SET APART: In the Way We Think

The world encourages us to “look out for number one,” to make a name for ourselves. “If you don’t look out for number one, who will?” But living for Christ changes the way we think.   As followers of Christ, our thinking changes as we “reset” to focus on Christ as we grow in our love and service to Christ by loving and serving others.

Paul wrote his letter to the church in Rome during his second visit to Corinth. He used the first eleven chapters of the epistle to show his readers the wonderful plan of salvation that God has provided in Jesus Christ. Beginning in chapter 12, he taught the practical, everyday principles of how a Christian is to think, speak, and act.  We look in this study at Romans 12:1-5,9-13.

Before we begin what Paul wants to teach us, let’s take a rabbit trail a short distance and look at the concept of “sacrifice”.  The etymology of the word is from Latin "performing priestly functions or sacrifices," "a making sacred," from sacra meaning "sacred rites"; it indicates, "the offering of something to a deity as an act of drawing nearer to deity.”  Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since the ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and most likely before that.

Generally, sacrifice was something given up for the sake of another, an act of giving up a desirable thing for a higher more pressing claim.  The common perception is something like “sacrifice is a payment to God to draw near to God so that he can better hear what I want God to do.”  But there is more to it that that.

When was the first sacrifice in the Bible?

The first sacrifice in the Bible happens in Genesis where it was actually God who made the first sacrifice. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve, after their encounter with sin, were embarrassed and were wearing clothes made of fig leaves. God offered to give them something more suitable to wear and sacrificed an animal to make the clothing.  In the Hebrew Bible, the primary Hebrew term is qorbān (something brought forward, offering), which indicates the basic ancient Israelite understanding of this activity. Ancient Israelites offered their animals back to God, usually as a “type of clothing” to “cover their sins” from God’s perception.  It might be thought of as “God, you sacrificed your animal(s) to provide to cover my sins so that my nakedness will not be obvious.  Now, let ME sacrifice my animal(s) to cover my sins from you so that my nakedness will not be obvious.”

The priests would carry out such sacrifices in ritualistic manner.  They 1) slaughtered and dismembered animals, 2) spread blood on the altar, and 3) put the animal parts on the wood of the fire on the altar, turning them to smoke so they could rise to Yahweh. In general there are three kinds of sacrifice:

Most common is “Sacrifice for yourself.” It is bringing something forward that YOU need for some reason.  Think about sports training – you work hard in order to improve your strength and skill, or like administrative management such as Pharaoh who made the sacrifice of storing food during years of plenty so that there will be enough to eat during years of famine. He gives up enjoying the harvest now so that he and his people will have enough food later.  It is the payment of something now for the benefit of yourself in the future.

Less common is “Sacrifice for others.”  Think about doing chores – you give up your free time in order to help out your family. Or like Moses’ mother who sends away her baby and agrees to have him be raised in the Pharaoh’s palace in order to protect him. She gives up being close to her son in order to keep him safe; or Hannah giving up Samuel in keeping with her vow to God.

Hardly common it seems, is “Sacrifice to come close to God.”  The Hebrew religion viewed this in the setting of performing selfless, righteous acts so that others may have a better life.  Kind of like God’s sacrifice so that Adam and Eve could wear clothes and feel better about themselves.  While most, it seems, sacrificed to “come close to God” as a means to “prove” that they were worthy of God’s love, Paul will teach us about “coming close to God” in the sense of “restoring our walk with God, as it was in the Garden of Eden” Though spiritual sacrifices.

Here’s a quick summary of the ritualistic sacrificial system in the Bible:

• A group of people called the priests were the only ones who were allowed to make sacrifices to bring people close to God. 

• The priests would make sacrifices for themselves, for other individual Jews, or for the entire Jewish people.

• These sacrifices were called korbanot. The word korban means “something which draws close.” Their purpose was to bring people closer to God.

• The kohanim would offer sacrifices  every day during the evening, morning, and afternoon services or on holidays and whenever someone else (who wasn’t a kohen) would want help making a sacrifice of their own.

• There were three basic kinds of sacrifices: Animals, grain, and money. Animals would be killed, grain would be burned, and money would be donated.

• The priests were called “those who come close to the Eternal” in Exodus 19:22, showing that their job of offering sacrifices involves closing the distance between human beings and God. Indeed, God tells Moses to build a sanctuary where the sacrifices are offered so that God can “dwell among” the people of Israel. 

So, offering sacrifices was one way of bringing God and the Israelites closer together, but what are spiritual sacrifices?  It is doing what is righteous, spiritual conduct that honors God. When you do any righteous thing it is a spiritual sacrifice that glorifies God.  As Christians, our spiritual sacrifices are performed in the name of Christ, demonstrating that drawing closer to Christ’s teachings brings us closer to God.

Paul addresses these concepts in Romans.  Let’s see what Paul has to teach us.

Romans 12:1-2

1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.

2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Because we, as individuals, have chosen to dedicate ourselves to learning and living the teachings of Christ, we are to be set apart with a renewed mind. We are to stop thinking in our “old” way, and instead be “filled with the Spirit” in order to behave, and live life, in the ways of God.  We live for Jesus, set apart from the many distractions of this world. 

Paul urged his brothers and sisters in Christ to present themselves as living sacrifices to God. The Holy Spirit is right beside us urging us to do as Jesus taught.  God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are for us. Our Triune God is deeply invested in our growth and blessing. We are to present ourselves to Jesus, and to God who sees us as unblemished because of Jesus’ redeeming blood that was shed to take away our sin. Commonly many believe that’s the end of the story.

