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.

Romans 12:1-2

I heard in a promo for the local Christian radio station a statement like this: “I love [radio station] because I can worship on days other than Sunday.” My immediate thought was that they don’t understand what worship is and these verses from Romans 12 back that up. We are to offer ourselves each day in sacrifice to Him. It’s the daily living of our lives that show our worship, but emotional music and waving our hands in the air.
If we allow ourselves to meditate on these two verses, it will convict our hearts. I know it does mine. If I think back on my day, my week and this month and year, I find that mostly I do what I want. I act as I decide best, within the framework of biblical morality. That sounds well and good, but Jesus demanded our complete surrender and submission to His will over ours, not that we would simply restrict our will to the boundaries of the law.
I’ve come to realize that means that I will act in ways that frequently make me uncomfortable, that are outside what I want to do and that it takes vigilance and a constant view of the savior and his sacrifice to motivate me to act as a living sacrifice every day. I haven’t done well at this at all in recent years, frankly.
Romans 12:3-8 – So, take what you’ve been given and offer it to God. If you can teach, teach, if you can serve serve. God did not give these gifts that you would spend them on bettering yourselves, rather that they would better the church and in turn the world.
Romans 12:10 – “Outdo one another in showing honor.” – Oh that this characterized every group that calls itself a church.
Romans 12:14-21 – Paul tells us here how we should act towards each other and the world. It does not come naturally. Refer to verses1-2.

Romans 11:1-6 – More evidence, direct statements frankly, that God chooses at least some, setting them aside for his purpose. What does that look like, I wonder? it’s tempting to say that God has somewhat randomly and arbitrarily picked some to be his and that means that they do not have to wrestle with sin or dedicate themselves to Him. But that’s reading into the text. God, through Paul, simply says that he has a remnant set aside. We don’t know how they were chosen as a remnant nor what that means for them and their faith.
The mystery of God’s choosing is profound, deep and complex and I think we do Him, and us, a disservice when we try to simplify it.
Romans 11:11-16 – The preceding verses talk about some in Israel who were hardened, but this passage indicates that the ministry outside of Israel holds hope even for them that out of jealousy they might be moved to seek God and be saved. So hardened does not equal rejected or dismissed or discarded.
Romans 11:20 – “They were broken off because of their unbelief.” An arbitrary hardening of some of Israel? No.
Romans 11:17-20 – This passage puts the preceding chapters and verses describing God’s choosing in the light of how he chooses. Some are hardened and cut off, some are grafted in. Yet, even those who were ct off can be re-grafted if they come to faith. So, God looks to our faith in His choosing, at least in part
Romans 11:25-32 – This seems to muddy the waters a bit again, indicating that God is up to something, a grand plan that involves hardening some to drawing in others which in turn will draw back those who he hardened. In fact, he has given us all over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on all. (v. 32)
I think that this verse sums it up for me:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Romans 11:33

He’s up to something alright and I can only understand it in part, but I’m grateful that I can take part in it.

I’m nearing that ‘Place Where I Can Stand’ mentioned in my last (non-FfF) post. More on that later, first, on with my study of Romans.
Romans 9:30-33 – See here, the Gentiles attained something they did not pursue. How? One answer is simply that God gave it to them, and that is true. They didn’t earn it. But, that’s not what this passage says. It says that they attained it by faith, and Israel didn’t because they didn’t pursue with faith. So, yes, it is God that grants righteousness, but our faith plays a role.
Romans 10:1-4 – This passage nicely merges the two seemingly divergent topics. It is God who offers up righteousness, on His terms and His terms alone. We can then choose to submit to it,in faith, or try to achieve our own. Israel chose the latter, a path that is doomed to fail as it has from the day Adam and Eve left the garden (actually, from the bite of the apple).
Romans 10:9 – In my experience, one of the most ill-used verses in the Bible. Many use it to justify a faith that is empty believe. Belief = salvation. This of course, ignores the rest of the new testament that expounds on the implications of this faith in the radical man, Jesus. True faith is transformative, true faith moves us off our course, true faith radically changes us, true faith has on going, life altering, dope-slap-like implications on what we do on a regular, never ending basis. Any faith that allows us to live just as we had been is faith in something other than Jesus.
The other side (and where I’ve been in recent years) tries to pretend that it doesn’t say what it says – faith in Jesus saves us. They point out that the context is a discussion on the differences between Jew and Gentile, which is true but beside the point. They want to say “Yes, but …” and add in all kinds of things. Faith and .. baptism, obedience, purity, holiness, zeal, conviction, righteousness, etc. All of those things are important, but they all – ALL – rise from the root of faith.