Romans 12: The Noble Peace Prize

Read Romans 12:1-21

The Noble Peace Prize!

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
~Romans 12:18

Digging Deeper: No—you heard it right: Noble, not Nobel…the Noble Peace Prize.  Nothing is as prized by God as the noble efforts his children exert to achieve peace.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers!”  That proclamation of blessing came from Jesus’ very first sermon—the Sermon on the Mount—found in Matthew 5-7. He was just launching his messianic ministry, and in the opening lines (Matthew 5:1-12) of his first public address, he spelled out his kingdom agenda in bullet form. These “kingdom talking points” have come to be known as the beatitudes. This particular bullet point for blessing, peacemaking, along with seven others, reveal what God values most, what God blesses most, and what God expects most from his people as they expand his kingdom throughout planet earth.

God not only promises peace to his people (“and the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds” — Philippians 4:7) and expects his people to allow peace to govern their relationships with one another (“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace” — Colossians 3:15), he also calls his people to be emissaries of his peace to a human race at war with itself, and with him.

Yes, that is our call—emissaries of peace, representing the agenda of the one who was known as the Prince of Peace. Peacemaking is high on the kingdom platform of him who is known as the God of peace. (Romans 15:33, Romans 16:20, Philippians 4:9, I Thessalonians 5:23, Hebrews 13:20) How else will the world surrender their worship to the God of peace, and accept the Prince of Peace as their savior, and come under the rule of the kingdom of peace unless the subjects of that kingdom flesh out that peace in their everyday, ordinary, sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life”?

So that is your assignment today.  Mine, too.  There is no more noble pursuit. Will you be successful at achieving peace in your home, at work, while you are at school, or in your little corner of the world?  I don’t know.  But I do know that if it is possible, as far as it depends on you, your life can be a powerful catalyst for peace.

And if you will give that your very best shot, “the God of peace will be with you!”  (Philippians 4:9).  And not only will he be with you, he will bless you, for he has promised blessings to those who are “the peacemakers”. (Matthew 5:9)

“You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate
instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover
who you really are, and your place in God’s family.
~Jesus Christ, Matthew 5:9 (Msg.)

This Week’s Assignment:

Read: Romans 12:1-21

Memorize: Romans 12:1-2

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

For Your Consideration: Stop at the very first word of chapter 12: “Therefore”.  Whenever you come to a “therefore” in your Bible reading, you ought to ask yourself, “what is it there for?”  What Paul goes on to say in these first two verses comprises what is arguably the most important duty of all true Christ-followers: The offering of our everyday lives to God as our only and reasonable act of worship.  “Therefore” …what is the basis of this call to Christian duty? (Hint: Go back to Romans 11:36.)

Romans 12: The 12×12 Rule

Read Romans 12:9-21

The 12×12 Rule!

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
~Romans 12:12

Digging Deeper: Romans 12:9-21 is kind of a checklist for Christ-like behavior.  Depending on how you count them, you’ll find no less than nineteen commands that the Christian is to carry out; practical ways, if you will, that we can truly live as “living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.” (Romans 1:1)

The Message version’s rendering of verse 1 calls us to take our “everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.” With God’s help, by rejecting the world’s way of thinking and acting, by the complete transformation of our entire way of viewing, doing and approaching life, and with our 24/7 dedication to the aforementioned, this checklist pretty well covers what the verse describes: The outward produce of an inner renovation experienced in Christ.

There is one item on this checklist that is a particular favorite of mine: Romans 12:12.  A few years ago, an elder in the church where I served as lead pastor brought that particular verse to my attention.  It became the motto of our elder board—and I affectionately named it the 12×12 rule: Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  In our elder’s meetings, when we’d come to a sticky challenge, were overcome by a sense of helplessness, left scratching our head in bewilderment, or found ourselves up against an insurmountable wall, we’d just invoke the 12×12 rule.

