Romans 12

Chapter 12, Romans. It's been a couple of Sundays before we last dealt with this book. Perhaps you will remember, the last thing we discussed was about the people of Israel, remember? Chapters 9, 10 and 11 and we are taking a tour through the Epistle to the Romans. We are already advancing quite a bit. The Epistle to the Romans has 16 Chapters, let's go to 12 today and there in verse 1 it says:

“.... So brothers, I beg you for the mercy of God that present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your rational worship....”

I am going to qualify a little what it says there, 'which is your rational worship'. What does that really mean, in a moment.

Verse 2 “...Do not be conformed to this century but be transformed by the renewal of your understanding so that you may verify what is God's good will, pleasing and perfect. So I say, by the grace that is given to me, to each one of you that I do not have a higher opinion of himself than he should have, but that he should think of himself with sanity, according to the measure of faith that God distributed to each one.....”

I don't know if that's there... Gonzalo, can you put the text in.....? Ok, they are looking for it. Thank you. Already one has gotten used to having it there. It is a great blessing, a great service that.

Verse 4 “.... For just as in one body we have many members, but not all the members have the same function, so we also, being many, are one body in Christ and all members, one from the other, so that having different gifts according to the grace that is given to us, if that of prophecy, use it according to the measure of faith; or if of service, in serving; or the one who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; the one who distributes, with liberality; the one who presides, with request; and finally the one who shows mercy, with joy.”

The Lord bless his holy word. Father, we certainly commend her to you this morning to be your mouth speaking to us, Father, ministering to each of us and opening new vision of your revelation to your people, in Jesus name. Amen.

Whoever reads this passage, Chapter 12, having read the previous 11 Chapters, immediately realizes that there is a change in the tone of the letter of the Apostle Paul. Without a doubt, this Chapter marks the beginning of a new section in this entire letter. The first eleven Chapters have been a theological reflection on the nature of salvation, God's mercy, man's sin, the fact that man cannot justify himself, he needs God's grace, the fact that Jesus Christ is the instrument that God uses to save us by grace.

He talks about the sanctification process and that the fact that we are saved by grace and not by works, does not mean that we can be careless in our behavior, in our moral life, quite the contrary. It says that we have died to sin and that now we belong to another and that just as before we served sin, now we are supposed to serve holiness, it clarifies all those things.

It is a very deep theological reflection, very nuanced by a man highly trained in what is biblical, theological, scholarly reflection, a man who puts his nuances where he has to put them, clarifies terms, anticipates objections, everything that can be done to give a clear idea of what the theology of the church is regarding the subject of salvation, the fall of man, his tendency to sin and offend God and therefore the need for a savior. All of those things are very well outlined in those first eleven Chapters.

But in Chapter 12 then begins a practical, applied section. It is the application of what has transcended up to that moment. It is a call from the Apostle Paul that, well, now that you know what God has done, your situation and the situation of man and God's plan of salvation, these are the things you have to do to live in the light of that high revelation that you have received, of all that God has done for you.

And especially when one thinks that in Chapter 11, at the end of that Chapter 11, the Apostle Paul talking about how God has managed to bring all humanity to a point of total dependence on him, to recognize that all have sinned, that all fall short of the glory of God, Jews, Greeks, believers, and that God has invested so much care in elaborating an eternal, universal plan to save humanity and to prepare it, in other words, that God has made an effort and painstaking effort to prepare a perfect plan for humanity.

In Chapter 11, in verse 33, Paul escapes a praise and an expression of admiration for the mercy and greatness of God. It says in verse 32 “... because God held everyone in disobedience to have mercy on everyone. O depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out…”

So, in Chapter 12, in verse 1, speaking of That mercy that we have just pointed out that God has for everyone, the Apostle Paul says, ".... Therefore, brothers, I beg you by the mercy of God that you present your bodies...."

Go? That 'so' indicates that there is a connection in Paul's thought with what he has previously written. What it tells us, brothers, is that when we consider all the care that God has had with us, the mercy that God has had; The word says that when we were immersed in sin Christ died for us. We didn't look for him, he looked for us. He gave his only son so that we would not be condemned, so that no one would be lost.

