Jan. 7, 2025

Romans 12:1-2 A New Interpretation

Romans 12:1-2 A New Interpretation

We work to build a new interpretation of Romans 12:1-2

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We work to build a new interpretation of Romans 12:1-2

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good morning everyone.

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It is Tuesday, January the seventh, twenty twenty five. It

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is currently ten forty five am Central Time, and I'm

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coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located

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right here in Abilene, Texas. Well, yesterday we talked about

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it being a brand new year and I offered a

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brand new interpretation. Now I didn't receive a lot of

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feedback from that. I think that what we did was

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pretty important, pretty significant. I think it was pretty interesting.

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So hopefully people are still processing it, still trying to

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figure out if they agree with my new interpretation. So

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I did that yesterday, and then I came here today

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and I was like, well, you know, what do I

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do today? And I had some ideas. I was looking

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at an article that was claiming of you know, that

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was trying to outline the five different ways Satan tries

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to keep Christians from going to church, and there was

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a lot of logical issues with it, and I'm like, well,

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I could probably take this apart, and I want to

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do that. Then I saw that there was a brand

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new sermon on the sermon's two point oh app I

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believe on Psalm one thirty five, and I'm like, oh,

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that could be interesting. I could listen to a little

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bit of that. Maybe I could do a we could

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do like a chapter summary method of some one thirty

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five live on the air. That would be interesting, and

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so I kind of wanted to do that, but then

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I was like, well, you know, if you really go

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back to the message from yesterday, A New Year, A

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New Interpretation. I didn't really get to the new interpretation

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to almost fifty minutes into that broadcast because we were

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reviewing a sermon. I think there the sermon review really

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set everything up for the new interpretation perfectly. But a

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lot of people will see the episode entitled A New Year,

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a New Interpretation. They'll start listening to the beginning of it,

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going oh, this is just a typical sermon review, and

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they'll turn it off and they'll never get to the

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new interpretation. And I really want people to hear the

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new interpretation. So I'm like, well, let me spend some

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more time fleshing out trying to create an exegetical study

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based off my A New interpretation, and then let's just

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do an entire hour plus working through it. So that's

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what we're going to attempt to do, and hopefully it's

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going to be beneficial and we'll get to all of that,

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but first we have to do something. We have to

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do something here. All right, just as I was going

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live on the air, literally, I mean I think I

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had just hit the button to go live, I received

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an email. All right. I received this at ten thirty five,

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so just right before. So I guess, technically, if I'm

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being as accurate as I can be, right before I

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hit the button to go live, press the button to

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go live, I receive this email. This email begins this way.

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Are you ready? Here we go? Here's the email, right

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because it's entitled sermon and I'm like, oh, okay, is

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someone sending me a sermon? What's going on here? So

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here is the email? Happy New Year. Just want to

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drop you a note of encouragement to let you know

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I really enjoy your teachings. Well, thank you so very much.

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It's always good to open your inbox and get a

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note of encouragement. Trust me, it is because you get it. Look,

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sometimes if I'm either on looking at comments on YouTube

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or comments here whatever platform, because there's a lot of

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different platforms where people can leave comments, and a lot

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of times I don't even see them till like six

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months later, and I'll stumble upon the comment, going, whoa,

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they definitely did not like what I had to say.

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So it's always good to open up your email box

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and be like, ah, good, a little bit of encouragement.

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So that's great. Then they go on to say, having

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said that, though, oh no, oh no, no no no.

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As soon as I that's basically saying, hey, I want

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to send you a note of encouragement, but which you

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know what that means? That negates everything that comes before.

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So having said that, though, uh oh, what's going to

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come next? It seems like you have started spending much

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more time critiquing other sermons as a part of your

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interpretations of Biblical passages. I understand what you're doing, but

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it takes away from the time that we get to

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hear your insights on the scriptures. Okay, I understand this.

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A couple of things I just want to point out.

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Number one, the sermon reviews obviously increased in number in

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twenty twenty four because what was the key of what

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was the theme of twenty twenty four. What was really

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the thing that drove the entire podcast in twenty twenty four,

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It was the Sermons two point oh app sermon challenge.

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I was getting everyone to download the sermons two point

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oh app look for random sermons. I went through all

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of the things I told everyone to do, and if

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you were listening to random sermons, I told everyone I

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would be doing the exact same thing for the exact

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same challenge. The only difference is I would be listening

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to my sermons live on the air. So if I

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was going to actually participate in the challenge, then there

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was going to have to be a considerable number of reviews.

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In fact, if I look back in twenty twenty four,

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the thing that probably I felled at as I should

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have done far more reviews because that was the theme

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of the entire year. Really it became about that. But

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if you but here's what you have to take note of.

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Many of those so called critiques, and they weren't even

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supposed to be critiques. They were really just supposed to be, Hey,

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I'm listening to a sermon. You're listening to a sermon,

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and then we're discussing it. More than a critique. I

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don't necessarily, like I tried to constantly say, this is

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not about me critiquing the sermon. It's about us listening

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and talking about it, all right, But even if you

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refer to them as critiques, how many of those critiques

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turned into hours and hours and hours of me actually

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studying the text. Our entire study of Isaiah forty through

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fifty five came from, quote unquote a sermon critique. All

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everything we did with Psalm eighty three came from a

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sermon critique. So you hear the sermon critique, but what

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follows in many cases, it's hours upon hours upon hours

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upon hours upon hours of me discussing the text, analyzing

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the text, exegeating the text, interpreting the text. So I

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don't know if I think, you know, yeah, you may

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hear the sermon review, look at everything that follows from it,

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that flows from it, because that's kind of what I

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feel that you know, you're getting both. And why do

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we do the sermon reviews in the first place, Because

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the whole key of the sermon review is allowing you,

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the listener, to hear two different perspectives, the perspective of

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the sermon and in my perspective in one broadcast, so

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I think that there's a lot going on there. They say,

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I understand what you're doing, but it takes away from

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the time we get to hear your insights on the scriptures.

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I don't think it takes away from the time. It

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increases the time you're going to hear me. You just

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got to listen to what comes next. That's what I

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would say. I guess what I'm saying is I miss

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you just preaching without including other preachers. Take I hope

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this comes across as a compliment and not a complaint. Great,

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keep up the great work. Either way, I'm going to

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keep listening. Well, thank you, SOB. I do appreciate that.

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That's awesome someone that would prefer me to do it

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this way, But I like the idea they say, I'm

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going to keep listening either way. I do appreciate that,

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because typically the email is you do this or I'm

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never going to listen to you again. I always get

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those threats, and it's always like, okay, well then stop listening,

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Like I can't stand those threats. They clearly if you

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make threats to me, you clearly don't know me, okay,

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Because if you make a threat to me, I'm like, oh,

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you don't like that, Well, for the next fifteen hours,

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I'm going to do exactly what you dislike. I know

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that's probably a rebellious spirit, but I definitely have a

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tendency to do that. So I would just say I

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understand the I won't call it a criticism, will I

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understand the suggestion. What I would say is it is

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the sermon critiques that leads to more and more discussion

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about a particular passage of scripture. And what do I

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offer as evidence? Well, what's about to take place? This

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all started with critiquing quote unquote, I'm using that term

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critiquing listening to a sermon, a New Year sermon, and

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the text was Romans chapter twelve one through two. Well,

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that led to me offering a brand new interpretation of

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Romans twelve one through two. See, in a roundabout way,

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what is happening is you're hearing it all live on

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the air. I could be listening to these sermons in private,

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then come to the microphone and say I'm going to

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offer a brand new interpretation of Romans twelve one through two.

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But you would not have the full context of how

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the new interpretation came about You're going through the entire

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process live on the air, which I think makes it

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more interesting. Now that's my take, and I just have

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to kind of do things the way I think is best.

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I just think I think that adds something to it.

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You're seeing everything from the beginning to the you're listening, Oh,

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that's the sermon he was listening to. And this this

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led to a complete new interpretation of Romans twelve one

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through two. You get to walk through everything. So look

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what happened yesterday we reviewed a sermon. What did that

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lead to a complete new interpretation of Romans twelve one

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through two. I probably would have never been led to

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the new interpretation of Romans twelve one through two if

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I was not listening to that sermon. And I don't

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know if I'd have been listening to that sermon if

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I wasn't doing it live on the air. So you

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see how it all kind of fits together. And then

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guess what, we did a new interpretation yesterday while reviewing

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the sermon, and guess what. Now here we are and

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we're going to spend an hour fleshing out that new

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interpretation because of that that one sermon review now is

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going to lead to, well, now what you said, the discussion,

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the preaching, the teaching of the text. Now, I'm still

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going to utilize a little bit of the audio from

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the sermon we reviewed yesterday, because that's really the starting point.

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So I hope this all makes sense. I hope. I

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hope that adds kind of a better understanding of what

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I have been trying to do. Some people will like it,

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some people will not, But I knew that from the beginning.

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I knew I all have always known. Some people love

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sermon reviews, some people hate them. I have always known that,

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and there's just no way to please everybody body. But

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I hope everyone can kind of see what I'm trying

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to do, and hopefully what I'm about to do here

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you'll kind of see the benefit of doing those sermon reviews.

