Paul’s How-To’s of Faith and Fellowship - Romans 12:1-8
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
We are excited about what this morning looks like. Today we are in significant moment in our series on the letter of Romans. We have been following Paul now as he's been laying down a foundation for 11 chapters. That's 18 weeks of our lives so far, all the way back in March of this year is when we started, and we have gone verse by verse following Paul's argument for the gospel. So far Paul has focused on the reader, the church in Rome, and consequently us today, hearing and learning the knowledge of the gospel focused on knowing the truth. But today we transition to what that knowledge should do, what that knowledge should look like lived out in the Christian's life. This is going from, this is going to be a practical teaching from Paul aimed to help believers live out their faith. And here Paul is going to showcase his conviction about the relationship between belief and practice, or knowledge and action, which is something that even today we all struggle with. We still need the reminder and encouragement that if we believe something, our lives should adhere to that. True belief in something equates to a life that lives out that belief. There are those who will say one thing, maybe claim a belief in something, and yet their lives, their actions don't line up with that. And that usually causes us, if we see that in someone, to doubt. Like, I don't know if you really believe that, you say that, but the way I see you live your life doesn't line up with that. We probably know some people who claim to believe in Jesus, who claim to have faith in God, and yet their lives show no fruit. Doesn't show like they know the truth, they don't live in a way that adheres to the gospel. So this is what Paul is gonna address today. He's saying that if you know all this, chapters one through 11, who God is and what He's done, then you should live like this.
Paul is focusing more on the practical aspect of faith, and as we move forward in chapter 12, there are tones of the beatitudes, of the Psalms, of Proverbs, even the law of the Old Testament, where wisdom, divine wisdom, is at the forefront of the text. And it's all about how one's life should be oriented around God's values and the person of Christ. In our passage, there's gonna be themes of humility, of a servant's heart, of love and compassion and kindness, all characteristics perfectly embodied by Jesus, the perfect example of the Christian life. They're all key values of God's kingdom, which when compared to this world, is an upside down kingdom because it values very different things than the world values. Remember this letter is being written in light of the Roman Empire, a kingdom with very prominent values, known for its growing borders through different war campaigns, known for engineering like the Roman aqueducts and the roads, for architecture that has lasted centuries, for the use of the Latin language that unified so much of the world, and also known for their politics, not just at the higher level around the emperor, but down to the lowest people. There was a fixation in the Roman Empire on status. And Jesus, the New Testament authors, including Paul, have that reality in mind when they speak to what God's kingdom values, and who God's kingdom values. The lowly, the meek, the poor in spirit, the widow and the orphan, compared to the Roman reality where one's status is based on merit, and money, and power, and influence. So, knowing the truth of the gospel, how should one live in that reality? In chapter 12 here, Paul speaks directly to the church about how the gospel provides not only salvation from God's wrath and the demise of sin, but also how the gospel provides the power to live changed lives. The NIV Study Bible says that Christ cannot be our Savior without also being our Lord. I love that approach. He doesn't just save us in a moment and then we no longer have continual relationship with him. No, he must continue to reign in our lives. So what does it look like to have Jesus reign in our lives? What does it look like to know the truth and live by the truth? What does it look like to be a Christian? Paul's going to answer that today.
Why don't you pray with me one more time and then we'll we'll dive into our scripture. God, we come before you again this morning. We pray for open hearts and minds to hear your truth. And that there be an openness on us to be transformed by the hearing and reading of your word and that your spirit would work inside of us to draw us closer to you to make us more like you. So bless our time this morning. We pray this in your name. Amen.
I wanna start by reading the first couple of verses of our passage. You guys can read along in your Bibles or on the screen up there it says, "Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, "in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies "as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. "This is your true and proper worship. "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, "but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, "and then you will be able to test and approve "what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will." These first two verses here in chapter 12 are all about believers being holy. And I wanna go phrase by phrase in these two verses because what Paul says here is truly profound and I don't wanna miss out on anything. So we're gonna, today's gonna look a little bit different. We're just gonna go literally word by word and try to understand exactly what Paul is saying.
