Day #240: Romans 11:33-12:21

Because of God’s great compassion on both Jews and Gentiles in offering salvation through Christ, Paul urges believers to please God in their daily lives. The evil world is full of temptation and sin. Paul helps believers understand how they can live for God.

When sacrificing an animal according to God’s law, a priest would kill the animal, cut it in pieces, and place it on the altar. Sacrifice was important, but even in the Old Testament God made it clear that obedience from the heart was much more important (1 Samuel 15:22; Psalm 40:6; Amos 5:21-24).

God wants us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices—daily laying aside our own desires to follow him, putting all our energy and resources at his disposal, and trusting him to guide us ( Hebrews 13:15-16; 1 Peter 2:5). Our new life is a thank-offering to God. Offering our body as a living and holy sacrifice to be completely set apart for God and dedicated to his service.

When believers offer their entire self to God, a change will happen in their relation to the world. Christians are called to a different lifestyle than what the world offers with its behavior and customs, which are usually selfish and often corrupting (Galatians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:14). Christians are to live as citizens of a future world. There will be pressure to conform, to continue living according to the script written by the world, but believers are forbidden to give in to that pressure.

But refusing to conform to this world’s values must go even deeper than the level of behavior and customs—it must go to the transforming of the way we think. Believers are to experience a complete transformation from the inside out.

As we memorize and meditate upon God’s word, our way of thinking changes. Our minds become first informed, and then conformed to the pattern of God, the pattern for which we were originally designed. When believers have had their minds transformed and are becoming more like Christ, they will know what God wants and they will want to do it for it is good, pleasing to God, and perfect for them.

Just as our physical bodies are composed of many parts, so Christ’s body is made up of many believers who all perform different work. And as our bodies cannot be taken apart, so we belong to each other. The members work together to make the body work. When it is not done, the body suffers.

The list of gifts here in Romans 12 is representative, not exhaustive. It would be difficult for one person to embody all these gifts. An assertive prophet usually would not make a good counselor, and a generous giver might fail as a leader. When people identify their own gifts and their unique combination of gifts (this list is far from complete), they should then discover how they can use their gifts to build up Christ’s body, the church. At the same time, they should realize that one or two gifts can’t do all the work of the church.

Believers are to show brotherly love to fellow believers, and respect all the gifted people in the church, not just those whose gifts are visible. That’s the only way that the body of Christ can function effectively and make a positive impact on the unbelieving world.

Paul then makes a shift in thinking - he broadens his perspective to the world where the believers live—in this case, the capital of the empire, Rome itself. The community of believers was a tiny segment, vulnerable to the edicts of pagan emperors and persecution by any who disagreed with them. Paul, aware of these realities, counsels believers to avoid trouble by refusing to retaliate when persecuted and to respond with good when they are treated with evil, as Jesus had instructed as well (Matthew 5:44).

Christians should be at peace with others, with no hint of jealousy; and they should share the sorrow of fellow believers, offering kindness, concern, compassion, and a shoulder to cry on if needed. The believers needed to have this as they dealt with the ups and downs of daily life in their surroundings. Do not give in to your desire to take revenge or retaliate with evil; instead, act in a Godly way.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

As I read this passage anew, I am reminded of the principle of dedication. "Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercies, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God which is your spiritual worship."

Commit your total life to Christ. The secret to knowing God's will is to be willing in advance to do whatever it is. Even before you know what it is. How many people say "God, You show me what Your will is, and then after I know Your will I'll decide on if I want to do it or not." God doesn't play games. If you want to know God's will you decide you're going to do His will whatever it is.

I had a friend who preached in a church. The choir sand "Yes, Lord, yes. Yes, Lord, yes." over and over until it built to a great crescendo. Then they introduced the speaker and said, "Lord, you've already heard our answer. Now tell us what you want us to do."

That's the attitude God wants us to have. "I'm willing to do Your will, in advance, even before I know what it is." To be totally dedicated to God means to say Yes to Him for your life, your business, your home, your family.

What's the reason for dedication? "I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercies." Why should I dedicate myself to God? Because of what God has done for me. All of His mercies. What are His mercies? Romans 4-8 covers in detail what His mercies are. If God has been so good to us, surely we ought to give our lives in return to Him. The starting point is to dedicate our lives to God.

Thee are three characteristics of Christian dedication.

#1. It's voluntary. "Offer your bodies" Offer means to voluntarily commit. This is the same word for making a reservation for a table in a restaurant. It means to make a reservation. The table has been set aside for your benefit. Nobody else can use that table. Put a reservation card on your life. "God, my life, my time, my money, my self completely belongs to you." It's voluntary.

#2. It's practical. "Offer your bodies" Why would God want your body? God says, "Give me what you've got." We ought to have T-shirts printed up: "This bod belongs to God." Why doesn't God say offer your soul, or your spirit? He says bodies. If God owns your body, He owns you.

Have you ever heard anyone say, "I can't make it to be meeting tonight but I'll be with you in spirit." That's great sentiment, but practically it's worthless. Your spirit doesn't do anything if your body isn't there. It's one thing to say you'll give your money to missions. It's another thing to say, "I'm going to give my body and go spend two weeks on the mission field." When you give your body it means you're giving yourself. He's saying, be practical. 1 Cor. 6:19-20 says your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. How do you know if you've dedicated your body to God? When a need occurs, do you meet it?

#3. It's complete. "Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice." Sacrifice means total, unconditional dedication to God.

The starting point for knowing God's will is dedication. Offer your body as a living sacrifice. Usually when we think of sacrifice we think of something dead. But this says living sacrifice. There's one problem with a living sacrifice. It can crawl off the altar. That's why it's got to be a daily sacrifice. A lot of us come to church and commit ourselves on Sunday and then on Monday we crawl off the altar. We sing "Onward Christian Soldiers" and then on Monday we go AWOL.


When you do this it is "your spiritual worship". Worship is not something you do just on Sundays. Worship is any time you commit yourself to God. Anytime you make a commitment of your life to God, you're worshiping. A commitment of your time, praise, money, life, talents, energy -- that's an act of worship. He says we can be living in constant worship of God when we have the act of dedication.

First is the principle of dedication: "Offer yourself, totally commit yourself to God.