Grace Bible Church

4000 E. Collins Rd. P.O. Box #3762 Gillette, WY 82717 (307) 686-1516

“Preaching the Living Word through the Written Word (2Tim 4:2)”

SACRIFICIAL BODY LIFE AMONG BELIEVERS

(Romans 12:9-16) 9/28/08 & 10/5/08

Grace Bible Church, Gillette, Wyoming

Pastor Daryl Hilbert

I. BODY LIFE MEANS BEING BELIEVERS OF INTEGRITY (9)

A. Paul begins with a barrage of practical exhortations. These exhortations primarily apply to believers and body life. In light of presenting ourselves as “living sacrifices,” believers are to exercise self-sacrifice towards the body of Christ.

B. After teaching on the believer’s spiritual gifts (Ro 12:3-8), love becomes a fitting segue. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul taught that love is the goal of exercising spiritual gifts.

C. Believers are to have agápê love (self-sacrificial love) for one another and it is to be without hypocrisy. “Without hypocrisy” (anupókritos) means genuine, sincere, without pretense. A love without hypocrisy is a love that is sincere in its commitments to the body and is willing to be faithful to the end.

D. In addition to being sincere and faithful in our love, we must be sincere and faithful in our abhorrence of evil.

E. To abhor something is to hate it utterly. It is used frequently of God’s hatred toward sin (cp. Ro 1:18; pride, deceit, murder, immorality, impurity, dissension among the brethren - Pr 6:17; impurity - Pr 7; cp. 2Ti 2:22). The fear of the Lord is to hate evil (Pr 8:13).

F. Society must not dictate the believer’s morality. God holiness and His word dictate morality for the believer.

G. The word “cling” is the Greek word kolláō literally means to stick or glue together. The believer is to be inseparable from those things that are morally good (agathós).

H. Believers are to be inseparable from good morality, good family values, godly worship, good deeds, and sacrificial ministry. In addition, the believer is to do these things continuously (present participles) and be a restrainer in this evil world (cp. Rom 12:2).

II. BODY LIFE MEANS BEING FAMILY-AFFECTIONATE (10)

A. Believers are not only supposed to treat each other as family, they are family (cp. Ro 8:14, 15, 23).

B. They are to genuinely have family affection (philó - love & storgoi - family members) in their brotherly love (phil - family love & adelphia - brotherhood).

C. Believers are to go out of their way to meet the need of their brothers in Christ. There is to be forgiveness and brotherly kindness in the body (Jn 13:34; 2Pe 1:7, 22).

D. Older men are to be treated with fatherly respect and younger men as brothers. Older women are to be treated with motherly respect and younger women are to be regarded as sisters, defending their purity (1Ti 5:1-2).

E. The spiritual older men and women are to teach the younger women (Tit 2:3-5). All believers are to have an attitude of preferring one another better then themselves.

III. BODY LIFE MEANS BEING ZEALOUS IN SERVICE (11)

A. Believers are not to be lagging behind (oknerós - reluctant or poky) when it comes to their love and ministry toward the brethren.

B. Instead, they are to have a fervent (pres part - zéō - hot, boiling, i.e zeal) spirit. They are continually to go forward in their own spiritual life.

C. They are continually to go forward in their desire to help the body grow (Ac 18:24-25).

D. The believer is continually to be serving the Lord out of a heart of love for the Lord (Mk 12:30), ignoring obstacles and looking for opportunities.

E. He is to serve whether or not it is convenient, sacrificially at any cost, and labor until the Lord takes him home (Phil 1:22-24).

IV. BODY LIFE MEANS BEING PERSEVERANT IN TRIALS (12, 14)

A. Paul brings up exhortations having to deal with persecution or trials. One might wonder why Paul would bring up this topic with regard to believers. Persecution is an expected difficulty for believers. All believers who are living for the Lord should expect some degree of persecution (2Ti 3:12). Believers are to encourage each other when faced with persecution.

