Changed by Grace: Living All of Life for Jesus

Heavenly Father, give us faith to receive your word,

understanding to know what it means, and the will to put it into practice.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Aesop tells the story of a farmer and a viper.

The farmer finds a viper in a field, frozen, nearly dead.

And moved to pity, the farmer picks up the viper,

tucks it into his jacket and warms him up. And as

the viper warms up and its life begins to return,

turned, so does the viper's natural instinct. And so the

viper turns and bites the farmer, and the farmer dies.

The viper doesn't change, doesn't show mercy,

compassion, can't change.

What about people?

Do people change? Some would say that we're like

the viper, that we don't change, that we can't change.

But then there are others that say, well, of course we can change. We can

become the viper that becomes a pet, not an enemy.

Well, what we'll see today is that the Christian life is one where we

are changed and are being changed.

And we'll see from Romans 12 how Jesus brings about this

change in our lives. How does he take imperfect,

sinful humans like you and me and change us.

Now you might have noticed that we're jumping in halfway through a book in Romans

Romans 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12. Romans 1 to 11 has

highlighted that it is through faith in Jesus that

we are justified and made right before God. Jesus died

for our sin in our place so that we could be forgiven of our unrighteousness.

And be given Jesus' righteousness. It's a

swap. Jesus takes our sin-stained heart with him to the

cross and makes us clean before God.

We're changed. We're brought into his family. We're given

the Holy Spirit and we can now live our

new life for God. I don't know if

you've ever been ice skating. When you go ice skating, you have to hire

ice skates. Without hiring the skates, you don't go ice skating.

Well, the Christian life is similar. We're given by grace through

faith in Jesus salvation and eternal life.

That is the skates so that we can then learn to

live our new life to God.

And then we come to Romans chapter 12 and we

Romans 12 · chapter mention

see how we are learning to skate in the Christian life.

So as we look at Romans 12, we see that we are living sacrifices,

we're transformed, not conformed, and we are people

who serve. So first, we are

to live as living sacrifices. Romans 12:1 reads,

Romans 12:1

therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's

mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,

holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper

worship. God's mercy

has been explained in chapters 1 to 11, salvation by grace through faith in

Jesus Christ. Now here is the application.

Here is the how we should live now that we've received this salvation

in Jesus. And the answer there is offer your bodies

as living sacrifices.

A sacrifice in the Bible refers to death.

Now we often talk about sacrificing our time, our money.

Someone might even talk about sacrificing their dignity, but this

is a modern use of the term. In the Bible, sacrifice referred to

animal sacrifices and ultimately to the sacrifice

of Jesus who shed his blood on the cross. Sacrifice involved death.

So to talk about a living sacrifice is

to use an image that doesn't sit easily in our minds because

life and death don't go together. Living and sacrifice don't

go together. Yet we're exhorted here to offer our

bodies as a living sacrifice. So what does

that mean?

Well, in Romans chapter 6, we're told that through faith in Jesus,

Romans 6 · chapter mention

we're united to Jesus in his death. And raised

with him in his resurrection. So spiritually,

our old life is dead and

we now have a new life which we live to God. So to

be a living sacrifice means we no longer live for ourselves or

our sinful nature, but for Jesus and his glory.

An illustration of this might be a professional athlete.

A professional athlete is not just an athlete when they're competing, are they?

They are one full-time. It affects everything from the moment they wake

up, their diets, their schedules, to where they spend their time. It's a whole-of-life

decision. Living for Jesus is

the same. Being a living sacrifice

for God is an all-of-life activity where we seek to honor and glorify

God. We offer our bodies, everything that we do,

for the glory of God. We live our whole lives

in worship of him.

And that encompasses all of life. It encompasses life here at church.

It encompasses life at home and the way that you relate to your family,

or at work and how you relate to your colleagues, or even how you

go about doing the work that you've got before you.

It encompasses social functions, when you're chatting

with people, when you're dealing with those call centers that

are just ultimately very frustrating. To the

glory of Jesus, living sacrifices.

And in living this way, it is our true and proper worship. See,

worship in the Bible is not limited to just time of singing God's praises

or coming to church on a Sunday. It's not just an hour and a half

on a Sunday morning. But it's 7 days,

168 hours a week. We're not to be living

sacrifices part-time, but all the

time, everything for the glory of God.

So how are we to do this? How are we to know what glorifies

God? And so we come to our second point.

We are to be transformed, not conformed.

Verse 2, do not conform 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.

The pattern of this world is one that does not listen to God's Word or

glorify God. Instead, our world suppresses

the truth about God. They ignore God or

believe things about God that they have made up rather than what God

has revealed through Jesus in his word.

We are not to conform to their pattern.

