Romans 12:1-21
1) Therefore, because of the mercies of God, we are commanded to offer our bodies to Christ as a living sacrifice. This is our pure, proper, and perfect form of spiritual worship.
a) Our bodies should be dead to sin in our thinking, attitudes, actions and conversations.
b)After all Christ has given us through His death burial and resurrection, dying to selfish pursuits and passions is a reasonable request of service.
c) Paul desired to know Christ, to know the power of His resurrection and participation in His suffering, becoming like Him in His death.
2) We are either being conformed to the pattern of this world and Satan or being transformed by the renewing of our minds through the power of the Holy Spirit.
a) A transformed mind has the ability to comprehend the perfect will of God.
b)A transformed mind is governed by the Truth of God’s Word. A believer operating with the mind of Christ does not fall prey to the shallow and deceptive philosophies of human wisdom and logic which are so prevalent in this world.
c) We face daily pressure from our flesh, Satan and the world to conform to the patterns of this world. A living sacrifice has an intense and intentional commitment to resist evil. We must push forward to please God in every step, thought and moment of life.
3) Do not be deceived, all of us are sacrificing something for someone or something (career, relationships, experiences, money, material possessions).
a) “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Not only do the followers of Jesus renounce their rights, they renounce their own righteousness too.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer
b)”If a commission by an earthly king is considered an honor, how can a commission by a heavenly king be considered a sacrifice?” -David Livingstone
c) “It is our duty and our privilege to exhaust our lives for Jesus. We are not to be living specimens of men in fine preservation, but living sacrifices, whose lot is to be consumed.” -Charles Spurgeon
Discussion question: What does it mean to worship God as a living sacrifice?
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