Romans 12: Spiritual Gifts and Christian Living

You know, the last time I spoke on the Book of Romans, the last couple of Sabbaths, I've been, as many of our speakers have, I've been going through, we oftentimes in anticipation for a message, we go through and think through the message that we're going to deliver to the congregation. We pray a lot. I know we do this. We think a lot about it. And then we, in going through different messages, will all oftentimes take them to God and say, do you think this is what we should do? Is the timing right? Is the content right? Is it beneficial and edifying for the congregation?

And I found myself, the last time we were in the Book of Romans, after services, talking with a number of you and talked with a number of you after the next Sabbath, in order to kind of get feedback to how we were processing that content. And one of the things I think I was struck by is that part of what I was doing, and granted, in reading Romans, we know this, Paul being educated and oftentimes in the language that he uses, that I thought to myself, there needs to be some clarification that happens here.

At times, we know Paul can deal with ideas in very intricate ways, detailed ways, that in some ways can be problematic in terms of just straightforward, clear understanding. Sarah and I had had a discussion a while back about the different ways different books read, and you probably do the same. There are probably some books that you go and read, and they just are as smooth as possible. You read, there's nothing, there's no guesswork, what did that mean? And then there are other books, like in some cases Paul's writing, that are problematic.

So I'm going back to the Book of Romans, and after the feedback that I've had of late, I thought we would tackle it a little bit differently today. And that said, I'm going to actually couple this. I've been reading a book entitled How We Learn, and forgive me for reading this book, I'm about 200 pages in, and what it does is it is talking about the latest neuroscience, about the way in which we learn content, learn anything, and how we learn, where we learn.

And so I've been moving through this, and I found myself at times, even as I dealt with this content, thinking, well, you know, this might be beneficial in terms of dealing with the Book of Romans. So out of the three or four sermons I had going for today, this is the one I'm going to settle on.

And if it's up, we're going to deal with Romans. So this is how I've laid out this message, this time period. Let me get a timer so I have some idea what's going on. First of all, we're going to lay some context, because one of the things I think that's been lost in terms of the way in which Paul addresses content is the context leading up to the content that he addresses. And when I say that, the notion of context means maybe to me, here's my own Phillips translation, what is the background to this language?

Why? What happens prior to this? What motivates Paul prior to this to say the things that he says, to write the things he writes in the Book of Romans? So that said, we're going to run this a bunch of different directions, and I'm going to start with just five facts. In anticipation for the message, I think it's helpful, and you know, I've gone through these facts numerous times, and they certainly make sense of me, but I think they serve as a good launching point in order to transition in the content that we'll eventually cover in Romans 12.

So we'll first of all deal with context, then we'll deal with the content that's in Romans 12. So I have five facts for you, for starters. Let's see how we can get this going. Here we go. My five facts, and I'm looking for this to be a little bit interactive. Here we go. Fact one, Paul wrote the book, or epistle, to the Romans before he traveled to Rome. So here becomes the question. Anyone have any idea when he wrote the book of Romans?

You can give this a shot, and I'm not aiming to scare anyone in the room. If there's a pause, I can certainly fill in a gap, and we can go from there. Most references in the Church's Law and Calvary in terms of timeline is right around 55-56 AD is when Paul wrote the book of Romans. Now I'll add to this, anyone happen to know where he was whenever he wrote this?

He was in Corinth at the time. How many journeys do we know that Paul took? Let's go there. I don't know if this is a question or a fact. He took four of them, so we got four journeys. So he journeyed often through all of this. So this first fact is just to kind of give us some sense of when was the letter written. Now remember by background, what we read, and we oftentimes reference it in Modern Day vernacular as a book, was simply a letter. Paul being in Corinth hadn't been to Rome yet.

So what he would oftentimes get is feedback from different people about the congregation itself, and also what's happening in that congregation. What kind of problems are being had, or developing. What are the challenges there? Who's contributing in whatever ways that we're seeing contributions? So then he gets this information. Certainly God inspires him. And then he goes and pens this long letter. This letter, in this case, after the fact, is broken into 16 chapters. We know this. So again, he wrote this letter before he actually traveled to Rome. So let's go to fact two. In general, well, it disappeared. In fact two, the focus of the entire book, all 16 chapters, is human sin and our reconciliation to God. There's the focus of the entire book. Now it comes in different ways and in different sections, but it's helpful to get a sense of be generally on what the book of Romans is about. It's about human sin, the frailties we have as a human being, and then further about how we are reconciled to God. Now that's one of the reasons that motivated me to give this message now, in particular as we prepare for the Passover. Let's go to another fact. The Gospel of Romans was written first to the Jews. We can read this in Romans 1 verse 16. And then the Gentiles. Now we might ask ourselves, why is this?

Why would he write first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles? Anyone want to venture a guess on this?

This in part was part of the problem. There are pieces here, almost like string or yarn or spaghetti. There are reasons why he wrote first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. He wrote first to the Jews because, I'll go to the next fact, because they'd had the Scriptures. They had long had the Scriptures. They knew God's Word. They were the ones responsible for keeping the Scriptures. And with that, if you recall by background, they then had a certain sense of superiority because of that. They felt themselves loftier or puffed up because they were convinced that they were more spiritually superior. Because after all, we long had the Scriptures. We long kept the Sabbath. We long known the Holy Days. We knew the sacrificial system. The last fact I throw out is the follow-up. Interestingly enough, like we don't have enough problems with one group, the Jews who happen to be in the church with having a mindset of superiority, the Gentiles also had a sense of superiority. Now, if this feels like clashing factions, it was. Because the Gentiles, and this is for a very different reason, if you go read commentaries, much of the time they were convinced that they were superior because they didn't have the baggage that the Jews had who happened to be in the church. If they go back, they could quickly cite that period of time during Christ's ministry. They could point to the Gentiles could say, see, you people were hamstrung. You were limited in how you dealt with the Scriptures. Look at how Christ dealt with you.

