Passage: Romans 12:1—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. (NKJV)
Outline:
Grace Beseeches Us Rather Than Commanding Us.
Grace Beseeches Us By The Mercies Of God.
Grace Beseeches Us To Present Our Lives As Living Sacrifices To God.
Grace Beseeches Us Because We Are Already Holy And Acceptable To God.
Grace Beseeches Us To Our Only Reasonable Response of Service—To Place Our Lives At God’s Disposal By Faith.
Text:
(Introduction) This morning we begin a new section of Romans. Chapter 12 begins the practical or applicational section of Paul’s epistle. Chapters 1-11 are an explanation of doctrinal truth and theology that we as believers need to know and believe. But, up to this point, Paul has not really told us to do much of anything. In fact, it is not until chapter 6 that he uses any imperatives (that he tells us to do anything), and even there, and in the following through chapter 11, Paul is still emphasizing what believers need to know and believe, not what believers ought to do. But all of that changes here in chapter 12. Chapters 12-16 are full of imperatives. Paul tells us to do a lot of things in these chapters.
Let me give you a preview of just some of what’s in chapter 12:
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed (12:2)
Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. (12:9)
Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love... (12:10)
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. (12:14)
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. (12:15)
Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. (12:16)
Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. (12:17)
Do not avenge yourselves... (12:19)
If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink... (12:20)
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (12:21)
And that’s just the beginning! Chapters 13-16 are full of imperatives as well.
But, this presents us with a problem, if we are to take what Paul has said up to this point seriously. One of the foundational doctrinal truths that Paul has stressed up to this point in Romans is the difference between law and grace. And Paul boldly declared in Romans 6:14: For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. And in Romans 10:4 he says: For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Paul has told us that we need to know that we are not under law but under grace. But, Romans 12 looks a lot like law. Doesn’t it? In fact, a lot of the New Testament looks a lot like law for the believer. Nine out of the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament are repeated in the New. So, which is it, are we under the law or not? Does grace just put us under a different law? How do we explain this?
Many, believers, pastors and Christian leaders explain it this way: they explain that grace has freed us from the Old Testament law, but that under grace, we are still under the law of the New Testament or what is often called, “the law of Christ.” So, in other words, we are really not free from law, we’re just under another law. Instead of being under the Mosaic Law, we are now under Christ’s law. Many believe that Christ as our Lord has commanded us to do certain things and that if we do not do those things, or at least do them pretty well, either we were never really Christians in the first place (because according to them true Christians will, for the most part, obey Jesus as Lord). Or, some others would say, if we don’t obey the law of Christ, we might lose our salvation, our eternal life.
I have wrestled with how to explain this myself. I know from Paul that we are not under the law, but grace. And I know from Romans 1-11 that grace and law are opposites. I’ve taught and preached that we are not under the law and therefore ought not to attempt to live our lives as believers according to the Mosaic law or any other law or any list of rules, do A, B and C. But if you had asked me, “What then do we do with all of the imperatives of the New Testament that certainly seem to be law or commands for the believer?” I really would not have had a good answer. It’s a question that I have prayed about, “Lord, You proclaim that we are not under the law, but under grace, so how am I to view all of the imperatives of the New Testament? Is there a new law for the believer, the law of the New Testament, the law of Christ?”
(Transition) God gave me the answer, in the same way He always answers such questions, through His Word. The answer was there all along, right here in Romans 12:1. Right there in one word, as a matter of fact—the word “beseech.” Romans 12:1—I beseech you therefore, brethren... It is through this word that I now understand all of the imperatives or ‘commands’ that come in the rest of Romans. It is through this word, ‘beseech,’ that I now understand all of the ‘imperatives’ of the New Testament. Paul uses this word in all of his epistles as he transitions from theological and doctrinal truth that we are to know to the practical application of what we are to do. It is a word of grace, not of law. The law commands, demands and requires obedience. Grace does not...
GRACE BESEECHES US RATHER THAN COMMANDING US.
The underling Greek verb, ‘parakaleo’, translated here ‘beseech,’ has these definitions from Thayer’s Greek Lexicon: 1) to call to one's side, call for, summon; 2) to address, speak to, call to, call upon, which may be done in the way of exhortation, entreaty, comfort, instruction, etc.; 2a) to admonish, exhort; 2b) to beg, entreat, beseech; 2b 1) to strive to appease by entreaty; 2c) to console, to encourage and strengthen by consolation, to comfort; 2c1) to receive consolation, be comforted; 2d) to encourage, strengthen; 2e) exhorting and comforting and encouraging; 2f) to instruct, teach. It is translated, ‘urge,’ by the NAS and the NIV. Notice what is missing in that list, any sense of the idea of law and commandments.
