A living sacrifice

Romans 12:1-8 New International Version (NIV)

Chapter 12 is a turning point in the book of Romans. Previous chapters dealt with why we need a Savior and how we can accept Him. From this point on Paul gives practical guidelines on how a Christian has to live once he is saved.

This is a study of CHANGE, about how we are supposed to change about our lives once we accept Jesus. It is a lesson about how He transforms us, unmolding us from world values and molding us into his likeness. We then become mature Christians, people of giftedness, goodness, and graciousness.

12: 1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” [KJV uses the terms “which is your reasonable service.”]

· Paul presents a powerful appeal to Romans believers and to us. He appeals to our will, to our disposition to our freedom of choice.

· The appeal is to fully dedicate ourselves to God because of how merciful God has been, is and will be. It should only be natural to give our lives to Him for how he loves us.

· When Paul mentions “to offer your bodies” he means the entirety of your being: all you are, all you have and all you can do. You belong to God in soul and body.

· He even tells us that the living sacrifice needs to be holy and pleasing to God. What this means is that we need to know God, grow in Him and pray for discernment so in every circumstance throughout our lives we understand what pleases God and what his will is. We have to form our behavior to his will. The holiness we bring is the self, yielding to work for the kingdom. God wants visible evidence that we live for him. Let every act of your body show that nothing matters more than him. That means, how you dress, how you talk, what your attitudes are, everything you do should be an honest act of worship. You are not your own, you belong to God.

· Observe that Paul first appealed to our will, establishing first hand it masters over the body. Once we freely choose to offer ourselves, then we are the living sacrifice.

· Under the old covenant, God’s people were accustomed to offer an animal as a sacrifice to God; then Jesus came as a lamb and was slain for our salvation, and rose from the dead. Therefore, we have to be a living sacrifice (we don’t have to lay down our lives like Christ did, we serve a living God that under the new covenant requires that we live righteously so we can glorify him not with death, but with our lives). The sacrifice is ongoing, permanent.

· It is not enough to worship God with our lips, he deserves to be worshiped with our commitment to Him demonstrated through lives that attest to a likeness of Jesus.

· Remember, we are living testimony.

· God has given so much to us that being a living sacrifice by rendering ourselves to Him and serving Him is only reasonable in gratitude.

2 “Do not conform 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.”

· Paul presents an exhortation to break with established schemes (remember, Jesus came to abolish the law) and lifestyles of the world, and open up your mind to the new covenant represented by the life of Christ.

· In this verse Paul is telling us to depart and break free from the chains of the world (attitudes, alcohol, drugs, pornography, pride, lies, greed, and cravings of the flesh). Do not allow the world to shape you.

· The world accepts many sins as normal, but if you renew your mind to not care about the mundane, to not be molded by peer or social pressure, if we concentrate on emulating Jesus, we will be transformed. Conformity to this world is the opposite of the renewal.

· Let’s remember Paul is addressing Christians, Romans who accepted Jesus and were baptized, yet he identified that unless your whole life was transformed you are not honoring Christ.

· Conversion and sanctification are the basis for the renewing of the mind. The development of sanctification (departing from sin more and more) and growing into righteousness is a journey that occurs with daily choices.

· He also acknowledged that backlashing was possible and that’s why it is important that our minds are renewed, made anew, so we develop a new set of schemes to the likeness of Jesus.

· Christians are not to rely, like the world does, on how we feel. Feelings are variable. {Do I feel like worshipping today? Do I feel like going to church or do I feel like I should sleep in?} We are to be disciplined, like Jesus was, and fulfill the will of God for our lives. A complete surrender is the only way to achieve “his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

· We see a cause and effect presented here: unless we renew our minds we cannot be transformed to participate of God’s perfect will.

· This is because only if we have a mind frame of departing from mundane requirements we can fully surrender ourselves to God.

After all, we cannot serve 2 masters.

· We need to step out of our comfort zone. The world goes and falls for what is easy, but we need to aim for what is best, for what is godly. Jesus didn’t say “take your couch and follow me”, he said “take your cross and follow me.”

· The Holy Spirit will provide us with wisdom, guidance, direction and discernment. Once we have an understanding of what is godly, we are free to choose our path. The understanding received should translate into voluntarily choosing righteousness, an absolute surrender to God.

Humble Service in the Body of Christ (exhortation to duties)

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 faith God has distributed to each of you.”

· We are all equal to God. God doesn’t have tiers of preference over his children. We are all first class for Him. We are to look at each other in the same terms.

· No one is better than another, but we complement each other.

· Do not entertain jealousy or envy because of the talents God has given someone else, instead, praise God for it and thank him for them. At the end God has a perfect plan for his children. We are all little pieces of the giant puzzle of the kingdom. We all have a place and a purpose.

· The same goes for positions or opportunities to serve… Celebrate how others grow in service, do not be a hindrance. Do not entertain fear that someone is stepping on your toes. Instead, embrace them and serve together. Seek for opportunities to serve and seize them. Look at situations as a whole and how they function to advance the mission of the church.

· The term “sober judgement” calls for humility, balance, self-denial, looking at yourself as you really are, without prejudice without hidden agendas. It’s a call for self-reflection, meditation in who we are, how we behave, what our life testimony is. It’s a humbling exercise, because there is no place for pride in the life of service we are called for.

4 “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,”

· We are different pieces of the same body, one whole body. This is a call for unity.

· We are all given different talents and abilities towards achieving the same goal.

· These talent and abilities are to be used for the common benefit of the body of Christ.

· We need to stay within that perspective: we are different individuals, with different capabilities, part of a systemic body working together, each within our functions, towards the same objective.

5 “so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

· We are one in Christ. Just like there are 5fingers but it’s just one hand, all for one, one for all.

· We belong to each other (iron sharpens iron), we depend on each other

· We have to break free from traditions and customs that hold back the ministry

· We have to break free from the sense of entitlement. We are stewards of everything God has given us, it is not ours, it is His to be used to serve the purposes he gave them for.

· We have to create a team sense, not competing against one another, but working together for the kingdom in everything we do.

· We are to be freed from pride, the glory belongs to God always

6 “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith;

7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach;

8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

· We are all talented in one way or another. The talents we have are given to us by the grace of God, not because we deserve them, but because He loves us.

· We all have something to give and a way to serve. Not all can be teachers or pastors, not everyone can sing, but we can all add value to our church: cleaning the bathrooms, decorating, vacuuming, and praying.

· Each person doing their part makes a church function; we are all necessary, we all matter.

· Execute your God given talents with love and joy, to the best of your abilities, do not hold back in pouring your abilities to serve, but serve humbly.

· Develop your abilities, learn new ways to do old things. Embrace the new opportunities that come with the pass of time. {Example: social media, on line Christian courses}

· We all want revival. To be part of the revival, change must occur. Do not be afraid of change, instead, embrace it, grow with it, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. Ask how you can participate, volunteer.

· It is very interesting how Paul beseeches the leaders to lead diligently. This means with care and consciousness, with persistence, with purpose, tirelessly.

· What Paul has beseeched us to do is to change, to be the best version of ourselves, denying ourselves, giving up all self-interest and living in full dedication to the work of the kingdom. We are to use our capabilities humbly, without any sense of pride.