4. Motivation?
Appease
God?
Apologize
to God?
Gratitude
to God!
Romans 3:23-24 NLT
For everyone has sinned;
we all fall short of God's
glorious standard.
24 Yet God, with
undeserved kindness,
declares that we are
righteous. He did this
through Christ Jesus
when He freed us from
the penalty for our sins.
14. 2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT So all of us who
have had that veil removed can see and
reflect the glory of the Lord. And the
Lord--who is the Spirit--makes us more
and more like Him as we are changed
into His glorious image.
18. In what you say
In the way you live
In your love
In your faith
In your purity
Beanexample
19. Video: Life of Integrity
by Sagebrush Community Church
http://www.worshiphousemedia.com
/mini-movies/24164/Life-Of-Integrity
Editor's Notes
^ Sacrifice has been around as long as religion. Reasons people offer sacrifices:^ Pagans offer sacrifices to appease their gods. Things going badly = the gods must be angry! What can we do about that? Sacrifice to satisfy the god’s blood lust!^ Jews sometimes offered sacrifices to apologize to God for their wrongdoing (not the reason for many of the sacrifices). Leviticus gives instructions about all sorts of sacrifices – among them were the “sin offering” (when a person became aware of some sin he had committed) and the “guilt offering” (when a person became aware that he had wronged a fellow-Israelite and needed to make restitution). Then, there was the “Day of Atonement” (Yom Kippur) when atonement was made for all the sins the whole nation had committed over the previous year.^ Motivation for Christian sacrifice is gratitude for what God has done for us (Romans 1-11).
οἰκτιρμός ( UBS ) "compassion“ – NLT renders “because of all He has done foryou”Paul explainsGod’sundeservedkindness in places likeRom. 3:23-24
Holy – set apart exclusively for God – True in OT & NT. God doesn’t share His sacrifices with anyone!^ Acceptable – on God’s approved list – true in OT & NT. Jews could not offer just any old animal.Antiochus IV Epiphanes desecrated the altar by slaughtering pigs on it. Led to revolt & to rededicating temple (Hanukkah)God would not accept animals that were sickly and about to die. He only accepted the best the Jews had to offer.Same is true today – God only accepts our BEST!^ Living – not true in OT
OT Jews offered dead sacrifices.They offered the blood of an animal to atone for their own sins.We have the blood of Christ, so we don’t need animal sacrifices.
God only demands one thing – OUR WHOLE LIVES!^ The problem with living sacrifices is that they keep trying to crawl off the altar!
λογικός ( UBS ) "rational“Some translations say “spiritual worship” – but this is not the usual word for “spiritual”.Others say “reasonable worship” – but that can convey the idea that we can bargain with God and give him less than our best. (“Be reasonable, why should I kill this perfectly good animal, when I have another one that’s sick and about to die!”). Seems reasonable to us, but not acceptable to God.λογικός ( UBS ) "rational” is the word from which we get “logical”.The point is not that we offer the worship we deem “reasonable”It is that we don’t just “go through the motions” in worship.God wants our bodies, but he also wants our minds!^ Get back on the altar. Worship is about what God expects – not what YOU want!This is truly the way to worship Him.Consumer worship video.
Negative followed by positive.Negative is “do not copy”.Gk syntax (μὴ συσχηματίζεσθε – present imperative) conveys idea of “stop conforming” or “stop being conformed”συσχηματίζω ( UBS ) “to conform to” It is very telling that being "conformed" to the present world is viewed as a passive notion, for it may suggest that it happens, in part, subconsciously. At the same time, the passive could well be a "permissive passive," suggesting that there may be some consciousness of the conformity taking place. Most likely, it is a combination of both.When you find that your behavior is a lot like the bad behavior of the people around you, it’s time to make a change.^ J.B. Phillips captures the idea well: “Stop letting the world squeeze you into its mold.”But it is not nonconformity for the sake of nonconformity. Some people are different just for the sake of being different.
Paul gives a positive appeal to replace the negative.“You’ll be changed from the inside out.” – The MessageUnlike conforming to peer pressure (copying the behavior and customs of this world).It is a new way of thinking that is different from the world’s way of thinking. We think differently, so we act differently. It is a process of change, not a momentary event.
μεταμορφόω ( UBS ) "to change form” – the word that describes the process by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.Used in three contexts in NT: Transfiguration of Jesus (Matt. 17 & Mark 9)Transformation of Christians so we become like Christ (2 Cor. 3:18)
Stop thinking like the world, and give your body and mind to Christ.He will transform you into his likeness, so you will think like he does.Then – after the spiritual transformation just described has taken place. God's will – what God wants from the believer here and now. Good – that which leads to the spiritual and moral growth of the Christian. Pleasing – to God, not necessarily to us. Perfect – no improvement can be made on the will of God.
Again a negative and a positive. Focused on youth and age.^ What do you see? Young woman looking away (jaw, choker), or old woman looking down (nose, mouth)?Negative: Timothy was urged to conduct himself in such a way that no one would look down in a condescending way on his youthfulness. The word for "youth" (KJV) is νεότης ( UBS ) "youth, childhood", "used of grown- up military age, extending to the 40th year" (Lock, p. 52). Timothy was probably about thirty years old at this time.Folks with age and experience often don’t take young people seriously. “When you’re older, you’ll know better” (e.g. be more jaded and less optimistic)
The antidote is to be an example of maturity. The word τύπος (type)meant "a figure, image" and then ethically "an example, pattern." ^ In what you say – he was to be an example in "speech" (λόγος, "word").^ In the way you live – (ἀναστροφή, "manner of living," not "conversation," KJV), ^ In your love – (ἀγάπη), ^ In your faith – (πίστις – has to do with both faith and faithfulness),^ In your "purity" (ἁγνεία ( UBS ) "purity, in the sense of moral purity and proper sexual conduct") – especially needed today when young people are tempted to engage in all kinds of sexual activity outside of marriage.These are all vital constituents of Christian living. Carelessness in any one of these areas can spell failure and even disaster. It brings the Christian – and the church – into disrepute, because, as Paul said in Rom 12:1, we are letting the world press us into its mold. We are being conformed, not transformed.