Romans 12 - THE GOSPEL OF BEHAVING
THE GOSPEL OF BEHAVING
Romans 12
Preached by: Pastor Carolyn
Sissom
Sunday, October 3, 2010
“The gospel has two
sides, the believing side and the behaving side.” A. M. Hunter
Romans 12: 1: “I urge
you therefore, brethren by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living
and holy sacrifice acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of
worship.”
When we see the word “therefore”
we ask ourselves what is it there for?
In this case the “therefore,” reaches back to the great doctrines set
before us in the first eight chapters.
The apostle now will expound to us the kind of lives we ought to live in
view of all we have in Christ. He calls
those fantastic blessings “mercies” from God.
A review of the first
eight chapters reveals our enormous privileges as Christians:
- Chosen by God to be His forever
- Justified by faith and made the
righteousness of God in Christ.
- Removed from the Adam family (death)
and placed into the Christ family (life).
- Received the Holy Spirit Who not only
makes it possible to have direct fellowship with God, but enables us to
live Godly lives.
- Removed from under the Law to live as
led by the Spirit.
- Guaranteed to appear with Christ in
glory which reduces any earthly suffering to a trifle by comparison.
- So secure is our salvation that
nothing can separate us from Christ.
Therefore the Lord
has every right to expect Christians to live on “higher ground” to make a
greater sacrifice than did the O.T. saints.
The word ‘sacrifice”
takes our minds to the O.T. ritual of offering dead animals to the Lord. In contrast, Paul urges the N.T. saint to
regard himself as a believer-priest offering a living sacrifice to the
Lord. What is the sacrifice? The believer’s own body (i.e. flesh). Why
does Paul ask us to give our bodies to Jesus when we are now living in the
enormous mercies and privileges as outlined above?
Why is the body the
N.T. sacrifice rather than the believer’s spirit? In his Spirit, the Christian is ready to go
all out for Christ. He bows in prayer
repeatedly and affirms his desire to yield himself totally to Jesus. But then he doesn’t do it. Why not?
“His spirit is willing, but his
flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:41).
If the Lord can get a
man’s body, the rest of the man would easily go with it. So our unredeemed body is the N.T. believer’s
sacrifice. Now it is obvious we can’t
offer our bodies as dead sacrifices.
That would be dumb. Dead bodies
would be useless. To make them a living
sacrifice, we have to use them for Christ and not for ourselves. By denying ourselves the privilege of using
our bodies to please ourselves (do our own thing), and devoting them to the
service of the Lord, we make the sacrifice Paul speaks of. Observe that he appeals to us to do
this. Moses commanded Israelites to make
their sacrifices, but Paul asked for ours.
The only way it is acceptable to the Lord is for it to be a loving,
voluntary sacrifice based on our love for Him.
That’s why he reminds us of the mercies of God.
The only way to make
a sacrifice holy is to dedicate it to the Lord.
We do this by offering ourselves on the altar of daily life. The place where we live, work, and carry out the
duties of living is our altar. When we
make Jesus, Lord we submit to the Holy Spirit’s leading in the smallest details
of life. Unlike the O.T. priest, N.T.
believers do not go into a physical temple with our offering. We live in our temple (1 Cor. 6:19). We enjoy intimacy with Christ in the true
sanctuary of our spirit.
The living sacrifice
is seen in the way we pay our bills; speak to our spouse, and about out spouse;
serve our employer; speak to our co-workers; discipline our children; and love
our neighbor.
12:2: “And do
not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and
acceptable and perfect.”
Paul now tells us how
to make the sacrificial offering of our bodies to the Lord:
- Rejection of the world and its ways.
- Permitting the Holy Spirit to revamp
one’s mind.
The world system
rejects Christ and all Godliness. The
Abrahamic and Davidic covenants establish that the earth is the Lord’s! It belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Jesus Christ. In one grand finished work, the cross of
Jesus Christ destroyed the power of satan and the first man, Adam! After
On that awful day
when the true Passover Lamb was sacrificed for us, Jesus bruised the king of
darkness. Like courageous Jael who put
the hammer to the head of Sisera (Judg. 4: 18-21; 5: 24-27), Jesus mortally
wounded our adversary at the cross.