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So are you ready? Here we go, let's put it

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all together. It's January seventh, twenty twenty five. We have

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entered into a brand new year. And when you enter

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into a brand new year, what do you get? You

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get New year sermons? Sermon after sermons saying it's a

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brand new year, and almost all of them turn into

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it's a brand new year, and we need to do this,

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and we need to read our Bible more, and we

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need to pray more, and we need to go to

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church more, and we need to give more money, and

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we need to do this, and we need to do this,

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and it's always like, do do this, do this, do this,

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do this. In fact, weld classify it from a thiological perspective.

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The sermons are very law based.

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Do this, do this, do this, do this, do this,

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or don't do this, don't do this, don't do this,

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all right, So I kind of was already expecting that.

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So I saw one of those New Year sermons on

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the sermon's two point oh app and I'm like, Okay,

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this will be a good example to review. So I

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started reviewing it. The main reason I did is because

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I saw that the text was Romans twelve one through two.

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The text was Romans twelve one through two. I'm going

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to read it from the Bible I have here in

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front of me. It reads like this, Romans twelve one

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through two. You probably should be able to state this

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from memory. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies

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of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice

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wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And

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those New Year sermons that typically use Romans twelve one

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through two, it will go something like this, You're about

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to enter into a new year. We have arrived at

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twenty twenty five. And what we need is we need

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Christians who will sacrifice themselves, lay themselves down as a

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living sacrifice. They will give all of themselves, their mind,

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their speech, their heart, their desire. They sacrifice it to

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God and they will be used by God and they

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will be a year dedicated to God. We need dedication,

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we need a commitment, we need sacrifice. We need to

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do this, We need to do this, and it will

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turn into that type of sermon, and then the people

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in the pew will be like, amen, Amen, I'm going

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to be a living sacrifice. Yes, I'm going to dedicate

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myself to God. I'm going to do all of this now.

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I think typically within about three weeks, everyone's already forgotten.

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They're all the supposed dedication, and we can talk about

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the futility of it, and we can talk about how

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law based it is versus not being very gospel based.

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All right, So I knew then that this could possibly

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serve as a good example. But as I was listening

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to the sermon, there was a couple of things that

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struck me, that kind of bothered me, because the basic

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assumption in the sermon, the basic presupposition from which the

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pastor was operating from, was this is that he's preaching

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to people who, in his mind, have the ability to

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love God with all their heart, mind, body, and soul.

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They have the ability to completely present themselves as a

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living sacrifice, that they can be completely dedicated to God,

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completely love God. And I, from a thiological perspective, disagree

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with that. We cannot. We will. Let me make it

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very clear, no Christian will ever truly love God with

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all their heart, mind, body, and soul. No true Christian

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will ever even reach anything up that appears to be

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like a living sacrifice where you're truly sacrificed to God.

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The reason why is we still have a sinful nature.

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So we are never going to truly love God. We're

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never going to be truly dedicated to God, We're never

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going to be truly a living sacrifice. We're going to

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fall short continual because we are still sinners. And so

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I see many of these passages as presenting a law,

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a standard in which we it's going to reveal that

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we cannot do it. Therefore we have to flee to Christ,

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and we have to trust in Him by faith alone,

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and then his obedience. His doing all of these things

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correctly is imputed to my account. And this is more

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of a law gospel law grace distinction that I think

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is missing in most theologies and the evangelical fundamentalist world,

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and which is kind of bizarre because my concept here,

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this law gospel distinction flows right from the Reformation. It

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was so critical. It was key to Luther's arguments against

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Roman Catholicism because Roman Catholicism was a more workspace law

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base was a salvation by an infused righteousness, not an

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imputed righteousness. So it all becomes it just becomes a mess,

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I think in how most pastors handle it. So as

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I was listening, I'm like, well, there's got to be

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a new way to interpret There's got to be a

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better way to interpret Romans twelve one through two. So

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I put forth a new interpretation. So what we're going

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to do here is I'm just going to play a

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little bit more of the sermon where he's going to

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be talking about basically Romans twelve one through two. Dedicate yourself.

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Do this. It's going to be very law. And then

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I'm going to come in and offer a complete new

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exegetical interpretation and exegetical study of Romans twelve one through

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two based on my new interpretation, and I hope this

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all proves to be beneficial. But we are going to

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listen to a little bit of the sermon because this

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sermon led us there so and because this sermon really

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captures the way most people preach Romans twelve one through two.

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So I want you to hear how the standard way

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the text is approached, and then you can contrast that

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with the way I'm going to approach it. I hope

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that makes sense. I hope. So. I know that was

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a lot to say in sixteen minutes, but I hope

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it all makes sense. Are you ready? Here we go.

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Romans twelve to one gives us a progression of dedication.

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First of all, be sacrificial. You're gonna be. If you're

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going to live a dedicated life to God, you're going

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to have to sacrifice. You're gonna have to sacrifice. Listen,

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you are willing to sacrifice for what you really love?

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Let me say that again. You are willing to sacrifice

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for what or who you really love? Amen, God wants

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your heart. How does God know if he has your heart?

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One of the ways is you're willing to sacrifice to

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follow him. Oh, Pastor, this isn't gonna cost me time.

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You know what God calls that worship. You know, throughout

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the whole Bible there was no such thing as free worship.

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Let me say that again. In the Bible, there's no

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such thing as free worship.

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Hmm okay, that that that's interesting, all right. So I'm

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gonna do something.

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Now.

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We've been talking about artificial intelligence. That's gonna be a

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big theme in twenty twenty five. So I'm gonna utilize

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artificial intelligence here. Is it true that in the Bible

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there is no no such thing as free worship. I'm

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gonna I'm gonna see what AI has to say here,

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all right. It's thinking, it's processing this, all right, So

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let's let's let's see what we we want to get

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to Romans twelve one through two. But we have to

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at least address this, right. I wasn't prepared that we

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were getting ready to hear that state, But here we go,

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all right, Ai says, the idea that there's no such

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thing as free worship in the Bible can be nuanced

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and depends what is meant by free worship. Let's explore

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the question biblically and philologically, examining whether worship requires cost

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and what kind of cost is in view? Worship in

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the Old Testament cost and sacrifice, the sacrificial system Leviticus

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one through seven. Worship under the Mosaic Covenant required specific sacrifices, animals, grain,

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and offerings to approach God. The people of Israel were

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instructed to bring their best without blemish as an act

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of obedience and reverence. Now, please note worship under the

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Mosaic Covenant there were specific rules under that Mosaic Covenant.

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We know we're not operating under that Mosaic Covenant today.

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Don't even we're not bringing the sacrifice was provided for us.

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We don't have to bring a sacrifice. The sacrifice was

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provided for us. The reason they brought the sacrifice, we

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would argue, was to picture the ultimate sacrifice was to come.

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So we got to be very we don't want to

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put ourselves back under that covenant, right, I think so?

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Second Samuel twenty four to twenty four. When David wanted

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to offer a sacrifice to God, he insisted on paying

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for the threshing floor, saying, I will not offer burnt

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offerings to the Lord, my God. That costs me nothing.

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This is often cited to support the idea that worship

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should involve cost or sacrifice. Worship in the Old Testament

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involved tangible cost, animal time, and effort because sin required atonement.

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Now I do agree, and the Old Testament it did.

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It costs something, but all of that cost pointed to

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the cost that was going to be paid for us.

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God gave his son to die for us, so that

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we want to be back in a system where now

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it's going to cost me something because the cost has

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already been paid. Right, all right, but all right, how

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about worshiping the New Testament. With the coming of Christ,

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the nature of worship shifted Hebrews ten ten through fourteen.

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We have been sanctified through the offering of the body

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of Jesus Christ, once for all, Christ, once for all

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sacrificial ended the need for repeated sacrificial offerings. John four

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twenty three through twenty four. Jesus tells the Samaritan woman

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that true worship will well. True worshipers will worship in

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spirit and truth, not tied to a physical place or offering.

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Worship is no longer about bringing a costly sacrifice, but

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about the heart and relationship with God. The cost of

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worship in terms of sacrifices, have been fully paid by Christ.

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Believers are invited to approach God freely through his grace.

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So do we want to institute going wait? Wait? Wait?

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And the Old Testament they had to pay a cost.

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So in the New Testament there is no such thing

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as free worship. Who slow down, now, You're right. On one hand,

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it wasn't free in a sense. For me to be

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able to worship in this sense, someone had to pay something,

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and that was Christ sacrificing himself dying for me. It

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costs his blood. But because he paid the price, can

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I not now freely worship? Now? How about worship as

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self sacrifice? While physical sacrifices are no longer required, Paul

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calls believers to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice.

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This cost is not about earning favor with God, but

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about a response of surrendering gratitude to God's mercy. This

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kind of sacrifice is about dying to self effort and

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living independence of Christ righteousness. It's not about material costs,

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but about spiritual rest and obedience. Worship is costly in

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that it requires a willingness to surrender self reliance and

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law based thinking, not because believers must pay to gain

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access to God. See now that's Ai is going in

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the direction of my interpretation of a living sacrifice. He's

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gonna argue it sounds like a discernment. Hey, it's got

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to cost you something. You've got to sacrifice yourself. And

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I believe being a living sacrifice means to I die

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to self effort, I die to law based thinking. I

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simply surrender to the mercy and grace of God. Now

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does worship cost time, effort, or money. Worship today often

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involves time, attending services, studying scripture, and sometimes financial giving. However,

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these acts are not payment for worship, but voluntary responses

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to grace. It's not that we are paying something. We

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are showing gratitude, all right. The idea that worship must

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cost something in the sense of sacrifice can drift into legalism.

