Comment on a Lectionary Reading: Romans 12.1-8

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Romans 12:1–8


As is my custom, I'm going to limit myself to just a small portion of this Scripture reading. Here it is separated into three parts.

A) Do not be conformed to this world,

B) but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,

C) that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

While the rest has much to teach us all, this one sentence has more than enough for us to consider. I've divided it into three parts to highlight how it is structured: A) a command about what to avoid, B) a command about what to pursue instead, C) the goal of these commands. 

 

Comment on a Lectionary Reading: Romans 8:12–25

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:12–25

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Last time we were reminded of the glorious truth of the Gospel: no condemnation! Because of what Jesus has done we are set free from that consequence of sin. In this reading we encounter a necessary companion to this truth. We are freed from sin but we are not done with sin. The guilt is gone so the condemnation is gone. But sin remains with us.

Comment on a Lectionary Reading: Romans 8:1–11

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:1–11
    
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This reading from Scripture contains something tremendous, a life-changing declaration.

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

So, what does this ‘no condemnation’ mean? It means what it says: no condemnation. But there are too many saints who do not grasp the power of this declaration. Some explanation is necessary.

Scripture to Meditate On

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12.1–2

There are two things that stand out here. First, there's Paul's comment about the Christian's mind. It needs to be renewed. And that makes sense. How we think about things is so very important. So, for example, consider someone who does not think that there is a god, but that he is on his own in dealing with life. How different from someone who is convinced that the God of the Bible not only exists but that He is near to lead him through life. That is a thought, an aspect of the mind, that makes a huge difference. The same is true about other ideas revealed in the Bible. And it's a sad fact that we all believe too many lies about how life works. Our minds need to be renewed to believe the truth of the Gospel. That is what Paul is calling for.

The other thing to note is that Paul understands that we are not just minds. Life for us includes what happens with our bodies. In fact, the things that our minds embrace will show themselves through our bodies, in how we act. So, we are to present our bodies as the way that our minds express our believing God's truths.

This bit of Scripture is connects the two parts of Paul's letter. It leans on the truths of the Gospel that were explained earlier in the letter. It also leads to the rest of the letter where Paul explains how the Gospel is to be lived.

The Love of God

One of my goals as your pastor is to help you to go deeper into the Gospel so that by understanding it well you will be able to live well. As a result, I’ve been speaking to you about various topics related to a deeper grasp of the Gospel. Today, I will continue that. I’m going to talk to you about the love of God, that is, the love that God has for you. Gaining a more mature understanding of this key teaching of the Scriptures will most certainly result in a deeper understanding of the Gospel. The choice of the topic is appropriate because though there is much talk these days about how God loves, for far too many there isn’t the depth of understanding that is called for. And that always results in problems.

A classic text expressing the love of God is found in something Paul wrote. Listen.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35–39

This is a remarkable passage. I can’t imagine a clearer statement of God’s love in Christ for you, His people. So, let’s take a look at it.

Loving God with Your Mind

Today, we’re going to take a look at a bit of Scripture that I can’t help but believe that most of you adults have heard at least one sermon on. It starts with these familiar words.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12.1

This is where I’m supposed to talk about devoting your body to God. And that might get a little interesting if I break it down using parts of the body symbolically. Feet represent where you go. Hands, what you do. Ears what you listen to. Eyes, what you look at. And mouth what you say. What do you think? Good outline? Well, I’m not going to talk about any of that this morning. Instead of preaching on Paul’s commands about your bodies, I’m going to speak to you about what Paul has to say about the other aspect of who you are.

Who Do You Think You Are?

When I started preaching through Romans, my plan was to only consider key aspects of Paul’s presentation of the Gospel in this letter. That means that I intended to stop at the end of chapter eight. But it seems right to include two more sermons from after chapter eight. And I want to do that because they deal with topics that I think we need to grapple with.

So, this first of those two sermons will deal with the character of God and how we are to respond to Him.

The Love of Christ

Over the last couple of weeks, we have been looking at how Paul has been applying what he has explained in his letter to the church at Rome. And he has expressed these applications as questions. The first was, ‘If God is for us who can be against us?’ The second was, ‘Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?’

Today, we look at his third question.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Romans 8.35

Quite the question. And it is the right question to ask because so much hangs on the thought that we are loved by Jesus. It’s right to ask whether something can happen so that we are no longer loved by Jesus. That’s what we’re going to look at his morning.

Accusations

One of Paul’s goals in writing his letter to the church at Rome was to present a fairly detailed explanation of the Gospel. By the time he gets near the end of what we call chapter eight, he has done that. What he does in these last sentences of the chapter is to pull things together in a practical way. This why he writes,

What then shall we say to these things? Romans 8.31

By that question Paul shows that he is ready to mention a few applications of what he has explained.