The 12×12 rule became such a standard response and call to action of that leadership team that one year during the Christmas season the elders gave me a gift that would be a constant reminder to invoke this rule in my life and leadership.  It was a Mont Blanc pen—with the words, “Romans 12:12” inscribed on it. I have never received a more unforgettable and beneficial gift!

The 12×12 rule pretty well sums up what it means to be Christian, doesn’t it?  I would like to challenge you to adopt the 12×12 rule as your own.  Memorize it—it’s pretty easy; it’s just ten words.  Meditate on it until you absorb it into your core.  Pray it back to God until the Holy Spirit brings it to life in your way of thinking. And then just do it.  Invoke it early and often as you do life.

The 12×12 rule.  I like that: Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.

“Hope is a waking dream.”
~Augustine

This Week’s Assignment:

Read: Romans 12:1-21

Memorize: Romans 12:1-2

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

For Your Consideration: Stop at the very first word of chapter 12: “Therefore”.  Whenever you come to a “therefore” in your Bible reading, you ought to ask yourself, “what is it there for?”  What Paul goes on to say in these first two verses comprises what is arguably the most important duty of all true Christ-followers: The offering of our everyday lives to God as our only and reasonable act of worship.  “Therefore” …what is the basis of this call to Christian duty? (Hint: Go back to Romans 11:36.)

Romans 12: Sober Up!

Read Romans 12:3-8

Sober Up!

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather
think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with
the measure of faith God has given you.
~Romans 12:3

Digging Deeper: If at all possible, it’s best not to think of yourself at all.  I think that is what the Biblical writers had in mind when they spoke of the virtue of humility, which is not so much thinking less of yourself (both quantitatively as well as qualitatively), but the freedom from thinking about yourself altogether.

However, if you must think of yourself, Paul says to do so with “sober judgment”.  And if you do that with the measure of faith you’ve been given, then rather than having a high estimation of yourself, you’ll have an accurate picture of what you are: A living sacrifice. (Romans 12:1)

Think about that—a living sacrifice. An Old Testament sacrifice had to die in order to offer pleasing worship to God, but when Jesus came along, he became the final sacrifice called upon to die. Old Testament sacrifices are no longer required by God; New Covenant sacrifices are now what bring pleasing worship to God, and those offerings are called upon to live.

Of course, as a living sacrifice, we must first die to ourselves—our flesh, our own selfish desires and our false estimation of who we are and what we should be.  But our real call is to live—to live in view of God’s mercy (Romans 12:1), to live for him and through him and to him his glory (Romans 11:36), and to live to fulfill the purpose for which he has gifted you (Romans 12:4-8).  And that great purpose for which you have been gifted is specifically spelled out in this section of verses: It is to live and serve and function and contribute to the family of God in which you have now been placed.

Yes, you have been called to die to yourself—and that is a daily (and difficult) exercise in self-mortification.  But your highest calling is now to live unto God—to live as a living sacrifice.  Do you see yourself as a living sacrifice?  That is truly what “sober judgment” will produce.  If that is not fundamentally how you see your role in life, then you need to sober up!

Let me give you a challenge this week: Forget about yourself! Practice being absent minded when it comes to you. Get you out of your thoughts and replace them with plans for offering yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

Sober up and crawl back up on the alter of sacrifice—and for Christ’s sake, stay there!

“The only problem with a living sacrifice is that it wants to crawl off the altar.”

This Week’s Assignment:

Read: Romans 12:1-21

Memorize: Romans 12:1-2

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

 

For Your Consideration: Stop at the very first word of chapter 12: “Therefore”.  Whenever you come to a “therefore” in your Bible reading, you ought to ask yourself, “what is it there for?”  What Paul goes on to say in these first two verses comprises what is arguably the most important duty of all true Christ-followers: The offering of our everyday lives to God as our only and reasonable act of worship.  “Therefore” …what is the basis of this call to Christian duty? (Hint: Go back to Romans 11:36.)