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It implies that God only accepts worship if it involves

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hardship or external cost. Ephesians two eight through nine emphasizes

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that salvation and access to God are free gifts through faith,

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not human effort. Therefore, worship as an extension of our

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salvation flows from the freedom granted in Christ. So I think,

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I think there's a problem right here. Let's see what

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he has to say. But this is getting us right

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into Romans twelve one through two, which I'm going to

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offer my new interpretation right here. So already we're running

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into somewhat of a problem here. Let's see where he

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takes it.

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It costs time, it costs money in the Old Testament,

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it costs you wealth in terms of animals, because you cannot,

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honestly from a true heart of integrity and honesty go

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to God and say you are worth my admiration and

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it costs you nothing.

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Oh, I so disagree with that. I go to God

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and say you are worthy of my admiration because of

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your mercy and sending your son to die and pay

426
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all the cost for me. In that Romance twelve one

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through two, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies

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of God. It's God's mercy that leads me to then

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lay myself down as a living sacrifice. And what am

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I sacrifice? I am dying too, law based self effort.

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I'm dying to all of this because Christ has done

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it for me. I don't have to pay anything. It

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doesn't have to cost me anything because the cost has

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already been paid. Is a radical different approach than I'm

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putting forth? And well, I think, but you can determine

436
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how you view this. Sorry, let's see what else he

437
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has to say.

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We live in a generation today, by and large, that

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wants to live this shallow Christian life where worship costs

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them nothing. Oh, catch it online? Okay, Well, if you're

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dealing with some health issues and you really, truly honestly

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can't come, maybe, but catching it online does that cost anything?

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Now? I would I have a hard time with this.

444
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He's he's griping about people catching worship online. Guess where

445
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his sermon was found online? Guess what they do? They

446
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stream their services online, so like you can, you can,

447
00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:02.680
on one hand, be a part of Hey, we will

448
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live in a generation what people don't't have to pay

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a cost and just catch the worship online? Well, then

450
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would stop putting your worship online? A lot of pastors

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complain about people just listening or attending worship online. Yet

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they continue to put their worship online if you don't

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want people to listen. It so seems contradictory to me.

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I know they would offer, go, well, we put it

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on there for people who can't make it because they're sick.

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If you put it off out there, it's for anyone.

457
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All right, I'm assuming you don't start your message. If

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you're watching us online and you're currently not sick and

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you can actually drive to this church, please turn us

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off because we don't want you watching. Very few people.

461
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I don't think there's any churches doing that. They're like,

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watch us online, and if you like what we hear,

463
00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:51.880
please give us some money. Okay, all right, I'm not

464
00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:54.480
saying this church does that, but I'm saying, come on now.

465
00:27:54.680 --> 00:27:56.480
I just find it ironic so many times when I

466
00:27:56.480 --> 00:28:00.759
hear these sermons complaining about online while they are online, Okay,

467
00:28:00.839 --> 00:28:04.880
I just like, come on now. Or they're like these podcasters.

468
00:28:05.480 --> 00:28:09.480
Your sermon is online, it has an RSS feed, it's

469
00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:13.240
a podcast. Okay. If I can go to the sermon's

470
00:28:13.240 --> 00:28:16.160
two point zero app and get your RSS feed, I

471
00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:18.640
can then take your I can go take that RSS feed,

472
00:28:18.839 --> 00:28:21.200
put it in any podcasting app and guess what your

473
00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:23.720
sermon is going to be delivered to me as a podcast.

474
00:28:23.839 --> 00:28:26.279
You may not want to consider yourself a podcaster, but

475
00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:30.079
you are a podcaster. And guess what. You may not

476
00:28:30.200 --> 00:28:33.000
want to consider yourself an online ministry, but if you're

477
00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:36.319
putting your sermons online, you're an online ministry. So you're

478
00:28:36.359 --> 00:28:39.039
contributing to the fact that people catch it online. I mean,

479
00:28:39.079 --> 00:28:44.640
it's just come on now, guys.

480
00:28:44.680 --> 00:28:51.079
It doesn't even cost your attention. Yeah, cost nothing. That

481
00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:53.559
is not honoring to the Lord. Pastor.

482
00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:55.319
How can you say that you.

483
00:28:55.319 --> 00:28:56.759
There for a brother by the mercies of God, that

484
00:28:56.759 --> 00:28:58.000
you present your bodies.

485
00:28:57.680 --> 00:28:58.640
A living.

486
00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:08.440
Sacrifice be sacrificial? Dedication is not always easy. I have

487
00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:12.200
a question, does God want you to be more sacrificial

488
00:29:14.039 --> 00:29:14.480
this year?

489
00:29:17.480 --> 00:29:22.039
See his whole interpretation of a living sacrifice is sacrifice sacrifice?

490
00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:25.359
It has to cost you something. Your worship is of No,

491
00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:29.119
it's nothing, it's dishonoring. Your worship is dishonoring to God

492
00:29:29.160 --> 00:29:32.559
unless it costs you something. So I guess if people

493
00:29:32.599 --> 00:29:35.799
have to drive forty five minutes to church, well they

494
00:29:35.880 --> 00:29:38.880
are a more sacrificial worshiper than the people who drove

495
00:29:39.119 --> 00:29:44.359
ten minutes. The people who give one hundred dollars versus

496
00:29:44.359 --> 00:29:47.480
the person who gives five, they are a more sacrificial worshiper,

497
00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:49.920
So their worship is more honoring to God. For the

498
00:29:49.960 --> 00:29:52.200
people who didn't drive as far or give as much,

499
00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:54.599
your worship is not as honoring to you. See what

500
00:29:54.640 --> 00:29:56.799
that creates. So then we've got to I've got to

501
00:29:56.839 --> 00:29:58.839
find a way to make sure my worship costs me

502
00:29:58.920 --> 00:30:03.480
something that's that has straight legalism, ladies and gentlemen, and

503
00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:05.559
that I'll come You don't want to say what that does?

504
00:30:05.640 --> 00:30:13.119
That dishonors the sacrifice of Christ. So I have problems

505
00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:16.160
with all of this. But let's go to now my

506
00:30:16.400 --> 00:30:20.759
exegetical work on Romans twelve one through two, and what

507
00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:26.799
I believe is a plausible, possible interpretation based on theology,

508
00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:29.960
the text, and church history. All right, we talked about

509
00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:32.799
it yesterday. Let's flesh it out. Are you ready? All right?

510
00:30:33.559 --> 00:30:36.200
Here we go, No, I utilize in the spirit of

511
00:30:36.200 --> 00:30:40.920
twenty twenty five and our series on AI. I used AI.

512
00:30:41.480 --> 00:30:43.519
One of the great features about AIS. You can have

513
00:30:43.559 --> 00:30:47.119
a conversation with it, right, you can go back and forth,

514
00:30:47.559 --> 00:30:52.119
so I can come up with a hermeneutical hypothesis or

515
00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:54.960
a theory or a thesis, and we can just go

516
00:30:55.079 --> 00:30:57.559
back and forth. It may disagree, and we go back

517
00:30:57.559 --> 00:30:59.160
and forth and we can try to flesh it out.

518
00:30:59.319 --> 00:31:04.039
So what you're about here is the conclusion of hour

519
00:31:04.759 --> 00:31:07.160
or so maybe two hours of going back and forth

520
00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:10.160
with AI over Romans twelve one through two to kind

521
00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:13.240
of flesh out my idea. All right, So here we go.

522
00:31:13.920 --> 00:31:17.599
AI helped summarize it this way. Here is a detailed

523
00:31:17.720 --> 00:31:21.559
exegesis of Romans twelve one through two, based on your

524
00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:27.000
suggestion suggested interpretation that the living sacrifice is about dying

525
00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:31.480
to self effort, law based thinking, and simply resting in

526
00:31:31.559 --> 00:31:37.319
christ finished work and imputed righteousness. So first it offers

527
00:31:37.359 --> 00:31:44.279
a textual breakdown, an exegetical look at my interpretation. Let's

528
00:31:44.279 --> 00:31:49.240
first start with Romans twelve one. I'm going to use

529
00:31:49.279 --> 00:31:54.039
a different translation. Now, I appeal to you, therefore, brethren

530
00:31:54.960 --> 00:32:02.279
or brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your

531
00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:08.880
bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,

532
00:32:09.519 --> 00:32:15.559
which is your spiritual worship. All right. Now, this person

533
00:32:15.640 --> 00:32:17.720
is saying, well, if it's going to be your spiritual worship,

534
00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:21.640
you've got to sacrifice, or your worship is dishonoring to God.

535
00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:25.000
And I will argue all of that work and all

536
00:32:25.079 --> 00:32:28.599
of that effort is the opposite of honoring God and

537
00:32:28.640 --> 00:32:31.559
the opposite of worshiping God, because I am worshiping God

538
00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:34.839
by declaring his worth because of what He has done

539
00:32:35.240 --> 00:32:39.279
for me, his mercy, his grace, and the sacrifice of

540
00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:43.519
his son. So I'm approaching it from a completely different perspective.