Look at how you rejected the Messiah. They could reference all these things. So there was a separate sense of superiority. There was also, and I had to go back and find my notes on this as well, the reminder that also their culture, that the Roman Empire also tended to lend itself toward a mindset of superiority. So they were convinced of that at the same time. So these five facts, in essence, for me, kind of give us in a nutshell a couple of key vantage points to jump from. So I'm not done with setting context. Let's go to a little bit further. I thought we would turn this into a game. That said, we have been through two sections. There are actually four sections. Both commentaries note that there are four main sections of Romans. In this case, depending on what commentary is, some list three. What they do is they list sections three and four together, and they list that as three. But I'm going to ask for feedback here. If we're looking at the column on the far right, and we're having to match it up with what's on that left, section one, Romans one through eight, anyone want to give a venture, a guest, of what on the far right goes under that first one? What happens through the first eight chapters among those four categories that are listed right? Anyone give us a shot? This is one of those things like I have in class, where I ask a question and the heads all go down. Don't call on me, Dr. Us. So I'll do this. Say what? Law.

So this is where we go. Do you have law on here? I'm not seeing law. You went away again. We're back.

The notion of law is fitting. I'm going to fit with what Mr. DeVito just offered us here along this line. The very first eight chapters are all about our humanity, human beings, the Romans and the church going astray. So it's all law-related. He's spot on. What would go next here?

Say what? The last one. The last one? Let's go the last one. Sure enough. If you remember, we dealt with in Romans 9 through 11. We talk at length about... We're blinking a lot. I don't know if we can control the blinking or not. Maybe I just need to leave my eyes closed for a while.

The next section then deals with specifically matters of the Jews. Now, in that the Jews represent, at whole, Israel. It really, if we deal with what happens in 9, 10 and 11, we're dealing with in broad form, particularly the restoration that happens once Christ returns, of how Judah represents or the Jews represent at the time Israel broadly. But if you remember, and we'll go through this in the next slide, what happens in 9 through 11 is how the Jews are dealt with. Because specifically, Paul spends time dealing with each of them. Next, we would have then Paul's encouragement to move forward. He deals with all of these principles. And that 9 through 11, if you remember, was the real challenge much of the time because of the language that Paul used. And maybe just opposite what you thought or what I thought, because our greetings usually don't work this way. On the tail end of most of Paul's letters, remember what he does. He offers greetings and comments. He doesn't start them. He does address them some. But remember how most of the letters worked? Most of the epistles end with acknowledging people and comments toward people. So that gives us some general sense of how the book is laid out. So let's go a little bit further. Let's go chapter by chapter because this is going to now fit that framework.

If we get a chapter breakdown, interestingly, though the letter is first to the Jews and the Gentiles, it doesn't. The content of chapter one generally is written to the Gentiles.

Okay? And what he's addressing here is right off the bat, is he's addressing the challenge that the Gentiles have in terms of following what is good and right and what is intended. And then from that, he transitioned into a message into the Jews that then bleeds over into chapter three. If you remember, and we're blinking again, if you remember what happens on the front end of chapter three. Anyone remember on the front end of chapter three, what he talks about there? He talks about the fact that the Jews, that there are shortcomings in terms of their understanding, but they have had the benefit of God's Word. If you remember that language that appears there early on, they've had the benefit of God's Word even before they came into the truth. Specifically, he talks about there, what is the benefit of being a Jew much in every way? There's the language that Paul uses because you've had the Holy Scriptures. You've had them when the Gentiles have not.

So he deals with those elements. Then in Romans 4, 5, and 6, he gets into this topic of justification. Now, it's been a little while since we tackled the topic of justification. Anyone remember by definition what justification means? Made right with God, made righteous. We're saying the same thing here. And if you remember, he tackles the notion, the topic of justification in two parts. First of all, he speaks of initial justification, that which at baptism, the sacrifice of Christ is applied to us. And then we are perfectly cleansed of our sins. And then separately, with ongoing justification, which then takes us into account, our responsibility to, on a daily basis, be repentant. So the only way we stay righteous with God over time is by what we take action on every day. And that's what this section deals with. It backtracks and starts with Abraham. It uses Abraham as an example. It talks about his faith as integral to his conversion and conviction. Then it transitions forward to the first Adam, and that would be Adam of Adam and Eve claim.

And the second Adam being, you fill in the blank, Jesus Christ. Okay? It moves us in, then, to Romans 6. And Paul does something where, again, in very difficult language at times, he talks about where is our commitment? To whom are we committed? To what are we committed? And he contrasts our slavery to sin to, after our calling, once called and committed, to us being slaves to righteousness.

Upholders of righteousness. Committed to righteousness in every way. And so he offers that in Romans 6. In 7, he continues with the idea for this section of Scripture. And I'll spit out 7 and 8 at the same time. He then moves into talking about the law's function as a teaching mechanism. The law is perfect, right? Just and good. Okay? And then, with that, he provides one of the most personal, difficult disclosures of his own wrestle with sin. Now, I use a specific word. I went back and forth with this word multiple times. And kept reading this section of Scripture as a reminder of that. I specifically put in 7 this daily battle with sin. Because sometimes we can forget that even Paul, who we oftentimes put on a spiritually the highest pedestal possible, that Paul dealt with his own flesh, that pulling of the flesh, that warring with the flesh, every day. And he spends a whole lot of time talking about it. And then we move to Romans 8, where then Paul goes into the fact that our dramatic change only occurs by God's Spirit. Christ's sacrifice wipes away the sins. It's by the giving of God's Spirit that we become different, that we are changed. And that's going to be touched on in Romans 12. More recently, when we went through 9, 10, and 11, we know that that's a subset well. That's a unit that all goes together. And we deal with Israel past. This was, he references the Jews, but he's speaking more broadly of Israel. Israel past, Israel present, and Israel future. If you remember Romans 9, it talks at length about ancient Israel's election by God. That we, oftentimes in anticipation for the past overseas and on 11 and bread. We'll cover this in the Holy Days upcoming. We quickly are reminded of what a cantankerous, difficult group the Israelites were. Just real challenging. Oftentimes, I mean, to the point of frustration in so many cases that God said, want to wipe them out. Moses said, gotta wipe them out. We've got difficulty. Sometimes he would go to God on their behalf, but just a real difficult group. Now, we know that they were recorded for our edification and knowledge. But God allowed this all to happen. And we see that example played out in Romans 9. In 10, we see the same thing come from the time after Israel went into captivity, Judah went into captivity, particularly in the New Testament forward. And what we find there is that from the time of Paul, time of Christ forward, even till now, there's still a difficulty with the Israelites coming to an understanding of God. I mean, they denied the Messiah, despite the fact having prophecies still deny the Messiah. When we get to Romans 11, then we see Israel's future, our loving God, eventually restore and save Israel. So I've gone through 11 chapters. There's a whole lot of context there. We dealt with them in fact form. We dealt with them as a breakdown of chapters in general as units, and we dealt with them individually. So let's make our way up to Romans 12. That's the first part I have going here. And I'm going to start with a quiz. I'm going to ask you to answer questions on your own. Five questions out of Romans 12. Here we go. It's quiz time. Question one. Here we go. From Romans 12. True or false? First Corinthians 12 is complementary, parallel to First Corinthians 6. I'll let you take notes on yourself. Romans 12 is complementary to First Corinthians 6. True or false?