Last week, we looked at one answer to his question.

If God is for us, who can be against us?

Today, we look at a second answer to his application question.

Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Romans 8:33-34

God Is For You

Understanding theology is quite important. And that’s true because it’s just another way of saying, ‘Understanding reality is quite important’. Theology is simply an explanation of reality. Consider these theological topics: the Bible as revelation from God, faithful Christian living or the nature of sin. Understanding these theological topics is simply understanding reality.

I think that I can say that there is one theological doctrine that has a priority above all the others: the Bible’s teaching about God. I say that because the key to understanding reality is understanding God.

So, asking and answering this question makes sense.

Glorified

I love words. They are my friends. That makes me a logophile. And that’s one reason why it bothers me when words aren’t used carefully. I have a particular love for the words that express the Gospel. These are such important words. And they are important because they can help us live well in a very broken and evil world. But they cannot help us if we do not understand them. This explains my use of the phrase ‘church words’. These are beautiful Gospel words that we use with some frequency but, all too often, we don’t actually know very well what they are about. And when that is the case, these beautiful words are of no help to us. And that is just no good. I would not be a faithful pastor if I didn’t try to deal with that. I want you all to understand these ‘church words’ that we use. I want you to thoroughly understand what they are about so that you can see their beauty. And seeing that beauty, I am sure that you will stand amazed at the God who has given us what those words reveal. Out of that will come the ability to live well. So, today, we’re going to take a look at another church word.

 Listen to what Paul wrote.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Romans 8.29-30

Paul is explaining here God’s process in rescuing us from our sin, a process that begins in eternity past and ends in the age to come. I’m going to focus on the last word that I read, the goal of this whole process: glorified. We will be glorified.

The Spirit Groans

We’re back to Romans 8 and back to learning about the ministry of the Holy Spirit among us. We’re going to work our way through a few more sentences of what Paul is teaching on His ministry, but we’ll do that just a bit at a time.

Let’s start with this.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. Romans 8:26

It’s important to spend a little time on this notion of weakness. And I want to do that because we have all been taught not to be weak. One persistent message of the world in which we live is that we don’t have to be weak. If we try hard enough, we can accomplish anything. And if we are honest with ourselves, even when it comes to being a disciple of Jesus we believe that we will be able to do a good job of it if we try hard enough. But the fact of the matter is that, try as we may, we really can’t do a good job of it. We really are weak.

This is something that Paul, himself, had to learn and did learn.

Groaning in Hope

We’re back in Romans 8 to look at the next bit of what the Apostle taught. In doing this I have a goal, a goal that covers a lot of territory. My goal for this sermon, and actually for any sermon I preach, is not to teach you something about the religion that you profess. My goal is quite different from that. My goal is to explain reality, to explain how life works. And that is my goal because that’s the goal of the Bible; not to teach about religion, but to teach about life. The Gospel is the only explanation of life that is true, through and through.

Today, we’re going to look at one dynamic of life that we all experience. We all have times when we struggle with life. To use Paul’s words that we are going to be looking at in a moment, we groan because of the troubles we face. That’s not some religious doctrine. It’s a fact about life. As Paul will explain, the right response to this is a lively Christian hope. And that, also, is not some religious response. It’s a response that understands life. You’re here this morning not to learn about God or to have some doctrine explained or for some other religious reason. Religion, in that sense, is just one small part of a person’s life. That’s not what we’re about. You’re here so that you can hear from God about how to live in this world as it now exists.

Now, with all of that in mind, listen to what Paul taught.

The Inheritance

In the section of Paul's letter to the church at Rome that we'll be looking at today, Paul continues to apply his teaching about how we've been adopted as sons by God. This is what he wrote.

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8.16-18

What Paul wrote is not complicated. Paul takes an element of certain human relationships and relates it to our relationship with God. Since we are God's sons we are also His heirs. It's not a complicated thought, but it is an amazing thought. Consider. Heirs of God. And that means that there is an inheritance awaiting us.

Witness of the Spirit

We’re back in Romans chapter 8. And Paul is still teaching about the ministry of the Spirit in the life of a Christian. Today, we come to something that the Spirit does that we really need to understand. It’s bound up with a couple of questions that aren’t asked very much these days, a couple of questions that really should be considered more frequently. ‘Are you sure that you’re a Christian? If you think you are, how do you know that?’

Listen to what Paul wrote.