But the Christian life doesn’t end when we are saved; that is just the beginning. The process of sanctification continues throughout our lives. It is the daily process of Jesus molding us to be more like Him. From the moment we are saved, Jesus leads us to follow Him, becoming more like Him in character. The call is for us to accept the challenge of growing in godliness and availing ourselves of His power so that we can become more like Him. Our growth requires effort and cooperation.

Paul told us to present your bodies as a living sacrifice. We don’t just bring our stuff in an effort to draw closer to God, we bring our whole selves.  We CHOOSE to allow God to use our bodies, our total self, as tools in His hands for His work. Paul helps us understand that our bodies are God’s temple — the place where God dwells among his people.

The words holy and pleasing used by Paul describe the kind of sacrifice we are to give to the Lord as we live each day focused on Him. Holy means different.  The first century temple was considered different than Solomon’s Temple, which was different than the Tabernacle at Shilo, which was was, in a way, different than the wilderness Tabernacle as it was made “more permanent, but still temporary” or from other structures used by humanity. We are called to draw closer to God by being different from the rest of humanity.  For Christians, it means our lives are to be different from those who don’t know the Lord.  Pleasing, or more accurately well-pleasing, means acceptable. So our lives are to be different and well-pleasing to God.

Living a holy and a life pleasing to God is an act of true worship.  More than just worshiping on Sundays, Paul was saying we are to truly worship God every day of the week by working and serving as Jesus would. Paul urged, do not be conformed to this age. Conformed means to fashion alike or resemble. God wants us to be unlike the world (this age) around us, and He wants us to be like Christ, holy in an unholy world. 

He calls for us to be transformed the original word from which we get metamorphosis and means changed or changing form in keeping with inner reality. Christ changes us and keeps on changing us, continually transforming us to be more like Him.  Paul further instructed believers to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. He starts the process of renewing our minds.  We must allow Jesus to do renewing, sanctifying work in our minds daily. Our thinking should be aligned with Philippians 4:8. In that verse, Paul clearly outlined what we as Christians should be thinking about. 

Discern  means to try or test to show something is acceptable and good. By thinking Christ’s thoughts, praying for His direction, and submitting to His thinking for our daily lives, we discern that His teaching for us is good, pleasing to Him, and altogether perfect.

Paul is telling us, in a nutshell, change your thinking, change your minds, choose to live by Christ’s teachings and offer your body, your self, to God in order to draw closer to God.

Next, Paul gives us some examples.

Romans 12:3-5

3 For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.

4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function,

5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.

Because of God’s work to transform us, we are called to use the time, talents, and abilities He has given us for His glory and in the service of His kingdom.  Paul continued to explain how we are to think of ourselves. The word think means to evaluate, consider, judge, seek for, observe, and care for. We must daily trust the Lord to help us think humbly and correctly about ourselves, rather than taking our cues from what the world says we should be or by listening to the lies of the enemy, who tempts us toward pride or despair. 

The words more highly are where we get words like “hype,” “hyperbole,” and “hyper.” The meaning here is to be unduly proud, having thoughts that go beyond reasonable limits. We can easily fall into Satan’s trap of thinking that we are better than someone else just because they don’t dress, talk, think, or act like us. Rather than ranking one another, we are to reach out in love and humility to one another, especially fellow Christians, lovingly encouraging one another toward greater maturity in Christ. 

Paul also instructed us to think sensibly. Sensibly  means being sober-minded, self-controlled, and having judgment that is solid. It means to have “sound judgment”. 

Paul compared the human body with the body of believers—the body of Christ, that is, the worldwide church. Just as our ears cannot do what our eyes do, so we cannot all be preachers, teachers, deacons, or choir members. But we all have work to do for Jesus based on how God has gifted us.

Perhaps a good paraphrase of this passage might be “quit thinking of yourselves as superior to anyone or anything.  Grow up!  Mature into good beings.  Each individual called by God has their own measure of faith in God and God uses each individual to meet the needs of God’s creation.  This makes us members of the Kingdom of Heaven and each part, like the parts of a body, have different functions.  YOUR function is not superior to any other function. Recognize that the faithful are part of the Kingdom of Heaven serving for God.”

Finally, Paul gives us some specific examples.

Romans 12:9-13

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good.

10 Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another.

11 Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord.

12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.

13 Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality.

We are to be set apart in our love and attitude toward others. The Lord expects us to do our work effectively alongside those who are our Christian brothers and sisters at the local level. We each have our separate tasks, talents, assignments, and abilities, enhancing our efforts as we encourage and help one another. 

Paul admonished his readers to love . . . without hypocrisy the word for “acting”.  Our love for others is not a politically correct mask to wear so that it seems that you have love.  Rather, we should genuinely love one another not being pretentious in any way. 

Paul encouraged believers to love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. In the Greek, love here means endearment for, and devotion to the wellbeing of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  The word honoring here carries the meaning of valuing a person. So, we value and show love for our Christian brothers and sisters when we, for example, drop what we are doing to tend to a fellow believer’s physical, emotional, or spiritual needs. 

Paul added that believers should be persistent in prayer. The term persistent means to be continuously doing something. Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray constantly.” Obviously, we can’t pray while we are sleeping, but during our waking hours we can be in a constant attitude of prayer, bringing the Lord to mind again and again. Persistent prayer also means continuing in prayer despite the challenges we face.

Finally, the end of verse 13 says to pursue hospitality. Pursue here means we are to practice hospitality, that is, we are to be welcoming toward strangers. Much as we are to be genuine in our love for one another, we are to be genuine in our welcoming of others.

Paul teaches us that we are set apart.  Renewed thinking leads to living differently and we become more like Christ in our thoughts and actions.  WE become the sacrifice, living our lives for God demonstrating to others the goodness of God’s provisions for us, and inviting them to participate.