‘Therefore’: understanding mercy that leads to a changed life’
? Could you ever imagine a situation where you knew you would ”die’’, but you had the attitude to ‘celebrate the event’..?
Count it as ‘the best thing that ever happened to you?
Today we’ll enter chapter 12 of Paul’s inspired letter to the Roman Christians, which opens:
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters,
“Therefore” requires us to refer back to what Paul said leading to - therefore…
we ‘enter it’ ‘coming from’ Paul’s words in Ch 11
I ask, then, has God rejected his people?(A) Absolutely not!(B..
Even though they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. (Elijah).
Paul explains how a holy God can not ignore sin and must judge it,
But - as part of His plan- leaves a remnant of those who ‘believe God’ while the ‘majority go against Him:
One example with Elijah: I have left seven thousand for myself who have not bowed down to Baal.[b
Paul them encourages the Roman Christians - who are small in the midst of many antagonistic to their faith -
5 In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace.
He compares ‘these’, to ‘those’ who have a
“ spirit of stupor,
eyes that cannot see
and ears that cannot hear,
Paul explained:
A partial hardening has come upon Israel(AI) until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (v25)
Yet…
The Deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27
And this will be my covenant with them[j](AK)
when I take away their sins.[k](AL) Isaiah 59:20-Isaiah 59:21
Then saying… (in romans 11:32)
For God has imprisoned all in disobedience(AQ) so that he may have mercy on all.
? HOW will He have ‘mercy’ on all?
Mercy:
The idea of mercy is to ‘show kindness or concern for someone in serious need or to give help to the wretched, to relieve the miserable.’
Vincent writes that eleos "emphasizes the misery with which grace deals; hence, peculiarly the sense of human wretchedness coupled with the impulse to relieve it, “
Interestingly, John Macarthur comments:
“Were there no disobedience, there would be no need for and there could be no expression of God’s mercy.
To reveal Himself as merciful, He permitted sin. He has shut up all—the whole world, Jew and Gentile—in disobedience and unbelief in order that He might show mercy to all who repent of their sin and turn to Him for gracious salvation.
George Williams says:
“ God having tested both the Hebrew and the Gentile nations, and both having broken down under the test, He shut them up in unbelief so that, being manifestly without merit, and having by demonstration forfeited all claims and all rights to divine favor,
He might, in the unsearchable riches of His grace, have mercy upon them all.
?? Do you and I see ourselves as having been ‘shut up’ in ‘unbelief’ at some time in our lives?
?? Do you or I see ourselves as suffering under ‘sin’.
?? What comes to mind when you hear that phrase?
‘suffering under sin’.
??Anything come to mind? Worry? Doubt? Distrust?
Were we to ‘list’ all the things that ‘we see’ as ‘wrong’... (things we suffer under) How long would that list be?
? and what would you call that list?
What do you call those things that YOU THINK are wrong and shouldn't happen to you?
‘Sin?’
Hebrew: ‘to miss’ to miss the will of God.
‘Sin is a failure to be humans who fully love God and others’
Also…
(1 john 3:4) Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness
... (according to what God has revealed in the bible about His will - for how men and women are to live).
“Through Adam, the inherent inclination to sin entered the human race, and human beings became sinners by nature.”
Psalm 51:5: “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
Paul Enns explains concisely in the
The Moody Handbook of Theology:
God used the principle of imputation to benefit mankind when He imputed the sin of believers to the account of Jesus Christ, who paid the penalty for that sin—death—on the cross. Imputing our sin to Jesus, God treated Him as if He were a sinner, though He was not, and had Him die for the sins of the entire world (1 John 2:2). It is important to understand that sin was imputed to Him, but He did not inherit it from Adam. He bore the penalty for sin, but He never became a sinner. His pure and perfect nature was untouched by sin. He was treated as though He were guilty of all the sins ever committed by the human race, even though He committed none. God then imputed the righteousness of Christ to believers and credited our accounts with His righteousness, just as He had credited our sins to Christ’s account (2 Corinthians 5:21).
