Paul and the Practice of
Christianity
Looking at Romans 12
Letter to the Romans
1
Introduction: 12:1,2

Consecration & Transformation
 “Therefore” (gar) having completed the
doctrinal section and defended the
righteousness of God, Paul seeks to explain
the life of faith.
 Paul appeals (as in Eph 4:1; 1 Cor 4:16) for
“transformity” rather than conformity in the
language of Jewish sacrificial worship.
Letter to the Romans
2
Time to dig in just a bit…

There are at LEAST 5 full lessons we could
do on Romans 12. It is a powerful chapter!
Today we are going to cover all of Romans
12, and keep moving, but verses 1 and 2
really deserve just a bit of time for further
examination… so lets do it
Letter to the Romans
3
Romans 12:1,2
Consecration & Transformation
12:1 I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters,
by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a
living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual service of worship.
12:1 I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters,
by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a
living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual service of worship.
consecration as worship
defining text on Christian worship
God’s mercies is the Christian message
urgent business
12:1 I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters,
by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a
living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual service of worship.
consecration as worship
“declaring worth” through consecration
Old Testament sacrifices
Jesus introduces a new worship
An hour is coming when neither in this place
nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the
Father…An hour is coming and now is,
when the true worshipers shall worship the
Father in spirit and truth…
John 4:21,23
12:1 I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters,
by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a
living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual service of worship.
consecration as worship
worship means “declaring worth”
Old Testament sacrifices
Jesus introduces a new worship
An hour is coming when neither in this place
nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the
Father…An hour is coming and now is,
when the true worshipers shall worship the
Father in spirit and truth…
John 4:21,23
One of the most puzzling features of Paul’s
understanding of ekklesia for his
contemporaries, whether Jews or Gentiles, must
have been his failure to say that a person went
to church primarily to ‘worship’. Not once in all
his writings does he suggest this is the case.
Indeed it could not be, for he held a view of
‘worship’ that prevented him from doing
so…[W]orship involves the whole of one’s life,
every word and action, and knows no special
place or time… Since all places and times have
now become the venue for worship, Paul cannot
speak of Christians assembling in church
distinctively for this purpose. They are already
worshipping God, acceptably or unacceptably,
in whatever they are doing.
Robert Banks, Paul’s Idea of Community
12:1 I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters,
by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a
living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual service of worship.
consecration as worship
a living sacrifice: a life of consecration
not a service you attend
a decision to “present” yourself to God
authentic believer vs. disciple
going half way is unsatisfying
power struggle
vague feeling of guilt
unfulfilling sense of “going along”
12:1 I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters,
by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a
living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual service of worship.
consecration as worship
a living sacrifice: a life of consecration
not a service you attend
a decision to “present” yourself to God
authentic believer vs. disciple
going half way is unsatisfying
going half way is unappealing
12:1 I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters,
by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a
living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual service of worship.
consecration as worship
Which one of you, when he wants to build a
tower, does not first sit down and calculate
the cost, to see if he has enough to
complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a
foundation, and is not able to finish, all who
observe it begin to ridicule him, saying,
“This man began to build and was not able
to finish.”
Luke 14:28—30
12:1 I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters,
by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a
living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual service of worship.
consecration as worship
logikos: reasonable
not a vow or New Years resolution
conscious, informed verdict
Jesus said, “You do not want to go away
also, do you?” Simon Peter answered,
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the
words of eternal life.” John 6:67,68
12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what the will of God is, that
which is good and acceptable and perfect.
conformed or transformed?
implications of true worship
12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what the will of God is, that
which is good and acceptable and perfect.
conformed or transformed?
world is about shaping you into its mold
kosmos is a spiritual and value system
what is “normal”?
what is “success”?
who am I?
why do I matter?
what will make me happy?
12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what the will of God is, that
which is good and acceptable and perfect.
conformed or transformed?
world is about shaping you into its mold
kosmos is a spiritual and value system
kosmos is not neutral
All that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful
pride of life, is not from the Father. The
world is passing away, and also its lusts,
but the one who does God’s will abides
forever.
1 John 2:15
12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what the will of God is, that
which is good and acceptable and perfect.
conformed or transformed?
world is about shaping you into its mold
kosmos is a spiritual and value system
kosmos is not neutral
redefines real needs
appeals to & energizes the sinful
nature of self rule, life by my terms
enslaves by offering allusive and
unreal expectations for life
12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what the will of God is, that
which is good and acceptable and perfect.
conformed or transformed?
world is about shaping you into its mold
kosmos is a spiritual and value system
kosmos is not neutral
redefines real needs
appeals to & energizes the sinful
nature of self rule, life by my terms
enslaves by offering allusive and
unreal expectations for life
Used in one way, the press, the radio and the cinema are indispensable to
the survival of democracy. Used in another way, they are among the
most powerful weapons in the dictator's armory.....In regard to
propaganda the early advocates of universal literacy and a free press
envisaged only two possibilities:
the propaganda
might be true, or it might be false. They did not foresee what in fact has
happened, above all in our Western capitalist democracies--the
development of a vast mass communications industry, concerned in the
main neither with the true nor the false, but with the unreal, the more or
less totally irrelevant. In a word, they failed to take into account man's
almost infinite appetite for distractions..... Only the vigilant can
maintain their liberties, and only those who are constantly and
intelligently on the spot can hope to govern themselves effectively by
democratic procedures."
Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Revisited pp. 35,36
12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what the will of God is, that
which is good and acceptable and perfect.
conformed or transformed?
resistance alone is futile
retreat is not an option
I do not ask You to take them out of the
world, but to keep them from the evil one…
As You have sent me into the world, so I
send them into the world.
John 17:15,18
12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what the will of God is, that
which is good and acceptable and perfect.
conformed or transformed?
resistance alone is futile
retreat is not an option
revolution through personal
transformation
12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what the will of God is, that
which is good and acceptable and perfect.
conformed or transformed?
metamorphoo
consecration of the mind brings change
You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, with all your soul and with all
your mind
Matthew 22:37
“disciple” means student
expertise is a value statement
12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what the will of God is, that
which is good and acceptable and perfect.
conformed or transformed?
able to perceive God’s will
knowing what a person thinks over
time produces an understanding of
how they think
wisdom
discernment
prophetic insight
12:1 I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters,
by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a
living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual service of worship.
you can’t command somebody to worship
you are God’s child regardless
you will find hidden pockets of
resistance within
God brings new opportunities to
present yourself to Him
Back to the main road