541
00:32:44.400 --> 00:32:47.200
Here are some of the key terms and phrases. I

542
00:32:47.440 --> 00:32:51.799
appeal to you, I beseech you. Depending on your translation,

543
00:32:53.119 --> 00:32:58.240
this idea is Paul's making a strong exhortation, but not

544
00:32:58.400 --> 00:33:02.599
from a place of harsh com rather from my heartfelt

545
00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:07.039
appeal grounded in God's mercy and grace. This indicate that

546
00:33:07.079 --> 00:33:10.680
Paul is not calling believers to a moralistic striving, but

547
00:33:10.799 --> 00:33:14.720
to our response rooted and gratitude and trust. So it's like,

548
00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:19.000
it's not like I command you, It's like, I beseech you. Brothers,

549
00:33:19.119 --> 00:33:23.640
listen to me. He's coming at it with It's a

550
00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:31.000
heart felt appill Brothers, listen, brothers, sisters, Christians, listen to me.

551
00:33:31.880 --> 00:33:37.400
Based on the mercies of God. I want to I

552
00:33:37.480 --> 00:33:39.319
want to I want you to listen to me, and

553
00:33:39.359 --> 00:33:41.279
I want to I want to press, I want to

554
00:33:41.319 --> 00:33:46.119
Our starting point is God's mercy. Now remember eleven chapters

555
00:33:47.200 --> 00:33:48.839
and the Book of Romans is all about that. We

556
00:33:48.880 --> 00:33:53.279
are justified by grace alone, faith alone. Apart from works.

557
00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:56.720
We are justified by faith. We are justified by an

558
00:33:56.759 --> 00:34:02.240
imputed righteousness. Now all of that murcy, see, listen to me. Remember,

559
00:34:02.519 --> 00:34:05.079
based on all these things that God has done for you,

560
00:34:05.319 --> 00:34:09.599
he's not calling for a moralistic striving. He's calling for

561
00:34:09.639 --> 00:34:14.280
them to respond to this mercy and to this grace.

562
00:34:14.760 --> 00:34:19.519
And I think it's calling for gratitude, it's calling for trust.

563
00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:27.639
I beseech you. Therefore, Brethren the King James, I beseech you. Therefore,

564
00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:31.480
I think even in other translations, I beseech you. I

565
00:34:31.519 --> 00:34:34.679
appeal to you. Therefore, therefore isn't found I think most

566
00:34:34.679 --> 00:34:40.400
of the English translations. This therefore links the command to

567
00:34:40.519 --> 00:34:43.719
the preceding chapters Romans one through eleven, where Paul lays

568
00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:48.199
out the gospel. The gospel, he points out humanity's sinfulness,

569
00:34:48.199 --> 00:34:51.920
and Romans one through three he points out justification by faith.

570
00:34:51.960 --> 00:34:54.639
In Romans four through five, he talks about life through

571
00:34:54.679 --> 00:34:58.239
the spirit in Romans eight, God's sovereign mercy and Romans

572
00:34:58.320 --> 00:35:01.599
nine through eleven. This there four signals that this is

573
00:35:01.639 --> 00:35:05.559
a call to sacrifice as a response to God's mercy,

574
00:35:05.880 --> 00:35:10.840
not an effort to earn them. That therefore points us

575
00:35:10.880 --> 00:35:13.239
back to everything God has done. And he's like, now,

576
00:35:13.280 --> 00:35:17.880
based on God's mercy. Therefore He's gonna call us to something.

577
00:35:18.079 --> 00:35:21.480
But he's not calling us in order to earn that mercy.

578
00:35:21.880 --> 00:35:24.920
We're not earning anything. We're doing it. We're gonna do

579
00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:32.320
something flowing from that mercy. What should that mercy lead to? Well,

580
00:35:32.360 --> 00:35:35.159
that's the question. Most people say that mercy should lead

581
00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:37.159
me to do this and do this, and it should

582
00:35:37.199 --> 00:35:40.840
cost me something. But God's mercy should not lead me

583
00:35:40.880 --> 00:35:43.480
to have to pay a cost, because God's mercy tells

584
00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:49.360
me God has already paid the cost right by the

585
00:35:49.400 --> 00:35:53.000
mercies of God. Paul roots the Christian response and God's

586
00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:57.400
abundant mercy the believer. The believer offers themselves not to

587
00:35:57.440 --> 00:36:00.519
gain mercy, but because mercy has already been received. This

588
00:36:00.639 --> 00:36:03.719
mercy is the basis for rejecting self effort and resting

589
00:36:03.760 --> 00:36:07.440
in Christ's completed work. That's my whole thing. Hey, because

590
00:36:07.480 --> 00:36:11.079
of God's mercy, present yourself as a living sacrifice. This

591
00:36:11.159 --> 00:36:13.920
is not you've got to do something now, No, it's

592
00:36:14.000 --> 00:36:17.880
me because of God's mercy, I need to finally surrender

593
00:36:17.960 --> 00:36:20.920
myself to what God has done for me. I think

594
00:36:20.960 --> 00:36:23.639
that's a I think that's what it should lead to.

595
00:36:24.199 --> 00:36:26.079
Everyone else is like, no, it should lead you to

596
00:36:26.119 --> 00:36:27.719
do this and do this and do this, and do this,

597
00:36:27.760 --> 00:36:29.400
and do this and do this and do this and

598
00:36:29.400 --> 00:36:31.480
do this and do this. Well, the problem is all

599
00:36:31.519 --> 00:36:33.679
these things you say I should do, do do I

600
00:36:33.719 --> 00:36:37.119
can't do because guess what God's mercy save me by

601
00:36:37.159 --> 00:36:40.320
an imputed righteousness, not an infused righteousness. And guess what

602
00:36:40.360 --> 00:36:42.360
I still have is a sinful nature. So if you

603
00:36:42.360 --> 00:36:44.039
tell me to do this and do this and do this,

604
00:36:44.199 --> 00:36:46.280
guess what I'm going to find that I fall short

605
00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:48.880
fall short fall short fall, short fall short You're just

606
00:36:49.000 --> 00:36:59.960
leading me to a persistent state of failure. Present your boy,

607
00:37:00.760 --> 00:37:06.719
all right, it's the next idea, all right? That Traditionally

608
00:37:07.239 --> 00:37:11.199
this is interpreted. This is how it's typically interpreted as

609
00:37:11.320 --> 00:37:17.159
surrendering one's whole life, mind, heart, and actions. That's how

610
00:37:17.159 --> 00:37:20.719
it's typically viewed. Present your body, gets so in many,

611
00:37:20.960 --> 00:37:23.719
many sermons, I'll say, take your mind. How can you

612
00:37:23.800 --> 00:37:27.440
present your mind as a living sacrifice? Your speech? And

613
00:37:27.480 --> 00:37:29.159
it gives you all these things you're going to strive

614
00:37:29.239 --> 00:37:31.400
to do. I've heard those sermons a million times, especially

615
00:37:32.119 --> 00:37:35.159
for teenagers. Teenagers constantly hear these. You need to give

616
00:37:35.199 --> 00:37:38.320
your mind as a living sacrifice. What are you thinking about?

617
00:37:38.480 --> 00:37:40.599
What are you filling your mind? Your speech? What do

618
00:37:40.679 --> 00:37:43.960
you say? How are you talking? Your ears? What are

619
00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:48.320
you listening to? And it just this moralism, moralism, do this,

620
00:37:48.480 --> 00:37:50.760
do this, do this, do this, do this. Well, that

621
00:37:50.800 --> 00:37:54.239
means God's mercy just becomes irrelevant because it's all, well,

622
00:37:54.280 --> 00:37:57.519
God may have been merciful, Jesus may have paid the price,

623
00:37:57.760 --> 00:37:59.480
but now I have to do this, do this, do this,

624
00:37:59.519 --> 00:38:01.639
and guests one, all those things you're told to do,

625
00:38:01.880 --> 00:38:04.480
nobody does them, so it just becomes a perpetual state

626
00:38:04.519 --> 00:38:08.480
of failure. That's the problem. If you go with this idea,

627
00:38:08.519 --> 00:38:12.480
you have to go with the Basically, the presupposition has

628
00:38:12.519 --> 00:38:16.559
to be that people can do these things. You can't

629
00:38:17.480 --> 00:38:20.480
because you are a sinner and you still are even

630
00:38:20.519 --> 00:38:23.880
after salvation. And if you deny that, well I'm sorry

631
00:38:24.760 --> 00:38:28.480
you've got bigger spiritual problems than denying it because you're

632
00:38:28.840 --> 00:38:33.599
self deceived. So traditionally this present your body is interpreted

633
00:38:33.599 --> 00:38:37.280
as surrendering one's whole life, mind, heart, and actions. However,

634
00:38:37.559 --> 00:38:42.599
in this view, present can be understood as acknowledging that

635
00:38:42.639 --> 00:38:46.119
we are what we already are, and that we already

636
00:38:46.199 --> 00:38:51.159
are united to Christ. Romans six thirteen, present yourselves to

637
00:38:51.199 --> 00:38:54.880
God as those who have been brought from death to life.

638
00:38:55.119 --> 00:38:58.360
This is not about offering human effort, but presenting ourselves

639
00:38:58.360 --> 00:39:04.119
in faith has those already justified and sanctified in Christ.

640
00:39:04.440 --> 00:39:10.119
So let me read this again. Present your bodies. Everybody

641
00:39:10.159 --> 00:39:13.280
just typically, oh, you gotta present, you gotta it's gotta

642
00:39:13.320 --> 00:39:17.199
cost you something, You've got to do something. But this

643
00:39:17.360 --> 00:39:25.519
idea of present it can be understood as acknowledging that

644
00:39:25.559 --> 00:39:31.480
we are already united to Christ. And again they quote

645
00:39:31.639 --> 00:39:35.159
Romans six thirteen. If we go to Romans six thirteen,

646
00:39:37.280 --> 00:39:40.400
we go to Romans six thirteen, we have this. I'm

647
00:39:40.400 --> 00:39:42.280
gonna read it from the King of New King James,

648
00:39:42.559 --> 00:39:45.960
and do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness.

