Oct 23, 2009
Romans 12: Why Sacrifice is Essential for Christians to Master
Continuing my meditations on the book of Romans…
With a clear picture of salvation and God’s historic plan of redemption into the present in place, this letter moves into more practical matters, namely how to live holy lives as God’s people. It is good for the Romans to know they should count themselves dead to sin, alive to Christ, and empowered in the Holy Spirit, but what does this look like on a day to day basis?
The answer is a daily offering of themselves to God, becoming living sacrifices that are surrendered to God but still able to live obedient, holy lives. This is a difficult matter, as it’s easy to make pleasing one’s self the primary goal of each day. However, Paul reminds his readers that Christ has done as much for them and that such a commitment will allow God to renew their minds. This will lead to the kind of holy lives that he says they should be living. In addition, God will make his will known to them.
The result of this will be holy living where the believers can use their gifts in service to others. Even with these gifts in use, the Romans are reminded not to judge themselves according to their usefulness or magnificence of their gifts. Their measure for themselves is directly tied to their faith.
This strikes me as a good check on whether believers are seeking first God’s Kingdom and offering themselves to God daily for direction. Faith is the means by which such steps are taken, believing that God can direct and empower his people to live in holiness and obedience.
With these things in mind, Paul adds on a series of commands and pleas for right living among the believers in Rome. They are called to a counterintuitive and countercultural lifestyle of self-sacrifice and love that is simply not possible for those who have failed to offer themselves to God as helpless, God-dependent sacrifices. The power of self interest must be laid down before God in order to love neighbors, provide for them, and to meet enemies with prayers and blessings.
Why are you wasting your time trying to understand the theology of Paul? Wouldn’t it be better to try to understand the theology of Jesus? Don’t you know that a lot of what Paul believed was at odds with the teachings of Jesus? Do you believe in the necessity of baptism, and even in “baptism of the dead by proxy”?… It is evident that Paul did. Do you believe in physical immortalilty – that if you can avoid incurring God’s judgment, that you will live forever?… It is evident that Paul did. Do you believe that rather than going on to an afterlife, we will wait in our graves until the end of time to then be physically resurrected and transformed into some sort of immortal (yet physical) super beings?… It is evident that Paul did. Do you believe that none of what Jesus said matters, and that we needn’t try to do any of the things that Jesus said that we should do… because we can only be saved by “faith and faith alone”? Do you also believe that we can have eternal life only by being “in union with Christ”?… It is evident that Paul believed both of those contradictory things…
Alan,
Thanks for stopping by.
For starters, your combative style is not welcome at this blog. I welcome robust debate, but your tone counters my goal of creating a safe environment for dialogue and mutual edification on this blog. If you want to encourage me and debate me into believing whatever theology it is you believe, that’s cool. But I will not hesitate to delete comments that are combative on this blog. So if you’re only planning round two of your first comment, save your time for someone else.
Now, as to your theological points, I’ll say that I think you’ve created a false dichotomy that one cannot believe in both Paul and Jesus. To hint that I don’t believe what Jesus said matters because I deal with the theology of Paul creates an all-or-nothing scenario that is not consistent with scripture or the traditions of the church.
Keep in mind that Peter spent a lot more time with Jesus than you or I, and yet he was able to write in 2 Peter 3:14-16 the following:
“14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.”
Peter says we should expect to find Paul’s letters challenging. So we need to suck it up and deal with it, while balancing his teachings with the Gospels, keeping in mind that Luke was a dear friend of Paul as well who would have been more than able to correct Paul after Luke’s careful inquiry into Jesus.
While I’m sure you’re armed with no shortage of proof texts for your view, I think some grace should be in order for believers who feel more than comfortable with taking Peter’s word for it as well as the traditions handed down from the early church.
Blessings