This first phrase that he says in verse one is, "I urge you, brothers and sisters." Other translations say, "I appeal to you, I exhort you." Paul is encouraging the church in Rome to do something, pushing them towards action, holy obedience and action according to God's will. He's saying, you've just heard 11 chapters of the holy knowledge, the gospel. You have to do something now. There must be a reaction. You can't just hear it and be still. He then says, by the mercies of God, by the undeserved kindness of God, which is a key theme in all of Paul's writings, by the grace that God first gives us, says then do the following. And next he says to offer your bodies, all of who you are, yield yourself to God, give all of who you are over to God's purposes and glory, to be used by him, for him, and to be transformed like him. Then says as a living sacrifice. Now, he's addressed this again in the chapters before, but he's just restating it. No longer are required to do animal sacrifices, to bring about justification, to be seen as righteous before God. Now we give our lives to God. Hebrews 13 says, "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that openly profess His name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, "for with such sacrifices God is pleased." Again, our living sacrifice is what we do and what we say, and that should be unto the Lord. First Peter chapter two, verse five says, "You also, like living stones, are being built "into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, "offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God "through Jesus Christ." We know that it is so important that everything about who we are and what we do, be offered unto God as service to God, as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This next phrase emphasizes that our sacrifice is set apart for God. This is something intentional that we do to give God glory, to give him praise. In the Old Testament, such terminology, holy and pleasing, associated with the worship done at the tabernacle or the temple. Sacrifice and worship were often found together. This phrase "holy and pleasing" describes the aroma of those Old Testament sacrifices. When the animal was put on the altar, we may think that's really gross and kind of is, but God loved it because of what it meant. When that sacrifice was on the altar and that That aroma was being sending into heaven. God said it was holy and pleasing because it meant that the people were recognizing who God is in their lives. They were worshiping Him. They were humbling themselves, coming before God saying, "God, we need You. I can't do this on my own. You are God over my life." So they were worshiping Him with everything. They were living in God's will, being made righteous, and God was receiving all the glory. So this holy and pleasing is a harkening back to that, saying when you do this, when you live your life for God, God is so pleased by that. It's an act whereby we are setting apart ourselves for His purposes.
And then Paul says, this is your true and proper worship. Worship that is coming from all of who we are. Like Jesus says, the most important commandment, worship. I love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and strength. Everything we have, when we give that to God, that is true and proper worship. Some translations say true and spiritual worship. Contrasting again the fact that there is no longer a physical sacrifice being made, but now it is a matter of the heart. It's a spiritual matter within us, of if we are giving to God everything that we have. Paul also uses the word true here. true and proper worship, implying that true happens when you have a correct understanding of the gospel. When you understand all that he's laid out, this argument in chapters one through 11, and then you live according to that, that is true and proper worship. Verse two starts with, "Do not conform "to the pattern of this world." As you know, this world is fallen, marred by sin, and it has its own pattern of thinking and living that does not align with God's design. We as redeemed believers must avoid that, steer clear of that. It's often easy to adhere to the pattern of the world because we are born sinners, and the patterns of this world often revolve around selfishness and what serves us, so we like that. We're like, "Yay, I like this pattern of thinking because I benefit from it. It's all about me. But that's not how Jesus lived. Jesus lived serving others with God's purpose at the forefront of his mind. So we must not conform to the patterns of this world. We must recognize as believers that God's thinking is different. His patterns as the creator, the ultimate, the true designer of this world, that's what we must follow. And if we are not intentional and purposeful "adamant about living according to the way of Jesus, "but instead the way of the world, we will fall, "and we will fail, and we will continue in sin." All right, so do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. This is talking about the work of the gospel within us, in our minds and in our hearts. Again, that relationship between knowledge and action, belief and practice. As we conform to the truth of God, it leads to transformation in the life of the believer. And this happens through the Holy Spirit's work in our hearts. The gospel works at how we process and think and observe and filter information and what we see in this world. It changes it. And then what comes from us has also changed the fruit of our lives, our actions, our words. They become a reflection of Jesus, no longer a reflection of sin. It's evidence that our minds and hearts are undergoing a transformation by the work of the Spirit. And we are ultimately changed and transformed to be more like Jesus, right?
