SOUNDING OUT:
Living Sacrifices
Chapter twelve
of Romans begins the practical section of the epistle.
Chapters 1-8 are doctrinal, chapters 9-11 are transitional
and parenthetical, and chapters 12-16 are practical.
The first thing that is handled in this practical section
of Romans is our commitment to live for Him. Who knows
better than God how we are to live? Who knows better
than God what brings joy and meaning to life?
Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies
of God, that ye [to] present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service
Certainly if anyone had
the authority to demand or require obedience, Paul did.
However, he did not coerce, threaten, or manipulate.
He beseeched! He implored! He called them to his side,
into his embrace, and spoke out of the greatness of
the love of God in his heart.
When we bring things down to the least common
denominator, men are moved or stirred to action by either
fear or love. Paul ignores the base motivation of the
world (fear) and moves up to the higher ground of the
love of God. Although fear is seemingly effective in
the world on base or rudimentary things of life, only
the love of God will ever take us to the heights of
the newness of life to which we have been called.
Only as we recognize God’s awesome relentless
devotion to us we will respond in like manner. We love
Him because He first loved us. Paul could only beseech
them because the decision to obey was totally up to
them.
Notice the “therefore” in verse one?
“Therefore” links a principle with a practical
application. Because of the transitional and parenthetical
nature of chapters 9-11 it refers all the way back before
the parenthesis to the end of chapter eight. We are
to recall God’s fathomless love for us so that
we respond in kind.
Romans 8:38,39
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature, shall be able to separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Why wouldn’t we respond in loving
obedience knowing that nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our lord?
Because nothing can separate us from the love of God,
we live for Him without reservation. We cannot lose
His love, and it constantly constrains us to live for
him. He relentlessly pursues us, providing for us exceeding,
abundantly, above, all we could ask or think. II Corinthians
states this so succinctly:
2 Corinthians 5:14,15
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we
thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all
dead:
15 And that he died for all, that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves,
but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
We are to present our bodies a living
sacrifice, one constantly living for Him. That is holy
and acceptable to God. It is the right thing to do.
It is our reasonable or logical service. If we judge
properly, the only logical thing to do is LIVE FOR GOD.
What do we have to lose? Nothing can separate
us from his love. He doesn’t expect us to be faultless.
That is why it says, “by the mercies of God.”
Verse one tells us to present our bodies a living sacrifice,
to live for Him, and verse two tells us how to do it.
Although “sacrifice” (the Greek word,
thusia) is used five times in five verses in
the Church Epistles, this is the only place we are asked
to make a sacrifice. The Greek word for service is latreia.
Both are used of the service and worship of God according
to the requirements of the Levitical law. However, those
sacrifices were always killed. The only place I can
remember the children of Israel making what could be
termed a living sacrifice, a commitment to live for
God, is in the book of Nehemiah.
We don’t have the time to go through the
entire account, but we will read parts of it. I think
it would really bless you to read it later, the entire
chapter up through 10:28. It is a mighty tribute to
God’s mercy. In it they praise God and recount
His great mercy toward them. Starting with Abraham in
verse seven and continuing up until the present time
they recall with great thanksgiving the manifold mercies
of God.
Nehemiah 9:16-21, 30-33,38
But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened
their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,
17 And refused to obey, neither were
mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them;
but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed
a captain to return to their bondage: but
thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest
them not.
18 Yea, when they had made them a
molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought
thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;
19 Yet thou in thy manifold
mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness:
the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by
day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of
fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein
they should go.
20 Thou gavest also thy good spirit
to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from
their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.
21 Yea, forty years
didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that
they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old,
and their feet swelled not.
30 Yet many years didst thou forbear
them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in
thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore
gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the
lands.
31 Nevertheless for thy great
mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume
them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious
and merciful God.
32 Now therefore, our God, the great,
the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant
and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before
thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our
princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets,
and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the
time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.
33 Howbeit thou art just in all that
is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but
we have done wickedly:…
38 And because of all this we make
a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites,
and priests, seal unto it.
The people were thoughtfully
remembering the past and pouring out their souls to
God. They verbally declared their dependence upon Him,
and then sealed it by making a covenant, which they
document in writing. They were really serious. So that
everyone would know they meant business, they committed
it to writing. Nehemiah 10:1-27 lists all the signatures,
all eighty-four names.
Nehemiah's name is first. Then come twenty-two
priests (vv. 1-8); seventeen Levites (vv. 9-18); and
forty-four others who were called leaders or heads of
homes (vv. 10-27). Look at verse 28:
Nehemiah 10:28
And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites,
the porters, the singers, the Nethinims [servants
to the Levites], and all they that had separated
themselves from the people of the lands unto the law
of God, their wives, their sons, and their
daughters, every one having knowledge, and
having understanding;
Note the two things that
characterized the people whose names appeared on the
document. First, they had separated themselves from
all the heathen and their lifestyle unto the law of
God. Second, they had an understanding of what they
were doing. In order to sign the document, a person
had to understand that the appearance of his name meant
he would be distinctively unique and unlike the pagans
surrounding him. Not only would they commit themselves,
but their commitment included their wives, their
sons, and their daughters. They did it as families
working together
Although the names of some sons and daughters
appeared on the document, not all the names were listed
because verse 28 begins "Now the rest of the people....”
There were others besides these who were willing to
say, "We're going to be distinct individuals and
not be concerned about conformity with those around
us."
“Why was it important for them to do this?
Because they drove a "literary stake" into
the ground that day. It became a rallying point; they
erected a written monument that said in effect, "This
is our promise to you, O God. This is our constitution,
our declaration of distinction. We don't care if anyone
else in the world lives by this. We will live by it.
It will be our guide. Our homes will be distinct. Our
philosophy of life will not be like that of those who
live outside the walls or even of some who live within
the city's walls. This is something, Lord, that we want
to carry out before You." (Swindoll, Charles R.,
Hand Me Another Brick, Nelson, Nashville, TN,
page 143.)
This was their living sacrifice… a vow,
a commitment to live for Him. It would be evidenced
in a lifestyle that would set them from those around
them. God wants us to make a similar commitment today.
We don’t have to draw up a document and sign our
names to it. We just need to present our bodies a living
sacrifice—to be faithful, constantly living for
him to the best of our ability. It is the only reasonable
thing to do.
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