Lessons From Romans – Lesson 16
After clearly showing that God wants everyone to get saved, both Jews and Gentiles.
And after talking about how you cannot improve on God’s plan. No one has ever been or could ever be God’s counselor. No one can ever teach God anything.
Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Paul then says therefore brethren I beseech you that you voluntarily present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
It is not you are commanded. It is not you do not have a choice. It is not you must. It is becheech which is to implore you with urgency. The imploring is because doing this honors our Lord and is also for your benefit.
But why not command this? God has the right, He is the Almighty, and He is the creator.
And we have turned from our sin and turned to God and called upon the name of the Lord to save us. He is the master, the Lord, the King, so why only beseech.
It is because forced obedience has never been what God is after.
God to Deu. Deuteronomy is sometimes called the 2nd giving of the law. The first time was at Mount Sinai, then the people failed to go into the land and had to wonder around in the wilderness for 40 years.
Deuteronomy is a little over 40 years later. Moses is giving the same laws and a history review to the new generation that is about to cross the Jordan and go into the land.
Look at chapter 6 verse 5.
Deu_6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
What God has always wanted is for man to Love Him back. God is love and 1st John says.
1Jn_4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
God always reaches out first. When Adam sinned it was not Adam that was reaching out. Adam was hiding from God. It was God who sought out Adam. When Cain killed Abel, it was not Cain that was reaching out.
God came and found Cain and told him that he would be accepted if he would do right.
It was God who sought out Abraham; it was God who rose up Joseph so he would be a position to save his family from the famine. It was God who sought out Gideon and found him threshing grain in hiding.
It was God who was reaching out first and moving in circumstances to use Mordecai and Esther, and Ezra, and Nehemiah.
It was the Love of God that gave His Word to man and then worked to preserve it.
It is God who reaches out and calls men to go and tell of His love. It is God who left the glories of Heaven and came to the earth and went to the cross.
It was really His love that nailed Him there. It was because of His Love that He paid for your sins.
And it was because of God’s love that He sought you out and worked for you to hear the Gospel and it was His love that brought the conviction to your heart and opened your eyes to the truth.
God’s love is amazing and it is and has been on display for all to see. And anyone can see it if they choose to.
Deu_6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
God wants us to love Him back and He told us the proper way to show that.
Deu_11:1 Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.
Deu_11:13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
Deu_11:22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;
God’s love toward us is a love that acts, a love that does. And our love back toward Him is to be expressed the same way.
Biblical love is a love that does a love that moves. It is not that superficial emotional only feeling that some call love.
God so loved that He gave. We are to so love that we do what pleases God. We are to so love God that we voluntarily live in obedience to Him.
Jesus said Joh_14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
And our love is to be real and genuine. And God at times will test us on this.
Deu_13:3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
And when we do what we should out of love and when we don’t do what we should not out of love.
God will bless it.
Deu_19:9 If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three:.
Over and over again in Deuteronomy we see that God’s desire is for us to love Him back. And we did not even read every verse about this in Deuteronomy.
And these verses to Love God were given after the law was given. I think one reason they were given in Deu and not in Gen or even the beginning of Exodus is so that no one could say.
Well that was before the law was given. Things changed after giving the law. No one can honestly say that because God in His wisdom gave these verses to Love Him after the law was given.
And we see the same thing in the N.T. We already read where Jesus said. Joh_14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
What God is after is the heart. That is why Romans 12:1 is beseech and not must.
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Love is only real if it is freely given. And love is to be the motivation for being a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.
So that there is no room for those who love to create loopholes. And so that it is really clear what is meant by living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.
Paul is now going to go into that next.
There are people who would look at verse 2 and say it says your bodies. So that means your literal body. So it is talking about doing physical things with your physical body. And since I do not commit fornication and since I do not drink booze. Then I am good to go on this.
And then they go out and sin and sin and sin in other ways.
Present your bodies is not limited to just doing physical things with your physical body. Paul does not change topics in verse 3. He is doing what he so often does and that is after Paul mentions something he will then go into giving more information about it.
And he does that here.
Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
The first thing Paul mentions about presenting your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God is to stay humble. Do not get puffed up.
Especially in your service to God. Do not get all proud and lifted up about what God has done for you or about what gifts God has given you, or how much God is using you more than so and so.