649
00:39:46.039 --> 00:39:48.679
I'm dropping my pencil, and do not present your members

650
00:39:48.679 --> 00:39:52.320
as instruments of unrighteousness to sin. But present yourselves to

651
00:39:52.360 --> 00:39:56.360
God as being alive from the dead and your members

652
00:39:56.400 --> 00:40:02.119
as instruments of righteousness to God. Or, as this translation reads,

653
00:40:02.280 --> 00:40:05.960
present yourselves to God as those who have been brought

654
00:40:06.119 --> 00:40:12.159
from death to life. This is not about offering human effort,

655
00:40:12.480 --> 00:40:16.280
but presenting ourselves and faith as those already justified and

656
00:40:16.320 --> 00:40:20.639
sanctified in Christ. What I'm doing is, I'm presenting myself

657
00:40:20.679 --> 00:40:25.559
to God, the positional reality to God. Wait here is

658
00:40:25.599 --> 00:40:28.960
what I am because of Christ and Christ. I have

659
00:40:29.039 --> 00:40:33.159
been crucified, i have died, I have buried, I've been resurrected,

660
00:40:35.400 --> 00:40:38.480
ascended with Christ. I'm seated with Him in heavenly places.

661
00:40:38.760 --> 00:40:44.320
I am presenting to God and my positional reality. This

662
00:40:44.480 --> 00:40:48.000
is what I am positionally. I am dead, I am

663
00:40:48.039 --> 00:40:53.639
alive to God. I'm a new creature all positionally because

664
00:40:53.679 --> 00:40:58.039
practically I'm still a sinner. I still have a sinful nature.

665
00:41:00.440 --> 00:41:04.079
This is not about offering human effort, but it's simply

666
00:41:04.159 --> 00:41:07.280
I'm presenting to you as a living sacrifice in faith

667
00:41:07.880 --> 00:41:13.119
of what I am positionally, A living sacrifice instead of

668
00:41:13.159 --> 00:41:15.920
a dead one or a one time sacrifice. Is in

669
00:41:16.000 --> 00:41:19.119
the old covenant the believer is a living sacrifice. This

670
00:41:19.199 --> 00:41:22.880
can be understood as daily dying to self effort and

671
00:41:23.000 --> 00:41:27.480
legalistic striving and living in the freedom of christ finished work. See,

672
00:41:27.480 --> 00:41:33.880
this is dying. This is dying to self effort. See.

673
00:41:33.880 --> 00:41:35.800
Most people will say no, no, no, no, no, no.

674
00:41:36.039 --> 00:41:39.719
This is living sacrifice. This is me dying to this

675
00:41:39.800 --> 00:41:43.119
and this and this. But in Romans one through eleven,

676
00:41:43.559 --> 00:41:49.079
it's all about understanding. It's not about works. So here now,

677
00:41:49.119 --> 00:41:51.039
because of God's mercy, what am I going to do?

678
00:41:51.280 --> 00:41:54.000
I'm gonna die to those works. I'm gonna die to

679
00:41:54.079 --> 00:41:56.440
that self effort. I'm going to die to a law

680
00:41:56.480 --> 00:42:02.440
base mentality. I'm gonna die to self effort and a

681
00:42:02.639 --> 00:42:07.039
legalistic striving, and I'm going to live in the freedom

682
00:42:07.199 --> 00:42:11.760
of Christ's finished work. It is a paradox in a sense.

683
00:42:11.960 --> 00:42:16.519
We live by dying to our works. We live by

684
00:42:16.639 --> 00:42:20.480
dying to a law based righteousness. We live by dying

685
00:42:20.519 --> 00:42:25.400
to self justification. I'm presenting myself as a living sacrifice,

686
00:42:25.599 --> 00:42:28.119
dead to all of this other way because I am

687
00:42:28.400 --> 00:42:32.320
I have been crucified in Christ. I am dead positionally.

688
00:42:33.239 --> 00:42:36.519
I am recognizing that I am dead in Christ, the

689
00:42:36.559 --> 00:42:39.760
oldest God I am no longer going to try to

690
00:42:39.800 --> 00:42:43.199
do this, and do that, and do It's not about moralism,

691
00:42:43.280 --> 00:42:47.039
it's not about law keeping. It's not about justifying myself.

692
00:42:47.320 --> 00:42:53.920
I am presenting myself as what I am in Christ,

693
00:42:55.280 --> 00:42:59.239
holy and acceptable to God. Holiness and acceptance does not

694
00:42:59.320 --> 00:43:03.599
come from our works, but from Christ's imputed righteousness. We

695
00:43:03.679 --> 00:43:07.880
are holy because we are in Christ. This phrase emphasizes

696
00:43:07.920 --> 00:43:10.920
that believers can rest in their accepted status because they

697
00:43:10.920 --> 00:43:14.599
are already declared holy through Christ. See what most people

698
00:43:14.639 --> 00:43:18.199
read Romans twelve one through two. I'm gonna set my

699
00:43:18.239 --> 00:43:21.159
pencil aside before I drop it again. All right. I

700
00:43:21.159 --> 00:43:22.719
always have a pencil in my hand, but when I

701
00:43:22.719 --> 00:43:24.679
pick up too many things, then I drop it. All Right,

702
00:43:24.679 --> 00:43:27.119
here we go. I beseech you there, for brethren, by

703
00:43:27.119 --> 00:43:29.119
the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as

704
00:43:29.159 --> 00:43:33.239
a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God. See how many

705
00:43:33.280 --> 00:43:36.719
people preach this is Hey, You've got to sacrifice yourself

706
00:43:36.880 --> 00:43:40.159
so that you will be wholly acceptable to God. Ladies

707
00:43:40.199 --> 00:43:43.599
and gentlemen, you can sacrifice yourself five hundred different ways.

708
00:43:43.920 --> 00:43:47.000
You can do this. You can stop watching TV. You

709
00:43:47.039 --> 00:43:49.840
can not listen to this, not read this not go here,

710
00:43:49.960 --> 00:43:52.280
not do this, not do that, not do this. Not

711
00:43:52.559 --> 00:43:55.639
You can come up with five hundred things. After you

712
00:43:55.760 --> 00:43:59.199
do all five hundred things, you're still not wholly acceptable

713
00:43:59.239 --> 00:44:01.760
into God. Because the only way to be wholly acceptable

714
00:44:01.800 --> 00:44:04.239
unto God is not by anything you do or don't do.

715
00:44:04.599 --> 00:44:11.719
It's because of an imputed righteousness. I surrender, I die

716
00:44:11.800 --> 00:44:15.320
to self, and I surrender myself to the truth of

717
00:44:15.360 --> 00:44:18.199
what I am in Christ. I am dead, I'm a

718
00:44:18.239 --> 00:44:22.199
new creature because of imputed righteousness. That's how I'm wholly

719
00:44:22.239 --> 00:44:25.239
acceptable unto God. Not because of what I do, but

720
00:44:25.239 --> 00:44:33.639
because of what Christ did. Holiness and acceptance do not

721
00:44:33.840 --> 00:44:37.400
come from our works, I cannot state it again, but

722
00:44:37.480 --> 00:44:42.079
they come from Christ imputed righteousness. This entire phrase holy

723
00:44:42.159 --> 00:44:45.760
and acceptable to God emphasizes that believers can rest in

724
00:44:45.800 --> 00:44:52.079
their accepted status because they have already declare holy through Christ.

725
00:44:52.639 --> 00:44:58.360
Spiritual worship the Greek here implies something rational or reasonable

726
00:44:58.679 --> 00:45:01.679
flowing from the truth throughout than external. Ritual worship in

727
00:45:01.719 --> 00:45:05.800
this sense is not about outward acts of piety or sacrifice,

728
00:45:06.119 --> 00:45:08.920
but an inward resting in the truth of who God

729
00:45:09.039 --> 00:45:13.280
is and what Christ has accomplished. This worship is reasonable

730
00:45:13.559 --> 00:45:16.400
because it is not self made. It is a grateful

731
00:45:16.519 --> 00:45:23.880
acknowledgment of grace because of God's mercy. I present myself

732
00:45:24.239 --> 00:45:28.400
as dead in Christ, dead to the law, dead to

733
00:45:28.639 --> 00:45:35.039
law keeping, self righteous, self righteousness, workspace, self effort. I'm

734
00:45:35.119 --> 00:45:39.519
dead to all of that. I'm olivia sacrifice, and that's

735
00:45:39.519 --> 00:45:41.960
wholly inacceptable into God. You know why it's wholly acceptable

736
00:45:41.960 --> 00:45:45.320
into God because in Christ, I'm a holy inacceptable into God.

737
00:45:45.599 --> 00:45:48.400
In Christ, I've been declared holy and righteous because of

738
00:45:48.440 --> 00:45:54.400
an imputed righteousness, not infused righteousness. And this is my

739
00:45:54.519 --> 00:45:58.159
reasonable service, This is my reasonable act of worship. How

740
00:45:58.159 --> 00:46:02.360
do I show worship to God by surrendering to law

741
00:46:03.159 --> 00:46:07.920
keeping all of this works based idea, and surrendering to

742
00:46:08.039 --> 00:46:11.280
what Christ has done, his mercy and his finished work.

