The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
Once we have, by faith, accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we spend the rest of our lives learning what that means. Some define this process as a developing maturity of faith, others as a progressive sanctification. Setting semantics aside, it is God’s training of His people through biblical instruction towards both foundational support for our earthly journey and preparation for eternity in Heaven. With time we develop an increasing sense of Bible-centric attitudes and actions as we experience daily living in the light of God’s Word. However, there is much that our enemy would set in our path to hinder this growth in faith and to cause division between us and other Christians.
Romans 12:1-5 gives us a map for moving past those road blocks: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. For I say to every man that is among you, through the grace given unto me, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”
Did you notice the personal responsibility here?
1. Personal Holiness – “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
2. Personal Purity – “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.”
3. Personal Humility – “For I say to every man that is among you, through the grace given unto me, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.”
4. Personal Collaborative Approach – “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office.”
5. Personal Perspective of Unity in Christ – “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”
But our walk with God is not entirely up to us. Once a child of God steps out in faith to follow God’s direction, the Holy Spirit empowers each to do what God has directed. The commandments to love the Lord our God with all our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt.22:37-40) encompass “all the law and the prophets”. Scripture makes it clear that each of us is under the authority of the same King of Kings and Lord of Lords, having a supernatural connection with every other Christian by the will of God.
Stay tuned for the sequel as I plan to continue to explore this Bible passage next week.
