Offering Ourselves to God
This month’s sermon series is on stewardship. The topic of today’s sermon is Offering ourselves to God. The title of the sermon was determined way back in the beginning of the year. The obvious Scripture that came to mind is Romans 12:1, 2. In Romans 12 verses 1 and 2, we are told by the Apostle Paul to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. Let’s read the passage together. Paul says
A) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
B) that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
C) And do not be conformed to this world,
C) but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
B) that you may prove what is that good and acceptable
A) and perfect will of God.
Note that the passage is written in a Chiastic Structure. The Chiastic Structure has three layers.
1) By the Mercies and Perfect will of God should we offer ourselves to God,
2) Present our Body to God, so that it is holy, good and acceptable to God,
3) We should not conform to this world and be transformed by the renewing of our mind.
Obviously the most important message is in the center of the Chiastic Structure, not to conform to this world, but be transformed by renewing of the mind. This is where I will spend majority part of my sermon on.
1) By the Mercies of God and His Perfect Will-
The First layer of the Chiastic Structure is that it is the perfect will of God for us to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. It is also based on God’s mercy.
In verse 12:1, Paul says, by the mercies of God. The Greek word “dia” means “by” the word ‘b” “y” which gives the reason why we should present our bodies to God as living sacrifices. After spending eleven chapters in discussing the mercies of God, Paul concluded that we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God in Romans Chapter 12.
Paul had proven that all of us were by nature under sin; that we had no claim on God; and that He had shown great compassion in giving his Son to die for us in this state, and in pardoning our sins. This was a ground or reason why we should devote ourselves to God. In other words, it is the character of God which leads us to sacrifice our bodies as living sacrifice. It is the character of mercy—of long-continued and patient forbearance—and it should influence us to devote ourselves to him.
2Corinthians 1:3 says God is “the Father of mercies”. The plural form is used in the Greek text probably for two reasons, 1) because the Hebrew word for mercy has no singular form, 2) the reason for giving ourselves to God is literally because of God’s manifold mercies—that is, because he has been good to us in many ways.
2) The second layer of the Chiastic Structure is to
Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God
We can see three points here. 1) we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice, 2) it should be holy, and 3) it should be acceptable to God
The present of sacrifice usually refers to the presenting an animal before the altar. Like presenting an entire animal, Paul evidently was urging us to present our entire person to God. One may ask why should we present our entire person to God? We should do it because we were bought at a price. The first truth is that we are no longer our own, but rather, we belong to Jesus. If we are truly Christians, Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price” (1 Cor. 6:19–20). Again, just a chapter later, Paul says: “You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men” (1 Cor. 7:23). We know that the price mentioned here is the blood of Christ. The second truth is that like a slave who cannot go back to his past, we died to our past if we are truly converted, by becoming new creatures in Christ. Let’s rewind to Romans 6, where Paul argued that because we have “died to sin”, we are unable to “live in it any longer (Romans 6:2). Therefore, instead of offering parts of our bodies “to sin, as instruments of wickedness,” as we used to do, we must instead offer ourselves “to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of our bodies to him as instruments of righteousness” (Romans 6:13).
Here it refers to the change that has come about as a result of our being saved. “We died to sin” means that as a result of our union with Jesus Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit we have become new creatures in Christ so that we can never go back to being what we were. James Boice said, “we are to start the Christian life with that knowledge. If we cannot go back, then we must go forward”.
That’s why, I have a lot of problem with people who don’t leave their sinful lives behind and claim to be Christians and worse yet, for pastors or churches to baptize people into the body of Christ without true confession and repentance of sin. It’s simply unbiblical. It is worldly. I am sure someone will ask, “Are we all sinners?” Yes we are, but Christians don’t continue in our sin, or practice sin. A passage in 1 John 3:9 will make this point clear. The Book of 1 John was written for Christians. In 1 John 3:9, John tells us, “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” The phrase “does not sin” doesn’t mean Christians will never sin. The tense used here is the continuation tense. This means that a true Christian will not continue to sin or practice sin. This is the difference between Christians and non-Christians.
The second point is that we should present ourselves holy. Malachi 1:8 says sacrifices offered without blemish or defect is regarded as holy, because it’s set apart or consecrated to God. No other sacrifice could be made to God. The Jews were forbid to offer any animals that were lame, or blind, or in any way deformed (Deuteronomy 15:21; Leviticus 1:3,10, 3:1 22:20; Deuteronomy 17:1). Also in the history of mankind, God has been separating His people from the rest of the sinful world. Adam and Eve were separated from God after their sin. Able was separated from Cain, Noah was separated from the sinful world. Abraham was separated from Lot, and the Israelites were separated from their neighbors , with God giving them special laws like circumcision and special dietary laws to separate them. Similarly, God wants Christians to be Holy. The word holy literally means to be separated. For someone to claim to be a Christian but continue in their sinful way is simply unthinkable.