B. In fact, Paul gives four admonitions for the believer during persecution (12, 14). First, believers are to be “rejoicing in hope” (12). Even though they are going through persecution and trials, they are to rejoice continually (pres participle - continuous action cp. Phil 4:4). The believer can rejoice because his “hope” in is the sovereign God of this universe. The Lord allows us to share in tribulation but will bring us through (Ro 8:18).

C. Secondly, the believer is to “persevere in tribulation.” The Greek word for “persevere” is hupoménō and literally means to “remain under.” When the believer “remains under” persecution patiently, God is able to work His plan. The believer finds favor with God and fulfills his calling to suffer (1Pe 2:20-21).

D. Thirdly, the believer is to pray when undergoing persecution and trials. In fact, the believer is to be “continually persisting” (pres part - proskarteréō -devoted) in prayer (cp. Ac 2:42; Co 4:2). Prayer takes our concerns to God, aligns our heart with God’s will, and seeks to benefit the enemy (Mt 5:44).

E. Finally, the believer is to have a forgiving and benevolent attitude toward the enemy (14). In fact, the believer is commanded to “bless” (eulogéō - lit, “speak well”) and not “curse” (kataráomai - cause harm) those who are persecuting him (Lk 6:28). Not only has the believer been called to suffer (Phil 1:29), but God is able to use our kindness to melt the hardest heart (cp. Ro 12:19-20).

V. BODY LIFE MEANS BEING GENEROUS IN GIVING (13)

A. The word “contributing” comes from the Greek word koinōnéō, which means to have in “common.” It is used to distinguish common everyday NT Greek (Koinê) with Classical Greek. Here is could be translated, “Sharing in common the needs of the saints.”

B. The body of Christ shares Christ in common. Therefore, we have all things in Christ in common. When one member of the body is hurting and has a need, the rest of the body is asked to share in common. This would especially mean monetary sharing or sharing of resources (Ac 2:42-45). This does not mean that we are to sell all our property and give it to the church, but it does mean that the early church is an example to believers in sharing all things in common.

C. Practicing hospitality (philoxenía - love of strangers) does not mean that we are to go out on the streets and invite every stranger into our home. But, it does mean that believers are to have a cordial disposition toward opening their homes to other believers for ministry and neccesity.

D. Again the early church was an example of how today’s believers are to act. Day to day they broke bread from house to house having their meals together (Ac 2:46). This is referred to as koinōnía and is exercising biblical fellowship because we have Christ in common (Ac 2:42).

VI. BODY LIFE MEANS BEING EMPATHETIC WITH OTHERS (15)

A. Is the believer to be somber all the time or is he to be bubbly and joyful all the time? Well it all depends to whom you are ministering.

B. If a saint(s) is rejoicing because God has done something great in their lives, then we all are to rejoice with him. Take every opportunity to encourage one another (1Th 5:11).

C. However, if a saint(s) is grieving, then the body is not to deem them unspiritual for grieving, but they are to weep (klaíō - strong inner lamenting, Jn 11:33-36) with them.

D. The believer’s response is based on ministry to the body. Our response is not to be focused on ourselves but on the person to whom we are ministering (cp. Ro 12:10).

VII. BODY LIFE MEANS BEING UNIFIED IN HUMILITY AND TRUTH (16)

A. Believers are to have the same (tò autò) mindset toward one another. They are to view each other with the mindset of all these admonitions (Ro 12:9-16).

B. Believers must be unified with the same mind toward truth (Ep 4:15), doctrine (Ti 1:9), body life (1Th 4:9), and service to the Lord (cp. Ro 12:11; He 10:24-25).

C. Specifically, believers are not to be high-minded, thinking they are above others (Phil 2:2-3). Every believer begins their Christian life on their knees at the foot of the cross.

D. A believer should not have a problem with associating with the lowly. The “lowly” (tapeinós) would be the undistinguished, unimportant, servile, poor, or downhearted.

E. Literally, Paul’s admonition is, “Stop being wise in your own estimation.” When someone is wise in their own estimation, they are giving themselves too much credit. It is only through God and His Word that anyone can gain wisdom. There is no unity without humility.