Paul uses this same term in 2 Corinthians 12: And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. Paul was given some kind of physical suffering, a thorn in his flesh, that he pleaded with God might be removed. The term ‘pleaded’ here is the same term translated ‘beseech’ in Romans 12:1. So, do you think Paul commanded the Lord to remove his thorn in the flesh? Of course not. And neither is Paul, or God for that matter, commanding us to do anything in Romans 12:1. Grace does not command. It beseeches us.
If we don’t understand this very important truth, we will misunderstand the imperatives that follow in Romans and that are found throughout the New Testament. These imperatives come out of the calling and encouragement (the beseeching) of grace. The imperatives of the New Testament are not some new law of Christ that we are under as New Testament believers, they are the beseeching of grace. This is clear as you look at how Paul uses this term at transition points in many of his other writings. In 1 Corinthians 1:10, 2 Corinthians 10:1, Ephesians 4:1, Philippians 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 4:1 and 1 Timothy 2:1, all places where Paul is transitioning from doctrinal truth to practical application, he uses this same term. Look at the example of Ephesians 4:1 where Paul writes: I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called... After teaching us the doctrine of grace, Paul always, as he does here in Romans, beseeches us to action on the basis of that same grace.
I cannot overemphasize the importance of this truth. Grace does not require, demand or command anything of you as a believer. If you believe that God’s grace demands or requires your obedience to the law of the Old Testament, the law of the New Testament or even the law of Christ, you have put yourself under that law. God has not put you under it. God in His grace has freed you from every form of law. And the imperatives of the New Testament were never meant to be viewed as new commandments, but as the beseeching of grace. In other words, you are truly free. If you are a believer, you don’t have to do anything the New Testament calls you to do.
Why is this so important to understand? Because you would fail anyway. Even if there were some new law for you to follow, you would fail! There are a lot of believers trying to obey the New Testament Law of Christ—and they fail every day. A lot of them get frustrated and give up. Those are the blessed ones, for they are close to the truth. Even more of them fail, but have been deceived into thinking that their failures aren’t that bad, you know, in comparison to others, and spend their lives and ministries trying to cover up, ignore, and excuse their failures. What freedom they could enjoy if they would simply realize that God in His grace does not demand or require or command anything from them. He simply pleads, encourages and beseeches them by His grace.
Now, please, notice what I’m not saying. I am not saying that the New Testament or Romans gives no instruction or guidance to us as believers. It certainly does. I am simply saying that it does not come in the form of law and commandments. It comes in the form of grace. Grace beseeches. The law commands.
(Transition) The law commands and motivates obedience through fear. If you don’t follow the law, whatever that law may be, there will be a negative consequence. So, I fear the flashing lights in my rearview window when I know I’ve been speeding. Fear of a fine motivates me to go the speed limit, or at least stay close to it. For some, fear of God’s wrath, or the loss of their salvation, or the loss of rewards in heaven, or the loss of blessings here, motivates them to follow what they view to be the New Testament law of Christ. But we see here in Romans 12:1 that grace does not motivate through fear.
GRACE BESEECHES US BY THE MERCIES OF GOD
Romans 12:1—I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God...
The word therefore points us back to all the mercies of God that Paul has shared with us throughout Romans. Let me remind you of a few (adapted from Newell, Romans: Verse by Verse):
• By God’s mercy We are Justified—Not only have our sins been pardoned, we have been given the very righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
• By God’s mercy We are Identified with Christ—we have died, have been buried and have been raised with Christ. As a result we are free from Adam, are dead to sin and to the law are now, right this minute, in Christ.
• By God’s mercy We are Under Grace, Not Law—free now to have produced in us real lasting spiritual fruit.
• By God’s mercy We have the Spirit within Us—freeing us from condemnation, assuring us of our adoption into God’s family and helping us as we share in the sufferings of Christ.
• By God’s mercy We have the Promise of Coming Glory—a glory to which the sufferings of this world are not worthy to be compared.
• By God’s mercy We have the Assurance of God’s Love—a love in Christ that nothing in all of creation can ever separate us from.
• By God’s mercy We have Confidence in God’s Faithfulness—His faithfulness to His promises to Israel and to us as believing Gentiles... We have confidence in His faithfulness to His plan to shut all up under sin that He might be seen to be merciful for His own glory.