Romans 12: The Key To Everything

Read Romans 12:1-2

The Key To Everything

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God change
you into a new person by changing the way you think.
~Romans 12:2 (NLT)

Digging Deeper: We have a calling as Christians to right thinking. Right thinking is the key to everything—to godly living, to significance and satisfaction, to relational wholeness, to the abundant life, to spiritual growth, to joy—everything!

Paul writes that we are to let God change us by changing the way we think.  In Philippians 4:8, he describes the kind of thinking that will lead to the changed life:

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—
think about such things.

When Paul says to “think about such things”, he intentionally chose the Greek term logizomai, which means to compute, to calculate—to think deliberately, proactively and strategically.  It speaks of an exercise in mental reflection that affects one’s conduct. It is the word from which we get our word for logic.  In other words, as those who have been redeemed, through the mercy of God by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, thinking this way is only logical.  When Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 to present our bodies as living sacrifices—sacrifices that remain in the holiness imputed to us by Christ’s own sacrificial death—he says this is primarily possible through the transformation of our thinking, i.e., “right thinking.”  Interestingly, when Paul says this is our “reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship” (Amplified Bible), he uses that same Greek root word for logical, logikos, i.e., “right thinking.”

Now herein lies an important truth about the human mind:  What we do—our behavior—and what is done to us—our circumstances—do not produce what we think.  Rather, what we think produces our behavior in any given set of circumstances.  That is, “right thinking” enables and encourages “right living”—godliness, a Christ-like response to life, an eternal perspective, an attitude of abundance, a Biblical worldview, etc.

Psychiatrist William Glasser, the father of reality therapy, discovered in his study of how the brain works that man isn’t controlled by external factors, but by internal desires. Furthermore, our desires are predetermined by our thinking.  So he concludes that the mind is the command center determining conduct. Therefore the critical issue for man is how he thinks.

Glasser had only discovered what the Bible had already said long ago—that we are the product of our thinking. Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinks within himself, so he is.” That’s why Proverbs 4:23 also says, “Above all else, guard your heart (the heart in Hebrew thought was the center of thinking) for it is the wellspring of life.”

If you want to improve your experience of life, deliberately and strategically change your thinking.  So when Paul says, “think about,” he doesn’t mean to leave it up to whatever pops into your brain.  He’s saying to intentionally and rigidly allow only certain things into your mind.  He is referring to the practice or spiritual discipline of setting godly virtues and Biblical values as the gatekeeper of your mind.

He’s not suggesting silly mind-games or positive thinking, mere optimism, or some type of self-hypnosis, he’s calling us to think deeply, rationally and habitually about the things of God.  He is calling us to think first, think early, think often, think deeply, think always.  Think first, act second, feel third! Then your feelings will be managed by your thinking and your actions will be sound.

God created us with a mind, and he commands us to think.  Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now, let us reason together.” And the primary path for our reasoning is God’s Word. When God gave us his revelation, he didn’t give us a movie…or a series of music videos…not even a book on tape with background organ music.  He gave us the written Word…which by nature calls us and causes us to think.

In his book, “Your Mind Matters, John Stott wrote, “Sin has more dangerous effects on our feeling than our thinking, because our opinions are more easily checked and regulated by revealed truth than are experiences.”  Right thinking is the key to Godly character.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones pointed out that our worry and anxiety is “a failure to think” that God is close and in control, and that he cares about you.  Most people assume worry comes from thinking too much.  But in reality we get anxious for not thinking enough in the right direction.  Right thinking is thinking rightly about God’s purposes, promises, and plans. Right thinking is thinking reasonably about God’s revealed truth. Right thinking is the key to Spirit-controlled emotions.

A.W. Tozer wrote in his book, Knowledge of the Holy, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Right thinking is the key to your experience of God.

Thinking rightly is the catalyst for a great life.  So watch your input; it becomes thought. Watch your thoughts; they become attitudes. Watch your attitudes; they become actions.  Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny

Now go think rightly.  It’s the key to everything!

Let the mind of the Master become the master of your mind.”