God is a God of great mercy. He has invested so much care with respect to humanity, so Paul says, brothers, in light of that great mercy that God shows us, the only thing we can do, the least we can do is present our bodies as a living, holy, pleasing sacrifice. bye bye.

What does it mean to 'present our bodies as a living sacrifice'? That word 'present', 'paristemi', means 'to present something, to give something to be used in a certain way'.

If you go to Chapter 6 of Romans, in verse 13, it says "... neither present your members....".

It's the same idea. Your members means your arms, your legs, your eyes, your organs in general, everything that is your life, don't present it –there is the same word 'paristemi'- it means to present, deliver, render something to someone like your property for your use, that becomes your object and that comes under your control or domain, make available.

Paul says, 'do not present your members, your body, your life, to sin as instruments of iniquity...'

That is, do not lay down your life, do not allow your life is used for sinful and harmful things, but, he says, ".....present yourselves -again the same word- yourselves to God as alive from the dead...."

See the image there? That sacrificial image in Chapter 12. Here it speaks of “.....present yourselves as alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments of justice....”

In other words God's call to the believer is a call to live a life consecrated to noble things, to good things, to justice, to love, to mercy, to goodness, to good works. The Christian should never be used to hurt anyone, not by mouth, not by action, not by anything. We are people completely consecrated to one thing, and that is to be angels here on earth, to be bearers of God's grace, to be messengers of God's love. Wherever you are, at home, at work, in your neighborhood, wherever, your body, your life has been consecrated to be an instrument of justice, love, kindness, and mercy.

And that's what we are 24 hours a day. If you see someone on the street in need, you have to see yourself there as an instrument of grace, God's mercy. If you see someone at work sad, depressed, who needs a word of comfort or advice, you are there because you are... your life is that. You have presented, you have consecrated your life to serve the Lord and to be an instrument of blessing. If someone has a material or economic need and you can reach out and help, that is your call. But you cannot be used for anything that is ignoble or unjust, because your life has been consecrated to the Lord and the Lord calls you about it.

What's more, your mind even has to be consecrated to the positive. In Philippians, Chapter 4, verse 8, the Apostle Paul says: "... moreover, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honest, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good name, if there is any virtue, if anything worthy of praise, think about this..."

In other words, our realm, where we dwell, as people who have been presented to the Lord is the world of goodness, of love, of justice, of good and noble things. The Apostle Paul says in another passage that "...the weapons of our warfare are not carnal..." and he also says that we do not use weapons of darkness but weapons of what? of the light.

We are people who have been consecrated to the Lord and Paul says, "...present your bodies..." Do you know when you present a baby? One presents a baby and one brings it to the Lord and consecrates it to the Lord, that is what the Jews did, who brought the firstborn, brought the children when they were born, circumcised them or presented the baby or the baby and they were they consecrated it to the Lord, they presented it to him. That's the idea.

And likewise we have to present our lives, our bodies to the Lord, consecrate them. Another image that helps to explain this is the image of the sacrifice that was presented before Jehovah, when a lamb, an animal was slaughtered for purposes of the temple of sacrifice, the priest slaughtered it or the Levite and then they presented it to the Lord. Sometimes the offerings, if they were offerings, for example, of vegetables, flour or oil, they would wave it before God, they would present it to the Lord so that the Lord would kind of say, ok, I approve it, I receive it.

It's like when they come to a fine restaurant and you order a drink that I'm not going to say which, very elegant, and they present you with the bottle, right? I've only seen it in movies, so... and the waiter comes and presents the bottle to you to see if you approve, ok? And he presents it to her.

And it is also that we present our lives to the Lord. And Paul says, I beg you to present your lives.....in light of all that God has done, the only thing left for us is that our lives be a surrender, a sacrifice to the Lord. In this idea that we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, there is again the idea, brothers, that when we enter into the ways of the Lord, in light of all that God has done, we already we have died

Remember how in Chapter 6 there is also this whole image of dying? I talked about that, the image of dying to the world, dying to self, dying to sin, dying to the flesh, all these things and that in that dying there is a great blessing because we rise to a new life. So, when we live our life as a sacrifice, there are many things, the Christian life is full of things that we have to sacrifice before God. There are many pleasures and many preferences that we have that we would gladly involve ourselves in, but we know that God does not approve of them and so we sacrifice them to the Lord.