That's our prayer every Sunday, is that through the hearing of God's word, through the understanding, the more that we learn about Him, the more that our lives look like Him. Then he ends this verse two with, "Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing, and perfect will. So once you have the heart and mind of Christ, then you will see things the way that God sees them. You will better understand what is of God and what is of sin, what is in line with God's heart and what comes from this fallen world." He's talking about the discernment and wisdom that believers can have, that when we witness something, when we experience something in life, We know that maybe the world would say, this is how you should process this. This is how you should think. This is what you should do if this happens. But we know that after we hear the gospel and the Spirit is at work and say, no, that's not, you should do this. It should be a response of love, of compassion, of kindness, responding in God's truth. We will understand what God's will is. So, these first two verses, as you can see, are pivotal to this letter because they signify the beginning of the end and this transition to practical living out your faith. I want to read one theologian's summary of these verses because I think it'll help us understand how Paul would read it or write it if he was writing to us today.
He's saying that Paul's saying, "So here's what I want you to do. I think we have, yeah, thank you. Here's what I want you to do. With God helping you take your everyday ordinary life, your sleeping, your eating, going to work and walking around life and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you and develops well-formed maturity in you. I love that.
How great is that? Such practical wisdom and instruction for our daily lives with God. This is all about a Christian being holy, being set apart for God's purposes, a life lived out to honor and love God. And now Paul's gonna shift. He's gonna shift from an individual relationship with God to the corporate setting of the church. And I love, he's so intentional in that. He's saying your relationship and your, what God is doing in you is not just for you, but it's also for the purpose of his church. So now we come to verses three through eight. And the church shares a common mindset and purpose, and Paul instructs its members to use their diverse gifts to serve this unified goal, God's kingdom, His glory, and His people, all in the love of Christ. This is all about believers being the church. So the first two verses, believers being holy, and now we're gonna be talking about believers being the church. So I just wanna go verse by verse again. Verse three says, "For by the grace given to me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you." Paul has brought this up a lot in his letter to the Romans, but it needs restating. We need to proceed and live life with a spirit of humility. We are all sinners in need of God. We are all believers following Him and serving Him. So view others with humility and think of yourself with humility. And then exercise the grace given to you by God. What you received from God should not be kept just for you. You should be passing that on, pouring that out on the people in your life. It doesn't matter who they are, but with humility, love and serve others.
Verses four and five say, "For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, So in Christ, we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. This is a favorite of Paul. He loves using the metaphor of the church being a body. And it works. And he does so to emphasize the unity that we must have as believers, that we all work together, we're all together working for a purpose. We are obligated to serve for the benefit of each other and for the body as a whole. But it's also important to recognize that we were all created differently, uniquely. God made each of us with our own, the way we think and process, what we like in this world, what we're good at, we all vary, and that is intentional by God. I was thinking this week, I'm thankful for our pastoral team, that Pastor Chris and I are very different. He's a Bears fan, I'm a Niners fan. Well, it's true, but that's not the biggest difference. When we were recently having a conversation that we are thankful that God has brought us together to serve because even as we carry out our pastoral duties, we're different. And if we were both the same, and this church would only receive a very one-dimensional pastoral care, but because we're different, we can reach all of you and shepherd and be pastors in a more holistic way. We're thankful for that. And same for all of you. All this church is better, and it's a fuller picture of heaven because of how different all of us are, how God has gifted you all differently. Each of you are uniquely wired and made, and when we're together, we are a body of believers. And without some of us, we're missing part of that body. So we need each other.
Let's acknowledge how we are made differently and what we bring to the table and be thankful for it. Paul's also saying there's a sense of belonging here. We owe it to each other to serve and to bring it to exercise our gifts. It's kind of like this church potluck that we're gonna have, this fall festival. Some of you are known for the dishes that you bring. And so we know that like, hey, that person is gonna bring this. They always make it and we need it. And without it, our meal will be incomplete. And so that person feels a sense of obligation in a good way of like, hey, I gotta bring this because I'm that person. I always bring it and it's needed. And so again, that's good and I'm not hinting at anyone, but please bring your chili. Everyone bring your chili. It's so, so good. Someone make one spicy too. We gotta make sure we have a spicy one. The church is diverse and we need and belong to each other.
