Category Archives: Commentaries

Commentaries on Bible Verses that have really spoken to me.

Live your life as an act of worship to the one who has done it all

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Here are my notes for a talk I did on Sunday evening, 27th of November 2011 at a group for us guys to learn to grow together.

Romans 12:1 (NIV) – Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Introduction:

Today we are going to unpack this verse, firstly by looking at God’s mercies, the response to those mercies and what that looks like. We will then look a some practical applications followed by a sum up of tonights talk.

Talk:

Paul spends much of the first 11 chapters talking of “the mercies of God”. He then spends the next few chapters talking about the life that can be built on this foundation.

Romans 12:1 is the perfect summing up of the previous 11 chapters, and introduction to the next section, the life that can be built on the foundation of God’s mercy, Gods, unmerited favour on us.

God has had mercy on us. Despite our rebellion, he has done it all so we can enjoy the connection with him that was lost in the garden of Eden. The mercy God had on us, was not because of our good behaviour, or because we displayed certain skills or attributes that God needed in his kingdom, but because of his great love and his great wisdom.

The word “Therefore” takes us back over the last 11 chapters. We were condemned sinners, in desperate need of Christ’s righteousness. Paul is talking of what God has already done, and that the living sacrifice he is about to refer to is not something to be done to gain those mercies. T

The verse before this, Romans 11:35 says “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” Our living sacrifice is a response to the mercies given, and not a payment for. Nothing can repay him, he has been truly and wonderfully merciful, and can never be paid back. He has freely given.

Romans 5:8 talks of how we were loved even before we became Christians: ”But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Paul goes to great length to explain our justification through faith. The end of chapter 3 and beginning of chapter 4.

He reminds us we have died with Christ and have been brought to new life, a life where we can be free from the shackles of sin and death. Romans 8: 1-2 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death.”

I really encourage you to read through the first 11 chapters of Romans, as to be reminded of all the amazing things God has done for us, and to be reminded of his immeasurable mercy, and love is faith building, and completely awe inspiring.

Romans 11:32 makes it clear that we are saved by Gods mercy alone. “For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all”.

Our verse today starts with “Therefore, in view of Gods mercies”, what is our response?

With God’s mercy on our lives, we are to be so overwhelmed by Gods love that we voluntary submit our whole selves to him.

The response to God’s saving grace, to his mercies is one of gratitude, thankfulness, praise, joy, of love. Just as you want to please the hearts of those you love whom love you, your desire is to want to please the heart of God.

God your father, who loves you with an everlasting love. Who has preserved you in his love despite the fact we fall oh so short.

Even though sin does not dilute or dissolve the power of God’s saving grace, or disqualify us, it does hurt our father. And that which hurts a loved one we would want to seek to remove from our lives.

The story that best illustrates a life of sacrifice through love is the following story of a woman who got married

young to a very dominant man, essentially a man who bullied her. He controlled her life so much that he had lists of rules and requirements for her that she had to follow. These lists would be left around the house, stuck to the fridge so she would always be reminded of what was expected of her. Breakfast was on the table for 8am, the bathroom was cleaned every morning no matter what etc etc…

Several years later he passed away and she for the first time was free to attend a local church where she met a very loving and caring man. Not long after they were married. Several years later of happy, loving and supporting marriage, she was putting her seconds husbands socks in the draw when she found one of the old lists. Reading through it, she recognised that she was doing many of the things that her old husband had demanded of her, but instead of it being under the duress of a controlling husband, she was doing things for her husband out of love. She loved him so much that she was doing things as acts of love to her husband.

Remember also Jesus’ words, Matthew 7:11, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”, our Father is good all the time, and he knows what is good for us. He wants us to live a fulfilled life in him, receiving good things from him. Our father is no dictator setting rules and regulations, but a loving father who gives life, who gives freedom.

To “to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice” we live out our lives in all areas as in a manner that would honour and please our father who loves us. We do it not because he demands it of us in return for life, but out of love, gratitude of the grace on our lives. In fact a live lived in God’s grace is a life of freedom from sin, and is life indeed.

“this is your true and proper worship”

Finally, Paul is saying living your life as a sacrifice is our act of worship. If our desire is to please the heart of God, it is worship. Our response to our fathers love is to want to please his heart. Therefore if in all things we are submitting to him, and doing all things as a sacrifice for him, this is also our worship to him.