There are many people, however, who do not want to give up those parts of their life and want to live with one foot in the world, one foot in the Gospel, and they like the things of the world so much that they are not willing to give up. release them. But with God it is not like that, we have to live our life as a living sacrifice.

Another idea that I get from that image of the living sacrifice is that the Christian life is a continuous process of renewal and change, of giving things up, giving things up, dying to things, it is continuous. That idea of a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God. You have to make a living sacrifice, 24 hours a day for the rest of your life. You have to be continually burning before the Lord and that your life be used for the glory of God, that your energies, your money, your talents, your family, your time, everything, your profession, everything has to be available; a living sacrifice. You are a living sacrifice, God is continually waiting for you to bless him with the smell of your life that is being consumed for his glory.

How many say love to that? That is what God wants. That you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God. It says in its translation, perhaps it says, that it is 'your rational cult'. That is one of the most lousy translations in the entire Spanish language, because the original Greek, the idea it suggests is 'what is your true worship' or 'what constitutes your true worship or your spiritual worship'. The word 'logiken', which is translated 'rational' here, is a very complex word where the word 'logic' comes from, but it means rather, 'it is your worship with coherence, with consistency, with reason'. In other words, the true worship of the Son of God is that: living his life in that way, as a living sacrifice.

It's not just coming to church and singing with our mouths and coming to worship. And that is something that we have, the mentality of the children of God has to change regarding that, brothers, we have been taught many times that being a Christian is going to church for a little while, witnessing something that is happening. Hitting the platform and then, well, we're done, we go home until next Sunday when we return. How many lived a time like this, thought that this was religion, right? Go there, and you'd sit there and maybe cross yourself and say something while thinking about the beans that you've left in the house, that they're burning, or whatever, and you'd think that because I was there , in that place and did those things, and carried out certain rites, as I already fulfilled. Yes, because what matters is that, is to carry out the rites.

But in the Gospel there is no such thing. In the Gospel it is assumed that we ourselves are completely and deeply involved in the Christian experience. It is not just the priest or the pastor, or the evangelist, every Christian, every believer. And that, if you think about it, is a revolutionary idea: the fact that you are supposed to live your life in complete intimacy with God, in interaction with God, with the word of God, with the call of God, living your life like a sacrifice, sweating, crying, crying out, serving, giving, growing, transforming, delivering, losing, winning, being hammered by the word of God.

You are in continuous dealings with God, you are a spiritual athlete and that is what constitutes your true praise and worship. It is not coming to church and performing outward rituals. All that is good, beautiful, beautiful. Singing to the Lord with the people of God is beautiful. Praying is nice. Tithing is precious, tithing is precious. How many say amen? I couldn't escape that one. It's all good, but that's not what constitutes our true worship. True worship is what you live outside of church in a sense, you know?

Coming here to church is easy. Here we are all little angels. A tie does wonders to change a person, but the real praise is the experience out there, huh? When Francis tells them, brothers, don't put the car there so close to each other. Ah, I am a living sacrifice, before throwing that little dagger into his eye, say, "I am a living sacrifice." He breathes, he counts to 10, he says, 'thank you, brother, it's okay, I'm going to move it. May the Lord bless you.

On the road when someone crosses your path, instead of pulling out words in non-angelic languages, you say, I am a living sacrifice, right? And then you control the horses and do what a child of God does. When there is a marriage conflict and you want to take out what you have reserved there for 4 days, which is already very old because you have been savoring it well and you are ready to throw it away with pleasure, right? and you say, no, I am a living sacrifice. How many say love to that?

That is true worship, 'logiken la treian', true worship. It is worship that has coherence, that makes sense, that has consistency. When we live our life as a sacrifice to the Lord then we are truly worshiping him and he enjoys our sacrifice. He looks from his temple, from his sanctuary and he smells burnt meat, and he says, 'mmm, that's good, my son is learning'. A little pork rind that is frying there smells good, it smells good. That is, God likes to breathe in the smell of meat that is cooking little by little.

“....Living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which constitutes your true worship.”