J. I. Packer has written a book called Rediscovering Holiness in which he calls attention to the fact that: “Puritans insisted that all life and relationships must become ‘holiness to the Lord.’ John Wesley told the world that God had raised up Methodists ‘to spread scriptural holiness throughout the land.’ I mentioned that I was extremely impressed by John Wesley’s pursuit of holiness. He came up with the doctrine of Entire Sanctification, and held Christians to a very high standard of holiness. Unfortunately, nowadays, holiness is the most neglected subject among evangelists in America. Holiness is largely forgotten as being important for Christians. We do not try to be holy, and we hardly know what holiness means. And we do not look for holiness in others. Yet there was a time when holiness was a serious pursuit of anyone who called himself or herself a Christian. What happened? God did not change, the teaching of the Bible did not change. What has changed is the church. The church has become more worldly and less holy.
The third point is that God commanded us to be Holy so that we are acceptable to Him. Peter wrote, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’ ” (1 Peter 1:15–16). The author of Hebrews said, “Without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14).
Sacrifice is an utterly unpleasant word in our day! No one wants to be a sacrifice. In fact, people do not want to sacrifice anything at all. Instead, we want to acquire things. Nevertheless, this is where the Christian life starts. It is God’s instruction and desire for us, and it is “good, pleasing and perfect” even if it does not seem to be. Presenting ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice is the only way that is acceptable to God
3) The third layer of the Chiastic Structure is
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind
A lot of Christians believe that worldliness was following such “worldly” pursuits as smoking, drinking, dancing, and gambling. Thus Christians may believe they are not conforming to this world if they don’t smoke or if they don’t drink. However, that is not what Romans 12:2 is about. To think of worldliness only in those terms is to trivialize what is a far more serious and far more subtle problem.
The clue to what Paul is referring to can be seen in the way he uses “transformed by the renewing of our mind” as an alternative to being “conformed” to this world”. This means that he is concerned about a way of thinking rather than merely behaving, though right behavior will follow naturally if our thinking is set straight. In other words, we are to break away from worldliness and reject “worldview,” what the Germans call Weltanschauung, a systematic way of looking at all things. We are to break out of the world’s way of thinking and instead let our minds be molded by the Word of God.
There are a number of worldviews that we need to watch out for, materialism is one, humanism is another. Materialism emphasizes on materialistic stuff and humanism emphasizes on self. Both are extremely dangerous. However, I believe most Christians are quite cautious about materialism and humanism. The worldviews that have the biggest impact on Christianity nowadays are actually tolerantism and inclusivism. The secular world teaches us it is politically incorrect to be intolerant and exclusive. No one likes anyone who is intolerant or exclusive. As a result of the conforming to this world, we begin to see more churches baptizing gay couples. We see pastors shying away from Jesus’ name if they think the name can be a stumbling block for someone to come to faith. Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely agree that we should try our best to reach out to the unchurched people. I would even welcome the unchurched people to be observers in the body of Christ. However, we need to be very careful in letting people know the cost to follow Christ. Christ never compromised or sugar coated the gospel message. He was upfront and called for the people to repent from their sin (Matthew 4:17). To the adulterous woman, He said, “Sin no more” (John 8:11). To the rich young ruler, Christ said, “Go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Matthew 19:21). Jesus was very clear in telling potential followers what it costs to follow Him. Some might say, let’s accept these people into the body of Christ hoping that they will repent one day. Jesus said in Luke 9:62, “No one, having put his hand on the plow, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God.” Do we think we can do better than Christ by baptizing people who refuse to repent into the Body of Christ?
I can tell you that you will definitely be able to reach out to many, many more people and get them to become so called Christians, if you don’t tell them the cost of becoming a Christian. Before you think it is an excellent idea, think whether Jesus said the road to the kingdom of heaven is a broadway, or whether it is a narrow path. Do you know why it is a narrow path? It’s because once people find out what it takes to become a Christian, not too many people will choose this path. You may be able to get many people onto the broadway by telling people they can keep their sins and become “Christians”. You may be able to get many people to get on the broadway by avoiding using the name of Jesus which may be offensive to them. But how many of them can get through the narrow gate?