Verse six, Paul continues, "We have different gifts "according to the grace given to each of us. "If your gift is prophesying, "then prophesy in accordance with your faith." We all have different gifts. Paul brings up prophesying, another way of saying that would be the gift of speaking truth into someone's life. If you have that gift, then use it. We won't get into all the gifts and what they mean today, but we're gonna follow Paul's train of thought here, explaining that if you have a gift, that it needs to be used in God's church. If God continually puts truth on your heart to share with someone, don't hold back. Do not hold back that truth. You need to be sure God has put that on your heart for a reason. And you need to share that with the people that you are in church with, this body of believers that you belong to. Verse seven, if it is serving, then serve. If it is teaching, then teach. If it is to encourage, oh, we'll stop at teach, hold on. If it is a gift of serving, then serve. I was just talking with Eric this week and talking about how he is so grateful that he found a place that he can serve in this church. He loves serving and they do the hospitality. And so he has found his gift and now he was joyfully serving in that way. And it's fulfilling to him. I know that many of you are serving in this church in a way that is fulfilling to you. If you have that gift of service, then serve. And if it is to teach, then teach. I know we actually have teachers as people who are career teachers here at this church. And I love that they are actually teaching through the children's, Abby and Amy, who is literally there right now. That's amazing. And we also have people who teach like Carolina and Julie and Becky and Derek and Lauren and Donna and Donna. And they all serve and they teach our kids the truth of Jesus and it is amazing. And so you have been given that gift, maybe just for a season for those times. and we're so glad that you are using that gift.
Verse eight says, "If it is to encourage, then encourage, then give encouragement. If it's giving, then give generously. If it is to lead, do it diligently. And if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully." The first one about encouragement. Did you know that according to research, the ideal praise to criticism ratio is five to one. We more often hear negative comments, criticism, and discouraging remarks compared to positive, encouraging, loving words. And they stick with us, those negative ones stick with us a lot longer. We need encouragement in our lives. If God has gifted you with the gift of encouraging others, church, we need that, we need you. We need you to be sharing that encouragement. We need to be hearing from God through you about what's good and what's loving. What are we doing that is helpful for others? We need your encouragement. If it is to give, then give generously. I don't know what each person gives here. I don't know what you give. But I do see the number, the big number, each month. And I know that we have very generous givers in this church. We are all thankful for those who, all of you who give, and for those that God has enabled to give more. If God has blessed you in that way, then continue to give generously. Paul says, "If it is to lead, then do it diligently." Often people lead when it benefits them. It's easy. It's easy to lead others when the leader is seeing direct benefit from that. But Paul says to be diligent to lead knowing that it will not always be easy, knowing that the call from God to lead his people is a call to lead against the current of the culture around us. And that is hard, but it's so good. So we need to lead diligently, faithfully, depending on the spirit as we lead. And then he ends by saying, if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. I love how intentional Paul is with his words here. One can show mercy and still be struggling with it in our, inside the heart. We can show mercy but be bitter. We can show mercy but become hardened in our hearts about what is happening and the fact that we have to show mercy again. Paul knows that cheerfulness means depending on the spirit when we show mercy. If we rely on our own strength, there will be an end. We only have a bank that goes so deep before we are at the end of ourselves. And we can no longer show mercy with true love and cheerfulness. So in him saying, "Show mercy and do it cheerfully," he knows that you need to depend on the Spirit to do that. So in this whole section, verses three through eight, this is the how-to for being the church, for being a faithful fellowship, a body of believers living out faith corporately. So I just wanna first encourage you, Spring Valley Church, you are doing this. We see this happening right now. And it is so encouraging to be a part of. I hope that you feel encouraged seeing it and experiencing it. We want more people to experience it. So secondly, I wanna encourage us to be praying and seeking that this continues to grow. We want more people to join this church to bring the gifts that God has given them so that we can become a fuller and fuller body of Christ.