And it means as living sacrifices,

we should be looking to Jesus and God's word for how we should live through

the week. We should be looking to

Jesus and God's word for what we should believe and practice about money

or human sexuality or death and the dignity of human life.

We should look to Jesus and God's Word as we think

about heaven and hell and eternity.

We look to God's Word to shape our life, our prayer life, our work

life, our family life, all of life. See, a Christian life

will differ from someone who is not a Christian because we're living by a different

pattern. A pattern that seeks to glorify Jesus.

And this happens through transformation. We are

being transformed. When we place our faith in Jesus,

we're given the Holy Spirit who takes up residence in our hearts

and our minds and starts a renovation project.

And the goal of this renovation project is

to make us more like Jesus. In our heart and soul and

mind and strength. As the Spirit works in us,

as he applies his word to us from the scriptures, we will

be changed. Sometimes that change is very

quick. You might have heard the story of someone who

becomes a Christian and then overnight their

addiction to drugs or alcohol just disappears.

And praise God for that.

But from my experience, in most instances, the change

that the Holy Spirit brings about in our lives is more often slow change,

change over time. The Holy Spirit

over time, each day, is working in us to

make us more patient, to make us more kind,

more loving. The Holy Spirit transforms us so that we're

more full of faith, more joyful. More someone

who seeks peace, not division.

Transforms us so that we are gentle and more full of self-control.

All those things are the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians chapter 5.

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

It's a slow Spirit working in us,

producing those things. Sometimes we notice the work

of the Spirit in us. Other times we won't.

It's like when you stop at roadwork on the highway. There's signs there, you know

something is going on. And sometimes it's bleedingly obvious

what they're doing. They've pulled up a section of the road and they're re-tarring it.

But from my experience of driving around the roads of Australia, most of the time

when roadworks are there, I'm like, what on earth are they actually doing?

I have no idea. I'm sure they're doing something, but I don't know what

it is. And that's like the work of the Holy Spirit. We can

know that something is going on. God has given us his Holy Spirit.

Our minds are being renewed and transformed.

Sometimes we might know what that is. Other times

we might not, but we can be confident that God is at work.

Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we're being transformed so that we will not

conform to this pattern of this world, but instead

we will give glory to Jesus. And it is

worth highlighting at this point that we are works in progress. We're not perfect.

We still sin. It's not possible for us to glorify

Jesus perfectly in every moment of every day. And when we fail,

when we do sin, what we need to do is we need

to come back to the cross of Jesus. We need to ask Jesus for his

forgiveness. And ask for his help and

then go about seeking to glorify Jesus as living sacrifices with transformed

minds.

And the result of this transformation is we will be able to test

and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect

will. Now this is not saying that

we will have a map of the future of what God necessarily wants

us to decide. It's not It's not the answer to, you know,

who shall I marry? Should I retire? Should I keep working? Should I move house?

Should I travel? God has given us

wisdom in these areas. But rather,

verse 2 is saying that as we live for Jesus,

each day we will have a better idea on how we

should live for Jesus. We will be able to test and approve

As our minds are transformed, we will know how to glorify Jesus in our conversations

after church. Or when you receive bad news.

Or when someone treats you like you don't matter. In those moments,

we will know how to glorify Jesus.

Now, what is God's will when your child or grandchild throws a tantrum?

What is God's will when you've got some free time before breakfast?

Well, God, by his Spirit, will give us the wisdom to discern and work out

what will glorify him in those moments. But here's

the thing, we don't have to do that by ourselves. In fact, we shouldn't do

that by ourselves. We are part of a church, a body of believers

that are designed to encourage and help each other.

But also, we have God's Word. Romans chapter 12 through

Romans 12 · chapter mention

to 16 is just 4 chapters of instructions on how we

are to live our lives to glorify Jesus.

And there's plenty of instruction in the Bible on how we are to glorify

And so, as the Spirit renews our minds and

we are transformed, we will be able to,

in every situation, Be living sacrifices

and know how to live for Jesus in that moment.

Now, we're going to look at a specific application of this

now, which is verses 3 to 8,

which is we are to be a people who serve.

As living sacrifices, we are to be a people who serve.

The exhortation in verse 3 starts with the reminder we ought not to think

too much of ourselves. For by the grace given to me I

say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you

ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in

accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

Be sober-minded. Be aware

that in a church building with a bunch of Christians,

you're not the most important person in the room. I'm not the most important person

in the room. We have to have a sober judgment, a sober mind.

And the key to not thinking too highly of yourself is the measure of faith

given to you by God. The measure of faith is not talking about how much

faith you have, whether it's little faith or lots of faith, but actually

it's to see ourselves in light of the faith that we do have,

that our salvation is through faith in Jesus,

not by our works but by God's grace.

