LIVING A STEP ABOVE
- Romans 12:1-2
Verse 1 of chapter 12 includes the word, “Therefore.” In the Holman Christian Standard Bible, the verse begins with the word “Therefore.” One of the things we must learn when we read our Bibles is that whenever we see the word “therefore,” we must look back and see what that “therefore” is there for.
Several years ago, Gladys and I had the opportunity to drive over to Arkansas and bum breakfast off of some friends of ours by the name of Ben and Martha Durham. At the time we visited, Ben had just retired and had started working on some projects he had been putting off for years. One of the projects he was working on was a new shop.
While we were there, Ben took me out and showed me where he was building the shop. It was going to be a pretty good size. I believe he said it was going to be 27 X 40. When we were there, Ben had just completed the foundation. Around the outside of where his shop was going to be he dug a trench 2 feet deep and about 1 ½ feet wide. Just in that footer alone he poured 15 yards of concrete.
When I looked at it, I asked him, “Ben, why did you make the footers so big? Why did you make it so expensive?” He told me, “Brother Gene, when I build something I want it to last. I want it to have a solid foundation.”
Paul evidently wants the same thing when he builds an argument for living a Christian life. That is why he spent the first 11 chapters of this book building a foundation for what was going to follow. And it is this foundation that he refers to when he says “therefore.” He says, “Because of everything I said in the first 315 verses of this book, because of everything I have said in the first 11 chapters of this book, you are to present your bodies, a living sacrifice. But, what is this foundation? On what basis does Paul call us to live Godly lives? I believe this foundation is made up of 4 parts. First, Paul says we are to live godly lives because all of us are sinners.
I. THE REASON FOR GODLY LIVING
A. ALL OF US ARE SINNERS
In the first 2 ½ chapters of Romans, Paul describes how man has fallen out of favor with God. He says, “Everyone has sinned.” My friends, the first step to Christian living is to realize that you are a sinner. Everyone who has ever lived has sinned.
Some may ask, “Well, what about sister Theresa? She has spent her life trying to help the sick and starving children over seas. What about her?” To this, Paul answers in Romans 3:10,
> Romans 3:10 As it is written: there is no one righteous, not even one;
But brother Gene, what about Mrs. So and so, or Mr. So and so. All she has ever done is try to help people. Why, there isn’t a person in the county who would say anything bad about her. To this Paul replies, “There is none righteous, no not one.”
Now, some of you may argue that you have tried to live a good life. You may say you have done the best you could. You have done more good things than you have bad and surely that must count for something. Surely the good will outweigh the bad. Again Paul answers, “There is none righteous. Not even one.”
My friends, God is a perfect and holy God. He cannot stand to have sin in His presence. You can clothe yourself with church attendance, and with giving to the poor. You can fix your appearance by teaching or working in the church. You can put on all the perfume of good works that you want to, but there is still on you the stench of sin that overpowers the perfume.
If you have ever lived in a pulpwood town, a town with a paper mill, you know the stink that those plants can put out. A number of years ago, they tried covering the stench coming from a plant in Jacksonville by adding perfume to it. If you have ever driven on the 295 loop around Jacksonville, you may have experienced the result. What did they get? Perfumed stink.
My friends, that is how we all started, with stinking sin in our lives. To drive home the point, Paul says in Romans 3:23,
> Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Every man, every woman, every child, who has ever lived has sinned, and that includes you. Paul says we should live godly lives first, because we remember we are all sinners. Second, he says we should live Christian lives because there is a punishment for sin.
B. THERE IS A PUNISHMENT FOR SIN
- Romans 6:23
There is a punishment, a payment for sin.
Everytime you go to work, everytime you punch the clock, you know that you are working toward something. You are for something. You are working for your wages. The Bible tells us that every time you sin, every time you do something against the will of God, you are also earning wages. The wages of sin is death.
I have talked with people who tell me that they can’t believe a good God, a great God like we have, could ever send someone to hell. They say, “A good God couldn’t do something like that.” My friend, God doesn’t send anyone to hell. He doesn’t give anyone that punishment. You work for it.
C. THERE IS A GIFT FOR SINNERS
- Romans 5:8
God showed His love for you, because when you were at your worse, Jesus died for you.
