Wanna discover your freedom in Christ? Then listen in as Mike Stone and Kevin Smith talk about it today on Grace Coach. Welcome to Grace Coach. This is Kevin Smith with my best friend, Mike Stone, and we're here to talk about Romans chapter 12. What's up, Mike?

How you how you doing today? Doing good. Glad to get into 12. So I'm gonna read twelve one. 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. So, you know, I think there's three things here that Paul is highlighting just in this one sentence to talk about: God's mercy, that we're to live as a living sacrifice Mhmm. And that this way of living as a sacrificial person is your true and proper worship. I mean, how would you, Kevin, how would you describe God's mercy? What does that mean to you?

Well, it's so funny you say it because what I was thinking about was the difference between mercy and grace. Grace is something that we get, but we don't deserve. Mercy is not getting what we do deserve. This is the other thing on this verse when it says I don't know what your version says. Mine says, the mercies, plural, of God.

God's mercies are new every day, and we need God's mercies new every day. Alright? Because we're two steps forward, one step backwards, and we have to remind ourselves and praise God, we're not getting what we deserve. Right? We're getting grace.

We're getting God's lavish love on us. That's grace. We're not getting what we do deserve. We're not getting death. The wages of sin is death.

We're not getting that. That is right. And we have received eternal life. Absolutely. This is the other thing that jumped out at me at this.

You know, I'm I'm reading this verse right now where it says in this book, in this bible, this version, it says acceptable to God. But what I was reading the other day, I was reading a version that said pleasing to God. Okay? And so the question that I have for all of us is, do we see ourselves as pleasing to God? Even acceptable?

Do we see ourselves as acceptable to God? Because it says we're a living sacrifice that's holy and pleasing and acceptable to God. So I I want to encourage all of us to own this verse for yourself personally. Don't just read over it. Own this verse.

You are a acceptable and pleasing offering to God, not because you're trying to grind it out, but holy and solely because of Jesus Christ. I wanna read first Peter one three. It says, praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. From the dead.

And so what did we deserve? Spiritual death, separation from God, but in God's great mercy, we have received new birth by faith when we put our faith in Jesus, and that happened through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Amen. It says also in Romans nine sixteen that we read in a few podcasts ago, it does not therefore depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy. And then so many of us, and all of us, we, you and I, at years ago, before we understood the grace of God, we thought it did depend on human effort, our effort Mhmm.

And our desire. Yeah. But it always depended on God's mercy. Always depends on God's mercy. Alright.

The other thing that jumped out at me was just the the way Paul writes this, it is a process. It is our life. It's not a you have arrived this day. Even though when we were born again, the day that we understood and put our faith in Christ, we were transformed. We were transformed from death to life.

So that happened one time for everyone who's a believer, the the church at large. But what he's describing here, this whole living sacrifice, it's a process. We're living this out. You know? So it is going to be a two steps forward, one steps backwards journey.

But the beautiful thing is God is with us a %. He never turns us his back on us. You know, we've heard the whole swivel guys in a swivel chair. When you do a, b, or c, he turns his back on you. We are clean and close in our relationship with God because of Jesus Christ.

Yeah. And we all often think of sacrifices not as a living sacrifice, but dead sacrifices, such as Jesus died on the cross as a blood sacrifice, but he he did that to take away our sins, the sins of the world. He sacrificed himself, or the sacrifices in the Old Testaments of the blood of bulls and goats in the Old Testament. Yep. But a living sacrifice, we don't think about that very much and what that means.

And yet God is calling us to live this way, which I think is just, hey, make yourself available to others as a living sacrifice. You may not want to do this or do that or go here or go there. God wants us to give up our fleshly needs and desires and live as a living sacrifice and make ourselves available to other people. Now that might be many things. It might be within your family, your neighborhood.

It might just be preaching the gospel, giving up some of your time for others or to do what we're doing on this podcast. We're making ourselves available to help others. I was listen I was reading the message bible in this verse, and Eugene Peterson alright. Let me see. He wrote what you just said in a beautiful way.

Basically, you're waking up, you're walking around, you're, you know, going to work life. You know, he had a couple other little things he said in it, but it was just the the everyday routine. It's like nothing it's not like we're going to the temple to sac make a sacrifice for worship. What he was point he was trying to make was everything you do, you're washing the dishes, you're cutting the grass, you're going to work, you're going to church, everything is worship, is your spiritual service of worship. And so it's just a beautiful way that he wrote it that I just Yes.

