“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.” Romans 12:1 ESV
When we began our study on surrender, Romans 12:1 was one of the first Scriptures we studied. Now that we are coming to the end of our study, we go back to this important verse.
Laura says, “Considering all that Christ has done for us – making us right with God by his atoning death, freeing us from the penalty and power of sin, lavishing us with his grace – how should we respond?”
After eleven chapters full of rich truths that are the foundation of our faith in Christ Jesus, the apostle Paul begins chapter 12 of Romans with his answer to this question. How should we respond to the grace and mercy of God? The only appropriate response is found in surrender, in presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. Paul says, this “is your spiritual worship.”
“We don’t surrender our lives to God to gain his favor. We offer ourselves to him in response to the favor he has already freely shown us because of the saving work of Jesus.”
A CORRECT UNDERSTANDING OF WORSHIP
Worship is not an emotional response, though often emotions may be a part of it. Worship is not singing songs of praise, though singing is often a part of it. True worship is a choice to respond to God in gratitude and praise for who He is and for all He has done for us.
True worship, according to Romans 12:1, is presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. Surrender is the main requirement for worship. And worship is to be constant because it is an expression of God’s worth, which never changes, even when our circumstances and emotions fluctuate from day to day.
Laura shares a feeling of apprehension when she first began to understand the link between surrender and worship. We are to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. But none of us are holy. Even our best attempts at surrender are imperfect.
Laura says, “I can’t present myself as a holy and blameless sacrifice on the basis of my track record. But I can present myself to God as holy and blameless based on his mercy!” When God looks at us he doesn’t see our self-centeredness and failures. He sees in us the righteousness of Jesus.
As we bring this study to a close today and tomorrow, let’s spend some timBlamelesse in thanksgiving and praise. And to get us started, I want to share the chorus of a song written by Laura Story reminding us this life we have is no longer ours to do with as we please.
Not My Life
This is not my life It is Yours, it is Yours This is not my heart It is Yours, it is Yours I surrender all I am Place my life into Your hands Jesus, I am Yours I am Yours
Is there some event in your past that causes you shame whenever it comes to mind? Do you battle condemnation every time you fall into that “sin that so easily entangles you” (Hebrews 12:1)? If so, today I have some good news for you.
For the last two weeks, we have looked at some of the less emphasized benefits of the fact that Jesus died for our sins, rose from the grave, and ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven. Because He kept His promise to not leave us alone and sent the Holy Spirit to indwell all who place their faith in Him, we are filled with and empowered by God to live the life He has planned for us. And because the veil separating us from God’s presence was torn in two by the hands of Almighty God, we have been given open access to His presence and the privilege of coming to His throne of grace in our time of need.
Today we’ll be looking at another sometimes overlooked benefit of the finished work of Jesus Christ: Being declared righteous because of Christ’s righteousness.
What Is Righteousness?
If you look up the word righteousness in a modern English dictionary, you find definitions such as “morally right” and “free from guilt or sin.” The Greek word includes this but goes beyond this. “Dikaiosune” speaks of whatever is right or just in itself. It includes always conforming to the revealed will of God. In essence, it means meeting the sum total of all the requirements of God 100% of the time.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said these words:
“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48 ESV
If you’re saying “that’s impossible,” you’re right. Because of our sin nature, none of us are able to meet this standard. The only human who every met all the qualifications of perfect righteousness was Jesus Christ. Because Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (therefore man’s sin nature was not in Him) but born of a woman, He was fully God and fully man. He and He alone was able to meet God’s standard of perfect righteousness.
So how does God expect us to walk in perfect righteousness? He doesn’t. And now we come to the often overlooked benefit of the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross and His resurrection from the dead.
Understanding Imputed Righteousness and Imparted Righteousness.
In simple terms, imputed righteousness is the righteousness of Christ given to us as a gift when we place our faith in Jesus Christ and make Him our Lord and Savior. It is Jesus transferring His righteousness to us. It is the fulfillment of the promise of 2 Corinthians 5:21, which says; “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Because of imputed righteousness we have been declared righteous in God’s eyes.
But God’s full work of righteousness in our lives also involves an ongoing process. We are righteous, but we also are becoming righteous. The second type of righteousness is often called imparted righteousness. It is the practical, day to day process by which we begin to look more like Jesus. It’s an ongoing process that begins the day we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and won’t be completed until the day we see Him face to face. This is the kind of righteousness described in Romans 8:29, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
Imputed righteousness is ours in it’s fullness on our first day as a born-again follower of Christ. Imparted righteousness comes through the process of sanctification, as the Holy Spirit works in our lives to build practical righteousness. Neither type of righteousness is within our ability. We are nowrighteous by the gift of Christ’s righteousness, and we are growing in righteousness by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” 1 John 3:2-3
Do you sometimes struggle with condemnation for something you did many years ago? Do you feel ashamed for some recurring sin that you think you’ll never gain the victory over? If so, there’s an essential question you need to settle in your heart: Have you surrendered your life to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and accepted His gift of forgiveness and new life? If your answer to that question is “no”, feel free to contact one of the ladies on the God-Living Girls leadership team. We’d love to help you in this area. But if your answer to this question is “yes,” then the condemnation you are battling is coming from the father of lies, the devil.
If you are in Christ, Romans 8:1 says God is not the one condemning you. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Most of us know the truth of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” But don’t forget the truth of John 3:17 and the first part of verse 18, which is equally important. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned…” Yes, God convicts of sin. Conviction is meant to lean to repentance, condemnation results in hopelessness. But He never condemns His blood-bought children.
On this Thankful Thursday, I’m grateful that I have been declared righteous in God’s eyes. The perfect righteousness of His Son has been imparted to me. And I’m also grateful that the Holy Spirit is at work in my life making me a little more like Jesus every day. How about you, do you think these truths from God’s Word deserve a prayer of gratitude to God? If so, I encourage you to share your personal prayer in the comments section below this post.
The Greek word paraklētos, translated Advocate in today’s Scripture passage, is used five times in the New Testament, once by the apostle John to refer to Jesus Christ, and four times by Jesus Himself of “another Advocate,” the Holy Spirit.
Advocate is another title for a lawyer, someone who pleads your case before the bar of justice. In modern terms, an advocate is like a defense attorney who pleads the case for a defendant before a judge. The Greek word literally means called to one’s side, especially called to one’s aid.
When John calls Jesus “our Advocate,” it means that our Savior is standing before the heavenly throne of God, pleading our case before the Father. He is interceding on our behalf because we belong to Him.
It’s important to point out one important distinction between Jesus Christ our heavenly Advocate and an earthly advocate for someone accused of a crime. Jesus’ case as He represents us before the Father isn’t based on our righteousness or good works. His case for us is grounded in the work He has already done to secure God’s favorable verdict.
Even though we are guilty of sin and unable to meet the righteous standards God has set, Jesus has already paid the price for our sin. Or as 1 John 2:2 says,
“He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2 NIV
But we still have a part in the process. We have to accept this atoning sacrifice as our own through faith in the work Jesus has done. When we do this, the perfect righteousness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is imputed to us. This means Christ’s righteousness is attributed to us by faith and counted as our own. As Matthew Henry wrote:
“The clients are guilty; their innocence and legal righteousness cannot be pleaded. It is the advocate’s own righteousness that he must plead for the criminals.”
I am grateful that, even now, Jesus is pleading with the Father on my behalf, interceding for me to be forgiven. Because I am in Christ, God is no longer the judge who condemns me but rather the Father who has adopted me into His family.
HOPE & LIGHT 