743
00:46:18.079 --> 00:46:21.840
So we completely broke down Romans twelve to one. We

744
00:46:21.880 --> 00:46:26.119
looked at each phrase, I beseech you, Therefore, by the

745
00:46:26.159 --> 00:46:30.920
mercies of God, present your bodies living sacrifice, wholly acceptable

746
00:46:30.920 --> 00:46:35.119
to God spiritual worship. We literally broke the entire verse

747
00:46:35.559 --> 00:46:40.320
down and looked at it from a completely different perspective. Now,

748
00:46:40.360 --> 00:46:43.320
how does that lead to Romans twelve two? Do not

749
00:46:43.360 --> 00:46:45.800
be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the

750
00:46:45.800 --> 00:46:48.760
renewing of your mind. That by that, by testing, you

751
00:46:48.800 --> 00:46:50.800
may discern what is the will of God, which is

752
00:46:50.840 --> 00:46:53.840
good and acceptable and perfect. Let's break down this verse.

753
00:46:54.199 --> 00:46:58.280
Do not be conformed to this world. The word conformed

754
00:46:58.599 --> 00:47:02.079
suggests being shaped or mold by external patterns. Well, this

755
00:47:02.159 --> 00:47:07.119
is often interpreted as avoiding sinful behavior. It could refer

756
00:47:07.199 --> 00:47:12.159
to rejecting worldly mindsets, such as a performance based or

757
00:47:12.280 --> 00:47:17.400
transactional approach to life and worship. The world often preaches

758
00:47:17.480 --> 00:47:24.559
self reliance, moral achievement, individualistic striving. This command invites believers

759
00:47:24.840 --> 00:47:29.400
to reject those patterns. Now, as a Christian, don't bring

760
00:47:29.519 --> 00:47:35.519
this transactional, transactional idea into your Christianity. Don't bring this

761
00:47:35.639 --> 00:47:39.599
performance based idea into your Christianity. We need to no

762
00:47:39.719 --> 00:47:44.199
longer be conformed to the world's thinking. Christianity. It goes

763
00:47:44.280 --> 00:47:46.920
against the way the world thinks. The world is all

764
00:47:46.960 --> 00:47:50.000
about transaction. You do this, you get this, you don't

765
00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.840
do this, you get this. It's about behavior, it's about transaction, earning,

766
00:47:55.159 --> 00:47:57.599
not earning. We are not to be conformed to that

767
00:47:57.639 --> 00:48:01.199
way of thinking. Because of God's mercy, We've surrendered, we

768
00:48:01.239 --> 00:48:05.800
have died to our self, our self effort. We've died

769
00:48:05.880 --> 00:48:09.719
to this transactional concept, and we are trusting completely and

770
00:48:09.800 --> 00:48:12.880
the mercy of God, and we are relying on an

771
00:48:12.920 --> 00:48:19.480
imputed righteousness. And imputed righteousness is an idea completely foreign

772
00:48:19.599 --> 00:48:23.199
to a world way, a world's way of thinking. We

773
00:48:23.239 --> 00:48:25.519
are no longer to be conformed to that, we are

774
00:48:25.599 --> 00:48:31.000
to be transformed. Word is this idea means to undergo

775
00:48:31.119 --> 00:48:35.840
a fundamental change. And this interpretation, transformation is not self generated.

776
00:48:35.960 --> 00:48:38.880
It is something God accomplishes and believers as they rest

777
00:48:39.000 --> 00:48:42.719
in His truth. This aligns with Paul's teaching and Tewo

778
00:48:42.800 --> 00:48:46.400
Corinthians three eighteen, where transformation happens as we behold the

779
00:48:46.440 --> 00:48:49.760
glory of Christ, not as we strive for moral improvement.

780
00:48:50.639 --> 00:48:56.639
We are being transformed by by our changing and our thinking,

781
00:48:56.679 --> 00:49:01.360
and by trusting in what Christ has done by the

782
00:49:01.400 --> 00:49:04.400
renewing of your mind. The mind is renewed not through

783
00:49:04.480 --> 00:49:07.679
human effort, but by meditating on the truth of the Gospel.

784
00:49:08.039 --> 00:49:12.360
Renewal involves rejecting the mindset of earning righteousness and embracing

785
00:49:12.400 --> 00:49:16.119
the mindset of grace, living out our identity in Christ

786
00:49:16.440 --> 00:49:20.119
rather than striving to become holy in our own strength.

787
00:49:20.719 --> 00:49:23.679
We renew our minds. We're not We're no longer going

788
00:49:23.760 --> 00:49:25.639
to be conformed. If I'm gonna lose my voice, We're

789
00:49:25.679 --> 00:49:27.559
no longer going to be conformed to this world's way

790
00:49:27.559 --> 00:49:30.840
of thinking. We're gonna renew our mind by focusing on

791
00:49:30.880 --> 00:49:37.679
the Gospel and what God has done for us, that

792
00:49:38.559 --> 00:49:41.519
we may be able to discern. The renewed mind is

793
00:49:41.559 --> 00:49:44.039
able to discern God's will not by self effort, but

794
00:49:44.039 --> 00:49:47.119
by resting in his revealed purpose. This means discerning that

795
00:49:47.239 --> 00:49:52.519
God's good, acceptable, and perfect will is not burdens burdens burdensome,

796
00:49:53.000 --> 00:49:56.199
but an invitation to trust Him fully and to live

797
00:49:56.440 --> 00:50:02.639
in peace. We begin to understand God's will is that

798
00:50:02.719 --> 00:50:05.880
I believe in his son. God's will is that I

799
00:50:06.000 --> 00:50:09.920
trust in his completed work. God's will is that I

800
00:50:10.119 --> 00:50:13.159
understand that the sacrifice has been made, the cost has

801
00:50:13.199 --> 00:50:21.320
been paid, and I can trust and rest in that good, acceptable,

802
00:50:21.400 --> 00:50:25.360
and perfect. This describes the completeness of God's will. When

803
00:50:25.400 --> 00:50:28.199
believers stops striving and rest in His grace that begin

804
00:50:28.320 --> 00:50:32.280
to experience his good purposes. This renewal is a process

805
00:50:32.360 --> 00:50:35.559
of continually dying to the belief that our worth or

806
00:50:35.559 --> 00:50:39.360
holiness comes from our performance, and we instead rest and

807
00:50:39.400 --> 00:50:46.559
the sufficiency of Christ. Now let's try to put all

808
00:50:46.599 --> 00:50:49.320
of this together. Now that's working through. We work through

809
00:50:49.320 --> 00:50:54.400
every single phrase of Romans twelve one through two, and

810
00:50:54.440 --> 00:50:57.400
we completely offered an interpretation that goes against every other

811
00:50:57.440 --> 00:50:59.840
interpretation you're going to hear in Romans twelve one through two.

812
00:51:01.199 --> 00:51:04.119
You don't believe me, well, get up the sermons two

813
00:51:04.159 --> 00:51:08.800
point oh app start downloading sermons or start streaming sermons

814
00:51:09.079 --> 00:51:11.800
on Romans twelve one through two. Find and see how

815
00:51:11.840 --> 00:51:14.599
many go completely the opposite direction of what I'm trying

816
00:51:14.599 --> 00:51:18.280
to lead you into. Now you may go with all

817
00:51:18.320 --> 00:51:20.360
the other sermons and say that I'm completely wrong, and

818
00:51:20.360 --> 00:51:23.719
that's perfectly okay. Just remember when you go with Romans

819
00:51:23.719 --> 00:51:26.000
twelve to one through too, the way everyone else teaches it.

820
00:51:26.280 --> 00:51:28.000
You know what you're going to find yourself. You're going

821
00:51:28.079 --> 00:51:31.000
to realize, over and over and over you fall short.

822
00:51:31.119 --> 00:51:33.679
You will never truly be a living sacrifice. You're going

823
00:51:33.760 --> 00:51:36.280
to fall short over and over and over because guess what,

824
00:51:36.639 --> 00:51:39.320
you are still a sinner. You have a sinful nature.

825
00:51:39.400 --> 00:51:41.679
So you're still going to send in your mind, You're

826
00:51:41.679 --> 00:51:43.960
gonna still sin with your mouth. You're going to still

827
00:51:44.000 --> 00:51:46.280
sin in your heart and with your desires. You're still

828
00:51:46.280 --> 00:51:48.559
going to sin in your actions. You're never truly going

829
00:51:48.599 --> 00:51:50.639
to be a living sacrifice. You're never truly going to

830
00:51:50.719 --> 00:51:52.199
love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul.

831
00:51:52.320 --> 00:51:54.199
And you're going to be in a perpetual state of

832
00:51:54.239 --> 00:51:57.280
failure sin, and if you even remotely care, you're going

833
00:51:57.360 --> 00:52:01.400
to become disillusioned, discouraged, depressed, and you may start deconstructing.