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…  Romans 8.16

I’m pretty sure that we all have questions about what Paul means by this. I certainly had some myself before I began to study for this sermon. And while some questions still remain for me, the bigger aspects of what this is about have become much clearer. It has been my prayer this week that I would be able to do a good job passing on to you what the Spirit has shown me.

Adoption as Sons

In this next section of his letter to the church in Rome, Paul continues to explain something of the Spirit's ministry in the life of the saints. And that's good because it's something that we would do well to ponder. We need to do more work to understand who the Spirit is, and what it is that He does. Today, we'll be looking at one particular act of the Spirit in His application of redemption to us. Listen to what Paul taught.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” Romans 8:14-15

So, what is it that we are supposed to see here? Paul's point is pretty obvious and not at all complicated to understand, but it is very profound - something I hope that the Spirit will greatly impress upon you. Paul's point is that, by the Spirit, we have all been adopted as sons of God.

Putting Sin to Death

In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul wrote a lot about sin. And that makes sense. Sin is the problem that we all face, a problem that must be dealt with if we are going to be restored to our Creator. And Jesus has come to deal with that problem. Paul also wrote about how Christians are no longer in the Adam group which is under the curse of sin and death. We are now in Christ, freed from the power of sin, freed to obey God’s Law, freed to live well. And yet, as you know, it is still the case that, all too often, we, like Paul, do not do what we want but do the very thing we hate. We still sin. That is something that we need to acknowledge. But the Gospel tells us that we’re not stuck there. We can, bit by bit, get rid of our sins.

And that brings us to what we’re going to look at this morning. How do we get rid of our sins? Listen to what Paul taught.

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Romans 8:12-13

There are many things going on here. Let’s work through some of them.

Freedom to Obey

You’d think that people who have been Christian for a while would understand the Gospel pretty well. And some do. But then again, some don’t. And one reason for this is that those who don’t have been misled by well-intentioned teachers. Those teachers really wanted to help them live the Gospel faithfully. But those teachers weren’t as helpful as they wanted to be because there were parts of the Gospel that they themselves didn’t understand well enough.

For example, Gospel facts are sometimes presented as commands from God. So, instead of just enjoying the blessings that God has already granted, some Christians have been told to work hard to gain those blessings. Or to mention something closer to home, some Christians have been taught more about what the Spirit of God no longer does instead of being helped to enjoy what He actually still does.

Bottom line: there are too many Christians who aren’t living with as much Gospel power as they might. And that’s really not good. It’s not good for individual Christians and it’s not good for the life of the Church.

Today, we begin a new section in Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. It is clearly tied to what went before, but Paul will be introducing a new element to the Gospel that he has been writing about. In this new section Paul will explain something of the role of the Spirit in making the glories of the Gospel ours. This has been an area of the Gospel that has been confusing to some. So, I’m hoping that I will be able to provide a little more clarity. And what I am aiming for is not just that you would have a greater understanding of the Gospel. I’m also aiming for you having a greater understanding of yourselves. One of the most important questions for you to answer well is this: Who am I? I want you all to understand well who you are so that you will flourish, so that you will make more progress in becoming whole people. Our world is in dire need of whole people. And I like to think that you can do something to meet that need.

Freed, Part II

Last week we began to take a look at something that Paul was teaching in his letter to the saints in Rome: we Christians have been freed from sin. I spent most of last week’s sermon explaining what that does and doesn’t mean. This week I want to spend our time looking at how we are to apply it. To do that we’re going to explore one particular sentence from Paul’s teaching.

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:11

I chose this sentence because it’s where Paul begins to apply what he has been teaching. I want to take this apart so that you will understand what Jesus expects of you.

Freed

When you think about it, Paul spends a lot of time in his letters answering questions. Most of the time the question being dealt with isn’t stated. That’s what happened in Romans chapter five. Paul was dealing with the question, ‘What are some of the deeper dynamics of how the Gospel works?’ And he answered that question by talking about Adam and Jesus. There are, however, times when Paul will actually state the question that he is going to answer. We have an example of that at the beginning of Romans chapter six.

Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? Romans 6:1

Now, that question doesn’t come out of the blue. This question is actually related to something that he had just written back in chapter five.

Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more… Romans 5:20

Here, Paul is explaining that God added His law to the situation with the Adam group. He did this ‘to increase the trespass’, to make sin more obvious. God did this to make it easier for people to see their sin and thus to know that they need Jesus. But Paul then comforts any anxious readers. In effect, he tells them that even as sin, along with all of its problems, increased, God’s grace increased even more, it abounded, so that all of sin’s problems would be dealt with.

but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more…

And that leads to his question.

Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?