Living Sacrifice (Part 1)

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

The words of J. Vernon McGee still ring in my ears: "When you read the word "therefore", you have to ask what it's there for." Chapter 12 of Romans is a practical discussion of how to offer your body every day as a living sacrifice, but we must first understand to what Paul is referring with his "therefore". I believe that Paul's reference is to all that God has done for us as described in the first eleven chapters of Romans. The following bullets are a small sample of the many mercies that God has shown to us as believers in His Son:

• God's righteousness is revealed in Jesus Christ and available to all who believe in Him.
• We are justified by faith. God's grace alone is sufficient; our good works will not justify us.
  
• We have peace with God through Christ who loved us enough to die for us when were ungodly sinners.
• Our salvation is a free gift that we cannot earn. We are saved from God's wrath by the blood of His Son.
• We walk in newness of life in Christ because our old man is dead and buried with Christ.
  
• The law of the Spirit of God in Christ has freed us from the law of sin and death.
  
• We are children of God and joint heirs with Christ.
  
• We are the called according to God's purpose and thus all things work together for good to us who love God.
  
• No created thing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  

In Romans 12:1 Paul says "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God...". The "mercies of God" are all of the undeserved mercies that God has showered upon us who believe in His Son as Paul has described in the first 11 chapters of Romans. As a result of the "mercies of God" Paul says we should therefore "present your bodies a living sacrifice". It is only through God's mercies that it is even possible for us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice.

How do we go about offering our bodies as a living sacrifice? In general, we must offer our bodies each day to serve God's purposes. And offering our bodies is meant to include all that is encompassed in our bodies - our hearts, our minds, our emotions, our affections, our souls. That means denying our own agenda and our pride. It means dying to self and allowing Christ to live through us. In Galatians 2:20 Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

First, I would argue, we must purpose before God to do it. To present our bodies as living sacrifices. Every day.

In my thirty years as a born again disciple of Jesus Christ, I have finally reached the point in my life where I start each day the same way - prayer, Bible reading and devotions. Each morning - not always in the same words - but with the same idea in mind, I purpose before God that my wife and I would offer our bodies as living sacrifices for God's glory.

My conversation with God usually includes a commitment to be available and sensitive to the guiding of the Holy Spirit, to be a comfort and an encouragement to our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to be a witness to the lost. I ask God to help us not to miss the opportunities for service that He brings before us.

We must purpose before God to be living sacrifices each day and ask His help and guidance in doing so - because we cannot do it in our own strength.

My next post will continue in Romans 12:1-2, Lord willing.

Superficial Treatments

Recently during my morning devotions, I read a verse, Jeremiah 8:11, that shook me to the core. I have been using a chronological (vice canonical order) Bible for my morning devotions, and it uses the New Living Translation (NLT). Jeremiah 8:11 in the NLT struck me in a way that it never had in previous readings in other translations. In Jeremiah chapter 8, God is speaking through Jeremiah to rebuke the priests and prophets of Israel for telling the Israelites that they will experience peace and prosperity despite their wicked devotion to idols and other sinful ways. The second half of the verse is familiar to many as God is telling the priests and prophets that they are saying "Peace, Peace, when there is no peace." But the NLT's version of the first part of Jer. 8:11 is what was so compelling to me. "They offer superficial treatments for my people's mortal wounds."

Now I realize that this verse was directed at the priests and prophets of Israel and was in a much different context than my own. Still, I was figuratively knocked to the floor as I asked myself, "Am I doing everything I can as a disciple of Christ to pray, to encourage, and to provide tangible support to my brothers and sisters in Islamic strongholds who suffer unspeakable horrors for calling on the name of Jesus? Am I speaking truth to my fellow Americans about their spiritual condition? Or am I offering "superficial treatments for [His] people's mortal wounds"? Am I offering "spiritual" platitudes when more concrete actions are required? Am I in a sense doing what James condemned in James 2:15-16? "If a brother or a sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?"

These questions have haunted me for the last ten days...

Render unto Caesar ...

The people marveled at Jesus' answer to the question about the lawfulness of paying the poll tax: "Then render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's." (Matthew 22:21)

Paul tells us that we are to be in subjection to the governing authority "for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil." (Romans 13:4) Paul lived during the reign of Roman Emperor Nero (A.D. 54-68), and his letter to the Romans is believed by many to have been written around A.D. 55-56 during his third missionary journey.

It is difficult for many of us to honor our current government given some of its actions. (And I am speaking of members of both parties.) If Paul wrote about being in subjection to the governing authority during the reign of the infamous Nero, how can we think that our circumstance is so bad that we can be excused for not respecting our current government.

My point is not that we should refrain from seeking improvement in our government. God has allowed us the privilege of a form of government that permits our participation in the political process. We should take that blessing seriously and do everything we can to influence our country to honor God and seek after righteousness.

However, we must watch our tongues. We must refrain from disrespect and cheap personal attacks. Our engagement with our political leaders must be full of God's love and His principles - not uncontrolled anger and bitterness. While so-called "righteous indignation" can feel good in the short term, we do nothing to grow the Kingdom in the long run when we are simply in "attack" mode.