Having taken a long scenic way through
verses 1 and 2, lets get back to the main
road…
Letter to the Romans
25
12:3-21 Personal ethics (1)

(1) 3-8 The exercise of gifts “by the
grace given me” towards mutual
interdependence.
– Prophecy
– Service
– Teaching
Letter to the Romans
26
– Exhortation
– Giving (in finance)
– Giving (in help)
– Acts of mercy
Letter to the Romans
27
12:3-21 Personal ethics (2)

(2) 9-13 The Law of Love expressed in
various activities
– Love (agape) includes the sense of volition and
intellect
– It inspires mutual affection (v10)
– It “stays on high alert” (v11), never losing its
buzz.
– It stays hopeful, endures suffering, perseveres
in prayer, shares the needs of the family
Letter to the Romans
28
12:3-21 Personal ethics (3)

(3) 14-21 looks beyond the Christian family
– Reminiscent of Matt 5:44
– Sharing joy and sorrow
– Living in harmony: “Aspire not to lofty tasks
but follow the stream of lowly duties” (David
Smith).
– Peace (18) as much as possible!
Letter to the Romans
29
12:19-21: A word on
Vengeance
 “Leave it to the wrath of God”; this
suggests
– (1) that we leave the exercise of judgement to
God as in Deut 32:35, or
– (2) that we should let the principle of
retribution inherent in the moral universe
pursue its course (cf 1:18)
Letter to the Romans
30

Vv20-21 suggest the first. Mercy is the
opposite of retaliation, giving a “burning
sense of shame”. Paul quotes Prv 25:21 but
omits the last bit “and the Lord shall reward
you”. Paul develops the meaning: “the best
way to get rid of an enemy is to turn him
into a friend”.
Letter to the Romans
31