834
00:52:06.599 --> 00:52:08.239
Or you can just pretend that you pull it all

835
00:52:08.280 --> 00:52:10.320
off and that you're better than everyone else, and you

836
00:52:10.360 --> 00:52:12.119
can just go find some people who are really bad,

837
00:52:12.159 --> 00:52:14.360
compare yourself to them, and you can pat yourself on

838
00:52:14.400 --> 00:52:17.159
the back and say, I think the God that I'm

839
00:52:17.199 --> 00:52:20.360
not like this person and this person and this person. Well,

840
00:52:20.400 --> 00:52:23.880
you can do that if you want. But guess what. Now,

841
00:52:24.079 --> 00:52:27.639
you're not a living sacrifice because you're not showing that

842
00:52:27.679 --> 00:52:30.320
you are dead in Christ. You're showing that you're very

843
00:52:30.400 --> 00:52:33.320
much alive, and you're basing everything on your self effort,

844
00:52:33.679 --> 00:52:41.760
your lawkeeping, and your works. So let's look at this idea.

845
00:52:41.800 --> 00:52:46.239
How about dying to self righteousness? The living sacrifice is

846
00:52:46.280 --> 00:52:49.239
not an act of surrendering it. Okay, I'm sorry, I

847
00:52:49.280 --> 00:52:53.159
read this. Let me read this again. Dying to self righteousness.

848
00:52:54.079 --> 00:52:58.719
The living sacrifice is an act of surrendering law based

849
00:52:59.159 --> 00:53:04.960
thinking and resting in Christ's righteousness. It means dying to

850
00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:08.519
the idea that our holiness or closeness to God is

851
00:53:08.599 --> 00:53:16.519
dependent on our performance. The living sacrifice in Romans twelve

852
00:53:16.559 --> 00:53:20.239
to one is an act of surrendering law based thinking

853
00:53:21.119 --> 00:53:23.960
and resting in Christ's righteousness. It means dying to the

854
00:53:24.000 --> 00:53:27.320
idea that our holiness or closeness to God is dependent

855
00:53:27.440 --> 00:53:34.440
on our performance. Transformation by grace, the transformation Paul describes

856
00:53:34.480 --> 00:53:36.719
as not a call to try harder. It is a

857
00:53:36.760 --> 00:53:39.239
call to be renewed by the truth of the Gospel.

858
00:53:39.519 --> 00:53:42.559
It is a shift from I must do more to

859
00:53:43.519 --> 00:53:53.559
Christ has done it all. Freedom from legalism. This interpretation

860
00:53:53.639 --> 00:53:56.320
frees believers from the burden of trying to maintain or

861
00:53:56.480 --> 00:53:59.760
prove their holiness. Instead, they're invited to abide in Christ's

862
00:53:59.800 --> 00:54:06.960
love and live as accepted sons and daughters. So what

863
00:54:07.000 --> 00:54:13.480
are the practical implications rest in christ finished work? Believers

864
00:54:14.039 --> 00:54:17.159
can approach each day as a living sacrifice by rejecting

865
00:54:17.239 --> 00:54:20.000
the mindset of earning God's favor and resting in the

866
00:54:20.039 --> 00:54:26.320
reality that Christ's righteousness covers them fully renew the mind.

867
00:54:26.639 --> 00:54:31.599
Daily renewal involves preaching the Gospel to yourself, reminding ourselves

868
00:54:31.599 --> 00:54:36.440
that we are accepted, beloved, and justified by grace, not works,

869
00:54:37.920 --> 00:54:41.480
freedom and worship. Worship becomes less about ritual and obligation

870
00:54:41.800 --> 00:54:45.079
and more about gratitude and awe. True spiritual worship is

871
00:54:45.119 --> 00:54:52.199
trusting that Christ's sacrifice is enough. Rejecting self effort. Believers

872
00:54:52.199 --> 00:54:55.639
are freed from the exhausting cycle of spiritual performance. Instead

873
00:54:55.639 --> 00:54:58.400
of striving to become more holy by checking boxes of

874
00:54:58.480 --> 00:55:02.559
spiritual achievement, called to rest and the holiness and the

875
00:55:02.599 --> 00:55:12.960
imputed righteousness that comes from Christ. That's the practical implications

876
00:55:13.079 --> 00:55:18.599
that flows from my interpretation. So my interpretation of Romans

877
00:55:18.599 --> 00:55:21.960
twelve to one through two is a call to rest

878
00:55:22.639 --> 00:55:27.039
in Christ's imputed righteousness. It's the idea of dying from

879
00:55:27.159 --> 00:55:29.840
all of this effort, realizing that I'm crucified in Christ

880
00:55:29.920 --> 00:55:32.599
and I am dead in Christ. I have died. I'm

881
00:55:32.639 --> 00:55:35.920
accepting that of acknowledging that I'm resting that I have

882
00:55:36.039 --> 00:55:40.000
been crucified. I'm resting in his mercy. I'm resting in

883
00:55:40.039 --> 00:55:44.000
His finished work. Romans twelve one through two is a

884
00:55:44.039 --> 00:55:46.840
call to rest in christ imputed righteousness and a die

885
00:55:46.880 --> 00:55:49.960
to self effort. It shifts the focus from external moral

886
00:55:50.000 --> 00:55:54.519
improvement to inward renewal through the Gospel. The living sacrifice

887
00:55:54.599 --> 00:55:57.039
is not about trying to become holier through our efforts,

888
00:55:57.199 --> 00:56:00.519
but about surrendering our striving and trusting compleatly in the

889
00:56:00.559 --> 00:56:04.559
finished work of Christ. This approach emphasizes worship that flows

890
00:56:04.559 --> 00:56:08.639
from rest, transformation, rooted in grace, and freedom from the

891
00:56:08.639 --> 00:56:17.119
burden of legalistic performance. There is the new interpretation of

892
00:56:17.199 --> 00:56:25.159
Romans twelve one through two. I beseech you, come on, guys.

893
00:56:25.480 --> 00:56:30.679
I plead with you. I beg with you, guys, by

894
00:56:30.719 --> 00:56:35.960
the mercies of God. It's God's mercy, which I want

895
00:56:35.960 --> 00:56:37.880
you to grass. It's God's mercy which I want you

896
00:56:37.920 --> 00:56:40.239
to understand. It's God's mercy which you need to see.

897
00:56:40.239 --> 00:56:43.960
Everything I'm about to say, I beseech you. Therefore, brethren,

898
00:56:44.960 --> 00:56:47.639
everything that I've been talking about for eleven chapters is

899
00:56:47.840 --> 00:56:50.800
I'm speaking as Paul here. Eleven chapters. I've talked about

900
00:56:50.800 --> 00:56:52.840
how sinful you are. I've talked about how we are

901
00:56:52.880 --> 00:56:57.000
saved by grace alone, faithful one, we justify apart from works.

902
00:56:57.159 --> 00:57:00.639
I've talked about God's sovereign grace and mercy, especially as

903
00:57:00.639 --> 00:57:04.840
it relates to Israel. It's all about God's mercy, his grace.

904
00:57:06.159 --> 00:57:09.440
It's not about your works or your efforts. So, brethren,

905
00:57:09.519 --> 00:57:14.559
I beseech you, by these mercies that you now present

906
00:57:14.599 --> 00:57:17.679
yourself as a living sacrifice. Die to all of that

907
00:57:17.760 --> 00:57:21.480
law based thinking, Die to all that law based righteousness,

908
00:57:21.719 --> 00:57:24.519
Die to all of that self righteousness, Die to all

909
00:57:24.559 --> 00:57:28.440
of that human effort and trying to do good works.

910
00:57:28.880 --> 00:57:31.159
Die to all of that, and rest in the finished

911
00:57:31.159 --> 00:57:33.320
work of Christ. Am I saying that we don't strive

912
00:57:33.440 --> 00:57:36.320
to do good. I'm not saying that, But we have

913
00:57:36.400 --> 00:57:42.559
to stop seeing Christianity as a performance based faith and

914
00:57:42.679 --> 00:57:45.400
see it as a faith that trust in what Christ

915
00:57:45.480 --> 00:57:52.440
has done. And when you present yourself as a living sacrifice,

916
00:57:52.440 --> 00:57:56.199
you're resting in christ righteousness. This is holy inacceptable unto God.

917
00:57:56.320 --> 00:57:58.840
Why is it holy inacceptable unto God? Because you are

918
00:57:58.920 --> 00:58:02.079
resting in the only that's wholly and acceptable unto God

919
00:58:02.320 --> 00:58:06.280
is the imputed righteousness that comes from Christ. And this

920
00:58:06.360 --> 00:58:09.639
is your reasonable service this is your spiritual act of worship.

921
00:58:10.440 --> 00:58:17.400
You're declaring God worthy because of what he has done,

922
00:58:17.719 --> 00:58:20.119
and don't be conformed to this world. Stop thinking like

923
00:58:20.159 --> 00:58:27.719
the world. This transactional idea works. Base mentality be transformed

924
00:58:28.199 --> 00:58:30.800
by the renewing of your mind. Change your mindset by

925
00:58:31.079 --> 00:58:36.920
preaching the Gospel to yourself every single day, and then

926
00:58:37.000 --> 00:58:40.199
you can prove what is that good and acceptable and

927
00:58:40.239 --> 00:58:44.400
perfect will of God, which is trust in his son,

928
00:58:45.800 --> 00:58:55.280
Believe on his son, rest in him. Now, I hope

929
00:58:55.280 --> 00:58:57.599
that worked. I know that with a lot of Oh

930
00:58:57.800 --> 00:59:00.400
that was a lot. Probably could have broken that down

931
00:59:00.480 --> 00:59:02.760
into smaller pieces, but then it would be hard to

932
00:59:02.800 --> 00:59:08.000
put it all together again. That was a work that

933
00:59:08.119 --> 00:59:13.199
was a combination of my working with artificial intelligence to

934
00:59:13.360 --> 00:59:16.559
flesh out this new interpretation. I kind of wrote out

935
00:59:16.639 --> 00:59:20.280
all everything AI then put it together in a very

936
00:59:20.400 --> 00:59:24.599
nice organized way. So it was a combination of my

937
00:59:24.719 --> 00:59:28.039
effort with AI putting it together in a nice Now

938
00:59:28.079 --> 00:59:31.079
I could have organized it probably a little better, but

939
00:59:31.159 --> 00:59:35.159
we work through every single phrase. Now is it perfect.