Disciples of Christ should be known for their self-control among other things. Let us keep from ruining our witness with angry personal attacks that will bring no one to repentance. Let our conversation demonstrate love from a pure heart.

Islam and Muslims - How Should We Approach Them?

Western Christians look at Islam through "Western glasses". In the US we tend to assume that "separation of church and state" is the normal state of things. Islam is more than just a "religion". Islam encompasses the religious, social, economic, governmental, military, and cultural aspects of the lives of Muslims in countries where Islam is the dominant religion. Shariah law is the practical application of the Koran (Allah's revelation to Muhammad) and the hadiths (Muhammad's sayings) to the daily lives of Muslims as interpreted by Muslim leaders, and it is neither compatible with the Bible nor with the US Constitution. Christians and adherents of other religions are second-class citizens under Shariah law. Islam is not only oppressive to non-Muslims, but it is oppressive to Muslims - and especially Muslim women and children - as well.

As Jesus' disciples in the US, we should oppose the imposition of elements of Shariah law in our country. We should oppose the introduction of Islamic principles into our culture. At the same time our hearts should be broken for the Muslims who live under such an oppressive system. Muslims are human beings for whom our Saviour, Jesus Christ, sacrificed His life. Islam does not believe that Jesus is the Son of God nor that He died to pay the price for our sins and redeem us. The freedom that we have in Christ must be shared with the Muslims.

Too many Christians either ignore the clear and present danger that is Islam or they allow their understanding of the oppression and danger of Islam to result in failing to love Muslims. We must seek to be guilty of neither position. We must face the advance of Islam around the world and in the United States with a clear-eyed understanding of the dangers it presents and an iron-willed determination to oppose the spread of Islam. At the same time we must love Muslims with the same love that Christ exhibited when He went to the cross to offer His life for their redemption.

Honesty

It seems to me that many politicians do not always have a close association with the truth. Our current Speaker of the House is calling the CIA and the Bush administration liars about "enhanced interrogation techniques" when she has told four different stories about what she knew and when she knew it within the last two months. Republicans have told us for years that they are the party of limited government and fiscal restraint, and yet when they were in power they showed no evidence of adhering to either principle.

We should pay attention to the honesty or lack thereof in our political leaders. God has permitted us in this country to speak out when we disagree with what our leaders are doing. We can do this using our voices, letters, emails, etc. and our votes. We should do it respectfully and without anger or vitriol seeking to correct improper behavior in all humility. However, as disciples of Christ we must first "take the log out of [our] own eye" (Matthew 7:5).

Do we as believers sometimes "spin" the truth of the Gospel to make it a little more palatable for potential converts? Do we fail to discuss the whole truth of the Gospel leaving out some of the more uncomfortable parts such as "the lake of fire" so that we won't be accused of being right wing fundamentalist nut jobs? Do we soften what God says about certain activities (sins) so that we can be a little more politically correct and less likely to be accused of bigotry and "hate crimes"? We most definitely must proclaim the truth in love and humility, but we must proclaim the truth and not a "watered down" version that would be unrecognizable to Jesus.

Misplaced Focus

Too many Christians have focused their main efforts to bring righteousness in the United States on the political process. We think if we pass the right legislation, execute the correct policies, and adjudicate properly from the bench that we will usher in a new era of Christ-centered living in this country. We neglect the most important command we have been given by our Lord - "make disciples of all the nations" (Matthew 28:19).

Don't misunderstand me. It is not that Christians should avoid the political process. We should exercise the privileges that we have been given to vote and to speak out on important issues. Those who are called to elective and/or appointive office should execute their duties to the glory of God. But we must not think that these things will bring about the change we seek. In 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 we read: "If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Now we must be careful applying specific promises made to Israel in a general way to us, but I think the principle is applicable. Sponsoring legislation, electing good candidates, and nominating good judges can be important, but they won't bring about the kind of change described in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14. We must humble ourselves, pray, repent and seek God's face. We must "make disciples" in obedience to Christ's call in Matthew 28:19 including the whole process from evangelization and training to maturity and service. We have misplaced our priorities if we think the political process will return our nation to God's favor.

Future of the Church in America

Over the next 20-30 years evangelical Christianity will become increasingly opposed and ultimately persecuted by our culture in the United States. Many who are "on the fence" will leave. Many of the ministries and churches who are depending on human strength and ideas will wither and die. Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches are seeing "converts" from evangelical churches that have become too self-focused and therapeutic.

We must work to strengthen the bonds between us so that we won't be shaken when the rejection and persecution becomes more profound. We must strengthen our families and especially our men. We must be trained and prepared to hold one another up spiritually and in practical economic ways. House churches will become more and more important. We have looked at Paul's epistles in the past as being for each of us individually, but they are aimed at equipping and strengthening the Body of Christ as a whole, not so much at individuals.

The economic dislocations that inevitably are coming may accelerate this rejection of evangelical Christianity. But I am not discouraged. Even as I see all of the impending problems, I also see a remnant being raised up. I see a small but growing group of young men and women more committed to Christ and to one another than I ever saw as a teenager or young adult. The Body of Christ in the US will be smaller in numbers, but I believe that the resurrection power will be much more in evidence in the pruned church that is coming than it currently is in many of the self-indulgent churches of today.