Zambia Hunt

What we believe will always determine what we do. Belief is what moves us to action. So before Paul tells us how to live, he reminds us of all we have received. John MacArthur put the transition well: “The key to a productive and satisfying Christian life is not in getting more; it is in giving all.”

Romans 12:1-2 “I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

The instructions in Romans 12 through 15 are rooted in what God has already done for us in Christ, the very thing Paul has spent 11 chapters explaining. Everything that follows flows from a heart filled and overflowing with worship.

God’s mercy deserves a response. Paul writes, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God.” Notice the ground on which the appeal stands. It is mercy. And what response does that mercy call for? The second half of the verse answers: “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.”

Response Motivated By Mercy

Consider the word appeal. It means to come alongside someone and urge them toward action—the picture of a trusted advisor who draws near, gives direction, and expects a glad answer. It is not a command. It is not, “You will do this.” It is something gentler and far more compelling: the only reasonable response to mercy. When we grasp the glory of the grace freely given to us, presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice is simply the natural thing to do. Paul is saying, in effect, “Stop for a moment. Look at what God has done for you.” This is the heart of a man gladly giving everything over to God—his body, his mind, his will—in answer to mercy he can never repay.

From Romans 1:18 through 3:20, Paul shows us that God, in His mercy, came to us while we were in darkness and in our sin. We were not looking for Him. Yet He opened our eyes, and we saw that we were all guilty before Him, enslaved to sin, and under His wrath. From 3:21 through 5:21, we have seen that, because of Jesus, we are forgiven and at peace with God—not for anything we did, but because of what He did for us. What mercy.

From chapter 6:1-14, we learn that God’s mercy joined us to Jesus. When He died, we died; our old self died with Him. When He rose, we rose. Now we are free to walk in newness of life. What mercy. From 6:15 to the end of chapter 7, we see that we are free from the reign of sin and the bondage of the law, for this new life never came by trying harder to keep the rules. In chapter 8, we learn that the Holy Spirit dwells in every child of God, changing us more and more into the likeness of Jesus and guaranteeing that one day we will be with Him forever. The Spirit is the down payment on our inheritance. What mercy. And in chapters 9 through 11, we see that this mercy never runs dry. Because God is sovereign over all things, His love and grace cannot be stopped; they overflow to His children. What mercy!

This is the mercy given to everyone who has been justified by faith. It came to us through the sacrificial death of God’s Son, and it is far more than a guarantee against hell. God did not save us merely to keep us out of judgment. He saved us to transform us—to give us a new vision, a new future, and a new life that begins now and runs on into eternity. This is the mercy that should fuel a Christian to live for Jesus.

So let the question stand: are you a man or woman of action? Yet notice what comes just before this call to action. It is a call to worship. Paul has just written, in Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!”

When we catch even a glimpse of all that God in Christ has done for us, our hearts respond in worship; and worship, in turn, responds in work.

(Edited from sermon transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2e4jubf7)