And he continues to develop this idea, right? in verse 2 he says “...Do not be conformed to this age....”

What does that mean? What does it mean to “not conform to this century”? First, what century? It is not the 21st century, the word in the original Greek is 'aion', which means, epoch, era, time. He says, do not conform to this time, to this era in which you are living, and that is for all the centuries.

The Lord tells us, Christians, you must not adjust. We are counter cultural people, you know that? The Christian is contrary to culture. The people go in one direction and the Christian there with his car, going in the middle, in the other direction. And people say, why doesn't he mess with us? Why is it going in the opposite direction? Because the word says 'do not conform to this century'.

The life of the believer, the values of the Kingdom of God are totally different from the values of the world. It turns the world's values upside down, that's why when John and James came to Jesus to tell him, Lord, when you are in your kingdom, put me on the right and my brother on the left; and the Lord told him, 'wait a minute, in the Kingdom of Heaven, things are very different. In the world those who are lords make use of others, but in the Kingdom of God it is not like that. In the Greater God Realm, what happens? Serve the minor and the former has to be like what? Like the last, like the last. It turns things upside down.

The Lord always said, you heard that it was said, hate your enemy and love your friends, and the Lord says: No sir, it is not so: you will love your friend, you will bless the one who curses you, No? You will help the one who is doing you wrong, you will speak well of the one who speaks ill of you because you will heap coals of fire on his head and God will bless you because you are doing that.

It says that the way we fight is not according to the flesh, but it is the weapons of God that are powerful for the destruction of strength. Man is used to the hammer, the rifle, the dagger, and the son of God says, 'no, I have much more powerful weapons than those. I have weapons that change the heart, that change the enemy into a friend, that neutralize it, that drop angels on it that can do a better job of destroying it than I can.

The word says, leave vengeance to the Lord, vengeance is mine, I will pay, says the Lord. Don't seek revenge yourself, he says. Go? It is that idea, do not conform to this world, do not live according to the laws, customs, values, tastes of the culture in which you find yourself. That is terrible, it is difficult because one wants to live accordingly, one wants to dress as people dress. You want to talk like the world talks, you want to act like the world acts and the Bible tells you, 'no, you have entered a different culture, it is God's culture.' And there things move in a completely opposite way to how they move in the world and then we have to adjust to that and live with the agony of each day.

That's part of being a living sacrifice, you know? When your friends want you to go in one direction and you say, oh, I can't, and then conflict comes and you feel alone. When you're in college and on Saturday night there's the boys running around, and making and undoing and sleeping with everybody, and the liquor flowing, and the drugs... and you're in there, young man, in his room, watching TV because he can't participate with them. That is being a living sacrifice, because you say, 'no, I cannot conform to this century. I am a member of a different race.

That's living life as a living sacrifice. That is not conforming to this age. It's hard, yes or no? When you go to the video store and you see that video that you're dying to see, but it has an R there that doesn't look very good, and you know that it has sexual content, that it's going to complicate your life, and you he rips it out of his hand and puts it back on and looks at it like this, geez, why, Lord? An exception, Father, even if it's for today. "Do not conform to this century." "Do not conform to this century."

You drool over that novel, when you see the ads but it doesn't have good images, it's going to fill my mind. The word says 'everything good, everything pure, everything kind', and there I don't see anything good, neither pure, nor kind, nor worthy of praise, so I can't go there. As a living sacrifice, not conforming to this century.

Sorry if I messed with some of the sisters' minds. No? So, but he says, “don't conform to this culture but what? be transformed, be transformed through the renewal of your understanding.

In other words, instead of... there's a pun there, instead of adjusting to the world, what we have to do is always be in the process of continual transformation and renewal. The Christian must always be transforming, he must always be on the move. God did not call you to get into the Gospel and carry on exactly the same as you were 20 years ago. There is nothing more beautiful than a Christian who has said, 'No, I want to be in a continuous process of change in my life, learning new things every day.'