It always sounds loving to say you are tolerant and inclusive. On the contrary, the person who tries to tell the truth always sounds judgmental. But this is absolutely not the case. I can still remember interviewing a lady for her baptism in my old church. She was very appreciative that we made sure she understood the true meaning of being a Christian before we baptized her. She broke down in tears and told us that her husband and son were blindly baptized as “Christians”, although they never did give up their sinful lifestyle and they never went to church. Because they thought they were saved, they turned down all future invitations to become Christians and continued in their sinful lifestyle. Thus one may think it is very loving to get more people onto the broadway, but it is absolutely the most hateful thing one can do to deceive people into thinking they are saved, but are not, with Jesus telling them at the end time, I never knew you.
I am sure a lot of people may ask me, “who are you to judge? The Bible clearly tells us not to judge”. They may even say that I am legalistic or I am a Pharisee. I have even heard a pastor throwing John 8:7 at me when I pointed out that it was wrong to baptize people into the body of Christ without repentance from their sin. What is John 8:7 one may ask? In John 8:7 Jesus told the Scribes and Pharisees, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” The implication was that I am a sinner also, and who am I to judge. This is what the secular world would like to tell Christians, shut up and don’t judge, because we are sinners too. The sad thing is that such a worldview is taking over the church, and even Christians and pastors are saying it too. Did Jesus really tell people not to judge because we are all sinners? If Jesus did mean that, then we have a serious problem, because even judges are sinners too. If this were the case then no one can speak the truth. This way, the laws have to be thrown out, because no one is fit to enforce the law. But Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-18, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” If Jesus did mean that we should not judge because we are sinners, then He was contradicting Himself in saying that He did not come to abolish the law. What did Jesus mean then? In order to understand what Jesus said, we should read John 8:7 very carefully. Did Jesus say, “He who is without sin among you, let him judge her first.” No, Jesus did not say that. Instead, Jesus said, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” What is throwing stones? To throw stones is to execute the Law. It’s to take the law into your own hands. It’s to condemn. It will become crystal clear if we look at another passage. Right after Jesus said, “Don’t think that I came to destroy or abolish the law,” He said in Matthew 5:38-39, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” Do you see the similarities between stoning people to death and an eye for an eye? Both stoning people to death and an eye for an eye are execution of the law. We are not to execute the law or take the law into our own hands. On a personal level, we are to forgive and turn the other cheek. But that doesn’t mean the law is being abolished or there is no longer justice, or we should not judge. It’s like a burglar broke into your house, stole your properties and beat you up. Jesus is not trying to tell you to tell the burglar there is more cash in the basement safe and since he broke your left arm, he should break your right also. What Jesus is saying is that on a personal level, we should forgive, but there is still justice and the law. We should still report the case to the police and point out the wrong doing of the burglar. However, on a personal level, we should forgive and not retaliate. I hope you see the beauty of the Bible. It never contradicts itself. People may be able to force the Bible to say what they want to hear in one passage. But if you look at the teaching of the entire Bible, it falls apart. When your interpretation finds harmony throughout all the Scripture, you know you have the correct interpretation. The Bible is the word of God and it never contradicts itself. So, the wrong interpretation is to say that we are all sinners, so no one is supposed to judge or point out others’ mistakes. The correct interpretation is that we should not take the law into our own hands and try to condemn others, but be forgiving and speak the truth with love.
Do you know that the Bible actually teaches us to judge and hold each other accountable? Jesus told the adulterous woman in John 8:11, sin no more. One may say this was Jesus talking. Jesus could judge but not you. How about 1 Corinthians 5:3? Paul said he was not physically at the Church of Corinth, but he already judged the sexually immoral person who refused to repent. One may say this was Apostle Paul judging. The Apostle Paul can judge, but not you. However, in 1 Corinthians 5:12, Paul taught us to judge people within the church. Also, when Christians were suing each other in the Church of Corinth, Paul asked in 1 Corinthians 6:5-6, do you not have a wise man among you who can judge between his brethrens? One may still argue that the church can judge, but not you. However, the church is made up of individual Christians. Let me show you another passage in James 5:19-20. “he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” To turn a sinner from error of his way is to point out the person’s mistake and to judge with love.
Please pay attention to the phrase “cover a multitude of sins”. This is another Bible verse that has been grossly misinterpreted. “Cover a multitude of sins” has been interpreted to mean overlook or ignore sins of other people. Now, there is another verse on “cover a multitude of sins” recorded in 1 Peter 4:8. A lot of people will tell you the Apostle Peter says, if you love others, you will overlook or ignore the sins of others, because love covers a multitude of sin. However, if you look at James 5:19-20, the meaning is quite the opposite. James says if you point out the errors of others and turn this person back, you can save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sin. Since the Bible never contradicts itself, cover a multitude of sin cannot mean to ignore or overlook sin. Once again we are mixing the teaching of that of personal level to that of the civil or moral level. On a personal level if someone sins against me I will love and forgive, and in doing so it covers a multitude of sins. However, on a civil or moral level, if I know a brother is sinning, I will go to him and try to turn him back by pointing out his error or mistake. Only by doing so, do I show love and it covers a multitude of sins.
