Posted in Bible Study, Romans

Session #16 – Romans 12

 

Romans 12 — A Living Sacrifice

Romans 12 opens us up to the final section of this great book in God’s Word.  Paul has spent the previous 11 chapters lifting up the greatness of God’s marvelous plan of salvation.  Now he brings us to the place where we need to look at this great treasure that God has blessed us with and determine how to show and live it in this desperately needy world.  It is important that we understand that God never intended that we just hide this wonderful Christian life in a closet and never show it to others.  We are to radiate Christ in our life and have the words of God’s grace and salvation on our lips.

If you haven’t already done this, please stop and memorize Romans 12:1-2, ” Therefore I urge you, 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.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” 

Many Christians have these words treasured in their heart because they serve as an important principle for our Christian life.  They also serve as a good introduction to this chapter of Romans in which we are “graduated” from Paul’s classroom sessions on “God’s Great Salvation”.  We can’t stay in the classroom, we must go out into the world to be a lighthouse, to “live Christ” and point our needy world to the His Salvation.  Romans 12 gives us a practical foundation for us to live for Christ. Bob Deffinbaugh tells it this way:  Many just want to study doctrine with no application – others are the opposite, no time digging into God’s Word but just out there doing ministry.  Our response to the grace of God must extend to the worship of God by our works as well as our words.  Romans 12 falls into two segments:

          • 12:1-8 — God’s Actions for Man
          • 12:9-16 — Man’s Actions in Response

Romans 12:1-8 — God’s Actions for Man

God’s Word is amazing.  Right from the beginning, we start learning about the character of God, how He demonstrates His love for us, the pinnacle of His creation, how He exudes holiness and expects us to follow suit.  As we go through the Bible, we are reminded of man’s failures and how God gives us a way back to fellowship with Him.  We know now that this way is through Jesus Christ, Who sacrificed Himself on the Cross in order to pay the penalty for our sinful rebellion.  Sacrifice is a difficult subject – Lev. 17:11 states that the life of the flesh is in the blood.  Then Heb.  9:22 expands on that to declare “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.”  Christ’s blood was shed for us.  The richness of God’s Word never ceases to reveal more about God and how He wants us to have a relationship with Him and glorify Him.

Christ’s sacrifice was completely sufficient for our salvation, as seen in Romans 1-11 as we considered the sacrificial work of Christ on the Cross and its application to our life.  Now Paul brings to bear all the immeasurable mercies of God which he has expounded for us and we come to the place where we must respond with a different kind of sacrifice.  Instead of shedding blood, our sacrifice must “shed” our life, lay it out before God for Him use for His glory and point others to Him.  There is more in Romans 12 about how God might use you, but it starts here:  surrender and sacrifice.  Think of the picture of the Jewish person walking up to that brazen altar, handing that precious lamb to the priest, watching him slice the animal’s throat and prepare to place the animal over the fire of the altar.  You walk away from the scene knowing you will never again have that lamb in your control.   Paul says: Surrender to God, place your life in His control, make yourself His to do with you as He pleases.  Ready to be an instrument of righteousness (Rom. 6:13)?

Romans 12:1-2 are two of the “most essential” verses in the Bible for the New Testament/Age of Grace Christian (perhaps one of the “most essential” verses for the Old Testament believer was Deut. 6:4, “Hear O Israel!  The Lord is our God, the Lord is One”).  Hopefully you keep a pencil or highlighter handy while reading the Bible so that, when the Holy Spirit illuminates a special verse to you, things will stand out that need to be marked in some way (trust me, you won’t get in trouble for writing in your Bible).  You can even use a pencil to write the verse’s topic on the outside margin of the page.  Be ready to highlight almost every word of these verses — “I beseech you… the mercies of God… present your bodies… a living sacrifice… your reasonable service… not conformed to this world… transformed by the renewing of your mind… prove that good and perfect will of God.”  Lots to think about (and highlight)!

Rom. 12:3-8 assume you are ready to take the challenge.  You have a heart for God and you want to be a viable part in His people, the Church and its mission (Eph. 4:16).  Paul proceeds to give us a glimpse of the empowerment He has in store for us.  Recall Matt. 10:5-15, when Jesus sent His disciples out on a “mission outreach program”?   They were probably amazed that Jesus enabled them to do the remarkable things they did, but Jesus knew what He was doing.  So today, He does that same thing, by His Holy Spirit empowering us with spiritual gifts that will the enable the Church to be effective at spreading the Gospel and glorifying God.  Back in Romans 6-8, we were introduced to the design God has for the born-again believer to be a “new creation”, alive to God and an instrument of His righteousness.  This invigorating picture of the victorious Christian living for God is tempered by Paul in Romans 7 as he expresses the reality of the Christian’s ongoing struggle with his sinful flesh, but he takes us through that struggle in order for us to see that we must choose to serve the righteous law of God.  Then in Romans 8, he introduces us to the enabling power of the Holy Spirit which delivers us from the power of our flesh — we now serve in the “newness of the Spirit” (Rom. 7:6), walking in submission to and dependence on the Spirit.