Faith that recognises that the good things that we have are good gifts

from God, not something that we can take credit

for. Faith to see that the only indispensable

person in the Church is Jesus.

And this is helpful for us to remember whatever position

we find ourselves serving in, to not think of ourselves too

highly.

And so then in verses 4 and 5, we're told we are the body of

Christ. We are all connected together and we each have a part to play.

We're not all hands. That would be weird.

No, as a body, we've all got different parts. We've got eyes,

nose, mouth, little pinky toes.

We're all there.

And in verse 6, we're told that as parts of the body of Christ,

we have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us.

And in verses 6 to 8, there are some gifts mentioned. There's prophesying

in accordance with faith, serving, teaching, encouragement, giving,

leading, showing mercy. And the exhortation

and the encouragement is, if you have a gift that is given to you by

God, Use it. Don't hold it back.

Now, of these gifts, there are many things

in here that actually all Christians are called to do. All Christians

are called to encourage and build each

other up. All Christians are called to serve and be involved

in serving. But There are some

people who have the gift of encouragement.

When I first became a Christian, the minister at our church, he met with me

and he read the Bible with me. Every word that

came out of his mouth was just super encouraging, encouraging me

to live for Jesus and live my life to the glory of Jesus. And it

wasn't just me when he was speaking to me, it was everyone. Every time he

spoke, his words were just so encouraging. He had the gift of encouragement

and he used it to great effect. If you have the gift

of encouragement, encourage. Or service. We're all called to

serve, but some people have the gift of serving.

They'll get their hands dirty and do just about anything,

and they'll do it with great joy as they serve the kingdom.

If that's you, Serve. That's what

we're told here in Romans. Use that gift.

Serve the body of Christ.

Or leading. The church needs leaders.

There are lots of Christians who have the gift of leadership.

They use it in the secular world,

but then when it comes to church, Often it just

stays in the pew. If you have

the gift of leadership, lead.

Our church needs leaders, particularly in our world at the moment

where a changing context, a shifting world.

I've just drawn attention to those 3,

but God has given us these gifts listed in Romans 12 plus more.

There's 2 other lists of gifts that God gives us in the Bible.

God has equipped each of us in some way, shape, or form to be able

to serve the church. It's not just my job

to do church. We are all to

do church. We don't come to church as consumers.

We're to come to church as participants, serving the

kingdom as living sacrifices who are being transformed into Jesus's

glory. And so this raises the question then,

well, what gift has God given me? How do I know what

God— gift God has given me to serve?

When I became a Christian, it was in the '90s, it was a bit popular

at the time to try and work out what your spiritual gift

was. There were surveys and questionnaires, and I did these surveys and questionnaires

to tell me what my gift was, and it'd come up with all sorts of

random things and I don't even remember what the results were.

That is actually not the most helpful way to work out what your gifts are.

The most helpful way to work out what your gifts are for serving the church

is to see a need and get involved in serving.

Put up your hand and say, yeah, I can do

that. There's the Women's Conference

next week. This week there's going to

be people around, in and around church setting up.

Maybe you've got the gift of time to be able to put

your hand up and say, hey, I'd love to come and serve in that.

Maybe you see that there's a need on

welcoming. Actually, I think we're fine at the moment on welcoming, but you see

that there's a need on welcoming and And you

go, I can smile and say hello and be a

friendly person at the door. I'm going to stick my hand up and do that.

It's not— the question is, do I have the gift of welcoming?

And then we spend a long time thinking about it. No, get involved and work

it out. And sometimes, as you

do that, you'll recognise, actually, I do not have a gift in doing that.

I really should probably leave that to someone else. I do not have

the gift of playing the trumpet. I am not going about to put my hand

up to play the trumpet in the church music band.

But the best way to work out what your gift is, is to get

involved and do it. Test it. Test the waters.

Don't hold back because you think, I don't have that gift.

So can we change? Well, the answer is an emphatic

yes. Does Jesus change us?

Yes, we're not at all like the viper. When we

put our faith in Jesus, Jesus sends his Holy Spirit to transform

us so that we will be living sacrifices,

worshiping him in every moment of every day, not conforming to the

pattern of this world And part of this transformation

happens as we serve in church, using the gifts God has given

us for the benefit of others and not ourselves.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we praise

you that you are a good and gracious God. We thank you that you provided

for us so abundantly in Jesus, that through faith in

him we have salvation. And thank you that you've given us your

Holy Spirit that is working in us,

renewing our minds, transforming us so that we can

live lives to the glory of Jesus. And we ask, Lord, that you would help

each of us to serve in church, use the gifts that you've given us

for your glory. And we pray this in Jesus' name.