Romans Series Part Six Finding Spiritual Health; Daily Exercises Romans By Lester Zimmerman

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1 Romans Series Part Six Finding Spiritual Health; Daily Exercises Romans By Lester Zimmerman This morning is part six and the last of the series we have been doing on the book of Romans. We have been using the theme of Spiritual Health for this series. Just as there are things we need to pay attention to in order to remain physically healthy so we need to pay attention to some things to stay spiritually healthy. In this series we looked at the Spiritual Diagnosis God gives to us. Which is -We have all sinned and we are all separated from God. We looked at The Cure or remedy to our sin condition which is putting our faith in Jesus death and shed blood for the forgiveness of our sins. We explored the root cause to our sin problem which is a sin nature we inherited from Adam. We learned what it means to be In Christ and the importance of making good choices. We were challenged with the Apostle Paul s passion for the lost and his love for Israel. We can believe for a miracle for no one is beyond the reach of God s saving grace. And this morning we wrap up this series by focusing on the last part of Romans. In this section Paul now moves from the doctrinal to the practical as he gives us some everyday living instructions. We are told how to exercise our faith in practical ways. He tells us how to walk in the freedom Christ has given us so we don t fall back into bondage. I have entitled this message Daily Exercises. When I was discharged from the hospital they told me it is important for me to keep exercising in order to remain healthy and not end up back in the hospital. Christianity is not a weekend activity but a daily exercise of our faith. In the passage this morning Paul describes what a transformed life looks like. This morning we look in the mirror to see how we compare to Paul s description of a person whose life has been transformed by the power of God. Transformation is a process so the reality is we all have some growing to do. Paul shares these things not to make us feel guilty this morning but to call us up to our full potential in Christ. Read Romans 12:1

2 1. In response to all that Christ has done for us our response is total surrender to his will. Chapter 12 begins with the word therefore. In view of all that we looked at in the previous chapters, in view of this amazing mercy what is our response? Our reasonable response is to offer our whole body or being to him. Our reasonable response is to live to please him. THIS IS TRUE WORSHIP. Several times Paul mentions that pleasing God is our goal. There is a big difference between doing things for God to try and earn our salvation and doing things out of a heart of gratitude to please him. I know God loves me but he is not always pleased with what I say and do. My goal is to live to please him in all areas of my life. I need the Holy Spirit to help me do this out of a pure love response to his amazing grace in my life. As I come to grips with how total lost I was and how deep God s great mercy is toward me my act of worship is to give my life as a living sacrifice Here I am Lord - what do you want to do with my life- how do you want me to live I am totally yours I surrender all of me to all of you. Ex. I remember struggling with this issue of total surrender in life as a young man. I had a conditional arrangement with God. I never verbalized this but this is what I said in my heart - I will follow you but I have two conditions. I want to get married and I don t want to be sent to Africa other than that, I m all yours. But the fact is Jesus doesn t make those kind of bargains with us. To call him Lord means you have experienced Roman 12:1 in your life. You have totally surrender your life to Jesus. Is Jesus really Lord of your life or do you serve him with certain conditions? To be Lord means he has all of you. The fact is we can trust him to lead us into our destiny. He wants us to succeed in life and will come alongside of us and help us. So total surrender is not a scary thing but a smart thing. We go through many times of deeper surrender as the Holy Spirit does his work in our life. But there is a fundamental point of surrender we all need to come to if we want to be counted as one of his disciples. Have you come to that point? If not, then the God of Self is still on the throne of your life. Read Romans 12:2 2. When we fully surrender we can then be fully transformed. The Greek word for transformed is the root word for metamorphosis. Just like a butterfly we are changed from the inside out. The old is gone and the new has come.

3 Our metamorphosis or Christian life begins with a surrendered heart which leads to a renewed mind which leads to a transformed life. Our values and lifestyle becomes more and more counter culture as we follow Jesus. The world is trying hard to squeeze and pressure us to fit in to its mold or pattern of thinking and living. Paul says don t conform to the pattern of this world. There are two patterns before us and we conform to one or the other. One is the pattern of this world and the other is the pattern of God. Now for transformation to take place, our minds need to be renewed after the pattern of God s way of thinking. If our minds are not renewed we will always revert back to old patterns and ways. This means we need to have both a new heart and a renewed mind to live a victorious life. In other words once we surrender our life to Christ as a new believer we need to train our mind to think in a new way. The reason some Christians struggle and even fall back is because they never took the effort to retrain their minds to think biblically. They just tried to act Christian but that doesn t last if our minds are not renewed or rewired by the Holy Spirit. How do we renew our minds?. The reading and study of scripture rewires our brain. Every time you read the bible you mind is renewed a bit more. We begin to respond and act differently than we did before. This is critical. Because simply becoming a Christian does not automatically renew your mind. That is something you need to do. Being discipled in our faith by other Christians is key to having our minds renewed we need things modeled and we need people to encourage us. We need people to speak into our lives when we are responding to un-renewed ways of thinking. Asking the question What would Jesus do is helpful in renewing our mind from old patterns. Before Christ my response might be to really tell a person off but stopping and saying What would Jesus do? helps to retrain my mind. Paul says when our life is transformed we will then discover the good, pleasing and perfect will of God for our life. In Vs We then begin to flow in the gifts and callings God has given to us. Reference Romans 12:9-21 -In these verses Paul continues to describe the transformed life. 3. When we are transformed we become more loving toward others and less selfcentered. We are to be sincere in how we relate to each other stop the charades, remove the masks, stop the platitudes and insincere smiles. Stop the religious token expressions of caring and really begin to commit ourselves to each other in ways that make a difference. He says Jesus people love their enemies and learn how to overcome evil with good.