Paul's words here about believers being holy and believers being the church are so encouraging, empowering, and uplifting for us. And so I just want to ask a few questions as we reflect on these words. First, do you know the truth? Paul's first word here in chapter 12 is "therefore." He's saying with the understanding that with everything before this, you now have a better if not correct understanding of the gospel. And if you're here today and you feel like you're in a therefore moment where the message of the gospel has finally clicked, where you've heard it and in your heart and mind you want to respond and you want to say, "I now understand. I've heard the Paul's argument for the gospel and I want to believe." I want you to know that that can change You can act on that right now. And if you pray in your heart right now, God, I know that I'm a sinner. And I know that my sin has separated me from you, and I believe that Jesus died for my sins so that I can be forgiven, and I want to repent, and I want to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. You can pray that prayer, and your life will be changed. And the gospel will be the power of living a transformed life in you. you. If you prayed that today, if you prayed that right now even, please come see Pastor Chris and I. We want to celebrate with you, we want to pray for you after the service. And if you're thinking about it, whatever it is, wherever you're at in the gospel message responding to it, we are all here for you. So the first question is, do you know the truth of the gospel? Secondly, what are you conforming to. This past summer at district conference we had our general superintendent, Reverend, I don't know his title, it's very long, but Wayne Schmidt, he's a great guy, and he shared one time the importance of starting his day off with quiet time, worship, with God's Word. He made it a rule in his life that whatever time in the day he consumed, of the world news, he wanted to have more time-consuming, something spiritual, something about God. And he made that rule because he started to notice and recognize that he was being conformed by the news. Constantly thinking negatively and fearfully, always being prone to anger and anxiety, and that wasn't drawing him closer to God. So he made the decision, "I'm going to always in my day have more of God in my life than anything else.
What are you conforming to? Maybe it's work and the desire to excel and achieve and maybe you're conforming to this need to do more and that's taking all of who you are, your heart and mind and it's less about God and it's more about achieving something, doing something. Maybe it's being conformed by social media. You're seeing on social media the things that you want to experience, the way that you should live life, the things that you want, and it's not helpful. It's not drawing you closer to God, but rather, you know, further to yourself and your desires, your heart, and these worldly things that we want. Whatever it is you're conforming to, is it of the truth of God? Is it about the gospel? Is it the way of Jesus? And if it's not, then let the Spirit work and convict and follow His guidance and changing that. And then finally, the last question is how are you serving the church? Well, we talked about how the Spirit should be at work in our lives on an individual level. I love that Paul immediately addresses the corporate aspect of our faith. We were meant to live in community and to serve the community. This community is made up of different people with different gifts and they are all needed. And remember, beyond just your gifts being needed, there's also belonging. You belong to this church. So how are you serving? Recently, a different pastor reminded me of the different types of service. There is serving out of your gifting, and there is serving because of a need. Oftentimes, and the goal is that you're serving in your gifting. Let's say you love children's ministry, then we would love to have you serve in children's ministry. That's great. Sometimes though, there's a need, and the church may need you to serve in that way. Maybe it's not children's ministry. You do not have that gifting. That is okay, but maybe we have a need, and for a season at a time, you fill that need.
How will you serve your church? Now again, I look at this beautiful small church that we have, and I know that so many of you are serving, and maybe in multiple ways. So I don't mean this to be convicting or to put guilt on you, but rather as a reminder that you are called to serve. So do so with cheerfulness and depending upon the Spirit. And if you aren't yet serving in the church, whether in a formal capacity or informally, how might God be leading you to serve? As we continue in our series in the weeks to come, it's all gonna become more practical. It's all gonna become, Paul's words are gonna focus on how our lives should look like and what we should do to live like Jesus. So as we close today and reflect on these questions and the truth of God, I just want you to be encouraged to know that God is at work in your life and in our church and He's not finished. He's gonna continue to work and that's our prayer. That we would see that, be encouraged by it and thankful that He is present in our lives. Would you guys pray with me as we close?
God, thank you again for the truth shared to us through the gospel, for the letter of Romans written by Paul that now as we have heard the argument for the gospel, now we look to what does it look like in our lives? And God, I pray that you would make it very clear to us what we need to do, what needs to change in our life, to serve you, to be conformed to you, God. And how do we serve this church? I pray that this week in our individual lives that you would speak to us. And God, as a church, you would also be guiding us, that we would know how to serve each other well, serve those outside the church well, but that this body of believers would be a healthy and good picture of what you intended the church to be. Continue to equip us and empower us to be your people, God. So we look forward to the work that you're gonna do in us and through us. And we pray this in your name, amen.