Application:

I would like to leave you with some thoughts for how this can apply to our lives. As I read Romans, and thought about what God has done of us, and of my response, I began to think of the things in my life that I may not have given thoroughly over to God. Areas I struggle with, the things and the stuff I hold onto for my security. My attitude toward certain people, towards my work.

Instead however of feeling condemned, and of being lost and unsavable, I realised that in these things, I wasn’t doing what I was made to do, and that I would find the most satisfaction in. I am made to worship and in worship I find a sense of fulfilment’s and joy beyond anything this world has to offer.

When you do the dishes, bath the kids, find time with the family to play, whilst you go about your job, your business, this all done for the Glory of God is our true and proper worship.

So, (I am not sorted, in fact I am a pretty slow learner)… So, I would encourage us all to look at all things we do as an act of worship. Ask yourselves some questions such as. Does this bring glory to God? What can I do to bring Glory to God through this? How could I do this better as my worship to Him? Does spending all this time on facebook instead of valuable time with my daughter bring Him glory? Does not resting, and overdoing it, thus neglecting my body bring glory to Him? And so on…

Summing up:

Brief:

God has done it, he has had mercy on us, and there is nothing we can do to earn his love, his favour, or salvation. Therefore as a response of thank fullness and joy for what he has done for us, let us live our lives as a continual act of worship to him.

Nutshell:

God has had mercy on us. Our response is to want to please the heart of God. That response is our worship.

Micro Nutshell:

Live your life as an act of worship to the one who has done it all.

Simple – 2 Corinthians 4:1-7

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In verse 1 we are called to spread the message.  A reminder of the great commission in Matthew 28:16-20.

…we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’ s con

science in the sight of God. (NIV)

Verse 2 we are advised in how we can do this.  We see an emphasis on not steering away from the Word of God.  We shouldn’t add to the message for convenience or effect to try and win souls for the Lord, or even to boost ourselves.  We should rely on whole heartedly on His word.  Keeping what we say simple, easy to understand of which anyone can then understand.

I think of times when I have shared the gospel with someone and have often forgotten that some people do not know all the “religious” words and abbreviations I have learnt from years of growing up in a Christian family.  So that may be a bad example, and I think this passage is warning too more importantly on changing the meaning of what the Word is saying.  It is important we take it as truth and do not try and change it to our own agenda.  Our agenda should be Gods agenda, for His Glory.

I think from verse 3, if we are to disguise or hide the true meaning of the word, by false representation or over complicating what we are trying to communicate, then the truth will not be apparent to those who are listening and potentially souls could be lost whom simply needed to hear the simple honest truth that would soften their heart.

Verse 5 again emphasises communicating the truth, after all a preacher doesn’t (or shouldn’t) stand speak in the church about himself the entire service!  Jesus Christ is the Word, the Word is Truth.  It is truth that will win souls and advance Gods Kingdom.

Verses 6-7.  God has shone His light into our hearts so that we can understand and believe.  It is our duty to let Him shine through us so that others too may be brought out of the darkness of sin, disbelief and slavery and into His glorious light.

Keeping the message simple, without adding or taking away helps us communicate easily to those who do not yet believe what the Lord would want them to know.  I pray that the Lord will bless us with the right words, and the ability to sense when we may need to go into a little more detail with someone, or simply step back and make it clearer.  We have such a responsibility to be shining examples of His Glory that others may be saved, and I pray that the Lord will continue to pour His Holy Spirit into our lives to build us up, give us strength and wisdom.  Amen.

Following His Example – Ephesians 5:1-17

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1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (NIV)

Just as we inherit characteristics in how we look (and possibly act) from our parents and family, when we become children of God, we should look to resemble Him by what we do, how we live etc. God sent His son

to die so that those who believe will not die, and so that we can become children of God. As part of the family we should look to our father for the example of how to live.

I am surprised that in nearly 3 months of regular Bible reading the word imitate has been one of the most regular subjects. I would be tempted to think I have covered this subject and can move onto something else, but I remember many mature Christians who have said to me that they continue to learn even 30 years later after reading the very same portion of scripture. The Bible really can speak something different into different situations of our lives all the time. I don’t know of any other book that can really cover all of life like the Bible does!