And how many times will you will you hear somebody talk about worship that way, of making yourselves available to other people? People talk Christians talk about going to church, and they're doing that to worship God. Well, if you want to worship God, you make yourself available as a living sacrifice. This is holy and pleasing to God because it's a loving thing to do and really a great way to build relationships with others. Yes.

Yes. It is. Amen. Kevin, why don't you take verse two here? Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Alright. I love this. The renewing of your mind. For me, Kevin, this goes on almost, I would say, minute by minute, but within the hour as while I'm awake, I I I have these resets where I'm thinking something, and I'm like, no. That's not what you wanna think about today, Mike, or for this moment.

And I would say there's five to 10 resets a day in my mind. Absolutely. You know what I'm saying? And so this renewing of your mind really is a constant thing for a born again Christian. This is not like, oh, I renewed my mind, and I'm good to go and, you know, see you next week.

No. This is a day by day, hourly, hour by hour thing for a born again Christian, and it's through the word of God. Yes. That's what's renewing our minds is the truth of the word of God. What jumped out of me was the first part of it, not be conformed to this world.

Alright? We often we often talk about the transformation and renewal of our mind, but the conforming of this world, what I was thinking about in that regard was the fact of how Satan has deceived well, Satan is a deceiver in general. And how he deceives us is that our conforming to the world is going to please us and make us happy. And that doing the things of the world are better than what God. It's like the Adam and Eve story.

You know? Hey. Eat this apple and and you'll know, you know, have the knowledge of truth. Right? And it's all from way back in the garden to this very day, he is trying to deceive and tempt us to think that the things of this world are going to please us.

Yeah. And that has a big blank at the end of it. And what I mean by that, that you'll be happy when you finally get this. I'll be happy when she does that. Or Yes.

I get more sales. I'll be happy when I have more money. What does Paul say in Philippians four eleven? I have learned to be content in whatever the circumstances. So that's a battle always going on of wanting something, working to get something.

There's nothing wrong with working. No. It's a great thing to work and work hard at something. Yes. But we tend to, like, fill in the blank, I'll be happy, just like you said, when this or that happens.

Well, I I'll just get I'll get a little bit personal here. Just today, god convicted me on this. I'm the crypto, and we look at it. And I was just like, how much am I depending on this for my happiness? And I just kinda went down that thought path for a bit, and I'm just like, all right.

This is not going to ultimately make me happy. I mean, yeah, it's a tool, and it can be used for good just like anything, but you can't let think the things of this world think that they're going to make you happy. Yeah. You you don't you don't want those thoughts when you're about to go do a podcast. How about this one?

I wonder what tomorrow will bring. You know? It's like somebody sitting around. I wonder what'll happen tomorrow. Oh, boy.

And Matthew Matthew six thirty four says, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. So this is what I'm talking about, taking these thoughts we have and resetting them with the truth of the Word of God. But you have to know the word of God to replace these thoughts with. Yes. You know, error.

Truth sets you free, and error puts you in bondage. And these fleshly thoughts that we all have, and we're gonna have them until we die, are only dispelled with the truth of the word of God. But that's the renewing of our mind. Yeah. I've I've heard it said that, you know, we have thousands of thoughts every day.

Like, you're just saying, you have to reset, you know, five or six times. I would imagine it's probably way more than five or six times a day based on the number of overall thoughts that we get that we just have to, like, disregard. Okay. X that one out. It's no good for me.

Yeah. It's That thought is no good for me. You know, first John two fifteen says, do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in them, which is kind of saying the same thing as, Romans two, do not conform to the pattern of this world, which is, I think you just mentioned it, that's the world's hostility towards God. Yes.

Absolutely. Yeah. So that's something that, you know, we could really pray for, to ask God to help us renew our minds with truth that will set us free and that it becomes more and more a reality in our lives. That's my prayer. You know?

Yeah. It's a constant. Alright. Shall we read get out to chat verse three? Yeah.

Why don't you take that? Alright. For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body, we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function. So we, though many Can we stop?

We'd Sure. After verse three. Let's talk about verse three. Okay. Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought.

Now that goes against just about everything of who we are, and who we think we are, because that's what we tend to do. That's our natural thinking Mhmm. Is to think more highly than we ought to about ourselves. You know, I mentioned the message by by Eugene Peterson earlier. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

That's thinking in sober judgment about ourselves. Yes. Philippians two:three says, Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourself. That's just a better way to live.

Even though that doesn't seem possible. Like, of course, it's not possible to do all day long. Right? But just to ask God to teach us that others are more valuable than ourselves. Yes.

That goes against every human thought. Especially for all of us living in America. It's all about me. Well, let's take Romans twelve four through seven. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ, we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to the other.

