The Road to Romans 2016!
We are not
to conform but to transform!
Romans 12:1–8 (NLT)
1And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to
give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a
living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the
way to worship him.
2Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but
let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you
will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
3Because of the privilege and authority God has given
me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really
are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the
faith God has given us.
4Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a
special function,
5so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one
body, and we all belong to each other.
6In his grace, God has given us different gifts for
doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy,
speak out with as much faith as God has given you.
7If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If
you are a teacher, teach well.
8If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging.
If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take
the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to
others, do it gladly.
Paul spent chapters 9-11
explaining that there is no difference between Jews and gentiles, that we are
all God’s children and non are exempt from the need for faith alone in Jesus!
No works will get us saved, no bloodlines will get us saved, only the Blood of
Jesus saves!
So as we believers await the complete redemption of our bodies on the
last day, we undergo a transformational process of sanctification through discipleship. Discipleship is not
simply about changing our behavior or learning a few lessons—it requires a
complete cognitive makeover.
As we have discussed, one of Paul’s goals in the previous 11 chapters
has been to correct misconceptions—not just to create right-thinking but to
completely transform how we think. Once we recognize that we have all sinned
and are under penalty, Jew and Gentile alike; that we now have peace with God;
and that God is sovereignly working out His much-anticipated redemption of the
world, the only reasonable response is for us to offer ourselves up in service
to Him as a living sacrifice.
Meaning evert
We can’t simply conform
to rules; we need a transformation from the inside out! So let’s see where Paul
takes us!!
transformation not
conformation
1And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to
God because of all he has done for you. Let
them be a living and holy sacrifice—the
kind he will find acceptable. This
is truly the way to worship him.
2Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God
transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will
for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
He pleads
·
He starts Bold!
I Plead with you
o Listen to me!
o Can you feel the emotion in this statement?
·
He knows if
they don’t get this, there is no understanding of the Gospel
Why
give our bodies to God?
·
“bodies” meaning
everything!
o
Every ounce of
you
o
Not just what
you want
o
But everything
o
Half wont do
o
He needs all of
you!!
·
And we do it
because of all he has done
o
Saved you from
certain death
o
Gave his son up
for you
o
So we in turn
give our whole selves up to him
A
living sacrifice
·
That’s means we
give our selves up for him
·
Are we slaves
NO!
·
Do we have free
will, Yes!
·
We do this by choice
·
We don’t die,
we live our lives in a sacrificial life style, of choosing his needs over ours
What does he find
pleasing?
·
That we
continue to transform to be more like his Son
·
That we
continue to love
·
That we
continue to show mercy
·
That we
continue to grow in our understanding of who he is
2 Corinthians
5:9–10 (NLT)
9So whether we are here in this body or away from
this body, our goal is to please him.
10For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We
will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this
earthly body.
We don’t just worship on Sunday!
·
We have so
watered down the word worship
·
We have made it
this thing we do on Sunday and the rest of the week we just live how we want
·
But true
worship is daily, dying to self and living for him
Luke 9:23
(NLT)
23Then he said to the crowd, “If
any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take
up your cross daily, and follow me.
·
It’s a choice
we make daily
·
To worship him
at work
·
At home
·
At the store
·
We don’t put on
music and sing, we live our lives as if people see a difference
We don’t live and act
like the world!
·
We don’t sing
Gods praises on Sunday and act like a Jerk on Monday
·
We don’t say
one thing and do another
·
We don’t, we
just don’t
·
We should be
different
·
Not special,
real people
·
But different
·
A tangible
difference that people notice
·
You know someone
is from another country by the way they talk and act
·
We should be
that noticeable
Let God transform you
into a new person by changing the way you think
·
You get a new
mind when the Holy spirit comes
·
Don’t waste it
·
God opens your
mind to new ideas
·
New thoughts
·
We call this discipleship!!
o You need to be around other Christians
o You need to be in a bible study
o You need to be walking with other Christians
Then you will learn to know God’s will for you,
which is good and pleasing and perfect.
WE all put our pants on the same way!!
3Because of the privilege and authority God has given
me, I give each of you this warning:
Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of
yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
4Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a
special function,
5so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
6In his grace, God has given us different gifts for
doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy,
speak out with as much faith as God has given you.
7If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If
you are a teacher, teach well.
8If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging.
If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take
the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to
others, do it gladly.
Let’s be honest: Certain areas of church ministry seem more enticing than other,
depending on your personality and gifting. As a result, we may tend to view
those more exciting roles as somehow better than the others. But comparison
breeds envy—and God didn’t design us to be all the same. In some cases, people
in those glamorous roles hold themselves in high esteem and promote the notion
that their roles are most important. This stirs up envy and resentment in
others, who feel their gifts or ministry don’t get the same level of recognition.
It can also cause them to devalue their own gifts—the very ones God entrusted
to them for service to the church. Instead of a healthy body working smoothly,
as God designed, you have parts working against each other as they try to be
something they were never intended to be.