It is sad the church is interpreting the Bible just like the secular world. We are so afraid of speaking the truth with love. We are afraid of being called legalistic, or being called a Pharisee. If Christians are no longer keeping each other accountable; If Christians are no longer judging each other with love and trying to turn each other from our errors and mistakes, how can Christians be holy? We have lost our saltiness and our brightness. We are no longer the lighthouse of the world, but we have become a worldly church. We wonder why the global church attendance has been dropping steadily. We try to lower the standard of Christianity and sugar coat the message of our gospel, hoping to reach out to the world. If people want to keep their sin to become Christians, we say fine and we even try to baptize gay couples. If people are offended by the name of Christ, we say it’s fine, we will not pray in Jesus’ name. Worldly people don’t want to join us because we are too worldly. They have plenty of worldliness in the world. Why should they join us to become more worldly? People join the church to become holy. If we do the right thing, God will bless the church. But we should not try to get more people to come by lowering the Christian standard, God will not.
This is not an easy message to preach. Most people like to hear tolerant and inclusive messages. No one likes to hear the truth. In lowering the standard or sugar coating the gospel message, we have forgotten it is the Holy Spirit who convicts people to truly accept Christ. In the Book of Acts (2:47 & 17:11) we were told the Lord added to the numbers of the believers in the early church. If we do the right thing and keep ourselves holy, God will add to the number of the Christian church. However, if we use our own unbiblical methods, God will not bless. If these methods of lowering the standard or sugar coating the message work, God would have told us so. A favorite excuse of those who use these unbiblical methods is the example of Paul saying “he became all things to all people.” What did Paul mean by becoming all things to all people? Note that he said, to a Jew he became a Jew. The Jews are the ones under the law. To the gentiles, he became a gentile. The gentiles are the ones not under the law. Note that Paul emphasized he was under God’s law, and that’s the moral law, but he said he was also under Christ’s law, the law of love on a personal level, exactly what we talked about. But nowhere did he say he lowered the standard of Christianity and sugar coated the gospel. An example of becoming a gentile when he preached to gentiles is recorded in the Acts 17. Paul used the Greek culture to preach the gospel. He said, you have been worshipping an unknown god, let me tell you who this unknown god was. That’s all he did. He did not lower the standard. He did not sugar coat the message. I can also tell you that he wasn’t too successful. We are told in Acts 17:32 although a few in Athens believed, when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered. According to Paul’s Second Journey, when he came out of Athens, he arrived at Corinth. A lot of Bible scholars believe the failure at Athens prompted Paul to say in 1 Corinthians 2:2 “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified”. We can use our own wisdom but that doesn’t mean God will bless our plan. You may be able to get people onto the broadway, you cannot get them through the narrow gate. Worse yet, you may deceive people into thinking they are saved and never truly believe by confession and repentance of sin. It is absolutely the most hateful thing one can do to a another person by lowering the Christian standard and sugar-coating the gospel to deceive people into thinking they are saved, but find out they are not. Matthew 7:22 is a warning for all of us on that day that Christ will tell those who profess to be believer, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ I am sure people may criticize me and say, don’t judge, leave it up to God. I have already explained we should not mix personal level teaching with that of moral level, that we are urged by the Scripture to hold each other accountable and judge each other.
I hope you see the relationship between the main ideas in today’s passage. We need to be holy so that we can present ourselves as a living sacrifice so that it’s acceptable to God. To be holy, we should not be conformed to this world. The world wants to transform us. They tell us love is more important than truth, that we are all sinners and should not judge others. This way, we cannot hold each other accountable and we can never be holy. Church ministry must possess both truth and love for it is the measure of the statue of the fullness of Christ. John MacArthur said, there is plenty of shallow teaching, plenty of tolerance in error, in the name of love. On the other hand, there are also plenty of harsh, self-righteous cold orthodoxy. A balance of love and truth is what the church need. We should not confuse the teaching that is intended for us on a personal level with that of the civil or moral level. Otherwise, the church will lose our brightness and our saltiness. I would like to challenge our church to uphold the teaching of the Bible both at a personal level and on a civil and moral level. Let’s speak the love with truth and will assure you God will add to our numbers.
