Sunday December 17
Your Reasonable Service
With chapter 11, the doctrinal part of the book of Romans ends. Chapters 12 through 16 present practical instruction and personal notes. Nevertheless, these concluding chapters are extremely important because they show how the life of faith is to be lived.
For starters, faith is not a substitute for obedience, as if faith somehow nullifies our obligation to obey the Lord. The moral precepts are still in force; they are explained, even amplified in the New Testament. And no indication is given, either, that it will be easy for the Christian to regulate his or her life by these moral precepts. On the contrary, we’re told that at times it could be difficult, for the battle with self and with sin is always hard (1 Pet. 4:1). The Christian is promised divine power and given assurance that victory is possible, but we are still in the world of the enemy and will have to fight many battles against temptation. The good news is that if we fall, if we stumble, we are not cast away but have a High Priest who intercedes in our behalf (Heb. 7:25).
Amen! But, let us understand where Jesus is when we fall (sin a known sin). Where is Jesus when we are converted, which means we are fully surrendered to Him. We have a new heart that has been cleansed from sin. Jesus' representative, the Holy Spirit, lives in the heart. He who hath the Son hath life. So, Jesus abides in the heart of all who have given Him the whole heart. But, if we sin, the Spirit is not in the heart any longer. He has been grieved away. Where is Jesus when we sin? He does not leave us, nor cast us away, but neither is He in the heart. Thus, we do not have Jesus, thus we do not have eternal life (salvation). And, we have no power to resist temptation to sin. Where is Jesus? He is standing at the door of the heart. What is He doing there? And what is He waiting for? We do not physically die. Why not? The wages of sin is death? Because while Jesus is waiting for us to come to repentance, He is mediating for more time for us to decide whom we are going to serve.
Sinning a known sin reveals we are separated from God. Then the promise that we shall not be tempted beyond what we can bear is not ours to claim. We must abide in Christ and He in us in order for this promised to be active. When we allow the mind to wander away from Christ, we have no power to resist sinning. We cannot walk on water unless we are fully surrendered. We need Jesus all the time in order to resist sin all the time.
Read Romans 12:1.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.
How does the analogy presented here reveal how we as Christians are to live?
Holy? How can that be since we live in sinful evil flesh? Or will we interpret "holy" to be something entirely different from what it means? This is what false teachers do. They twist the meaning so that we believe we are rich when in fact we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, lost. This is a reasonable service. Why? Because Christ has provided a remedy for our sin sick souls. He will cleanse us from sin, if we will love Him supremely.
How does Romans 12:2 fit in with this?
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
When are we "transformed"? What does it mean to have a renewed mind? What, again we find the word perfect. Shall we interpret it to mean something God does not mean?
In Romans 12:1, Paul is alluding to Old Testament sacrifices. As, anciently, animals were sacrificed to God, so now Christians ought to yield their bodies to God - not to be killed but as living sacrifices dedicated to His service.
Yes, those who profess to be Christians ought to. But, those who are Christians will obey God and give Him the whole heart and mind. The result in seen in obedience to all of the commands of God that he understands. More than this, when the Spirit comes into the heart, He brings with Him all of the fruits of the Spirit, not one is missing.
In the time of ancient Israel, every offering brought as a sacrifice was examined carefully. If any defect was discovered in the animal, it was refused, for God had commanded that the offering be without blemish. So, Christians are bidden to present their bodies “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.” In order to do this, all their powers must be preserved in the best possible condition. Although none of us are without blemish, the point is that we are to seek to live as spotlessly and as faithfully as we can.
Let us see the Scripture to make such an astounding statement. It is true we live in fallen evil flesh. Don't we all understand we will not have holy flesh until the second coming, and that will be by God's grace. But, what of all the commands to be holy, to be perfect? What, shall we ignore them or interpret them away? God forbid! It is the heart and the mind that are perfect and holy and the motives of the truly converted Christian are perfect. I am going to do something very dangerous, for many will think that it is only those who are the 144,000 that are perfect, and without spot or blemish. This is not true, but to make the point that the lesson errs, I will quote Scripture. "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." Rev 22:11. "That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." Ephesians 5:27. "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present [you] faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." Jude verse 24. This last verse is a promise for you and me today if we will give Jesus the whole heart.
“Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2). In this way the Apostle describes (Christian) progress; for he addresses those who already are Christians. The Christian life does not mean to stand still, but to move from that which is good to that which is better.” - Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans, pp. 167, 168. What does it mean to move from the good to the better in the Christian life?
We just want to keep pulling down what happens when one makes a full surrender of the whole heart to Christ. Why is this? Because we want to excuse sin, when there is no excuse for sin. Jesus gave us a remedy that we might not sin. "He addresses those who are already Christians." It is good counsel for Christians, but even better for those who are not fully surrendered to Christ, and who have not been transformed. As converted Christians, we must continue to be transformed daily. "I die daily."
What does it mean to move from good to better? Luther has an interesting way of putting, it, but how much better to come from inspired counsel. "And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." Mark 4:26-29. At each stage of development, the plant is perfect. If put under a microscope, it would be seen to be so. Being perfect does not mean mature. In the Christian life, each stage is perfect if the Christian remains fully surrendered. Even one of the fruits of the Spirit are seen in the life, not one is missing. Then how can there be growth if all is already perfect?
Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance are all there at the moment of conversion. Can there be any more? Yes, we can become more patient, we can be more gentle. We can endure more pain. The fruit will become more abundant as the Christian gains experience and knowledge. The Sabbath School lessons on Jobe missed the mark. There was nothing that taught of this Christian experience in the whole quarter. Listen to Paul as he explains in the Book of Romans: "And not only [so], but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Romans 5:3-5.
Jesus learned obedience through the things He suffered, so shall if we will abide in Him and He in us. Jesus was always perfect, yet He grew in His strength of obedience. He was not ready for Calvary at age 12.