Apr 19, 2020
Romans 12:1-8
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to
present your bodies as a living sacrifice,holy and acceptable to
God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your
mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,what
is good and acceptable and perfect.
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among
you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but
to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of
faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we
have many members, and the members do not all have the same
function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ,
and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts
that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if
prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in
our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the
one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in
generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of
mercy, with cheerfulness.
In today’s sermon text from Romans 12, Paul lays out some ways
that the hope that we have in the Gospel works its way into our
daily lives. In light of “the depth of the riches and wisdom and
knowledge of God” which we read about last week, we are to “present
our bodies as a living sacrifice” and “be transformed by the
renewal of our minds” (Romans 12:1-2). We respond to this call to
live the Christian life with hymns such as Take My Life, And Let It
Be and Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed. We declare that our lives
will be “consecrated” to our Lord, and that we will “give ourselves
away” to Him. After being assured from Titus 2 that God’s grace is
training us to renounce ungodliness and to be self-controlled, we
encourage one another with a verse from If Thou But Suffer God To
Guide Thee: “keep His ways unswerving, perform thy duties
faithfully.” The final hymn this morning, Rise Up, O Men Of God,
sends us out with a charge to “give heart and mind and soul and
strength to serve the King of kings.” I pray that these hymns would
encourage each of us to use our gifts in service of the one who
gave Himself for our redemption. —Henry C. Haffner
Key Words: Therefore, Mercies, Sacrifice,
Conformed, Transformed, Body, Gifts
Keystone Verse: Do not be conformed to this world
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. (Romans 12:2)