Let's go to questions. Do I need to delay any longer there? I see a whole lot of people. I can't take that long to write a T or an F on the page. Okay. Some of you look like you've turned this into an essay because I see scribbling and it's scary. True or false? Question two. There are still sacrifices today for the people of God. True or false? Let's go to question three. I think I have a bad punctuation problem. You're going to have to overlook this on the next one. Question three. Although God decides our righteousness on an individual basis, he requires that we contribute to each other's growth as part of the body of Christ. And this is an easy one. This is my gimme out of the five. Let's go to question four. True or false? There are 12 spiritual gifts listed in Romans 12. There are 12 spiritual gifts listed in Romans 12. And question five. Under the New Covenant, we are to respond to evil in an eye for an eye manner. Under the New Covenant, we are to respond to evil in an eye for an eye manner. Okay, I don't have to repeat any of these. You can see these. So let's do some grading. You ready? So let's go questions one through five. Question one.

Romans 12 is complementary to 1 Corinthians 6. True or false? This is false. It is complementary to 1 Corinthians 12. And if you go and look at what the content of Ephesians 4, many accomentaries also add Ephesians 4 to the mix. But we have no questions. Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 are parallel or complementary chapters. Question two. There are still sacrifices today for the people of God. True or false? That's true. We're going thumbs up when we go through the first couple of verses in Romans 12 verses 1 and 2. We're going to see this. There are no longer those Sinai covenant. We're going to go cut up a bull or an ox or whatever it might be. Leviticus chapters 1 through 5. This is a different kind of sacrifice. And you know that it's not a physical sacrifice. It's a... I'll let you fill in the blank there. Question three. Although God decides our righteousness based on an individual basis, He requires that we contribute to each other's growth as part of the body of Christ. True or false? Here's my gimme. This is a true.

Okay. God, we can go back and look and we can see that in Scripture there are certain characters that God allows to be isolated for certain periods of time, but there is a reason why He called an entire nation in the Old Testament. And there is a reason why there is a new spiritual Israel, the church, in the New Testament. There's a unquestionable reason. We don't work well when we're isolated. Question four. There are... tell me that I have here. There are 12 spiritual gifts listed in Romans 12. True or false? We are going false on this. We're going to count these.

I wasn't aiming to do a bait and switch, but I just had to try. There are only seven, and we'll see them here momentarily. And then question five. Under the New Covenant, we are where to respond to evil in an eye for an high manner. True or false? That is a false. I know in the Old Testament the Israelites were big on, let's go after them. And God said in many cases, if they were a carnal people, go wipe them out. Wipe out everything. I mean, I don't want any. No animals. No nothing.

That was Old Testament, Old Covenant. That's not how it works under the New Covenant. So that said, here's the... we've finally gotten to my title. Man, it took a long time.

Romans 12, Spiritual Gifts and Christian Living. Romans 12, Spiritual Gifts and Christian Living. So we're going to go through this section of Scripture here. And if you're with me in Romans 12, do me a favor, please. You can drop a marker here. We're going to work through... there's only 21 verses, not long, and I can offer some feedback commentary based upon what's here in Romans 12 as we go. So let's go to the first one here. That being, we are a living sacrifice. It reads this way. If you're with me in Romans 12, again Paul's words. I beseech you therefore, brethren, I'm in the New King James, by the mercies of God, that you... you put your name right there. That you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. The very first thing Paul makes the point of here, as we start this chapter, is that nothing, nothing in this world compares to our prioritizing God. Nothing comes close. Nothing we do, nothing we come in contact with, comes close. Now, as I've already noted here, the Jews at the time happened to have been well aware, because they had the Scriptures, of the specifics of sacrifices. And so, in a way, Paul is addressing this. He's building off this.

There's no accidents here. He's reminding them of all that goes into a sacrifice, of the different types of sacrifice, of the cleansing that has to happen before the sacrifice, of the thought process that's happened before the sacrifice. He's drawing on all of those elements. But he's changing this. He's saying, recognize that the sacrifice is no longer some fleshly animal. It's you. And the only way that's made possible is what appears in Hebrews 9. If you would go with me to Hebrews 9. We're just going to read three verses here. Hebrews 9, I made it to James. Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9 verses 24 to 26.