This is just a sampling of the mercies of God we have seen in Romans. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!... For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:33, 36
Grace beseeches us by the mercies of God. It does not command us on the basis of the fear of judgment and condemnation, because Jesus has already taken that for us. It does not command us of the basis of the fear of loss of blessings or reward, because Jesus Christ is our blessing and reward.
(Transition) So, let me ask you a very simple question, which would you rather follow—the commands of some New Testament law of Christ out of fear or the beseeching of grace by the mercies of God? I think the answer is obvious, but it is important, because what grace beseeches us to do is no easy thing.
GRACE BESEECHES US TO PRESENT OUR LIVES AS LIVING SACRIFICES TO GOD.
Romans 12:1—I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice... On the basis of the mercies of God, not the judgment of the law, grace beckons us to present our bodies, meaning this body and all we are here and now, apart from our old sinful flesh, our new lives, to God as a living sacrifice to Him. That’s not a command. Who would ever want to follow that as a command? Do you know what they do to sacrifices? They cut them cut up. They burn them on an altar. And the best part for the sacrifice in the Old Testament was that it was already dead before it was cut up and put on the altar. We are to present our lives to Him as living sacrifices—to get cut up and burned and live to talk about it and go through it again. If that’s a command, please tell me how I can get out of it.
My wife reminded me this week of a story about our daughter, Selah, when she was a very little girl. Selah was commanded to ear her mac-n-cheese at the dinner table. It was a law, and the motivation was the fear of a spanking. Julie told her, “Eat or get a spanking.” And, do you know what Selah did? She looked up thoughtfully at Julie with her big chocolate chip eyes and said, “Mom, I’ll take the spanking.”
If presenting my life to God as a living sacrifice is a command, then just like Selah, I would like to weigh my options. “What are the consequences for not doing this? Just a loss of reward in heaven? Okay, I can deal with that. I’ll still be in heaven.” So, those who see it as a command up the ante. They teach that the consequence for not doing this, or for not following other imperative commands in the New Testament, is proof that you are not going to heaven. In other words, if you don’t do this, you were never a believer in the first place. So, you better do it to prove you are really worthy of heaven. Or, they teach that if you don’t, you’ll lose your salvation. And people try to do their best and still fail, because they are motivated by fear, by law, and obeying in the power of the flesh.
Only by knowing the mercies of God, only as hearing this call as a beseeching of grace, will we be able to present our lives to Him in this way, as living sacrifices. And, I don’t know about you, but when I see His mercies by faith and I hear His call of grace, by His Spirit, I can’t wait to eat my mac-n-cheese... I can’t wait to crawl upon that altar.
(Transition) But, wait, maybe I’m not worthy or maybe I need to clean up my act first? Maybe I need to get holy and acceptable to God, before I present myself to Him as a living sacrifice? After all, weren’t sacrifices supposed to be spotless? That’s another deception of the law. The law, and those who teach it, would have you believe that following the New Testament law of Christ will make you holy or that we must pursue holiness by obeying the law. But...
GRACE BESEECHES US BECAUSE WE ARE ALREADY HOLY AND ACCEPTABLE TO GOD.
Romans 12:1—I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God... Paul doesn’t say, “Go make yourself holy and acceptable to God and then present your body as a living sacrifice.” He says, “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God.” The idea here is that this is something we can do right now. There’s no preparation needed, because God has already done all the preparation necessary through His Son Jesus Christ who was given as a sacrifice for us. There is no law of Christ that can make you holy and acceptable to God. Christ Himself, and only Christ apart from the law, makes you holy and acceptable. And if you have received the mercies of God through and in Christ Jesus by faith, you are already as holy and acceptable to God as you are going to get. And you are already ready to be a living sacrifice. And that’s exactly what grace beseeches you be by the mercies of God.
(Transition) Why respond to this beseeching of grace to present your life, your body, to God as a living sacrifice? Because, it’s your only reasonable response of service.
GRACE BESEECHES US TO OUR ONLY REASONABLE RESPONSE OF SERVICE.