I see many of you, and I have I have been able to see through the years the changes in their lives, the transformations, the growth, the personality has adjusted more to the Gospel and the word of God, they have made sacrifices, they have taken part of their character and they have let the Lord mold it. They are already a little sweeter, there are fewer spikes when they are all, like this, I feel softer on their skin, their look has changed a bit; there are grudges that have already been released. Some men have learned to cry in the presence of the Lord, before they could not even sing, now they praise God with joy and ease. Some have experienced changes in different ways, they have learned to give the Lord their time, their resources, their money. There have been changes, they have been transforming and renewing.

The Christian life has to be like this, brothers. You have to change, you have to renew. One cannot say, "I was born this way and this is how I am going to die and this is how I was formed", and be a Christian. That is a contradiction. The Christian is always renewing himself, changing, acquiring new things. Glory to the Lord.

God has called you to a life of perpetual growth, developing new skills, learning new things, changing your personality. There is nothing more beautiful than a man and a woman when they are changing and improving and giving the Lord new things and learning what the Christian life is, to flow in the Lord, discovering new spiritual resources for their lives. That is beautiful, like a living sacrifice, it is letting go, letting go and getting lighter, happier, more beautiful. Enjoy life more. That is the beauty, the more you give to the Lord, the more you receive, the more blessing, the more joy for life. Everything is for you.

Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed through the renewal of your understanding. That is why it is so important to be immersed in the word of God. I don't know of a better way to change your thinking than to learn to study the Bible, learn to read the scriptures, and delight in the scriptures.

What I remember most about my mother was her love for the word of God. One of the things that hurt her the most when she lost, when she began to lose her sight, was that she could not read the Bible and her source of wisdom and her very special personality was that she was a woman who fed on the word. She was not an educated woman, very highly intellectual, but the word of God taught her so many things, in its simplicity, the word became a source of wisdom for her.

And she, one of the things for which I thank God, is that she transmitted to me that joy for the Bible, for the word. And that respect that I have, of all the books in the world, brothers, I can tell you with complete certainty, there is no deeper and wiser book than the word of God. And the act of reading it is not only the information that one acquires, it is that this Bible, this word has a quality that is alive, he says. And it gets inside you and changes you, it's like you're eating energy, you're eating spiritual gasoline and that's changing your insides. When you act on the word of the Lord, the word of God gives you wisdom and changes your mind. You then see life in a very different way, and you process the events of life, human relationships, tragedies, struggles, problems, tensions, illnesses, disappointments, and also triumphs, and joys. , you process them with a computer very different from the world's computer. Your understanding is changed and you can enjoy life more, because you can better understand the why of the things you are experiencing.

So, Paul says, be transformed by renewing your mental computer, by changing your understanding. Brother, I advise you in the name of the Lord, become a student and a lover of the word of God. Take advantage of the resources that this church offers you.

Right now there are brothers who are taking their classes here, studying discipleship. I encourage others to do that, when the time comes later, join the teachings. Read your Bible every day. Have your Bible nearby at work, when you have 10 minutes left for lunch, go to a corner, read two Chapters and spend time on those two Chapters. There, what is God saying to me? I am going to draw out a truth and I am going to meditate on that truth today. And tomorrow I am going to do the same, and you are going to accumulate truths that are going to be a great blessing to your life and you are going to grow in wisdom because your understanding is going to be changed more and more.

And finally, what happens as a consequence of this.... I am going to ask the brothers to get ready in a couple of minutes to come and we are going to distribute the sacrament.

The last thing that happens when we live life like this, look at what we have said, let's do a recount before concluding. God has delivered a lot, he has given a lot, he has invested a lot in us, we have seen his mercy in those previous Chapters. Therefore, we have to live life giving our bodies, everything we have and sacrificing what is necessary for God to be glorified and for us to become a pleasing sacrifice to the Lord.

This constitutes our true worship life. This is what distinguishes a believer who is a true worshiper. It's not what comes out of your mouth or what you do with your body in church, but the way you live your life 24 hours a day. One of the things that allows us to live life like this is, let's say, I am not going to conform to the world, but I am going to live my life according to God's values, continually transforming myself and renewing my mind for through the study of the word of God, submitting my brain, my way of seeing life to the way of reasoning of the Kingdom of God.