Christ was offered as a sacrifice, and He did so as a reminder for us. If you remember the language, we are to die like Christ did. Hebrews 9 verse 24 reads this way, For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. So He's our mediator. He is at the right hand of God, and He's there on our behalf to explain, to clarify, to advocate for our behalf right at the throne of God. Verse 25. Not that He should offer Himself often. He doesn't need to. As the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of another, referencing here, again, Paul, we believe, writing what takes place on the day of atonement. Verse 26. He then would have to have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world. But now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Christ lived a perfect life. He was not the reason why He died. We were the reason why He died. Humanity was the reason why He died. He offered a perfect sacrifice with the mindset, with the idea, with the principle that we would, having that sacrifice cover our sins and wipe them away, then offer daily sacrifices to God and have His blood then cover those sins once more. And so, that's what we get here. You know, for this reason, God expects us to give an offering. I'm going to have you please leave the marker there. I'm going to go for Psalm 51. And if you remember Psalm 51, oftentimes when we go through difficult times, we might go to Romans 7. Psalm 51, we oftentimes go to... As a reminder, if we've separated ourselves from God, if we've had a challenging time, and we go through the words, I don't know about you, sometimes I'll go through this on my knees in prayer, sometimes I'll read it, sometimes I'll study it, but be reminded of, in this case, about the sacrifice that God desires from us now. Psalm 51, we'll just read two verses. Verses 16 and 17 reads this way. Psalm 51, verse 16, for you do not desire sacrifice, this being David praying to God, or else I would give it, you do not delight. That sacrifice refers to a physical sacrifice. You do not delight in burnt offerings. Then he specifies what that sacrifice is that we're to have. The sacrifices of God are, this is us, a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, these, oh God, you do not despise, you will not despise. And that's exactly what we go through in preparation, in anticipation, for the Passover. We go through a process of examination, 1 Corinthians 11, so that what we bring to God is indeed a broken sacrifice. Us humble to God.

That's what God desires. And that's what we then read here in verse 1, which is your reasonable service, then transitions us into verse 2, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may approve what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. You know, the people of this world, well, Satan wants, first off, wants us to conform to this world, because he knows that if we conform to this world, that we are not following God. Humanity, society in general, wants us to conform to this world. As influenced by Satan, they too want to take away our calling, take away our reward. But we must not do that. Now, I have no idea if you're a channel surfer like I am on some days. Sometimes I'll channel surf and I'll come across commercial after commercial, and I found myself... Isn't it funny how sometimes you'll see something, and whatever it might be, a pink elephant or a yellow Volkswagen or whatever it is, it seems like you see this thing everywhere. So I found myself recently seeing the following commercial, and I'll show the commercial to you, because the commercial is to me much like human society is. Now, if you've not seen this, this commercial is an Athena commercial. If you've seen this commercial, maybe I'm the only guy in the room to see this. I seem to see this over and over, and after watching this commercial repeatedly, the commercial starts pretty much this way, with everyone with their head in the dirt, like an ostrich, and then at a given point, they all pop their heads up and all start running like maniacs, and we don't really get a sense for where they're running, and at some point we actually recognize that they're headed for a cliff. So I'm going to ask Mr. Andrew Bryant, can you click and play this commercial? I'm going to hope that it streams. I wanted you to see the commercial, and granted, I know it's all about investment, but I think it's quite telling, because it reminds us what our world is, what society is like, and sometimes we can buy into and not even think about this along the lines of conforming to this world. You should be able to click right in the middle of the black box.

Okay, so is the other copy there? The separate copy that I put? Because I dragged and dropped the other copy as a separate file to the side. It should say a Brave ad. I saw it. Okay, so if you've not seen this, for whatever reason, the commercial there, if you've not seen this, and I'm going to tell you what the commercial says, if you've not seen this, I'll go back. The commercial starts this way with all of these businessmen with their heads in the sand, and then at a given point, then they all climb up, they stick their heads up, and then everyone just starts running. I mean, it's just complete pandemonium, and they're running, running, and they're punching at each other, and they're kicking at each other, and as they move forward, you see all that goes into them running like a herd of lemurs toward a cliff, and sure enough, they're headed for a cliff all to jump off. Now, the reason why I'll go forward... well, I've lost control. And the reason why I would actually show this commercial is because this to me is society today. What Paul is talking about here about conforming to this world is much in the same way like what we see all around us. At times, we'll actually do things. I don't know if you were young and immature like I was, but there were times in life where I was doing certain things, a young person, and sometimes I ask myself, what are you doing then? What in the world? How did we get to this point where you'll think to yourself, why am I doing X, Y, or Z? There are a couple of times I think even growing up doing dumb things. I hate to say that they were dumb. Where you'd say to the group of guys you're with, where are we going? What are we doing? I don't know! We're all having fun! Just come with us! And you wind up thinking through afterward after some horrible thing happens. Well, I think I've told this story before. I can't believe I'm telling this story, and I didn't anticipate telling this story, but let's go for this. Whenever I was 14, I went to Summer Educational Program in Orr, Minnesota. I was a young, thick-haired kid with big glasses most of the time, and right after I think I had contacts, blends I would put on from time to time, deeply wanted to be accepted by my peers. So the peers in my dorm in Orr, Minnesota that year, for whatever reason, got convinced. And for those who happen to go to Orr, Minnesota, you're going to know about this. There were, if you walked off of the SCP grounds and you backtrack a ways, there were several places to go cliff jumping. Now stop me if I've told this story before.

