1Therefore, 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. 2Do 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.
3For by the grace given 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 measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
Main Points
1) The right response to grace shown by the Holy God is a holy life (v. 1, 2a).
-A set-apart life – we are to be different from the world (v. 2a), because we are not our own (1 Co 6:18-20; Eph 5:3; 2 Co 5:15)
-24/7 worship – whatever we do is to be done for God’s glory alone (1 Co 10:31; Col 3:17; Col 3:23-24)
-from the heart – knowing that God always sees and knows our inner disposition (Jn 4:24; Heb 4:12-13)
2) A holy life begins with a holy mind (v. 2).
- A holy mind is not the world’s mind, which is characterized by lusts of appetite, lusts to possess, and pride of possessing
(1 Jn 2:15-16; James 4:4). Rather, it is learning to be content in all circumstances (Php 4:10-13) because it is satisfied in God (Ps 73:25-26).
- It holds true to what the Scriptures teach of God. Our thoughts about God – and whether or not they reflect who He truly is - matter enormously to Him (Mt 16:13-20; Ps 50:21; Acts 17:24-31).
- It is continually learning the art of discerning good and evil (Heb 5:12-14).
- It brings about truly holy actions (1 Pet 1:17; 1 Pet 4:7).
3) A holy mind begins with a holy humility that not only accepts one’s God-given gifts, but one’s God-given responsibilities also (vv. 3-8).
- To Paul’s question, “What do you have that you did not receive?”
(1 Cor 4:7), true humility answers, “Nothing!”
- Our gifts are not to be neglected, nor are they to be abused for our own self-satisfaction. Rather, they are to serve the church (vv. 6-8).
- To those who have been given much, much more will be asked (Lk 12:48).
- God has scattered His gifts among His people so that all of them may see how much they need each other (1 Cor 12:12-26). In this way God humbles His people, and He gets all the glory.
