Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,516
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2 NASB1995)
Paul had just finished writing about the mercies of God to the Gentiles when he said, “Therefore I urge you..” He had just finished rebuking some of them for their pride in thinking that they were above being cut off from God as had been done to the unbelieving Jews. For if they did not continue in his kindness (his grace), they could be cut off, too. If they, too, chose disobedience to God over obedience to the Lord, and if they chose to walk in sin, rather than by the grace of God, they could be cut off from God, too.
For what is God’s grace to us? His grace is what sent Jesus Christ to the cross to put our sins to death with him so that, by God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in him, we might die with him to sin and now live for God in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, empowered by God. For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is instructing us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives, in the power of God, while we wait for our Lord’s return.
God’s grace is not a free ride to heaven based off lip service only. Romans 10:8-9, by itself, is NOT the gospel message. It must be read in the context of all the teachings in the book of Romans, and in all the rest of the New Testament books. The Scriptures do not teach, as a whole, that we can just say that we believe in Jesus and now all our sins are forgiven and heaven is guaranteed us when we die. Biblical faith in Jesus, which comes from God, requires that we die to sin and that we walk in obedience to our Lord.
So, when Paul wrote to the Christians here in Romans 12, it was to the same Christians he was speaking to in Romans 11 to whom God said that if they did not continue in his kindness (grace) that they could be cut out of the kingdom of God just as were the unbelieving Jews cut out. And this is taught us all throughout the New Testament writings. By faith in Jesus we must die with Christ to sin, sin must no longer be our practice, and we must obey our Lord and his commands, in practice, by the grace and power of God.
For if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to the Lord, in practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God. And many professing “Christians” will stand before the Lord on the day of judgment professing him as their Lord and claiming all the things they believed they did in his name. And he will say to them, “I never knew you! Depart from me you workers of lawlessness.” Why? Because they did not obey God and his commands, but they obeyed their sins, instead, which results in death, not in eternal life.
When Paul said, “I urge you..” this was not light and fluffy stuff like some that is being handed out today in the name of Jesus. This word “urge” is a strong encouragement and exhortation and admonishment. And it’s purpose is to warn, to rebuke, to correct, and to inspire and to persuade. And it has a sense of urgency, necessity, need, and a matter of importance requiring swift action, i.e. it is something that should have top priority, that it is something that needs to be done quickly, and not delayed for another time.
So, if we present our bodies to God as living and holy sacrifices to him, what should that look like? What does God require of us? He requires that we deny self, die to sin daily, and that we walk in obedience to his commands – all as a matter of practice done in the power of God and not of our own flesh. And this doesn’t make us perfect, or mean that we will never sin (1 John 2:1-2), but this does have to do with what we practice, i.e. with our lifestyles. For if sin is our practice, and not walks of obedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess.
And to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed by God to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ, if indeed that is what is taking place in our lives. And if we sacrifice our lives and our bodies to Jesus Christ, we are dying with him to sin and to self and our lives are now surrendered to the Lord to be his to be used by him for his will and purpose for our lives. Our bodies, our lives are no longer our own to be lived however we choose, but are to be surrendered to God’s will.
And this is our spiritual worship of God. And please hear me out on this! I see so many videos on the internet of people supposedly worshiping the Lord, and this is happening in the gatherings of the church (or what are falsely being called churches), too, where they are listening to and singing along with songs and they are moving their bodies and arms back and forth to the music. But that, by itself, is not worship of God. Worship of God involves our lives surrendered to the Lord, obeying him, and doing his will.
And we are no longer to be conformed to the ways of this sinful world. We are not to be living worldly lives pleasing to the flesh and to other humans. We are not to be those who blend in with our culture and who don’t “make waves” in order to be accepted by other humans. We are to be different because we are not like the world because we are becoming more and more like Jesus in how we think and are and do, in practice. Our lives are now to be dedicated to the Lord and to doing his will in surrender to his will.
