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Posts Tagged ‘Romans’

Romans 12: My reasonable service

Posted in Bible, New Testament, Romans, tagged , , , on May 3, 2012|

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1

My reasonable service?  Why would presenting my body a living sacrifice be my reasonable service to God?

The answer lies in my status:  I am a bond servant.

  • I was bought with a price.  I belong to someone.  He redeemed me from my bondage.
  • I chose to stay even after I was set free.  By my solemn vow, I have promised to obey and serve my Master forever.
  • It is reasonable for a servant to serve her master.  That is what servants do.
  • It is reasonable to do what one is created to do.

The great irony is that even though I was only a bond servant, the Master calls me His daughter, and He has given me an inheritance, something only a child receives.  Indeed, I have been made a child of God.  I call Him Abba  (translated:  “Papa”)

The miracle of grace is that while all He expects from me is my reasonable service, He has made me a co-heir with Christ.

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Romans 12: Acceptable to God

Posted in Bible, Bible Study, God, Romans, tagged , , on February 27, 2012|

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  Romans 12:1

Acceptable to God?  What does it mean to be acceptable to God?

The apostle Paul says “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.  Romans 14:17-18.

The “these things” appears to refer to verse 17, “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”  When we serve Christ in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, this is acceptable to God.

What does righteousness require?  Those who are righteous are in right standing before God.  They meet or match God’s standard of holiness and right conduct.

One doesn’t have to be a Bible scholar to know that no one can meet God’s standard.  The Bible teaches that there is none righteous.  Romans 3:10.   According to God, “all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.”  Isaiah 64:6

Therefore, since my own righteousness is insufficient, I must seek the righteousness of Christ.   When God looks at me, I want Him to see Christ’s righteousness, not my own.   How can this be accomplished?

Paul tells us in Romans:  For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.  For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.  Romans 5:6-10.

So it is the blood . . . there is power in the blood . . . covered in the blood of the perfect sacrifice (Jesus), I can be seen by God as having the righteousness of Christ, the only one to ever meet God’s standard.

By grace I have been saved through faith, and that not of myself.  It is a gift of God, not of my works, lest I should try to take credit for the work Christ completed on the cross.

Hallelujah, What a Savior!

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Romans 12: Holy?

Posted in Attributes, Bible, God, Holy, Romans, tagged , , , on February 21, 2012|

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  Romans 12:1

What does it mean for me to be holy?

According to the dictionary, holy  is defined as:  “of, relating to, or associated with God or a deity.”  It can also mean “sacred” or “endowed or invested with extreme purity or sublimity; 3. devout, godly, or virtuous]

Often when I have heard holiness taught on, it is explained as being “Set apart to God” or the idea of being “separate” from the world and/or the things of the world.

But isn’t it usually God who is described as holy?    The answer is that God is holy, but the Bible is clear that the believer, the child of God, is to be holy as well.
  • Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love   Ephesians 1:4
  • That He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish  Ephesians 5:27
  • For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.  1 Thessalonians 4:7
  • But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,  because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”  1 Peter 1:15-16
 The idea of holiness among the children of God is not limited to the New Testament.  The following are Old Testament references that teach this as well:
  • Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.  Leviticus 19:2
  • For I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy.  Leviticus 11:44
 Holiness is necessary in order to please God, and for that reason we need to diligently seek it in our lives.  Hebrews 12:12.

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