To live as Paul suggests in Romans 12 is humanly impossible. It is, however, supernaturally possible, as he clearly pointed out back in chapters 6, 7 and 8 of Romans. Walking in the Spirit is not some quaint religious exercise. It is for the street, where you live.
Paul is getting painfully practical now. You say you are crucified with Christ? You say you have "died to sin and risen again with Christ?" What better way, then, to test all your new powers than to see if you actually can live and love unselfishly. To try to love others unselfishly and at the same time be concerned with standing up for your rights is a contradiction in terms. You cannot serve God and self. You cannot go around with the Bible in one hand and waving your personal Bill of Rights in the other.
There are all kinds of excuses "to not get carried away" with the list of good deeds in Romans 12. But the excuses don't make the standard any less valid. Paul is not nailing up a list of laws that the Christian has to obey without a slip. He is setting up goals to aim at, to set your sights on.
Of course you won't do a perfect job of unselfish loving. Of course you may be criticized, even laughed at. But when Paul talks in Romans 12 of honoring others, of never being lax in Christian zeal, of being glad and patient in trouble, of helping others in need, of praying for those who harm you . . . he is simply putting muscle on the idea of presenting your body as a "living sacrifice" (Rom 12:1).
This business of being a living sacrifice was well put by a missionary who had this advice for a young fellow who was thinking about the mission field:
"Instead of going to the refrigerator for a bite before going to bed, or to the corner drugstore for a coke, try going to bed without it. You won't die and you won't miss it when you can't get it out here."
"Try cutting the chatter in order to get home earlier or to give more time to studies or devotions. Out here you may have to go for months at a time without friendly chinfests with others of your own language. Discipline yourself to eat things you don't like, without choking and without griping."
"Kick yourself out of bed before the heat comes on in order to spend time with the Lord. Next camp you go to, try sleeping for two weeks on the floor. Find out if your call and Christian joy vary in inverse proportion to the comforts and conveniences."
"I'm not dreaming these things up. I'm thinking of people who so missed ice cream and candy, who couldn't get along without the fellowship of others, who were always complaining of the cold, or who couldn't settle down to serious work unless they had eight hours on an inner spring mattress, that they made excuses for not getting the work done. In some cases these were definitely contributing factors to their leaving the field, quitting."
"But I'm not going to the mission field," you say. Aren't you? Where do you think you are right now? Is your home, or school, or place of work really any less a mission field than the streets of Bombay or the Auca country of Peru?
Every Christian is a missionary, because a missionary is one who is sent to bring and to be the Good News to others. Every Christian is called to present his body as a living sacrifice. Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them - by going out of your way to help them, by taking their guff, by overlooking their faults, by refusing to retaliate, especially in the sophisticated game of repartee and cutting conversation that so many of us play so well.
Does your Christianity reveal a bogus brand of counterfeit love? Genuine Christian love means first that you sincerely, unselfishly offer your daily life to God. He then proves, tests, and tempers your sincerity and unselfishness by sending you out to live among your fellow men.
We all fail, some of us many times, to show perfect Christian love. But faith begins where failure leaves off. We are not only saved from the penalty of sin by faith. We not only conquer sin and temptation by faith. We serve and love by faith as well.
It is in this living and loving and serving . . .it is in the daily routine - the "rat race" of life - that you have countless opportunities to be a living sacrifice . . . or just a burnt offering.
Fritz Ridenour, How To Be A Christian Without Being Religious
Paul is getting painfully practical now. You say you are crucified with Christ? You say you have "died to sin and risen again with Christ?" What better way, then, to test all your new powers than to see if you actually can live and love unselfishly. To try to love others unselfishly and at the same time be concerned with standing up for your rights is a contradiction in terms. You cannot serve God and self. You cannot go around with the Bible in one hand and waving your personal Bill of Rights in the other.
There are all kinds of excuses "to not get carried away" with the list of good deeds in Romans 12. But the excuses don't make the standard any less valid. Paul is not nailing up a list of laws that the Christian has to obey without a slip. He is setting up goals to aim at, to set your sights on.
Of course you won't do a perfect job of unselfish loving. Of course you may be criticized, even laughed at. But when Paul talks in Romans 12 of honoring others, of never being lax in Christian zeal, of being glad and patient in trouble, of helping others in need, of praying for those who harm you . . . he is simply putting muscle on the idea of presenting your body as a "living sacrifice" (Rom 12:1).
This business of being a living sacrifice was well put by a missionary who had this advice for a young fellow who was thinking about the mission field:
"Instead of going to the refrigerator for a bite before going to bed, or to the corner drugstore for a coke, try going to bed without it. You won't die and you won't miss it when you can't get it out here."
"Try cutting the chatter in order to get home earlier or to give more time to studies or devotions. Out here you may have to go for months at a time without friendly chinfests with others of your own language. Discipline yourself to eat things you don't like, without choking and without griping."
"Kick yourself out of bed before the heat comes on in order to spend time with the Lord. Next camp you go to, try sleeping for two weeks on the floor. Find out if your call and Christian joy vary in inverse proportion to the comforts and conveniences."
"I'm not dreaming these things up. I'm thinking of people who so missed ice cream and candy, who couldn't get along without the fellowship of others, who were always complaining of the cold, or who couldn't settle down to serious work unless they had eight hours on an inner spring mattress, that they made excuses for not getting the work done. In some cases these were definitely contributing factors to their leaving the field, quitting."
"But I'm not going to the mission field," you say. Aren't you? Where do you think you are right now? Is your home, or school, or place of work really any less a mission field than the streets of Bombay or the Auca country of Peru?
Every Christian is a missionary, because a missionary is one who is sent to bring and to be the Good News to others. Every Christian is called to present his body as a living sacrifice. Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them - by going out of your way to help them, by taking their guff, by overlooking their faults, by refusing to retaliate, especially in the sophisticated game of repartee and cutting conversation that so many of us play so well.
Does your Christianity reveal a bogus brand of counterfeit love? Genuine Christian love means first that you sincerely, unselfishly offer your daily life to God. He then proves, tests, and tempers your sincerity and unselfishness by sending you out to live among your fellow men.
We all fail, some of us many times, to show perfect Christian love. But faith begins where failure leaves off. We are not only saved from the penalty of sin by faith. We not only conquer sin and temptation by faith. We serve and love by faith as well.
It is in this living and loving and serving . . .it is in the daily routine - the "rat race" of life - that you have countless opportunities to be a living sacrifice . . . or just a burnt offering.
Fritz Ridenour, How To Be A Christian Without Being Religious
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