For faith in Jesus Christ, which comes from God, which is not of our own doing, not of our human flesh, results in us being crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So, if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips have professed. It is what the Scriptures teach, as a whole, in full context.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
Caution: This link may contain ads
A Living and Holy Sacrifice
An Original Work / April 16, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Paul had just finished writing about the mercies of God to the Gentiles when he said, “Therefore I urge you..” He had just finished rebuking some of them for their pride in thinking that they were above being cut off from God as had been done to the unbelieving Jews. For if they did not continue in his kindness (his grace), they could be cut off, too. If they, too, chose disobedience to God over obedience to the Lord, and if they chose to walk in sin, rather than by the grace of God, they could be cut off from God, too.
For what is God’s grace to us? His grace is what sent Jesus Christ to the cross to put our sins to death with him so that, by God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in him, we might die with him to sin and now live for God in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, empowered by God. For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is instructing us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives, in the power of God, while we wait for our Lord’s return.
God’s grace is not a free ride to heaven based off lip service only. Romans 10:8-9, by itself, is NOT the gospel message. It must be read in the context of all the teachings in the book of Romans, and in all the rest of the New Testament books. The Scriptures do not teach, as a whole, that we can just say that we believe in Jesus and now all our sins are forgiven and heaven is guaranteed us when we die. Biblical faith in Jesus, which comes from God, requires that we die to sin and that we walk in obedience to our Lord.
So, when Paul wrote to the Christians here in Romans 12, it was to the same Christians he was speaking to in Romans 11 to whom God said that if they did not continue in his kindness (grace) that they could be cut out of the kingdom of God just as were the unbelieving Jews cut out. And this is taught us all throughout the New Testament writings. By faith in Jesus we must die with Christ to sin, sin must no longer be our practice, and we must obey our Lord and his commands, in practice, by the grace and power of God.
For if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to the Lord, in practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God. And many professing “Christians” will stand before the Lord on the day of judgment professing him as their Lord and claiming all the things they believed they did in his name. And he will say to them, “I never knew you! Depart from me you workers of lawlessness.” Why? Because they did not obey God and his commands, but they obeyed their sins, instead, which results in death, not in eternal life.
When Paul said, “I urge you..” this was not light and fluffy stuff like some that is being handed out today in the name of Jesus. This word “urge” is a strong encouragement and exhortation and admonishment. And it’s purpose is to warn, to rebuke, to correct, and to inspire and to persuade. And it has a sense of urgency, necessity, need, and a matter of importance requiring swift action, i.e. it is something that should have top priority, that it is something that needs to be done quickly, and not delayed for another time.
So, if we present our bodies to God as living and holy sacrifices to him, what should that look like? What does God require of us? He requires that we deny self, die to sin daily, and that we walk in obedience to his commands – all as a matter of practice done in the power of God and not of our own flesh. And this doesn’t make us perfect, or mean that we will never sin (1 John 2:1-2), but this does have to do with what we practice, i.e. with our lifestyles. For if sin is our practice, and not walks of obedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess.
And to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed by God to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ, if indeed that is what is taking place in our lives. And if we sacrifice our lives and our bodies to Jesus Christ, we are dying with him to sin and to self and our lives are now surrendered to the Lord to be his to be used by him for his will and purpose for our lives. Our bodies, our lives are no longer our own to be lived however we choose, but are to be surrendered to God’s will.
And this is our spiritual worship of God. And please hear me out on this! I see so many videos on the internet of people supposedly worshiping the Lord, and this is happening in the gatherings of the church (or what are falsely being called churches), too, where they are listening to and singing along with songs and they are moving their bodies and arms back and forth to the music. But that, by itself, is not worship of God. Worship of God involves our lives surrendered to the Lord, obeying him, and doing his will.
And we are no longer to be conformed to the ways of this sinful world. We are not to be living worldly lives pleasing to the flesh and to other humans. We are not to be those who blend in with our culture and who don’t “make waves” in order to be accepted by other humans. We are to be different because we are not like the world because we are becoming more and more like Jesus in how we think and are and do, in practice. Our lives are now to be dedicated to the Lord and to doing his will in surrender to his will.
For faith in Jesus Christ, which comes from God, which is not of our own doing, not of our human flesh, results in us being crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So, if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips have professed. It is what the Scriptures teach, as a whole, in full context.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
Caution: This link may contain ads
A Living and Holy Sacrifice
An Original Work / April 16, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