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Wow.
So Paul ends Ch 11 showing all God’s plans are to give all every opportunity for Him to ‘show us His mercy’...
Paul praises GOd for this…:
Oh, the depth of the riches(AR)
and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!(AS)
How unsearchable his judgments(AT)
and untraceable his ways!
34
For who has known the mind of the Lord?(AU)
Or who has been his counselor?
35
And who has ever given to God,
that he should be repaid?[n](AV)
36
For from him and through him
and to him are all things.(AW)
To him be the glory forever. Amen.
And then opens Ch 12 ‘THEREFORE’
I ‘love’ ‘therefore’.. Because it’s God’s ‘therefore’..
AND I have met God’s mercy 🙂
Having MET God’s mercy.. And found ‘meaning in’ God’s mercy
All His ‘therefore’s’ are compelling to all who’ve known the forgiveness of the cross through a holy savior who died to give us a life of inner peace and joy.
Paul illustrates a passion God wants to put in our hearts each time Paul says: Therefore 🙂
They always follow a truth about the love God and the good plan of God for us to follow in:
The ‘Therefore’ of Romans 12 has roots from earlier points Paul made in this letter-
CH 3:20- explains the condemnation of not being able to follow God’s commands perfectly
So.. 🙂 opens Ch -5
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,(A) we have peace[a] with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.(B)
And Ch 8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation(A) for those in(B) Christ Jesus
ANd now Ch 12 (read with me there:)
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you(A) to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,(B) holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.[a] 2 Do not be conformed(C) to this age,(D) but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,(E) so that you may discern 🙂
Wow…
“That you may” 🙂
‘Discern’ 🙂
what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will(F) of God.
What a feast to consider 🙂
That ‘I’ .. that “you’ that ‘we’....
‘Sinners saved by grace’
That’s what we are considering…
‘?How does a sinner saved by grace live? 🙂
THAT phrase is a happy meal 🙂
‘Sinner’ (guilty as charged)
‘Saved’ (from what? Ohhhhh the list! 🙂 ohhh the potentials! 🙂
‘By grace!” oh the depth of what that really means!
Paul prays for believers that once
‘rooted and grounded in love, 18 will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth 19of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.… eph 3;18
Please turn to ephesians CH 1 (read from v 4 with me?)
4 For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.[c](F) (????)
5 He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6 to the praise of his glorious grace(G) that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.(H)
7 In him we have redemption(I) through his blood, the forgiveness(J) of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding.[d]
9 He made known to us the mystery of his will,(K) according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ(L) 10 as a plan for the right time[e]—to bring everything together in Christ,(M) both things in heaven and things on earth(N) in him. (Salvation through redemption)
11 In him we have also received an inheritance,[f] because we were predestined(P) according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will, 12 so that we who had already put our hope(Q) in Christ might bring praise to his glory.(R)
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Our text to consider today?
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God,
I urge you(A) to
present your bodies as a living sacrifice,(B) holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.[a]
2 Do not be conformed(C) to this age,(D)
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,(E)
so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will(F) of God.
present your bodies as a living sacrifice,(B) holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.[a]
What does he mean?
He says this in Philippians 1:20
20 My eager expectation and hope(AH) is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life(AI) or by death.(AJ)
It's amazing to me.. For the love of Us… Christ.. Holy … part of the Trinity in heaven.. Because of HIs love for us… would be willing to leave heaven and take on a HUMAN body.. For the purpose of suffering all we suffer.. And then - in that body.. Received and endured the horrific suffering of the ‘just penalty’. For all sin.. That ‘whomever’ would believe in what He did.. May ‘have eternal life with God.
Because that is a fact.. A fact of life.. A fact of nature. It is also a ‘fact’ that after He did that… His body.. ‘Rose from the dead’.
‘ so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.’