I knew for a couple of nights the guys who were in my dorm were all doing this. The cool guys were doing this. So at one point, I kind of dropped a dime and said, hey, when the cool guys go, why don't you get me out of bed and I'll go with you? Well, it was several nights later that was like, that was like 1.30 in the morning. And I found myself going through this very thick underbrush and asking myself on a couple of occasions, what are we doing? Where are we going? Don't worry about it. We're going cliff jumping. You're going to have a great time. So we walked some distance. You know, probably walked 15, 20 minutes before we found a spot. And then they cut through the brush and found our way all the way out to a cliff. And only in the moonlight of Minnesota, as you look down, if you've been in those Minnesota in the summer months, you know how bright that moonlight sometimes it's as bright as the sun you look down. And I looked down and there's about 40 feet between me and the water. And I thought, what am I doing? I was one of the crew. And then something somewhere along this line, they said, why don't you back up? Because we're going to all go running off. And they all went running off. I think there were five of us all going, and I wanted to be accepted. So I'm going to do this, too. And right, I was the last guy, real questioning, what am I doing here? Why are we doing this? I had one guy from way down below said, make sure you jump way out when you run really fast and jump way out when you go. And I said, okay, now with so much brush there, there's only so far back you can go. And granted, you're already at, you know, 132 in the morning. You're a bit delirious anyway. So I backed off and took off running and ran as fast as I could. Thankfully, I got a good plant and I got good distance. And that distance between the height of the cliff and the water, there's that split second where you're just thinking, I hope I live. You know, that moment like, this is really not a good idea. So I hit the water, they all cheered, you know, I cheered because I was alive. And the part that concerned me, though, is as I swam back toward the bank, I didn't have to go more than about five feet. And I realized that the rock, that where the face of the cliff went down into the water, there was a jut out of rock that was only about a foot underneath the water for about five to seven feet off from that face. And I thought if I hadn't run full speed, if I'd done that halfway, guess what I would have hit full full. So I went up, and by that time, I was still scared to death. I jumped about two more times, and then found myself walking back, however long that lasted, you know, 20 minutes back, and get in bed. And I was thinking in bed, why did I do this? Why would I do something so insane to be accepted? So I use this example, I guess that's better than the commercial, but that said, the idea is our desire to conform to others drives us to do things sometimes that are incredibly stupid, really dumb. And that's in part what Paul's talking about here in Romans 12 verse 2. Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed. The term transform means metamorphous. It's the same term we would use for how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.

We are called to examine what's happening in our lives and to turn from that which is harmful to that which is right and good. The only way that happens is by God's Spirit.

It changes our thoughts. It changes our directions, which makes complete sense why we see in Galatians 2 verse 20 what God's Spirit does in Christ's role in all of this. Go with me, if you will, just for a second to Galatians 2 verse 20. Now this is a memory verse. Many of us have this in our memory vocabulary. It's still valuable to read these words in text.

Galatians 2 verse 20 says this, I have been crucified with Christ. Here's Paul writing, again, applicable for you and me. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved and gave himself for me. Boy, if that's not the focus of what we're preparing for, in getting ready to take the Passover, I don't know what is. The only way this happens is by God's Spirit. Christ's sacrifice makes that possible. It's a resurrected Christ that allows us to be changed, to be transformed. Now if you're back in Romans 12 verse 2, the latter end of this single verse I think is quite telling. Because what it says in so many words is God tells us to do these things, be transformed, and the tail end of the verse says this, go do it, prove me.

Prove me. Go check me. Go check what I'm telling you. Go do it and see what the consequences is. Consequences are. Because the consequences are life, not death, they're life.

And that's what we take from the latter end of verse 2. You know, the Phillips translation, before we leave this first section, reads this way. I'm going to ask you to just listen to me. And this is not my translation, believe it or not. This Phillips translation is a separate translation. It reads this way, with eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship to give your bodies as a living sacrifice, consecrated to Him and acceptable by Him. Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands, and moves toward the goal of true maturity.

There's a lot there in those first two verses. That's the first section of Romans 12, verses 1 and 2. So let's go to the next section. The next section is entitled, Spiritual Gifts. Now, we'll pick up a little bit of speed here. Romans 12, verse 3. This is, Serving God with Spiritual Gifts, verse 3. For I say, through the grace given to you, and again it's helpful to understand that this is by grace, by God's grace, it is a gift that these gifts, is a gift that God provides these gifts, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dwelt to each one a measure of faith. Now, there's a number of things we can take here. We're going back to the front end of the book, front end of Romans 12. It talks at length about the pride, the superiority. And granted, he understood at that time that the congregation in Rome, that the church in Rome, needed to recognize the different groups, the Jews and the Gentiles, that pride was causing conflict in the church. That they needed to stop being high-minded and start being more serving and giving of one another. You know, similarly, we've been given God's truth by his Spirit. Some at that time in Rome were standing in judgment of this. Some were judging the merits of God's words. They were evaluating, oh, you know, that part of God's word worked, and this part doesn't really work as well.

You know, that's really a dangerous mindset to get into. And sometimes you'll hear people speak along these lines, or you'll read posts online, and you think to yourself, what are you doing, questioning God? That's not how this works. I'm going to ask you to go with me to Psalm 19. Psalm 19.

Psalm 19 verses 7 and 8. We're going to just read a few verses here. Psalm 19 verses 7 and 8. Sometimes we can take lightly the fact that we have God's word, that this is God's word, that needs to be followed. Psalm 19 verses 7 and 8. Here's a reminder of the book you have in your lap, are the actual words of God. You know, 2 Timothy 3, 16, 17 talks about them being God-breathed.

Psalm 19 verses 7 and 8 say this, the law of the Lord is perfect. It is perfect. There are no flaws in it. There are flaws all the day long in you and me. There are no flaws in this book.

The law of God is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Verse 8 reads this way, the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. So what Paul is talking about here is that for whatever reason, whether they be the Jews, the converted Jews, who thought of themselves highly, or the Gentiles who said, well, I'm not dealing with the same baggage. He said, all of you are caught up with yourselves. Stop doing this. Be instead soberly minded, because what God has done is He's provided for us a measure of faith. The only thing that separates us from death has been the sacrifice of Christ and our repentance. And God, who desires to give us eternal life in the God family, wants to, as long as we will get over ourselves. And that's really what He's talking about here. Verse 4, for we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function. There are different roles that we have. There are different offices. That's what that word means. The notion of a function just means that God uses human instruments. Granted, we're all frail. I get that. But He uses human instruments in different ways in order to be, for His purpose, all moving toward the kingdom of God. So the point He's making here is that we all have the same office. Now we oftentimes are... I'll connect us with Ephesians 4. We make a quick connection with this and the offices that are listed in Ephesians 4 verse 11. And I'm going to go read those offices because everything has to have structure. God doesn't do things accidentally. 1 Corinthians 14.40 talks about everything God does is decently in an order. And God offers, has, establishes certain offices so that the church can function effectively. Ephesians 4 verse 11 offers those offices. Verse 11 reads, and He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, and teachers. And in doing so, He gave them not only the role, but He gave them responsibility, but He also requires of them an additional responsibility and duties that we're accountable for.