Iniquity came to an “end” (Ezek 21:27); literally it was “chopped off.” This word is used to denote the end or death
of a person (Gen. 6:13).
“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He
also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might
destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil; And deliver them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
1 Jn. 3:8: “He that commits sins is of the devil; for
the devil sins from the beginning. For
this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”
The day has come, the
seventh day from Adam and the third day from Jesus (Hos. 6: 1-3: 2 Pet.
3:80. It is time to fully understand and
appropriate the spoils of His eternal triumph!
The warfare is
accomplished, but His Bride still experiences the good fight of faith (1 Tim.
6:12). We stand complete in our
victorious Captain, warding off any thought or vain imagination that tries to
rise above that understanding (2 Cor. 10: 3-6; 2 Thess. 2:4).
The only way to
overcome the mouth of the dragon is with the mouth of the Lord---a prophetic
Church full of the living Word. The
Greek word for “demon” is “daimon”, and it can be rendered as a “knowing one.” There are demonized intelligences sent forth
to harass the elect. But we have been
clothed upon with a higher intelligence---we have the Mind of Christ.
But the devil, like Goliath
of old, still strides up and down the earth mouthing his obscenities. The dragon still has a mouth. He is like the chained lion in Bunyan’s
Pilgrim’s Progress who is still able to roar.
Men have given him incredible influence, but satan is a spiritual
terrorist, a tyrannical bully. His
taunts and intimidations are aimed to handcuff the saints, keeping them in a
defeated, defensive posture. The
adversary wants to hold back every believer in the dark. (2 Cor. 4: 3-4)
spiritually blind and deaf to the true identity in Christ as the seed of
Abraham and David.
12:3: “For through the grace given to me I say to
every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think;
but to think so as to have sound judgment.
God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
Pride is a
fundamental temptation of all believers.
Vanity is the basis of all snobbery. Those going beyond their gift limit, get “bit
shot” notions and often feel called to “straighten out” their
brethren---usually in doctrine and through discernment. The gift of Discernment is exercised through
maturity and wisdom. In the infant
stages, we want to shun the person manifesting demons. Then the next stage is to judge the
person. Once the vessel operating in the
gift comes into maturity, it is just clinical and not personal.
As for our issues and
pet doctrines, the person who is wise will not argue the scripture. There are some who do this for sport. If we are settled in what we believe, we will
know why we believe what we believe and we won’t need to argue. Can it be found in the law, the Psalms and
the prophets of the Old Testament? Did
Jesus teach it? Is it part of the
apostles’ doctrine in the Book of Acts? Does
what you believe agree with the Pauline, Johannine, and general Epistles of the
N.T.? Does your beliefs bring you into
joy, peace and righteousness? This is
the grace that will cause us to not think more highly of ourselves than we
ought and have sound judgment.
12:4-6a: “For
just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the
same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually
members one of another. And since we
have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them
accordingly.”
This is the first
mention of “Christ’s body,” in this letter.
“Body truth,” as it is called was peculiar to Paul, since he was the one
chosen to make it known. All of our body
parts have different functions and tasks.
Those who refuse to use their gifts to maintain the unity of believers
on earth, fail to recognize the interdependence of the various parts of the
body. Claiming great wisdom, they use
their gifts to feed their own egos, and end up dividing those who should be
working together for Jesus.
It is at this very
point of differences of gifts that conceit and arrogance develop. That is why it is vital to see that the gifts
have to do with faith (directed toward God) rather than knowledge (directed
toward men). If we really have the
Spirit of Christ
dwelling in us, He
will seek to express Himself through us in some distinctive way. How he chooses to do it, is our particular
gift.
12:6b-9: “If prophecy,prophecy according to the
proportion of your faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his
teaching. Or he who exhorts, in his
exhortation; and he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence;
he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”
This list is
sometimes described as the seven ability gifts:
- The gift of prophecy: The owner of this gift has the ability
to recognize and declare the revealed will of God, His “measure of faith”
is the key to what he can get from God and preach under the impulse of the
Spirit.