Moving back to imitation. I am reminded of days at school when a friend would decide to mimic ever action I made. If I scratched my head they would do so. I would get extremely annoyed by it in the end and start saying things like “I am silly” to get the person to say that! OK, perhaps a poor example, but we are called to copy Christ’s example.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (NIV)

It’s all very well being told to imitate, however how are we to do this? Well above is one clear example; we are to forgive as Christ forgave us. Note “just as Christ”, we see this also in the first 2 verses of this reading (Ephesians :1-2).

Moving through the passage, there is advice on what to and what not to do to help us keep true to our walk with the Lord. Vers 3 talks of sexual sin. Check out yesterdays reading I did on living in Darkness (Out of Darkness), it talks about sexual sin being something we need to flee from as it is different from all other sin. It is a sin inside the body, and our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Indulging in sexual sin or any other sin for that matter keeps us hidden in the darkness, and disconnects us from the help and support our Lord wants to give us. Remember he can’t look upon sin, but as soon as you ask forgiveness he is there in a shot!

Verse 4 talks of watching what you say and talk about. Filthy language never left Jesus mouth. He only spoke truth and love. We are likewise only to speak the truth, and not to use coarse, or vile words even if they emphasise a point! Mind you, you can still talk about unsavoury things without using bad language so we should also avoid “course talking”, for example joking where the subject has sexual connotations, or an unsavoury hidden (or at times not so hidden) meaning. Foolish talk is also mentioned, and this can mean swearing again, and also talking without thinking! If we babble we can sometimes say things that perhaps we didn’t mean and cause offence to someone. (Guilty as charged!)

Verses 5 & 6 rounds up the previous statements and emphasise the fact that those indulging in this behaviour will be subject to Gods wrath. That sounds scary, and yes God does punish sin. For those who do not believe their actions will lead to death! Why are these verses worded so harshly? I think to really drive the point home that living in darkness does not glorify our Father in Heaven and does not please Him. He will deal with things justly for he is a God of Justice. We have been warned!

Looking in more detail at verse 6, we are warned about being deceived by others words. One thing I am struck by watching some ministries on TV, is how they have used God’s word and Truths out of context. Changing God’s word to suit ourselves is to lie! As Christians we are to adjust our walk to reflect the truth, not to adjust the word to suit how we walk!

Verses 8-10 are a glorious reminder that we were once lost but are now found, we were once in darkness and are now in the light.

As believers we should adjust our actions to imitate our Lord so as to remain in the light, and to glorify Him. Glorifying the Lord acts as a “thank you” for what He did for us, and also offers a living example to those around us of how His saving grace has changed our lives, and that He can do the same for them!

Verses 11 & 12 emphasise the importance of not “going along” with evil deeds.  By going along with them, your silence could act as an endorsement!  We should always be clear and communicate where and when appropriate the Lords view on things using the Bible as our source of truth.  The Bible is Gods Word.  Gods Word is Truth.  Making assumptions of the Lords stance on a situation can be dangerous, we need to make sure we always have Biblical backup to anything we say!

Verses 13 & 14  is an encouragement to those caught up in darkness!  When you are deadlocked in/captive to Sin, you are in darkness and there is no means of escape.  Repent and the light of the Lord will shine on you.  Sin exposed can no longer have a hold on your life for you can now see!  Wake up O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you! 

Verse 15.  A call to live wisely.  Something we cannot do on our own.  Living not as others of this world live, but by following the Lords example and by using Gods Word as our source of wisdom.

Verse 16 tells us not to waste opportunities.  We only have a limited time on this earth, thus we should make sure we jump at every opportunity we have to serve the Lord.  Be it sharing our faith, helping someone who is needy, contributing our skills to a ministry etc.

And finally verse 17.  We have advised over the last few verses firstly of what we must do: Imitate, and then we are given examples and warnings to help us in our walk.  Verse 17 offers a “nutshell conclusion” (do not be foolish), and it then tells us we must understand what the Lord’s will is.  We can only do this by feasting on His word as often as we can, communicating with Him in prayer, fellowship with other Christians and regular Worship.

This passage has been an encouragement and an eye opener for me giving me more insight into how I should act, and what I can do to please and glorify the Lord.  Having been captive to sin and lost in the darkness for many years, I don’t want to return to that wilderness.  This passage is invaluable in offering wisdom for the walk.