Then we will have to answer for it. You know, and I'm back to Romans 12 verse 4. I don't know if you recall this, but, and it's been some time since I'd read it, I had to find myself back there, with the United Church of God's Constitution. If you go back and read what the Constitution and Bylaws of the United Church of God state, they specify, they address this exact same topic. I'm going to read from this 1995 document. 3.2 functions within a church that talks about the roles within the church. There is one body, I'm reading from the Constitution of the United Church of God, the church, which is an organization, excuse me, which is a spiritual organism.

The church has many members, to each of whom God has bestowed a measure of faith through the Holy Spirit. Through that spirit, our Father has made us one in the body of Christ, and individually, members of one another. He has given us gifts, those gifts come from God, I'm inserting there, that differ according to His will, and He has entrusted His Spirit to each one of us, that we might exercise those gifts with humility, gentleness, and patience and submission, first to Christ, then to one another. By the establishment of this Constitution, we acknowledge the truth of Scripture, that members serve in different functions within the church, and that is God, the Father, and Jesus Christ, who determine each member's function within the church. So, again, as a reminder here, the idea is that God establishes these offices. Why does He do this?

So someone can get a big head? No, that's not why He does it. He does it so that the body is cared for. So that caring, love, concern, all takes place. Not from our good, not from anything we've done, only by way of God's Spirit. That's the only way it happens. It's a gift from God. It's God's Spirit that provides clarity and understanding so that we can act in accordance for the good of the body.

Verse 5 reads this way, So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. You know, one of the things here, I happen to listen to a range of different messages prior to this, in addition to reading commentaries and a number of other things, and I was listening to Mr. Bob Faye, who had given a message on 1 Corinthians 12, and he was relating from his own experiences as pastor about how God oftentimes has different items that are good for the church come from different places.

He said, have you ever noticed that one individual doesn't have all the ideas, because we would wind up worshiping that person falsely. What oftentimes happens in churches and with different roles and functions and gifts is God allows that wealth to be spread out, and then together, collaboratively, collectively, the body grows. He doesn't have it all reside in one person. He has it go throughout the congregation, and in doing so, then we find our role.

You know, I spent a lot of time in class. We heard Mr. Talbot talk about something like this a while back, talking about the synergy of a group of people. The amount of productivity that happens when five, ten, seventy people work together, as opposed when we all work alone, is exponentially greater. It's so much... there's no comparison. Oftentimes, researchers are just astounded by the how much greater input output there is whenever you have people work together in their roles. Good teams do this.

If you're a sports fan, you know what you figure out real quickly? That if your favorite football team or basketball team or baseball team has the right people in the right places, man, we're firing all cylinders. If you're a... I hate to say this... if you're a Patriots fan, you know this well. If you're a... if you're a Falcons fan, we took it on the nose. And if you're any kind of a sports fan listening to sports radio around town of late, what are they talking about? Talking about coach going and finding with Dimitrov the right guys for the right spots so that we can go right back to the Super Bowl and win.

It's a spiritual principle. They've just kind of tapped into that. So that's what we see in 5. Verse 6. We are that body of believers. You know, I will stop for a second before I go to 6 because I'm going to take us right back to Ephesians 4. We oftentimes stop reading with Ephesians 4 verse 11, but that which we're about to cover in the next couple of verses is addressed in Ephesians 4 in greater depth. And this is going to all feel like real familiar territory, which is good news. Ephesians 4 verse 12 reads this way. Why all these functions? Why all these gifts? Why all these different things? Verse 12, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

Till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men.

That's conforming to this world that Paul was talking about separately. In the cunning craftiness by which they lie and wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the Head. We know who this is. Christ! Who's the Head of the Church? It's not Mr. Victor Kubik. It's not the Council of Elders. No questions here. It's Jesus Christ. He's the Head of the Church. Not me. Certainly not me. It's Jesus Christ. We do all things, keeping that in mind.

Verse 16, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by every joint. That's you! That's me! Every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part put your name in there. The only way this works, the only way we head toward God's kingdom and we're able to be a part of that kingdom, is this. Not independently. You know what oftentimes happens when someone's isolated and independent? We wind up with our own screwed-up mentality. Send someone off long enough and they're going to come up with a weird way of twisting the world.

But whenever we're with the body of Christ, there are balancing mechanisms in here. And we start to understand what's complementary and valuable for the body to move forward, particularly with God's Spirit working in us. The latter end, then, of verse 16 reads this way, to the effective working by which every part doesn't share causes growth. Here's interesting. Do I grow if, say, Michael Bannon comes to church? I should! That's what this says. Do I come if, you know, anyone else comes? I'm seeing Henry Mez. Do I grow if I see Henry Mez here?

And we're here. And we're edifying one another. Well, that's what it says. We cause growth because we're here. Not because we're home, but because we're here. Causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself and love.

Okay, the aim on the tagline there is not mushy, cheesy, drippy love. It's sincere love. That's what this is. So if you're with me, I'm back in six. So let's tackle the gifts. Verse six.