God didn’t want you to suffer eternal separation from Him. He didn’t want you to be separated from the family, so He sent Jesus Christ to pay the price for your sins.
> Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
God sent Jesus to pay the price for your sins and mine. During wars, men have been known to throw themselves on grenades to save their buddies, to save their friends. Some of you might be willing to die to save a suffering child. Others might put themselves in harm’s way to protect their families. But tell me, would you be willing to die for a bad man? Which of you would be willing to die to save someone who has cursed you and taken advantage of you? Which of you would be willing to die for someone who is ungrateful, for someone who would continue to take your sacrifice for granted? And yet, that’s what Jesus did.
Jesus, the Son of God, the One most beloved by His Father, came and died for you when you were at your worse.
I imagine He thought of you, with each blow of that bone imbedded whip. He thought of you with each ringing blow of the hammer, that pierced His sinless hands and feet. He thought of you, as He hung on that splintered wooden cross. He thought of you, while the blood ran down His cheeks from the crown of thorns on His head. He thought of you as He died alone.
He could have called, 10,000 angels,
To destroy the world, and set Him free.
He could have called, 10,000 angels,
But, He died alone. For you and me.
My friend, all of us are sinners. There is punishment for sin. There is a gift for sinners, and praise God, there is hope for sinners.
D. THERE IS HOPE FOR SINNERS
- Romans 10:9-13
Isn’t that the best news you have ever heard? The Bible says all of us have sinned. It says there is a punishment for our sins. It says God sent a Savior and that you and I can be saved.
Most of us, at one time or another, have accumulated some bills, some debt we wish someone else would pay. I know I have some bills I wish someone else would pay for me. Paul tells us that Jesus has paid the toughest bill of all for you, and all you have to do is ask for it.
When Jesus died on that cross, He created an unlimited checking account. He deposited enough to pay for all of your sins and mine. The He cried from the cross, “Totelisti.” It is finished. It is paid in full.
My friend, no matter what sin you have committed, no mater how far you have fallen, no matter what others may say or think about you, no matter whether they will forgive you or if you can forgive yourself, Jesus will. If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord. In other words, if you ask Jesus to be your Lord, asking Him to forgive you of your sins, and turning your life and your desires over to Him. If you call upon the name of the Lord, you will be saved!
E. THERE ARE BLESSINGS FOR CHOOSING
- Romans 8:1
Freedom from condemnation
- Romans 8:12-16
Adoption
- Romans 8:26-27
Intercession
- Romans 8:28
Blessing through hard times
Let me ask you my friend, are you ready to make Jesus the Boss in your life? Are you ready to accept the gift He is making available to you today?
But, not only is there hope for sinners, but there are also blessings for choosing.
CONCLUSION
In 1915, Colonel T. E. Lawrence was traveling across the desert with some Arabs. Things were desperate. The food was almost gone, and the water was down to its last few drops. Their hoods over their heads to shelter them from the wind which was like a flame, and which was full of the stinging sand of a sandstorm. Suddenly someone said, “Where is Jasmin?” Another said, “Who is Jasmin?” A third answered, “That yellow-faced man from Maan. He killed a Turkish tax-collector and fled to the desert.” The first said, “Look, Jasmin’s camel has no rider. His rifle is strapped to the saddle, but Jasmin is not there.” A second said, “Someone shot him on the march.” A third said, “He is not strong in the head, perhaps he is lost in a mirage; he is not strong in the body, perhaps he has fainted and fallen off his camel.” Then the first said, “What does it matter? Jasmin was not worth ½ a crown.” And the Arabs hunched themselves up on their camels and rode on.
But Lawrence turned and rode back the way he had come. Alone, in the blazing heat, at the risk of his own life, he went back. After an hour and a half’s ride he saw something against the sand. It was Jasmin, blind and mad with heat and thirst, Jasmin being murdered by the desert. Lawrence lifted him up on his camel, gave him some of the last drops of the precious water, and slowly plodded back to the company.
When he came up to the others, the Arabs looked in amazement. “Here is Jasmin,” they said, “Jasmin, not worth ½ a crown, saved at his own risk by Colonel Lawrence.”
My friends, that is what Jesus has done for you. He didn’t come to save the righteous. It wasn’t God’s friends Christ died to rescue; it was people like you and me.