- The administrator (deacon, staff
members, etc.) the owner of this gift might think that organization, bookkeeping,
letter writing, printing, etc. is unglamorous, but he/she is to give that
work his/her best.
- The teacher has the gift of Bible
exposition, He/she is able to teach the brethren how to recognize the
difference between truth and error as well as uncover the treasures of the
Word.
- The exhorter (preacher) can have the
teaching gift. All of the gifts can
overlap. He/she is gifted in
stirring people’s emotions. He/she
appeals to the heart and will rather than the mind. He/she gets the brethren to act on the
truths they learn from the Word. Then
there are the three general gifts.
This was one of the mandates I received when I started this
church. The Lord said, “Carolyn is time
to stop talking about the gifts and do them.”
- The person who has the gift of making
money is to share it liberally without any desire for praise or obligating
people to him/her. While quite a
few seem to have this gift, not all have the wisdom to handle the gift.
- The one with the gift of management is
able to preside over people using authority with discretion. This one is careful to give leadership
by setting a good example.
- The one with the gift of mercy is to
do relief work cheerfully, brightening the lives of the unfortunate with
their cheery spirit.
One of the greatest
joys for a Christian is to discover his gift and use it for the glory of the
Lord. I believe all who are operating in
their gifts and callings will have joy unspeakable and full of glory. It is the fulfillment of destiny and purpose.
12: 9-13: “Let
love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is
evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted
to one another in brotherly love; give preference to another in honor; not
lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in
hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer; contributing to the needs
of the saints , practicing hospitality.”
Let’s have no pretense
when it comes to loving one another.
Hate evil with a passion and cling to that which is good. Be affectionate towards one another as love
between brothers demands, and delight in letting the other brother have the
place of honor. Don’t get lazy when it
comes to serving the Lord. Keep your
spirit boiling with enthusiasm as you burn yourself out for Him. If you keep in mind what he has in store for you
that hope will enable you to patiently ride out any trouble coming your
way. Keep yourself in a constant state
of prayer.
12:14-16: “Bless
those who persecute you; bless and curse not.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not
be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.’
The early church set
as they were in naturally suspicious or hostile communities, needed wise and
cool heads. It takes two to keep the
peace. The mature Christian must not be
responsible for breaking the peace.
Also, maturity will cause one to act rather than react. Our maturity is measured by how we handle the
immaturity of others. If we are dealing
with a hot head, nothing will be resolved if we respond in like manner.
Neither are we to
become a doormat or victim. When we face
abuse or mis-use, then we should confront the abuser in love telling them of
their fault. If we do not address the
issue, then we will push the anger down.
Unresolved anger becomes a spirit of anger. We are still to bless that person and not
curse them out of our anger.
12:17-21: “Never
pay back evil for evil to anyone.
Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be
at peace with all men. Never take your
own revenge beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written,
Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.
But if your enemy is hungry feed him and if he is thirsty, give him a
drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil
with good.”
Never means
never. No matter what is done to us two
wrongs don’t make a right. It is called
spite. The golden rule of do unto others
as you would have them do unto you is respect.
Yes, we are not to be walked upon as victims, but neither do we take
revenge. If we can walk away from our
adversary in peace and leave our peace with them, we will see the Lord bring
the correction. That is just a
fact. What he wants from us is that we
do not lose our peace and be overcome by evil.
The goodness of the Lord in us will overcome the evil.
That does not mean
that our enemy will ever agree with us or be our friend. He might and he might not. Either way, we are to stay in peace.
Preached by: Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Scripture from Key
Word Study Bible unless otherwise noted.
Sections of the text were paraphrased from Lovett’s Lights on Romans by:
C. S. Lovett; Whose Right It Is by; Kelly Varner; F.F. Bruce Bible Commentary,
by: Leslie Allen. Comments and
conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the view of those from whom I
gleaned.
We video our Sunday
a.m. services and audio all other services.