Romans 12, verse six. Having then gifts, differing according to the grace that is given. They're given by God. Let us use them. So here's where we see the grace. If you want to see the packages up behind me, get a good look at them. This notion of gift giving is really one that reminds us, is they are spiritually endowed. In the Greek, the word charisma comes from this word, this notion of gift. First gift, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith. The notion of prophesying is one that involves inspired teaching. It's not necessarily coming up with new prophets. Some people have the capacity to inspire others by messages. I don't know about you. There are certain individuals I go and listen to. And I'll think, I'm going to be inspired. I'm going to go find this guy online. Because I know what he does. Straight up, he's going to wind up not only edifying, but he's going to inspire me. There are those who are inspiring who prophesy. That's what the term prophesy means. Let us prophesy in proportion to our faith. Or minister, the second one. Minister refers to the serving of others. Let us use it in our ministering. So there's a second gift. He who teaches, teaches involves passing along information, the instructing of others. Now, I don't know about you. Every once in a while, I'll hear a message and I'll think to myself, hey, I never thought of it that way. I've read that same section of Scripture 50 times. I have never heard that come out of that section of Scripture. And there are some people who are really good at this. God gives this as a gift. Verse 8, he who exhorts, the notion of exhort means to encourage another. There are those, whenever you're down in this congregation, I know exactly where to go if I'm feeling that.

I know who to pick the phone up to. Because every time you hear this person, you're going to get encouragement. If we go to the flip side, and we'll see this here shortly, there are others who are just complaining and whining and constantly, you know, like a dripping closet, please don't you have a good word anywhere in that head? You got to stop this. I know you've never probably crossed a person like this. But in reality, these people exist. So, he who exhorts in exhortation, that means the encouragement of another. He who gives, the giving involved in the Greek, involves actively helping others. One who shares, this can be spiritually or physically, that notion of giving, have that he who gives with liberality, with greatness. He who leads, the notion of leading involves ruling or administering. It involves specifically here, diligence, with diligence, with consistency. This is one who rules or administers and cares for other being diligent. And then this last one, he who shows mercy, mercy means one who brings help to, help specifically one who's afflicted, let this individual do so with cheerfulness. So what we get here, and certainly there is a whole separate message here that we can go a lot longer with, but in verses 6-8, we wind up with these beautiful seven separate gifts. Again, given by God, each one having their worth, each one of differing contribution to the congregation, but in this case, something that benefits as a whole. Now, I'm going to go back to that 1 Corinthians 12 message that I heard by Mr. Bob Fay. He said something telling about gifts in general. He said the following, which I can't disagree with him, he noted the following, just because you're given a gift, doesn't mean you're given the spiritual maturity to use it. Maybe I should say that again. Just because you're given a gift, doesn't mean you've been given the spiritual maturity to use it. So what's he saying here? Well, in part, he's kind of telling, which you may already be there, that by being given a gift, we have to use the gift. And if we don't use the gift, what does God do with us? He takes the gift away.

He takes the gift away if we don't use it.

So we have to ask ourselves, what is our gift?

How do we edify the body? What is that gift?

Certainly it doesn't hurt to go to God and say, help me find the gift, know the gift, use the gift.

The latter in there of after eight, move this to the last section of this, and I've just entitled this Principles of Christian Behavior, Principles of Christian Living. So nine through 21 is our last segment, so we're going to go through this pretty fast. So hang on, grab your Harley-Hogg. Let's go. Let love be without hypocrisy. In other words, what Paul is saying here, be genuine in how you love. Be genuine in your caring for others. Abhoor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Now I'll ask you, if you've got a marker here, to go over to Matthew 10 verse 16, because it is telling what Christ says to his disciples about the realization that he's going to send them out. And he offers a category for them and a category for where they're going. And it's quite telling about the way in which he terms the disciples, you and me, and how he also terms the world that we go into. Matthew 10 verse 16 says this, just one verse, Behold, I send you out as sheep, God love this, in the midst of wolves. Boy, if that's not a bad setup.

I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as dust. The surrounding community, everything out there, that's wolf. You're sheep. Now this doesn't necessarily sound like it's going to end well, but it does. We're sheep, the outside's world, the outside's wolves. We have to be conscientious of them. And so what he says here is abhor what the wolf does, abhor evil. Cling to what is good, verse 10, be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, that would be filio, in honor giving preference to one another. Do we think about each other when we're not here? Do we pray for one another when we're not here? Do we call one another when we're not here? Do we drop a card for someone when we're not here? Do we go to that person on Sabbath and say, hey, I've been thinking about you this week. I've been praying for you this week. How did your week go? Because that's what we're expected to do.

That's what Paul's saying here. It's not like we just show up on Sabbath, hey, you're still here? Good to see you. Glad to see you're here. I'm here. Most important one who needs to be here is here. I'm here. Glad to have you here. It's not how it's worth. It's not how God says it should work.

We should be thinking, caring, concerned, prayer for one another during the week.

So this coming together winds up more like an exclamation mark on the end of the week, not like some kind of ellipse with a bunch of dots. It's not how it works. That's what Paul is saying here. Verse 11, not lagging and diligent, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. What God deeply desires from us is zeal. Colossians 3, 23, don't go there. I'll read. It says, whatever you do, do it enthusiastically as something done for the Lord, not for man. You know, if you go back and look at the way in which the Israelites did things, you know what was there. Just failure after failure.

Love the Israelites in terms of what they did, but the reality is that there were so many failings. There was so much complaining, and, I don't want to go there. And we saw Moses, you know, get so aggravated, and God say, that's it! Wiping him out! I'm starting over with you. I mean, certainly there was frustration to no end. But what we see in all of this, even as we're in verse 11, is the reminder that we need to not lag in diligence. We have to be committed. We have to be diligent. We have to be fervent in spirit. We have to be serving the Lord. I noted here in Matthew 22, 1 through 5, oh, we'll look there. There's got to be a reason why I wrote this down. Matthew 22 verses 1 through 5, because this well illustrates this point of being diligent. Matthew 22 verses 1 through 5. Oh, this is a marital supper. This is what I was trying to remember what's here. Marriage, peace, and Jesus answered and spoke to them. Verse 1, kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son. Verse 3, he sent out his servants to call those who were invited. Again, he sent out servants. Verse 4, tell those who were invited, see I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fatted cattle are killed and things are ready. Come to the wedding. And what did they say? How did they respond? No, I'm good. I got my burrito at home. I got my big screen TV. I got a cold beer in the fridge. I really don't need this. Verse 5, but they made light of it and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his own business. And if you go forward, what does he wind up doing?