Jesus… from the temple as a 12 year old?:
49“Why were you looking for Me?” He asked. “ Did you not know that I had to be about my Father's business?
He declares to the tempter under stress in the desert: (Matthew 4) man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”[a](E)
He teaches: Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Mat:6)
To his disciples offering him food as he tirelessly ministered:
"My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
To the night before he GAVE HIs life:
42 “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
Peter stood up at pentecost (Acts 2) and said;
‘let me explain this to you;...
23 this Jesus,[b] (N)delivered up according to (O)the definite plan and (P)foreknowledge of God, (Q)you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 (R)God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because (S)it was not possible for him to be held by it”
And God’s will is that Jesus becomes a perfect sacrifice to suffer ‘physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally that day.. In his physical body.. SO THAT we would never have to suffer alone again in those areas, but be forgiven of all forever, and have the comfort and care of the holy spirit each day of our lives knowing that.. Each day, each hour:
Romans 8:28 28 We know that all things work together[k] for the good[l] of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.(AX) 29 For those he foreknew he also predestined(AY) to be conformed to the image of his Son,(AZ) so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
So Paul says… “Therefore”… 🙂
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you(A) to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,(B) holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.
‘Brothers and sisters’
Interesting phrase. It will never be the same as it used to be for me.
Not since Jesus said what he said;
50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven(A) is my brother and sister… (mat 12;50)
In Matthew 7:21 Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Intimidating to think we could operate on the level Jesus did: that kind of faith, that kind of trust in the Father, that kind of obedience.
How wonderful that the Lord is strong to save.
17The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; (Zeph 3:17)
Of Paul’s writings that God gave him he says: “For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God” (Acts 20:27).
So as Paul urges that we - like him - like Jesus - present OUR bodies as living sacrifices, we don’t have to worry about God not being with us every moment to guide us into his will as we seek Him… wait on Him… 🙂
…12Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will ‘re store’ you (Jer 29:13)
Jesus: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7
ALSO: We don’t have to worry about trying to serve Him in our own strength either.. from avoiding sexual immorality.. To enjoying a thankful heart.. To… DOing GOOD! 🙂
“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality” (thes 4:3)
or “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (thes 5:18).
“For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.” (1 Peter 2:15)
?Me??? HOW???
Peter touched on it:
(BA(R)God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because (S)it was not possible for him to be held by it”
It's that SAME power that works in us when we believe with all our heart can - in Christ:
(BA(R)God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because (S)it was not possible for him to be held by it”....... ???
(Turn Phil 2:13)
continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. 13For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.
One of Paul’s phrases I find most intriguing:
work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
It pictures perhaps the humility with which we should respond to the amazing cost of our salvation…
Jesus: “whoever looses his life for my sake will find it”
It pictures perhaps the reality of our selfish nature being so fearful it trembles at the thought of dying to ourselves to live for Christ as He calls us to.
William Grunall in his masterpiece - the Christian in Complete Armour - observes something to the effect of: “our flesh shrieks at the thought of surrendering anything to God”.
Though our flesh.. Our faithless ways.. Our ‘living life’ apart from the adopting Spirit of God must die.
Oh how this holy spirit of God IN US can flourish!
3For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of
the mercies of God, I urge you(A) to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,(B) holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.[a] 2 Do not be conformed(C) to this age,(D) but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,(E) so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will(F) of God.
How wonderful 🙂
More on this next week: 🙂
Lets pray:
‘in view of the mercies of God’ I urge you(A) view - our eyes can see
‘Amazing grace. Was blind but now I see)
to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, (the honor to be counted as like Christ)
- B) holy and pleasing to God; (the cross has changed those who believe in it)
this is your true worship. (giving all of my life - not just parts of it)
[a] 2 Do not be conformed(C) to this age,(D) but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,(E) (thank you that I am not trapped. Powerless under the influence of the sinful world..
so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will(F) of God.
(guide us and give us the desire and the courage to act of behalf of your purposes)
Amen