Romans 12 is such a wonderful picture of not only the "one anothering" verses, but points out how it is only the Holy Spirit's work in our lives that enables us to have the love and compassion, unity and peace, with the whole body that we are instructed to maintain. It is only when we focus on glorifying God and taking our eyes off ourselves, that we see the full picture of the local church body.
The chapter does not start with love and peace or gifts, but rather instructing us how if we desire to be used by God, we must rid ourselves of the sin and selfish ways that we all tend to gravitate towards. Those with the most publicly displayed gifts must be fervently at odds with the flesh and pride. The last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, speaks of how God feels about sacrifices that are polluted.
Mal 1:8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts.
The Lord took it quite seriously that the offerings were clean, healthy, and usable for service. As Christians, those who have committed our lives to God, we must prayerfully consider all our ways in order to offer sacrifice to the Lord that is pleasing. We are not obligated to sacrifice as in the old covenant, but rather in the age of grace should have love for God flowing from our hearts in spiritual worship. We are not our own, but have been bought with a price. Will we live up to the standards that Jesus said would be hallmarks of His flock?
Paul goes directly from how we must offer ourselves in sacrifice, to taking down pride in the flesh in verse 3. This is something that I often have a hard time with. Pride has at times had a stronghold in my life, and God is continuously working in my heart to humble me and show me that being a servant of God is a privilege. There is nothing that I have earned nor one single thing to be prideful about, but only the Potter's skillful hands shaping and molding, that is responsible for any accomplishments in our lives.
The changes in our hearts as we draw nearer to God are nothing that we have done in our own lives, but the fruits of the Holy Spirit as we surrender to His will and His desires in our lives. As our works can add nothing to the work of salvation, our works do not give us special titles or access to God. God draws , near to all those who draw near to Him.
The remaining verses in Romans 12 go on to tell us of the unified, universal body of Christ, with all blood bought believers acting out their parts according to the power of the Holy Spirit. We must not act as though some of us are elevated in position before the Lord just because we have certain jobs, education, or even longevity in the Christian walk. There are many that have been great examples in my life and have encouraged me to follow Jesus more closely, as evidence in their lives show me how God sustains, strengthens, and blesses those who serve Him with a pure heart.
Our tendency at times is to put the emphasis on knowing the scope and demonstration of spiritual gifts, developing gifts, and putting people into categories of service. Don't misunderstand, we must seek to know how God is working in our lives and how He will use us. However, the larger emphasis must be put on the fact that an offering of a pure vessel for service can be endued with any gift God sees fit to give. God is able to make the high school dropout an eloquent preacher, a disabled body whole again, and we must not limit the power of the Holy Spirit by our own vision. We were dead, and now we live for eternity. Nothing is beyond the limits of God in empowering those who will commit to serving.
We are told in Scripture, even in this passage that each believer has at least one gift and a job in the body of Christ. Let us simply seek God out day by day to get our own desires out of the way and allow the full measure of the Holy Spirit to be poured out on our lives. We are simply vessels, and the Master desires that we be fit for use and available for service.
As we fill the mold the Master has designed for us, giving up all that is left of ourselves, for the sake of the body of Christ and the glory of God, we will see the bigger picture. This has so many practical applications, but there is not time to write it all out. Rather, spend your time in God's Word, in prayer, and seek to be filled with the Spirit of God more and more each day. We are indwelt with the Holy Spirit at salvation, and that will never leave us. Now it is time to fill all areas of our lives with none of ourselves, and only leave room for Him. God does not want some of your heart of most of it, but all.
Let us give our all today, surrendered to our loving and glorious Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the lover of my soul. I pray that my life is a pleasing sacrifice, and that if sin should creep in that I will purge it from my heart in confession, knowing that God will not charge to my account anything, but rather has put it on the charge of His beloved Son. When I think of sin that way, I am reminded how it must grieve the Father to see us living in disobedience or mediocrity. Today is the day to give all, He is worthy and deserving of nothing less.
Mark
It's true!!
ReplyDeleteIt's exciting to spend time reading God's word and finding out just what it is that He requires of me today and consequently what He requires of me for the rest of my life.
I think you should continue to talk about the spiritual gifts. I've been interested to study them in the last few months. I'm still not sure which one(s) I have but I think it's important to work towards all of them as much as possible, but hey, more information about them would be great too!