Well, fine. I invited them. I'll go find someone else who wants to come.

So again, we have to be diligent. And that's what verse 11 notes. Verse 12, rejoicing in hope. Hope specifically refers to the hope of the resurrection. Patient and tribulation, continuing the steadfast fast in prayer. We have to be people of prayer. Sometimes we'll hear in a modern-day language, prayer warriors. We have to be people who pray, no matter what we go through. Verse 13, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. The notion of hospitality means giving attention to others, love and caring for those in the church and outside of the church boat. Verse 14, bless those who persecute you. Now, I teasingly note here in heaven my notes, well, wait a second here. Here's the part where Paul is kind of mental. Because he's now asking me to be kind to those, whoever it might be, who you fill in the blank here, who ruin my life and fill in the way. About the person who takes your spot at the restaurant, the person who gives you the obscene gesture on the way by in our wonderful Atlanta traffic. Hey, what does God say about that? We're supposed to reciprocate, right? Well, if you're going to give me that finger, I got one right back at you, buddy. Hey, that's not how this is supposed to work. Verse 14, bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse, no matter how much the human spirit says. I am I am coming. I'm going to ram this van in the back of that car. That's what I'm going to, I'll show him because that's our human reaction. Hopefully there's been growth over time. We're not the same way.

Verse 15, rejoice with those rejoice and weep with those who weep. What really this is talking about is these are our brothers and sisters in the church. It's one thing to discuss. It's one of the things that we oftentimes discuss at baptism whenever we're talking about the fact that once baptized, part of our responsibility has become part of the body of Christ. We come as part, where it might be the smallest little nut, you know, fingernail on a finger, on a little finger. But there's a part that God then expects us to come and contribute. So we are to do that. Our obligation is to draw closer to one another, even when we might be too worn out to do so. You know, 1 Corinthians 12 verse 26, I'll go there, 1 Corinthians 12 verse 26.

We know that this is the parallel account. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 26 says this, as a reminder, again, about the responsibility we have in terms of caring for others. If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. If one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. So it becomes our responsibility, our duty, to make sure that we're aware of that.

Verse 16, be of the same mind toward one another. Romans 12 verse 16, do not set your minds on high things, but associate with the humble. So one of the things he's talking about here is, again, revisiting the point that he was making to the Jews and Gentiles that they oftentimes thought of themselves as superior. The latter end of 16 reads, do not be wise in your own opinion. You know, I'll just reference Proverbs 13 10 and Proverbs 16 verse 10. It talks about, in both cases, that the way in which we come to God is only by humility. It's the only way it happens. So the danger becomes when we get wise in our own mind that we take ourselves away from, not only contact with God, but with our brothers and sisters. Verse 17, repay no one evil for evil, have regard for good things in the sight of all men. You know, this section right here specifically talks about that even when you do something, make sure that even those who are no knowledge of the truth still hold you in high esteem because of how you conduct yourself. Live peaceably with all men. Verse 19, Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath for it is written, vengeance is mine, this being God. I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy hungers, feed him. We're quoting Proverbs 25. If he thirsts, give him drink. For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. But I didn't get my comeuppance. He cut me off and I should have cut him off. You know what? By not doing so, look at his comeuppance. That's how God says it. That's how it works. You don't have to do your part. You don't have to take things into your own hands.

Then he ends with verse 21, which says simply this, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil was good. That simple phrase sometimes we can miss. That's a separate message of its own. Because one of the things we know that for those people who happen to dealing with different kinds of abuses, whether it be, you know, physical abuse, substance abuse, drug abuse, any kind of shortcoming, that one of the things that they are quickly reminded of when they go through counseling is that you have to get rid of this behavior. But there's got to be something that fills the void. And God says clearly here that if we're dealing with something that's problematic, not only do you remove the behavior, boy, if this is not the lessons of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but something's got to go into this place. And that something that goes in this place is that which is good. You know, the Phillips translation on this reads, therefore, if your enemy hunters feed him, if he thirst, give him drink, for in so doing, he pulls a fire on his head, don't allow yourself to be overpowered with evil. Take the offensive, overcome, overpower evil by God. So that takes us through verse 20. Okay, so we only have a couple minutes. We're going to move quickly here. You ready? We got a quiz to take. We're going to take the quiz again.

If you're ready, I'm ready. Here we go. Question one. Romans 12 is complementary to parallel to 1 Corinthians 6. True or false? We got to go false there. It's complementary to 1 Corinthians 12. Question two. There are still sacrifices for the people of God today. True or false?

They're true. They're art. Who's the sacrifice? You're the sacrifice. I'm the sacrifice.

Question three. Although God is either righteousness based on an individual basis, he requires that we contribute to each other's growth as part of the body of Christ. True or false?

True it is. Boy, I'm feeling like a perfect score out of this group. There are 12 spiritual gifts listed in Romans 12. True or false? We go false. How many?

Seven we are. And the last one. Under the new covenant, we are to respond to evil. And an eye for an eye manner. True or false? That's a false. Way to go. Okay, let's go. Bonus points. You ready? Let's put these things back in here. So what goes first here? I can't believe he did this. All have gone astray. That's what I heard. Some mumbling there. Okay. Second one. What goes second?

Matters concerning. Two is good. What goes third? Good. Paul's encouragement. Man, you people are just jacking it out of the park. I got to get you signed up over for the Braves here at SunTrust because you're going to be home run sinners. And lastly, greetings and commitment. So what we've done today is we've moved our way through Romans 12. And I heard a whole lot of nine for nines. What we don't need to be is conform to this world. That's not how this works. We rather have to be transformed like a butterfly. And in so doing, we will be well prepared for the Passover and be willing and able to not be conformed to the world, but transformed by living a living, holy and acceptable sacrifice to God for reasonable service. You know, I wish you well, which is all well, as we prepare for the Passover. Let's make sure that we make it the most meaningful Passover ever by benefiting from the words of Paul in Romans 12.