Romans 12-16

​Today we read the closing 5 chapters of Romans. This part of the letter by Paul, is him showing how the theology of chapters 1-11 should play out in action. You could say that chapters 12-16 is Paul’s discourse on how to make better disciples. I find it interesting that Paul lays out the Gospel for his readers in the first part, then shows in the second part how the Gospel must affect the life of a convert. 12:1-2 is the opening lines of the second half of the book. These 2 verses are also a broad heading for everything else that follows. Let me give a few examples…
 
“Living sacrifices…belong to everyone else in the body and are not their own” (12:1, 12:5)
 
“Living sacrifices…are subject to the authorities God has placed in their lives” (12:1, 13:1)
 
“Living sacrifices…consider those who are weaker in the faith” (12:1, 14:1)
 
“Living sacrifices…accept one another as Jesus does” (12:1, 15:7)
 
“Living sacrifices…do not cause divisions in the body” (12:1, 16:17)
 
So Paul in the section we read through today is telling us what it means to be living sacrifices. Jesus is the greatest living sacrifice and if we claim to love Him, we must look like Him and also be living sacrifices. We need to ask ourselves today, does every action and word I do, show to the world around me that I am a living sacrifice and an image bearer of the greatest Sacrifice?