Such a beautiful and complete plan of salvation

In the Letter to the Romans in chapter 12 the apostle Paul gives us a series of teachings about the duties of a Christian, the behavior of the daily life of a believer and how congregational life should be, how we should relate to each other. the others and what should be the foundations of our behavior in daily life and how we should exemplify the behavior of a person mature in faith.

The apostle Paul says in Romans 12: 1: "So brothers, I beg you by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your rational worship." This is a passage, a somewhat complex text, although we can also understand at first glance what the apostle Paul means, but it also has other levels of depth.

We begin by seeing here that the verse says, "so." The apostle Paul is talking about something that he has already touched on before and that what he is saying now is simply the practical conclusion of what he has just declared. If we go to chapter 11 of Romans we find there that the apostle Paul has been talking about the plan of salvation that God has been carrying out through the centuries and how God has taken into account all the different aspects of that wonderful and complex plan. that includes all of humanity.

Let us remember that the Epistle, the Letter to the Romans is a mostly theological letter, it is a letter of many profound teachings where the apostle Paul takes the time to develop the plan of salvation and the different elements of the human race and how God has been been relating with the human race through the centuries until bringing it to the point of Christ Jesus; It includes the Greeks and the Gentiles of different countries, it includes the Jews, all mankind.

And what stands out about the Letter to Romans is its complexity, its theological depth. But for the moment the apostle Paul, as he always does in many of his letters, enters the last part of it in a deliberation, let's say, a reflection of a practical nature on the ground that has to do with daily life, in other words, Paul does not it simply stays in the stratosphere of theological reflection but also enters practical elements; because after all the Gospel is about conduct, life, behavior, relationship with God, relationship with others.

So that's why from chapter 12 to the end of the Letter to the Romans the apostle Paul is going to be talking more about practical things, about matters of the conduct of the Christian life.

So Paul, chapter 11 is a chapter that tells how God is such a picky God, so delicate in things and he talks about how God has prepared one thing for the Gentiles, another for the Jews and how at the end of all those things God is going to take all these different elements and unite them into one thing.

And then at the end of chapter 11 the apostle Paul suddenly contemplating for a moment the complexity and beauty of that saving plan of God says in verse 33, Romans 11: "Oh depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God , how unfathomable are His judgments, unfathomable His ways because who understood the mind of the Lord or who was His counselor, or who gave Him first to be rewarded? because of Him and through Him and to Him are all things , to Him be the glory forever, amen.

So in chapter 12 he kind of reflects for a moment and says: wow because of that greatness of God and His complex and well-crafted plan, what should our behavior be? How should we walk and behave, relate to one another in light of that wonderful plan that God has forged?

So that's why chapter 12 is a natural division because Paul says here: well because of that care that God has taken to prepare such a beautiful and complete plan of salvation, brothers you must do the following things; in other words, don't underestimate the greatness of that plan. That God who has taken so much care to form such a complete plan must be held with great respect, with great reverence.

The beauty and sublimity, so to speak, of God's revelation in His dealings with human beings is so great, His holiness and His wisdom so perfect that we believers, Paul says, cannot help but live up to that great plan.

Do you know that when you or I violate the sanctity of the Christian life and behave in ways that are not worthy of a child of God we are doing a great injustice to that wonderful plan of salvation that God has devised? we are neglecting a salvation as great as the one that God has worked out.

And Paul says that in another passage that I don't remember right now where he is but he says: how will we obtain forgiveness and mercy if we neglect such a great salvation, if we despise all the work that God has taken to elaborate His saving plan through Jesus Christ? God's plan is so wonderful, so perfect that we children of God cannot help but live up to that wonderful plan.

So one of the reasons why we must live a life different from the world is simply because we are in an economy, we are in a wonderfully deep, delicate, careful, systematic plan that God has forged with great care and therefore we must do justice to that plan by taking it seriously and living up to and according to the holiness of Him and of the God who has devised it.

So we will continue talking about this topic, in the meantime I bless you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and until our next meditation, God bless you.