Sermon Tone Analysis

*SERMON TYPE: EXPOSITORY                                           *Chad Williams Box 336A

Romans, BIB 641, 5-6th Hour

 

*Title:*     The Rational Response of the Redeemed

* *

*Text:*     Romans 12:1-2

 

*Sub~/Comp:     *The mercies of God compel the believer to respond with a personal life of dedication, with proper Christian separation, and with a pursuit of thorough transformation.

*Proposition:      *God’s grace calls believers to action.

*Speaker’s Purpose:*      I want to motivate my listeners to live out the implications of the gospel in their lives.

*Interrogative:*      How should we react to the mercies of God?

 

*Transition:*     In our text there are *three rational responses *to grace that every beneficiary of God’s mercies should be dedicated to.

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*INTRODUCTION*

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*            *The Christmas season has now officially begun.

No doubt that fact carries a great variety of feelings to each of us personally – from excitement for some to nostalgia for others to perhaps sheer denial from many who wonder how to purchase all the gifts this year in our economy.

Regardless of our enthusiasm (or lack thereof) regarding the business of the coming holiday, most of us will spend time this season reminiscing upon past Christmastimes with our family.

As I think back through my experiences this time of year growing up, memories of past, long-forgotten Christmas gifts come to mind.

I find it quite amusing how much I cared about certain gifts each year growing up that soon after lost their appeal.

Yet, what I have not lost is the memory of my childish enthusiasm after having received “the one thing I wanted more than anything else in the world” for Christmas.

Likewise, I recall the utter disappointment that followed after having received for the fourth year in a row “the holiday sweater I never asked my aunt for.”

Yet, my parents always taught me to express gratitude for my gifts, regardless of their attraction to me.

To my shame, however, the expression of my (so called) “thanks” as a boy often reflected the genuine feeling that I had toward my holiday sweater.

My response to the giver was proportionate to my appreciation for the gift.

As foolish and inconsiderate as children can sometimes be, the sad truth is that we as adults sometimes act the very same way, although we would probably not admit such.

However, an ungrateful response toward a sweater is hardly comparable to the unfortunate lack of response believers often have regarding the greatest gift ever given.

The fact that we should openly express our gratitude to God in specific ways is a matter in which the apostle Paul sought to address in Romans chapter 12.

 

Paul’s letter to the Romans is well known for its in-depth treatment of various ideas in Christian theology.

Some would even classify the book as an “inspired systematic theology” of the apostle.

However, a correct understanding of the book does not see it as merely a theological resource, although Paul’s NT writings do compose much of what we call our doctrine.

His letter to the Romans, rather, served a more specific purpose for the church at Rome.

Providing the overall theme, two central verses in the first chapter (vv.

16-17) identify the gospel of Jesus Christ as the constant focus of the letter.

This gospel is identified and clarified in chapters 1-4, affirmed and enjoyed in chapters 5-8, guarded and defended in chapters 9-11, and then applied and practiced through Christian living in chapters 12-15.

Certainly, while each section serves to further explain a facet, reality, or benefit of the gospel, each likewise should provide further motivation and occasion for expressive rejoicing by those justified by its power.

This, for example, is the inspired description in chapter 5:1-11 of what results in the believer’s life in light of his being justified by faith.

In view of such benefits as having relational harmony with God, received access to grace, and reliable assurance of his eternal destiny, any genuine Christian should inevitably respond through uninhibited rejoicing, regardless of his immediate, temporal circumstances.

However, after providing further examples of the incredible benefits out salvation provides us (such as freedom from sin’s bondage, freedom from the law’s bondage, assurance of eternal life, etc.), a lengthy defense of this gospel, and a stirring doxology praising God for his provision, Paul shifts the focus from what God has done for us to what we must do in response.

Romans 12:1-2 stand as a fitting introduction for the imperatives of Christian duty that follow.

Yet, Paul does not seek to relay the long list of commands without providing motivation or incentive for their obedience.

Rather, the apostle Paul establishes the previous 11 chapters as the very grounds or motivation for living an obedient life to God.

 

/Exp:  /In verse one, Paul “appeals” to all Christians on the basis of “God’s mercies.”

God’s mercies could refer to any of a number of realities previously expressed in the book, but likely references the entirety of them, namely the gospel’s power unto salvation and its following benefits.

Paul then states that this gracious benevolence toward us warrants a particular “rational” or “logical” response.

/App:  /The question is, do we truly understand the mercies of God, or have we forgotten what we truly possess through God’s grace.

The childish attitude I had toward less appreciated gifts as a boy seems to be the unfortunate attitude of many Christians.