940
00:59:35.239 --> 00:59:37.880
I'm not saying it's perfect yet. Remember we're less than

941
00:59:37.920 --> 00:59:41.400
twenty four hours from really developing this new interpretation. We're

942
00:59:41.440 --> 00:59:43.920
only about twenty four hours into this. This is like,

943
00:59:43.960 --> 00:59:47.239
you know, this is an infant as far as a

944
00:59:47.280 --> 00:59:50.199
new interpretation is concerned. We still got to work. Is

945
00:59:50.239 --> 00:59:53.199
it perfect? No, But let me make it very clear.

946
00:59:53.320 --> 00:59:55.760
All of these sermons that preach that, hey, you make

947
00:59:55.880 --> 00:59:58.360
yourself a living sacrifice, do this, do this, do this.

948
00:59:58.679 --> 01:00:01.559
You may love sermons, and you may come up with

949
01:00:01.599 --> 01:00:03.360
all of your list of the things you're going to do,

950
01:00:03.519 --> 01:00:06.119
but if you're even remotely honest with yourself, you know

951
01:00:06.199 --> 01:00:09.079
that all it leads to is a perpetual state of failure.

952
01:00:09.320 --> 01:00:13.800
You're never going to accomplish it. You never will. You're

953
01:00:13.800 --> 01:00:16.239
going to fall short over and over and over and

954
01:00:16.280 --> 01:00:18.159
over and over and over. And how is it ever

955
01:00:18.199 --> 01:00:20.519
going to be wholly and acceptable under God? Because no

956
01:00:20.519 --> 01:00:22.880
matter what you do, it's tainted by the sin that

957
01:00:23.000 --> 01:00:25.760
is inside of you. Unless you believe in the eradication

958
01:00:25.880 --> 01:00:28.360
of the old nature, you are still a sinner. You

959
01:00:28.440 --> 01:00:31.519
are still sin. Everything you do is touched by your sin.

960
01:00:31.719 --> 01:00:33.960
All of your good works is nothing more than filthy

961
01:00:34.039 --> 01:00:37.159
rags before a holy God. You fall short. If you

962
01:00:37.199 --> 01:00:40.199
can just take one command right, be holy as God

963
01:00:40.280 --> 01:00:42.559
is holy, You're never going to pull that off. You're

964
01:00:42.599 --> 01:00:45.400
never going to be a living sacrifice. You're never going

965
01:00:45.440 --> 01:00:47.280
to love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul.

966
01:00:47.360 --> 01:00:49.880
And as long as you considered, continue to think that

967
01:00:49.920 --> 01:00:52.119
you that you can, you're going to live in a

968
01:00:52.199 --> 01:00:55.440
land of self denial. You are a self deceit. I

969
01:00:55.440 --> 01:00:57.480
should say, you're going to live in a land of

970
01:00:57.559 --> 01:00:59.800
self deceit. You're going to be You're going to be

971
01:01:00.559 --> 01:01:04.519
yourself and you're gonna have to pretend and pretend and pretend.

972
01:01:04.760 --> 01:01:08.280
But guess what, you know the reality. You know what's

973
01:01:08.320 --> 01:01:10.480
going on inside of you. You know what you do,

974
01:01:10.679 --> 01:01:13.280
you know what you think, you know what you desire.

975
01:01:13.440 --> 01:01:16.360
And other people see that sin inside of you. They

976
01:01:16.400 --> 01:01:22.360
see your selfishness, they see you, they see it. The

977
01:01:22.480 --> 01:01:24.840
other system is going to lead you into a perpetual

978
01:01:24.840 --> 01:01:29.639
state of despair if you're even remotely honest with yourself. Oh,

979
01:01:29.679 --> 01:01:31.760
I'm gonna be a living sacrifice. I'm gonna do this,

980
01:01:31.840 --> 01:01:33.679
I'm gonna do this. Well, then what was the point

981
01:01:33.679 --> 01:01:39.639
of God's mercy the living sacrifices you you are realizing

982
01:01:43.920 --> 01:01:48.480
I'll go to the same author Paul, see if I

983
01:01:48.480 --> 01:01:55.920
can find it really quick. I have been crucified with

984
01:01:56.000 --> 01:02:01.760
Christ it is no longer I who live, but Christ

985
01:02:01.840 --> 01:02:03.960
lives in me, and the life which I now live

986
01:02:04.000 --> 01:02:05.480
in the flesh, I live by the Faith and the

987
01:02:05.519 --> 01:02:09.199
Son of God. I am dead. Positionally, I present myself

988
01:02:09.199 --> 01:02:12.719
as a living sacrifice by every day acknowledging I am crucified.

989
01:02:13.000 --> 01:02:16.360
I have died. I am in Christ Jesus. I'm dying

990
01:02:16.400 --> 01:02:19.639
to self effort. I'm dying to self righteousness. I'm dying

991
01:02:19.639 --> 01:02:21.960
to all of this. And I'm presenting myself to God

992
01:02:22.159 --> 01:02:25.159
that I have died and that I am in Christ Jesus,

993
01:02:25.320 --> 01:02:29.039
and I am am saved because of mercy and because

994
01:02:29.039 --> 01:02:31.440
of an imputed righteousness. And then I am wholly an

995
01:02:31.440 --> 01:02:34.760
acceptable into God because that is wholly an acceptable unto

996
01:02:34.760 --> 01:02:38.199
God as a person who's who the righteousness of Christ

997
01:02:38.199 --> 01:02:41.519
has been imputed to their account. I have died and

998
01:02:41.639 --> 01:02:44.920
I am in Christ Jesus. I am going to acknowledge.

999
01:02:44.920 --> 01:02:47.400
I'm going to present myself to God based off that

1000
01:02:47.760 --> 01:02:51.360
positional reality. Then I'm wholly acceptable into God. And this

1001
01:02:51.480 --> 01:02:54.000
is my reasonable act of worship because I'm declaring God

1002
01:02:54.079 --> 01:02:56.760
worthy because of what He has done, not because of

1003
01:02:56.760 --> 01:03:06.840
what I am doing. I know that's a radically different approach.

1004
01:03:06.920 --> 01:03:13.360
I know that, But there we have it. That was

1005
01:03:13.400 --> 01:03:15.239
a lot of work, and I'm sorry I dropped a

1006
01:03:15.239 --> 01:03:18.599
pencil in the middle of all of that. I'm sorry

1007
01:03:18.599 --> 01:03:21.320
I was reading probably way too fast. There's all I can.

1008
01:03:21.400 --> 01:03:23.440
I can do a million critiques of my own sermon

1009
01:03:23.519 --> 01:03:25.880
right there, but I was working as fast as I could,

1010
01:03:25.920 --> 01:03:28.119
because I mean, look, going as fast as I did,

1011
01:03:28.119 --> 01:03:30.280
it still took sixty three minutes. I didn't want to

1012
01:03:30.320 --> 01:03:32.920
break that down. Now, maybe we can. Maybe I can

1013
01:03:32.920 --> 01:03:35.840
clean it up a little bit. Maybe I'll clean it

1014
01:03:35.920 --> 01:03:39.639
up a little bit, and maybe i'll present this at

1015
01:03:39.719 --> 01:03:43.880
church in some capacity, and and and you'll hear maybe

1016
01:03:43.880 --> 01:03:46.159
some repetition. But maybe I can break it down even

1017
01:03:46.239 --> 01:03:50.559
more so. But hey, now it's I've handed it to you,

1018
01:03:51.199 --> 01:03:56.119
so we'll classify my new interpretation as a hypothesis. Now,

1019
01:03:56.159 --> 01:03:57.880
what I want you to go do is listen to

1020
01:03:57.960 --> 01:03:59.360
all the others. I want you to go to the

1021
01:03:59.360 --> 01:04:01.679
sermon's two point oh app and go crazy listening to

1022
01:04:01.679 --> 01:04:05.079
sermons on Romans twelve one through two, and just ask yourself,

1023
01:04:06.840 --> 01:04:11.079
come on, first, are these very much legalistic, law based

1024
01:04:11.119 --> 01:04:14.480
do this do this type messages? And second, can anyone

1025
01:04:14.599 --> 01:04:18.840
truly ever accomplish that, if it is true that we

1026
01:04:18.880 --> 01:04:22.920
still have a sinful nature, and then you and then

1027
01:04:22.960 --> 01:04:26.280
you can say, well if that, if that interpretation doesn't work,

1028
01:04:27.079 --> 01:04:32.599
maybe that crazy guy in Theology Central offered a interesting alternative,

1029
01:04:32.719 --> 01:04:36.639
and you can determine which one works in a practical

1030
01:04:37.440 --> 01:04:42.400
philological way. Thanks for listening everyone, have a great day.

1031
01:04:43.039 --> 01:04:43.599
God bless