart transformation of the Spirit of God within us that cuts away our flesh. Going to church meetings or performing certain religious functions does not make us better than those who don’t do the things we do, for we are all sinners by nature and it is only by the grace of God that we are saved, not of ourselves.
Then, he explained what it means to truly be in Christ Jesus and to have genuine faith resulting from God’s grace to us. When we come to genuine faith in Christ Jesus, we identify ourselves with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection by dying to our sins and sin nature, by allowing Christ Jesus, via his Spirit working within us, to crucify our flesh, to have our sins buried with Christ and then to be raised with him to live new lives in Christ Jesus, free from the penalty of sin and free from the control of sin over our lives. Our old self is thus crucified with Christ so that the body of sin (our flesh natures) might be done away with, so that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Amen! If we have died with Christ, then we are free from the control of sin and are free to fall under the control of the Spirit. We are now slaves to righteousness, leading us to holiness and to eternal life with God. When we were slaves to sin, we were free from the control of righteousness.
Because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross in dying for our sins, in burying them with him, and in being resurrected by the power and working of God the Father to raise him from the dead, so that he conquered death, hell, Satan and sin for us, we no longer have to be controlled by sin. We no longer have to struggle with sin and give in to it. Thanks be to God, Jesus Christ rescued us from these bodies of death so that we can live victoriously over sin. If we continue to live according to our sinful natures, we will die, but if, by the Spirit of God, we put to death the misdeeds of the body, we will live. Amen! Salvation means turning from our sin and crucifying our sin natures by the Spirit of God and being raised in Christ to walk new lives, free from the control of sin and free to be slaves of righteousness and to walk in faith and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no way around this. This teaching is all through the New Testament. We are not saved because we prayed a prayer at an altar, as sincere as we might have been, nor are we saved because we were baptized or because we follow a set of religious rules. We are saved by grace through faith that proves itself through repentance (turning from sin) and obedience to God.
Therefore
Therefore, because of all that Jesus Christ did and taught us concerning our salvation, we are being urged here to live lives pleasing to God, because Jesus did not go through all of that so that we would continue in our sins. We are being urged here, in light of what Jesus Christ did for us in providing the way so we could be free from sin, to offer ourselves fully to God as living sacrifices - the cost of being his disciples in giving up our sins and our fleshly desires and our wants, and in submitting ourselves completely to God for what he wants for our lives. This is what he considers worship, not just singing songs in a “worship service,” though that could be worship, too, but true worship of God begins in our hearts at the altar with us forsaking our sins and with us committing our lives to obedience to our Lord Jesus, no matter the cost. We are to no longer be conformed to the world’s pattern of how we should think and behave (something to earnestly seek God about how this is being lived out in our lives), but we should daily be transformed in our thinking so that the way we think and act is in conformity to God’s will for our lives – his good, perfect and pleasing will.
Then, Paul continued by giving us even further instructions as to how, in all practicality, this is lived out in our daily lives. We should not be conceited in thinking we are better than others, but we should think of ourselves realistically as sinners saved by God’s grace, not because of anything we have done. We should not see ourselves as superior to other members within the body of Christ nor to see ourselves as less, but we are to realize that we just have different parts and we don’t all function in the same way, yet we are all still part of the same body and should have equal care and concern for one another. We should use our gifts within the body of Christ for the edification (teaching, instruction, uplifting, improvement, enlightenment, and encouragement) of others, which means that we should be given opportunity within the body of Christ to use our gifts and to not reject other parts of the body by telling them we don’t have need of them and for them to go someplace else.
Paul concluded this section of his letter on the subject of love, which is what this is all about. He said that our love must be sincere (not faked; honest; genuine; authentic). How is our love to be sincere? We should hate the things God hates and we should love the things God loves, i.e. we should hate evil, though never hate the sinner, and we should cling to what is good. I will not reiterate all that he said in vv. 9-21, but it is a good list of ways that we can show sincere love for one another, including loving our enemies (perceived or real).
The bottom line in all of this is that because of what Jesus Christ did for us at Calvary in paying the price for our sins (the debt we owe), we can be set free, not only from the ultimate penalty of sin (death and eternity in hell), but we can be free from the power of sin over our lives on a day-to-day basis to where it no longer should be our master but we should be now slaves of righteousness. It is imperative to understand that we cannot have this freedom from sin if we have not brought ourselves to the cross of Christ and allowed the Spirit of God to perform spiritual surgery within our hearts in crucifying our sin natures and in setting us free to walk in obedience to Christ via the power of the Holy Spirit within us. In other words, repentance and obedience to Christ are not only essential components of our salvation, but they are essential ingredients to experience this kind of freedom in Christ over the power of sin over our lives so that we can be slaves of righteousness and no longer slaves of sin.
The Debt We Owe / An Original Work / July 2, 2011
I adore You, Lord, my Master.
I worship and praise You, King.
You are such an awesome God who
Loves us so much, grace You bring.
You died to save us from our sin
So that we could be set free.
I adore You, Lord, my Master.
I worship and praise You, King.
Lord, You are our Great Redeemer.
You paid the debt that we owe,
So that we might be forgiven,
And our God we’d come to know;
Be transformed to be like Jesus,
Who conquered, in death, our foe.
Lord, You are our Great Redeemer.
You paid the debt that we owe.
Jesus our Messiah, Savior,
Lord and Master, King of kings,
You provided our redemption,
So we’d live in victory.
From our sin and self You ransomed
Us for all eternity.
Jesus our Messiah, Savior,
Lord and Master, King of kings.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
Audio, song lyrics and sheet music:
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs/home/songs/the-debt-we-owe
Song on video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUr2TZzgpJE
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