April 10, 2020

Bible Reading  Romans 12

Romans 12:1-2 KJV
[1] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. [2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Romans 12 is one of the most practical of Paul’s writings. Here in chapter 12 Paul gives us some duties to go along with some doctrine he has taught earlier in the book of Romans, and in God’s word doctrine and duty always go together. The key idea in the chapter is relationships. Over the next few devotions I get to do with you we are going to look at the different duties Paul gives us in our relationships.
We have to start with our relationship with God. If we have a right relationship with God then and only then can we have a right relationship with people. I want you to notice the “therefore” in verse 1, you’ve heard the saying when you see the word therefore in scripture stop and see what it’s therefore right? We have to go back to chapter 11 and if you’d like to take a look at verses 25-36 Paul is describing God to us, he describes God’s promises, God’s grace, God’s wisdom among other things, and then says because of what I told you, I’d like to tell you what your response should be. This therefore is known in scripture as the therefore of dedication. As Paul describes the Christian dedication involves giving God three things.
1. We give God our body (vs 1) I want us to focus on this thought today and we will look at the other two Christian dedications in future devotionals. Paul says to present our bodies a living sacrifice. What does that mean exactly? We have two examples in scripture we can look at to help us better understand this duty. First we think of Isaac in Genesis 22, Isaac willingly put himself on the altar and would have died obediently to do God’s will. Isaac died to self that day even though he didn’t die physically. When he got off the altar he was literally a living sacrifice to the Lord. Our second example is obviously our Lord Jesus, He’s the perfect illustration of this. He literally, physically died, and rose again, and now is in Heaven a living sacrifice. This word “present” in verse one means to present once and for all. Like a bride and groom committing themselves to each other in marriage vows. It’s this full on, once and for all commitment Paul is talking about. Paul gave us 2 reasons for this commitment 1) it is the right response for all God has done for us (by the mercies of God) Has God been merciful and kind to you? Then we should in return commit ourselves to Him, fully! 2) It is our reasonable service. This speaks of our worship, everyday is a worship experience when we commit our bodies to the Lord, and use them for His glory.

Frank Newsome