Fellow believers, our expression of thanksgiving to God for his mercy should proportionately reflect how much we have actually received!

And this is hardly a gratitude that stops shy of a life lived in light of such.

We must understand that *God’s grace calls believers to action.

*We need to realize that His graciousness to us compels a response on our part.

*Transition:*     In our text there are *three rational responses *to grace to which every beneficiary of God’s mercies should be dedicated.

*I.

**Respond with a personal life of dedication.

(12:1)*

 

/Exp:  /In verse one, Paul gives a single command that is later identified as the only “reasonable” or “logical” (from the Greek λογικὴν – /logiké/) responsive act of those mindful of God’s mercies.

He does not leave such expectations up for personal interpretation as to assume each would come to the same “logical” conclusion.

Instead, the apostle clearly establishes without hesitation how beneficiaries of God’s mercies should respond.

This is seen through a considerably long list of imperatives strung throughout the twelfth and thirteenth chapters of the book.

/Exp:  /What is being called for is a personal, sacrificial presentation (or dedication) of oneself to God.

 

/Arg:  /It is important to understand, however, that this presentation is hardly a “one-time,” unrepeated event (as Keswick and various other “holiness” theologians would suggest).

Romans 12:1 over the last century has become a notorious example of an unfortunate misuse of the Greek aorist tense.

Not only grammar, but more importantly the context decisively suggests that dedication is not a “once-for-all” decision (except for the initial dedication to the Lordship of Christ at salvation).

Rather, v. 2 especially clarifies through the progressive language as well as the implied application that sanctification is a process of progressive nature.

And for this sanctification to progress, it is necessary that believers appropriately respond to the reality of God’s mercies through daily giving themselves over to the God of their salvation.

/Exp:  /The content of v. 1 provides not only the first of several commands, but essentially the necessary disposition of one desirous of adhering to each of the successive commands.

Providing OT imagery, Paul requires that believers respond to God’s sacrifice for us through a similar sacrifice of our own.

/Trans:  /There are *five descriptions* given regarding the sacrifice we are expected to offer.

*A.

**It is complete, not partial.

*(“present your bodies”)

 

/Exp:  /The mention of “bodies” in v. 1 hardly implies that our physical makeup is all that God requires; neither, however, does it negate such as part of the sacrifice.

Rather, the call is for the giving of your entire being – both outwardly and inwardly.

This is clearly seen in v. 2 when Paul’s further description on how this life lived is to relate to a sinful society and respond inwardly.

Both physical and nonphysical dedication would be required.

/Ill~/ Exp:  /This was always the case when it came to sacrifices.

Outward conformity never really pleased God.

David understood this in his famous confession of Psalm 51 when in vv.

16-17 he observed,

 

/"For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."/

/App:  /God requires more than our sacrifice of things, time, money – even more than the sacrifice of our bodies.

Granted, those who are genuinely dedicated to God will obviously be more than willing to sacrifice all of the above; however, God wants our lives – inside and out.

The gift He demands is the giver himself.

*B.

**It is living, not dead.

* (“a living sacrifice”)

 

/Exp:  /The adjective “living” refers to the nature of the sacrifice.

This is one defining distinction between this sacrifice in which we are to give and previous sacrificial mandates in God’s Word.

The uniqueness of this particular sacrifice is that no life is literally to be taken away.

To do so would be to insult and ignore the sacrificial provision already made through Christ’s atoning death.

This gift is, again, the reason why we ought to in turn give ourselves just as completely back over to Him.

 

/Exp:  /The sacrificial imagery, nonetheless, strikingly parallels the dead carcass of the animal slain on the alter.

For, theologically, believers have truly “died” with Christ (Romans 6; Colossians 2).

Yet, we now have the opportunity to live unto Christ.

/ /

/App:  /How blessed we are that God provides us the opportunity to reflect His glory through our glad expression of gratitude to Him while we have breath to breathe and a testimony to be observed.

May we live this life to its fullest, which will mean dying to ourselves in order that we might live for Him.

 

*C.

**It is set apart, not second-rate.

*(“holy”)

 

/Exp:  /Another qualification for such a sacrifice is that it must be /holy.

/The term “holy” has the meaning of something being “set apart” for a specific use.

This implies, both a separation from what is profane (“unholy”) as well as a being set apart specifically for God’s service.

/ /

 

/Ill~/ Exp:  /Under the OT Law, sacrifices were to be without blemish.

This was symbolic of the spiritual and moral purity that God required of the worshiper.

However, this requirement also served the purpose of making the sacrifice – a sacrifice.