It says, 'so that you may ascertain what is the good will of God, pleasing and perfect.' Why does the Apostle Paul say that? So that you can verify what is the good will of God, pleasant and perfect. Well, I interpret this in this way: for us to be able to confirm the blessings that God has for us, to be able to verify the goodness of the Gospel, the benefits of being a Christian, to be able to enter into the purposes that God has for my life, that They are intentions for good and not for evil, as Jeremiah 29 says, for the things that God promises to happen in my life to happen, I have to live that way. Yes or no?

See? "...so that you may verify what is the good will of God, pleasing and perfect". The way in which one enters into the enjoyment of what God has for his children is by first giving it to him, giving it to him, sacrificing for him, paying cash, paying up front. And then when one does that the blessings of God begin to manifest in one's life.

It's wonderful, brothers. Many of us do not want to give God things that interest us and that we like and we cling to them, and we are very restrained with what we give to God, although for other things we are not so restrained, but when it comes to God we we become very sober and very prudent people. We give to God like Simon the Pharisee, only the minimum. And God says, 'No, I want them to give me abundantly', like the woman who spilled the glass of perfume gave him. She gave him expensive perfume and watered the body of Jesus with her tears and dried his body with her own hair, and kissed his feet, and showed him abundant love.

Simon the Pharisee was there very proper, very proper, very formal. And brothers, for the Lord to truly activate all the blessings he has for our life, we have to live life as a living sacrifice. We have to give to the Lord. We have to surrender to the Lord, we have to sacrifice for the Lord.

And guess what? The wonderful thing is that then he opens the windows of heaven and pours out blessing until it overflows. There are times when I, and I get upset with myself, because sometimes I complain to God that I'm working too much, I'm doing too much, that this and that, and I have to go to such and such a place. And I go grudgingly, grumbling, as we say, and this and that, but time and time again God shows me, brothers, that when I give to him abundantly, he returns more than anything, with blessing, health, provision material, blessing of my family, emotional joy, enjoyment, everything that I long for and desire, God gives it to me, when I give to him.

When I sacrifice for him, I prove the goodness of God, I prove his good will. Many of us preserve our lives, we preserve ourselves, and then we cannot enter into God's abundance. The Lord Jesus Christ said "if the grain of wheat does not fall to the ground and die, it remains alone." A grain of wheat, unless it rots inside the earth, does not give life, does not multiply.

It says, "...but if it falls to the ground and dies, it bears much fruit." I have learned, brothers, that when I give to God, when we give to the Lord, when we sacrifice for God, when we invest for him, he never tires of blessing us. Then, we can verify the good will of God pleasant and perfect.

Elías said to the widow, 'Give me something to eat,' and the widow told him, 'I'm sorry, I can't because I only have a little flour and a little oil left and we'll go. My son and I are going to eat and then we are going to throw ourselves to die.” And Elias told him, “It won't be like that. Give me to eat first, the servant of God, the representation of God in this house, give me to eat first and I promise you that you will not lack flour, you will not lack oil and what happened? The widow made food for him and says that he did not lack oil or flour until the famine passed in his country, in his land. And when her son died, there was the prophet of God there to save her son and bring him back to life. What a bigger blessing than that. But she had to dare to give to God first.

You have to put God first. You have to sacrifice, you have to lose for him, you have to give up comfort for him. And when we do so in the name of the Lord, we verify God's good will, pleasing and perfect. How many say amen?

That is God's call on your life. For all that God has invested in you, live your life as a living sacrifice and you will see God's good will.

Christ has said, I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. But you know what? you have to die first. When we die then we can live again. And the life that we now have in Christ is a precious, wonderful life, now we trust the Lord with our peace, our abundance, our provision. We care about him and he cares about us. Glory to the Lord.

Let's live our lives like this, brothers, living sacrifices that are always proving the good will of the Lord. Thanks, Dad. We adore you, we bless you, Lord. Thank you because you gave us an example, Lord, of that kind of life, because you gave yourself for us, you gave yourself by the will of the Father. You sacrificed yourself for us, Lord, and your word says, "there is therefore in you the same feeling that there was in Christ Jesus." And we want to be like you, Lord. We want to be like you, we want to live as a living sacrifice for our God. Thank you Jesus. So be it, Lord. Amen and amen.