Romans 12:1—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. Do you want to serve God? In the light of His incredible mercy to you and who you ought to know by that mercy you are to Him and in Christ, the only thing that makes sense is for you to present yourself to Him as a living sacrifice. Trying to follow a bunch of commandments to make yourself holy and acceptable to God or to prove your worthiness of heaven or to keep your salvation makes absolutely no sense at all, if you truly understand the grace God has given you by His mercy in Jesus Christ. And that’s the problem—too many believers are trying by their own power to do and to work to accomplish or prove what God has already finished in Christ Jesus, because they don’t understand His grace—because they don’t believe grace could really be this awesome! By God’s grace through Christ God has already set you in the heavenlies, He has already made you holy and acceptable to Him. He has purchased you by the by precious blood of Christ. What can you add or take away from that? He already owns you. You are His. So, what do you do now? The only reasonable service. The only thing that makes sense. You present your body and your life to Him. “Here I am, Lord. I am already Yours. You do what you want with me.”
(Transition) That’s all you can do—present to Him what He already owns. Oh, but how gracious is our God? God could just take what is already His. He could demand that that you give your life as a sacrifice to Him. He could command you to crawl on the altar. But, He doesn’t, does He? Instead, He beckons you by His grace. His Grace Beseeches Us To Our Only Reasonable Service...
(Conclusion) GRACE BESEECHES US TO PLACE OUR LIVES AT GOD'S DISPOSAL BY FAITH.
How do you respond to the beseeching of grace? By following a new set of commands through your own strength and power? No, you respond by faith and by faith you receive the power of the gospel, the power of the mercies of God, the power of Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, the power Christ’s very life within you.
Remember the theme verses of the book of Romans: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:16-17. The gospel is the power of God to be His living sacrifice for everyone who believes. In order to answer the call of grace to place your life at God’s disposal, it takes faith. As you believe, the life of Christ by His Spirit empowers you and moves within you. He gets you up on that altar. He encourages you and helps you endure suffering with Christ. And, He gives you real joy—the experience of fellowship with Him and the experience of being used by Him. Grace beseeches us to this! It does not command, it calls. It calls by the mercies of God. It calls us because we are already holy and acceptable to God. It calls to our only reasonable service—to place our lives at God’s disposal by faith. Will you answer the call?
Imagine that your body or your life as a believer is a car. Your car might already feel run down and out of gas. But, imagine that God commanded you as a believer to get that car moving down sanctification highway toward heaven and its rewards. And He gave you the law of Christ in the New Testament to help you know exactly where to go, how fast to go, where to stop, where to speed up, who to take with you, who not to take with you, what maintenance is needed and many, many other commands. And you know that if you don’t follow all of those commands the best you can, if get off track, you might not reach your final destination. Or it might mean you were never on the right road in the first place. If you view your salvation and the New Testament gospel like that, and many view it in a similar way, you are in big trouble. You are going to quickly figure out that your car won’t start! That’s going to leave you with a few options: A) you sit behind the driver’s wheel at the junk yard with a bunch of other believers and you all pretend you’re driving, while making “Vroom, Vroom” noises for all to hear; B) you get out and start pushing the car the best you can, and figure if you push it as far as most everyone else, you’ll be okay. And when you push it really fast, you make sure everyone knows what a great job you’re doing and how much you’ve had to work and sacrifice to get it on the road. You might shine it up real pretty, bang out some of the dents, and plant flowers in the trunk, so it doesn’t look so bad in your front yard; or C) you give up trying to move the car altogether, turn it into an ice cream stand and throw a party for your friends. Now I’m just being silly, of course, but those options do illustrate what it’s like for believers who try to live their lives according to the law.
But, we are not under the law, we are under grace. And God says to us, “You know my great love and mercy toward you. I see your body, your life, your car. It may look and feel run down, but I bought it with the blood of my Son.” Then God asks you, after he’s already paid for it, “Will you let me use it?”
You simply say, “Thank you, Lord! Of course, you can.”
And God says, “Great! Guess what? I installed a new motor—better motor than a Hemi—it’s a Holy, my Holy Spirit, the very power of Christ.”
“Really! What’s it run on, Lord? Obedience?”
“Well... yes, the obedience of faith. Just trust me. I’ll do everything.”
So, you run and sit down in the driver’s seat. But then God reminds you, “I never intended for you to drive. I’ll do that, too. I’m telling you, just chill and trust me. I’ve got it.”
“Okay, Lord. Where are we going?”
Then the Lord points you to the imperatives of Romans 12 and the rest of the New Testament and says, “See those. Some people think those are the commands of a new law. They are not. Those are just the destinations. Those are the places I’m going to take you in My car, empowered by My Holy Spirit for My glory... Enjoy the ride.” I pray that we will all enjoy the ride through the rest of the book of Romans, understanding that He is beseeching us to present our lives to Him by faith, so that He can take us to all these destinations by His power, for His glory—by His grace.