This Week’s Assignment:

Read: Romans 12:1-21

Memorize: Romans 12:1-2

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

For Your Consideration: Stop at the very first word of chapter 12: “Therefore”.  Whenever you come to a “therefore” in your Bible reading, you ought to ask yourself, “what is it there for?”  What Paul goes on to say in these first two verses comprises what is arguably the most important duty of all true Christ-followers: The offering of our everyday lives to God as our only and reasonable act of worship.  “Therefore” …what is the basis of this call to Christian duty? (Hint: Go back to Romans 11:36.)

Right Thinking

Read Romans 12

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God
change you into a new person by changing the way you think.”
(Romans 12:2)

Food For Thought… We have a calling as Christians to exercise right thinking, and I will tell you why this is of critical importance: Right thinking is the key to everything. It is the key to godly living, to significance and satisfaction, to relational wholeness, to the abundant life, to spiritual growth, to joy—everything!

Paul writes that we are to let God change us by changing the way we think. In Philippians 4:8, he describes the kind of thinking that will lead to the changed life:

“Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

When Paul says to “think about things”, he intentionally chose the Greek term is logizomai, which means to compute, to calculate—to think deliberately, proactively and strategically. It speaks of an exercise in mental reflection that affects one’s conduct.

Now herein lies an important truth about the human mind: What we do—our behavior—and what is done to us—our circumstances—do not produce what we think. Rather, what we think produces our behavior in any given set of circumstances.

Psychiatrist William Glasser, the father of reality therapy, discovered in his study of how the brain works that man isn’t controlled by external factors, but by internal desires. Furthermore, our desires are predetermined by our thinking. So he concludes that the mind is the command center determining conduct. Therefore the critical issue for man is how he thinks.

Glasser had only discovered what the Bible had already said long ago—that we are the product of our thinking. Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinks within himself, so he is.” That’s why Proverbs 4:23 also says, “Guard your heart (that is, your mind) above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

If you want to improve your experience of life, deliberately and strategically change your thinking. So when Paul says, “think about,” he doesn’t mean to leave it up to whatever pops into your brain. He’s saying to intentionally and rigidly allow only certain things into your mind. He is referring to the practice or spiritual discipline of setting godly virtues and Biblical values as the gatekeeper of your mind.

He’s not suggesting silly mind-games or positive thinking, mere optimism, or some type of self-hypnosis, he’s calling us to think deeply, rationally and habitually about the things of God. He is calling us to think first, think early, think often, think deeply, think always. Think first, act second, feel third! Then your feelings will be managed by your thinking and your actions will be sound.

God created us with a mind, and he commands us to think. Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now, let us reason together.” And the primary path for our reasoning is God’s Word. When God gave us his revelation, he didn’t give us a movie…or a series of music videos…not even a book on tape with Charlton Heston’s voice to organ music in the background. He gave us the written Word…which by nature calls us and causes us to think.

In his book, “Your Mind Matters, John Stott wrote, “Sin has more dangerous effects on our feeling than our thinking, because our opinions are more easily checked and regulated by revealed truth than are experiences.” Right thinking is the key to Godly character.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones pointed out that our worry and anxiety is “a failure to think” that God is close and in control, and that he cares about you. Most people assume worry comes from thinking too much. But in reality we get anxious for not thinking enough in the right direction. Right thinking is thinking rightly about God’s purposes, promises, and plans. Right thinking is thinking reasonably about God’s revealed truth. Right thinking is the key to Spirit-controlled emotions.

A.W. Tozer wrote in his book, Knowledge of the Holy, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Right thinking is the key to your experience of God.

Thinking rightly is the catalyst for a great life. So watch your input; it become thought. Watch your thoughts; they become attitudes. Watch your attitudes; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny

Now go think rightly. It’s the key to everything!

Prayer… Father, today I will choose to think about you. I will think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent and praiseworthy. I will think rightly. I will let the mind of the Master be the master of my mind. Now I pray that you will transform my character by changing the way I think, and make me an offering that is holy, pleasing and acceptable to you.

One more thing…
“Let the mind of the Master become the master of your mind.”