We have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith. If it's serving, then serve. If it is teaching, then teach. If it is encouragement, then do that.

If it is giving, then give generously. If it is to lead, do it diligently. If it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. So I love that we're all in this one body as born again Christians, and that we belong to one another. Mhmm.

I remember going to conferences where Bob George was doing communion with everybody at the conference, and he took one loaf, and he passed the loaf around. Everybody took a bite of the loaf, and at the end, the loaf was gone because everybody had taken a piece of it. And as we passed it along, we said to each other that we belong to Christ and we belong to one another. And then we all took the bread and we ate the bread, and that bread that came from one loaf was now inside of all of us Mhmm. Which is a great picture of Christ now living in you, living in me, living in everyone here.

It was a beautiful picture. Instead of taking broken up crackers and you know, at a church service and giving it out, you take one loaf and distribute it to all the members, and now Christ is in us. It it was just beautiful. Yeah. It's a beautiful picture.

It it's basically our shared identity in Christ. You know, he is in all of us, and it's through that just transformation that, he enables us to live out that calling in in our lives and to serve one another. It's it's an amazing, amazing thing. Yeah. You know, the other piece to this is the word let.

The word let is like seven times in verses six six through eight. And it's basically, you know, let the spirit of God flow through you. You know, if you've got the the gift of teaching, let that spirit flow through you. If you've got the gift of generosity, let that spirit flow through you. You know, it's it's just a beautiful you know, God's not gonna force himself on you.

He's he wants to shine through you. He wants your light to be on top of a hill, not under the bushel basket. But it's it's really about letting him flow through you in the gifts he's given to you. It says, you know, the gifts that he's given to us all by the measure of faith that God has assigned. So God has given us all gifts, and he wants us to let those gifts flow to the world to show his love.

It's so nice to know that you don't have to do it all. Yes. That Christ is living in you for you to give your gift to somebody, and it takes pressure off of me where I feel maybe my gift is to help others understand the grace of God. I don't have these all these other gifts, and quite frankly, I'm glad about that. It would be too much pressure on one person to be able to do everything.

Well, it's the picture of the church. You know, we all have different gifts, and it makes up the whole church. And you look at the church, just the the local church I'm talking about, just all the gifts it takes to make a church function, you know, as we all gather together and exercise our gifts, that's the local church. Yeah. And it's a very loving thing to do.

Why don't you read Romans twelve nine to 18, Kevin. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection.

Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in true relation, be constant in prayer, contribute to the needs of the saints, and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, and bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, live in harmony with one another.

Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. What create counseling?

How about it? For not only two people, but a family or a neighborhood or a membership of some sort or a business. If if we took these things here in nine through 18 and I love a nine where it says love must be sincere. It can't be some dog and pony show. It's got to be real and sincere from your heart.

Can't be motivated by what I get out of it. Yeah, that's not love. That's selfishness. That's self. Yep.

Love must be sincere is where we're really making ourselves available to somebody and really cheering for them and wanting them to persevere and do well and to teach them about the gospel. There's no other way. If you don't understand the fullness of the gospel here, these things will never happen. No. You'll be doing things for the with the wrong motives.

Yeah. If you think that Christ only forgives you when you ask him for or you do good deeds, which now the reason why you're doing good deeds is so that Christ would forgive you. Right. That's the wrong motive. You treat people like that.

There are people. There are Christians like that. If you're That's the way you got God if that's the way you relate to God, that's the way you're gonna relate to other people. Exactly. I see.

You know, whenever I see somebody angry, right, without getting to know them, and I see an anger in them, I know that that's how they view God, as a big ogre in the sky. Without even getting into it, I know where that comes from. The love of God is what is the renewing of our mind here, and I think that's what Paul is trying to teach us. Yeah. This this for I always think of, the story of Paul on his missionary journeys when I read, if possible, so far as it depends on you to live peaceably with all.

You know, Paul was, you know, one of his I don't remember all of his I know he went on three missionary journeys, but at one of them, he split up with Barnabas because they had a little, you know, argument. Right? They didn't wanna take Mark with them. Yeah. Exactly.

And so, you know, they had to split up, but Paul did as much as he could to, you know, reconcile with Barnabas, but they just had a splitting of the ways, and they just, you know, hey. You go your way. I'll go my way. Alright. I'm gonna read Kevin twelve nineteen to 21.

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath. For it is written, it is mine to avenge. I will repay, says the Lord. On the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this, you'll heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Thank you for listening to Grace Coach. If you want to connect with us, we would love to engage with you. Email us at thegracecoach@gmail.com, visit our Facebook page, or visit our website gracecoach.org.