4 Let s share our lives with each other by making meaningful time for each other where we can build a sense of community. Are you in any kind of community with other Christians? For those enjoying community we need to make room in our lives and groups for people who need our friendship. If our group gets too full will we be other-centered enough to find ways to expand or multiply our group. We also want our lives to be enriched by people who grew up different then us instead of just hanging out with people like us. This is what a transformed surrendered life looks like. Read Romans 13: When we are transformed we become more respectful toward authorities in our lives. These verses are amazing in light of what was happening in Paul s day. The Roman authority was an occupying force. They could be very brutal. The ruler Nero was totally corrupt, murdered his step brother to gain his position. He is described as a monster of cruelty and lust. The empire was steeped in sexual perversion. They were persecuting and killing Christians. There was unfair taxation. Yet Paul s word is a really good word for us today as well. We don t have near the problem of a Nero. How are we Christians to respond to an increasingly secular and anti Chrsitian government? Paul says we need to understand that all authority originates with God even when man abuses that authority. You can respect authority without agreeing with them. Who are the authority people in your life? How do you relate to them and speak of them when they are not around? Transformed people respect authority. Paul does not address the issue of civil disobedience when the government passes laws to restrict the gospel. The disciples at times disobeyed the laws in order to obey God s higher decree. There are times we must obey God rather than man. Even then I believe Paul is saying we need to guard our hearts. Reference Romans 13: Paul goes on in chapter 13 to talk about living moral lives. 5. When we are transformed our moral standard changes. In verse 14 Paul cautions us to not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. If a person s moral compass does not change toward holiness there is either a pseudo-conversion or the mind has still not been renewed which can eventually lead the person back into bondage.

5 Read Romans 14: A transformed person is less judgmental on secondary issues and is willing to make adjustments so others do not stumble. In verse 1 Paul calls these secondary issues disputable matters. They are not moral issues or matters of salvation. We are to only make judgments about those things the bible clearly calls sin. We are to judge sinful behavior. But there are a lot of areas that are more a matter of conscience then a clear moral issue of sin. Paul mentions the issue of vegetarians. Because it was difficult to find kosher meat people became vegetarians. Then there was the issue of the observance of holy days and whether is was ok to buy meat at the market that may have been offer to an idol before being sold, or whether Christians should be drinking wine. Paul gives two principles for transformed people to live by on these secondary issues that tend to divide us. 1 Stop judging each other and allow God to deal with each of our hearts. 2- Let your actions be ruled by love instead of self-interest. Meaning if your freedom is causing another to stumble in their faith be loving enough to limit your freedom for their sake. A renewed mind and heart fully surrendered to God is able to do this instead of demanding my rights. Our normal response is that it is not our problem. The individual needs to deal with his or her issue. And that might be true but there are times God asked me to make adjustments on my end for the sake of others. If my life is fully surrendered and God asked me to do so, it becomes part of my worship of God to obey and deny myself for a brother or sister. I think Paul is referring to things that actually cause people to stumble in their faith rather than just offending a mature Christian. But we need to have a heart of love in both cases. You soon know how renewed your mind and heart is when you struggle with giving up your freedom for the sake of another. Romans 15:1 is a good verse to keep in mind on this issue. We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Read Romans 15: A transformed person helps create a spirit of unity. Some people are EGN people. Extra Grace Needed. They always have a personal agenda. Always find fault with something. Always negative. Their world revolves around them. Then you have EGG people. Extra Grace Givers. They have opinions and ideas but they are not pushy. They are willing to lay down their agenda to build the unity of the team and a reach a common goal. Paul is saying this is the trait of a transformed person.

6 Conclusion: We have just gone through the book or Romans and pulled out some of the main themes. The book of Romans is the story of mankind s brokenness and God s love and redeeming power. It is the story of both hopelessness and new found hope. It is the story of how to find and keep spiritual health. It is the story of transformation that keeps happening over and over again as people find Jesus. Before I close with Paul s closing blessing at the end of his letter Word s of Knowledge. Paul ends his letter in Chapter 16 with various greetings to people and then closes his letter with this powerful blessing..everyone stand. Romans 16:25-27 Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him-- to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.