And then Paul gives more information on this.
Rom 12:4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
Rom 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
Rom 12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
Rom 12:7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
Rom 12:8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
Stay humble. Do not try to run how everyone else does their jobs for Jesus. Do not try to do everyone else’s job. Be thankful for what you can do for the Lord and just do it simply and cheerfully.
And do not think too highly of yourself.
Still on the topic of what is meant by living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.
Paul moves on to rapidly fire off thing after thing.
Rom 12:9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
Dissimulation is a hiding under a false appearance; a feigning; false pretension; hypocrisy. Dissimulation may be simply concealment of the opinions, sentiments or purpose; but it includes also the assuming of a false or counterfeit appearance which conceals the real opinions or purpose
Some call it being two faced. You say all the right things in someone’s presence and then behind their back when they are somewhere else it is all gossip and saying judgmental and nasty things.
We are to love with genuine love. Out in the open and not fickle.
And we are to abhor that which is evil. Some things it is ok to detest, to lothe and feel contempt for. This is a part of presenting your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
For example it is good to abhor slave traders and drug traffickers, and evil people peddling evil lies.
Be careful to only abhor that which is evil in God’s eyes. And we are to cleave to that which is good.
We are to not only like that which is good but we are to adhere to it with a strong attachment. That would imply being consistent. Not just holding to that which is good when conditions are right or when it is convenient.
But every single day all the time.
Rom 12:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
We are to be kind to one another. Preferring one another. That is the opposite of the me, me, me, all about me, thinking that can infect some people.
Rom 12:11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
We are to be good workers. In this context fervent means very warm, and earnest, excited. We are to be that way at work and we are to do our jobs as unto the Lord.
Rom 12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
Rejoicing, and being patient in tribulations and having an attitude of continuing in prayer.
And it says instant in prayer. Have the tendancy to instantly pray. About anything. All the time. Some people make the mistake of having a scheduled prayer time. Nothing wrong with that as long as you do not have a prayer need in the middle of the day and say I will hold that thought and not pray now because it is not my scheduled time.
Instead when the thought comes or the need comes no matter when it comes, be instant in praying about it. You can pray anywhere at anytime. You can pray in your heart and not even open your mouth.
There are examples of that in Scripture. You can pray while you are working or while you are driving. At any time be instant in prayer.
Another thing that Paul lists here about being a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God is being a giver.
Rom 12:13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
God loves a cheerful giver.
Rom 12:14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
Do good to your enemies.
Rom 12:15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
Care about and join in from the heart what your brothers and sisters in Christ are going thru.
Rom 12:16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
Rom 12:17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
Vengence is mine sayeth the Lord. Do not go down the get even path. Let God deal with it and He will in his time.
And be honest all the time, in every situation.
Rom 12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
Strive to live peaceably with all men. It says if it be possible. God knows there are times where that is not possible. But as much as you can strive to live peaceably with all men.
Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Rom 12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Rom 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
And connected to living peaceably Paul goes into submission to the authorities.
Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Rom 13:2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
Rom 13:4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Rom 13:5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
Rom 13:6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
Rom 13:7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Paul is still continuing laying out what is meant by living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.
And now goes into loving thy neighbor as thyself.
Rom 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Rom 13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Rom 13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
And we are to live each day as if Jesus could come today. Live as if our time to serve our Lord is short.
Rom 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
Rom 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Concentrate on what matters most and that is serving God and making a difference in eternity.
And next walk not in the flesh but walk by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 13:13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Paul keeps going on this thru Chapter 14 but we are going to stop here for today.
All of this is what is meant by offering yourself living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Presenting your bodies is in no way limited to only physical things done with your physical body. Some of the things we covered are about that such as rioting and drunkenness.
But most of the items in this list have to do with being honest and humble and how you treat others.
Offering yourself living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God covers everything you do and think and feel. It is all inclusive.
And there is nothing in this list that is bad for us. Everything mentioned here is good and honorable and moral and just and is for our best and is for the best of others.
This is the way God is beseeching us to live.
It is not about duty. It is not about a rule list and if you mess up lightning strikes. People who think that way just do not get it at all.
We are to voluntarily choose to live this way to express our love to Him in a real meaningful way.
And if we do it brings Glory to God, it pleases God, and it is best for us and others.