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Preaching the Living WORD through the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4:2 - |
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2007 GBC THEME “Renewing Our Lives
And Minds In Christ” - Part 1 (Rom 12:1-2) Pastor Daryl
Hilbert I.
THE BELIEVER’S LIVING SACRIFICE A. Basis of Appeal
1.
Paul exhorts the believer on the basis of God’s mercies to
offer himself a living sacrifice to God. In so doing, the believer is not to
be a sacrifice conformed to this world but a sacrifice transformed by the
renewing of the mind in the Word of God. In this way, the believer is a
living sacrifice changed into the likeness of Christ and ready to serve
Christ according to the will of God. 2.
The “therefore” in Rom 12:1, not only refers to the
preceding benediction (Rom 11:33-36) but also the entire doctrinal foundation
laid in the fist eleven chapters. The believer has a duty to live out the
practical ramifications of the gospel based on the doctrine of the gospel. a)
Ch. 1-3 - The
Doctrine of Sin (Total Depravity) b)
Ch. 3-5 - The
Doctrine of Salvation (Justification) c)
Ch. 6-8 - The
Doctrine of Sanctification (Victory over Sin) d)
Ch. 9-11 - The
Doctrine of Sovereignty (Israel) e)
Ch. 12-15 - The Duty of Service (Spiritual Worship) 3.
Paul is strongly exhorting (parakaleō - lit. “called alongside,” encourage, appeal) the
Roman believers (“brethren”) to present themselves as a living sacrifice. 4.
He bases his appeal on the “mercies of God.” This
particular word for “mercy” (oiktirmos)
is sympathy or compassion with which one shows for the sufferings of others. 5.
God’s mercies would include grace, love, and mercy
extended to the believer (Rom 3:25; Rom 5:1, 8; Rom 8:1).The other
implication of God’s mercies, is that the believer does not have to fear what
will happen to him if he presents himself as a living sacrifice to God. God
will not toy with the believer but will sovereignly and sympathetically (2Co
1:3; Jam 5:11) work all things for good (Rom 8:28). B. Basic Action 1.
The believer is exhorted to “present” himself as a sacrifice.
The thought behind “present” comes from the Greek word paristêmi. It literally means to place or stand beside someone or
something (Act 1:10). 2.
Paristêmi can mean to
make oneself acceptable (1Co 8:8), to yield oneself for service (Rom 6:19),
and to show oneself as mature (Col 1:28). 3.
The believer is to present himself before God, yielded and
ready for sacrifice and service until called home. C. Basic
Attributes 1.
In Rom 12:1, the believer is to offer himself as a
“sacrifice.” This type of sacrifice (thusia)
is one that stresses the act of offering. It was used in the LXX for OT
sacrifices and offerings (Lev 2:1; Lev 1:9, 13; Lev 2:1; Lev 3:1; Lev 4:10;
Lev 7:11; Lev 19:5; Lev 23:18; and its root is used for altar - thusiastêrion- Lev 1:9,13). 2.
The believer is to offer himself up to God as a sacrifice
for God’s disposal. In other words, he is to lay his life on the altar of God
for whatever, wherever, or whenever. 3.
Christ is the ultimate sacrifice (Heb 9:26; Heb 10:12) as
the Lamb of God. The believer is to emulate Christ, not in atoning for sin,
but in conformity to Christ sacrificial character. 4.
Paul describes what type of sacrifice the believer is to
be. a)
“Living” (pres part - zaō
- live, Eng. “zoo”) - The believer is an offering that is vibrantly alive
as opposed to the dead offerings of the Old Testament. b)
“Holy” (fr hagios
- set apart unto God and set apart from sin) The believer is to be an
offering, sacred and consecrated unto God without the blemish of sin. c)
“Acceptable” (euarestos - lit. “well-pleasing”) The
believer is to be an offering whose conduct and service is acceptable and
brings pleasure to a holy God (1Pe 2:5; Heb 13:15-16; Eph 5:2; Phil 2:17;
Phil 4:18). II. THE BELIEVER’S
SPIRITUAL SERVICE OF WORSHIP A. Rational
Worship 1.
Paul completes his exhortation with an appositional
phrase, “which is your spiritual service of worship.” Understanding this
phrase has become a bit of a controversy. 2.
The controversy centers around the word, logikos, which has been translated as,
“spiritual” (NASB, ESV, RSV, NRS,
ASV), “spiritual act”(NIV, NIB), “reasonable”(KJV, NKJ, DRA, PNT, RWB,
TNT, WEB), “intelligent”(YLT, DBY). 3.
The word, logikos,
contains the base meaning of reason or rational and from it we get our
English word, “logic”. a)
Some then see the implication that being a living
sacrifice is reasonable or a logical conclusion in light of God’s mercies. b)
Others see the implication of the rarer religious usage,
“spiritual” similar to 1Pe 2:2 as “spiritual milk” and not “logical milk.” c)
However, some see no problem with the original sense of
“rational” with the implication that the believer has true rational worship
as opposed to non-rational animal sacrifices or irrational pagan worship (Rom
1:22-23). The context would support this view since the believer is
contrasted with the OT sacrificial imagery. Furthermore, Paul will continue
the theme of rational worship with the renewal of the nous (mind) and understanding of the will of God. (1)
The idea is
rather that the sacrifice we render is intelligent and deliberate, perhaps to
be understood in contrast to the sacrifices of the Jewish cultus in which the
animals had no part in determining what was to be done with them. (Expositor’s
Bible Commentary) (2)
In Rom. 12:1,
the “reasonable service” or worship is to be understood as
that service to God which implies intelligent meditation or reflection
without the kind of heathen practices intimated in 1 Cor. 12:2 and without
the obsolete system of OT worship (Is. 1:12–15). (The Complete
Word Study Dictionary) (3)
The worship of the Christian is what pertains to the mind, or is
spiritual; that of the Jew was external. Chrysostom renders this phrase your
“spiritual ministry.” The Syriac, “That ye present your bodies,” etc., by a
rational ministry. (Barnes) B. Service Worship 1.
The phrase, “service of worship” comes from the
connotation of the word, “latreia.”
Latreia in its basic root meant
service for hire or reward. Later it came to be applied to religious service.
It is used for the work of the Jewish temple priests (Rom 9:4; Heb 9:6-7). 2.
This service to God also constitutes worship, but worship
through service or service-worship. It is often contrasted with another word
for worship, which is proskuneō
and means to prostrate and humble oneself before God. In an interesting
contrast, Jesus uses both terms when he quotes Deut 6:13 in Luk 4:8
(“worship” - proskuneō,
“serve” - latreia). 3.
The believer is to offer himself as a living sacrifice not
only to be willing to die for Christ but especially to serve him while living. III.
THE BELIEVER’S COMMITMENT TO
CHRIST A.
A New Commitment to Christ B.
A Total Commitment to Christ C.
A Pure Commitment to Christ D.
A Useful Commitment to Christ E.
A Rational Commitment to Christ |
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