These verses are one of the primary passages in the New Testament (the other is 1 Cor. 12:4-11) that help us to understand the spiritual gifts enabled by the Holy Spirit in every believer.  Other supplemental passages are and Eph. 4 and 1 Pet. 4.  None of the these lists of gifts are intended to be exhaustive, but there is benefit from compiling a list of the gifts indicated in these passages.  Note that this spiritual enablement occurs in every believer at the moment when you place your faith in Christ as your Savior – you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, He regenerates you (“born again”) and your are baptized into the body of Christ (Rom. 6).  It’s just regrettable that not all believers effectively exercise the gifts God has given them.  Every Christian has at least one spiritual gift (1 Pet. 4:10). (There are some good Bible teaching sources on the internet that analyze the gifts and help you see where God may have gifted you.)


Bible Study Journal

  • What does being a living sacrifice mean to you?
  • What issues might come up if you attempt to be a living sacrifice to the Lord while at the same time trying to live a productive life in today’s world?
  • Is it possible those “issues” might make you hesitate to apply Rom. 12:1-2 to your life?

Romans 12:9-21, Man’s Actions for God

The Spiritual Gifts God blesses us with as a result of His Great Salvation is an appropriate and substantial extension of the great work He has accomplished in our salvation.   His Son Jesus Christ came to Earth to serve and die in order toprovide each of us Redemption from the penalty for our sins and blessed hope of reigning with Him through eternity.  Now He has us on Earth as redeemed sinners, we are blessed with the privilege of growing in likeness to Jesus Christ.  That is accomplished by the Holy Spirit blessing us, as taught in Romans 8 (along with John 14 & 16)  with His guidance and empowerment, and with the fruit of the Spirit as taught in Gal. 5:22-23, and with spiritual gifts as taught in 1 Cor. 12, Eph. 4 and 1 Pet. 4, as well as here in Rom. 12.

1 Peter 4:10-11 is a short passage which gives a single agenda for our spiritual gifts – “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”  Ministering to one another in the church for God’s glory.

1 Corinthians  12:4-11, provides a bit more detail about the different types of spiritual gifts.  One key feature of this passage is to note the immediate context which emphasizes not seeking personal glory and not competing with one another in using their spiritual gifts.

Ephesians 4:11-16,  is more thorough about how our spiritual gifts fit practically into God’s plan.  These gifts are most importantly exercised in our local churches.  The passage begins with the key gifts God gave to the Church for its leadership throughout the Church Age – evangelists, pastors and teachers.  The emphasis for spiritual gifts from this passage is “equipping” and “edifying” the church members for the work of the ministry, with the goal that we will be unified in Christ, our faith and our Christlikeness.

The passage before us is perhaps the most helpful Scripture about spiritual gifts.  Romans 12:9-21 now takes us out into the world to manifest these gifts as a testimony of God’s great love.  This passage is based on a statement Paul makes in Rom. 12:6, “Having then gifts…”, followed by a succinct mention of seven key spiritual gifts.   Then Paul goes beyond that basic list to give us a real-world expansion of our spiritual gifts as they can be exercised in our actual lives.  We are to be a channel for the Gospel of Christ to be broadcast out to our world.  We know the “tools” God has provided Christians in order to serve him.  Now, in these verses, Paul expands our thinking about what it means to live our “Spirit-enabled life” (Rom. 8) as Christians in our lost and dying world, serving God as He continues to complete His redemptive work.  We are partners with God in His Mission!

God wants us to have a broadened focus of our being new creatures in Christ.  He has gifted us with unique ways to engage with the world we are in and the people in that world.  The circumstances we find ourselves in are by God’s work in our lives, and He wants to demonstrate His grace in those circumstances through His uniquely gift channel: you.  Romans 12:9-21 gives us a very life-related narrative penned by Paul by God’s inspiration so that we can see how each of us fits into God’s plan.  Read slowly – you’re in there!

Bible Study Journal

 

  • Read through the passages given above that deal with the spiritual gifts (1 Pet. 4, 1 Cor. 12, Eph. 4).  As a Christian, we know that once we are baptized by the Holy Spirit, we are enabled with at least one spiritual gift.  What do you think your spiritual gift(s) are?
  • How does God take a skill that you have demonstrated as a “normal” part of life and make it into a spiritual gift?
  • Rom. 12:12 says “patient in tribulation.  How does James 1:2-4, 12 explain that patience?
  • Basic truth:  Every born-again Christian has at least one spiritual gift that God intends to be exercised in the Church (Eph. 4:11-16).  Have you discerned what spiritual gift the Holy Spirit has enabled in you? What are you doing with it?  Have you talked with your Pastor or other church leaders to find ways to use your gift in your church?