"I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Romans 12v1
The Roman epistle, in the words of another is "the most arresting piece of logic ever written" and universally so acclaimed. The whole message flows from beginning to end without a break, building logic upon logic, until we can be in no doubt that this gospel which he is expounding involves one complete whole, and one way of salvation for mankind from moral ruin to eternal glory. No less than 27 times he uses the word "therefore" beginning in chapter 2v1 and ending in chapter 16v19; so what follows is a natural progression from the previous chapters.
He opens the section with "I beseech you" .... I beg of you please. Paul's desire for the brethren is that they would respond positively to this great work which has been done on their behalf. Note here the apostolic method: sometimes he will use his apostolic authority, other times he uses spiritual appeal. Paul's way was to use AUTHORITY or APPEAL, in today's language the stick or the carrot. It is important to notice when the apostle uses authority and when he uses appeal. For example in 1st Timothy 2v1 he says " I exhort therefore ...." whereas to the same people in 1st Timothy 2v8 he says " I will therefore ......I suffer not." He does the same writing to the Ephesians; Ephesians 4v1 he says "I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the calling" whereas in the same chapter 4v17 he says "this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that ye hence forth walk not as other Gentiles." It would appear that when he is dealing with matters of Divine order, he will use his authoritarian mode.; whereas when he is asking Christians to dedicate themselves to God, something which usually costs them a great deal, he will not demand but he will beg. This approach appears to be God's way, who demands certain things of us, but graciously asks us to do things where personal cost is involved. We should take note of this dual approach, and learn to discern between the two. God does not demand that we give our lives to Him, but He expects our proper answer to His grace would in fact yield devotion to Himself.
Notice now the basis of this appeal "by the tender mercies of God." Thus Paul brings before his readers the entire contents of Romans chapters 1 - 11 which could be described as the mercies of God. In effect Paul is saying based on all that God has done for us in Christ, would we not feel obliged to bring some offering to God. The word used for "mercies" here is very interesting. There are two words for mercy in the New Testament : one is eleeos the other is oiktirmoss. The first appears to present God's display of mercy to human beings, whereas the second appears to reflect the inward compassion that God feels when He is dispensing mercy. One is outward and the other is inward. It is the second of these words which Paul uses here, so he is not merely stating to these believers that God has dispensed mercy towards them (which means withholding from them punishment they deserve), but that in doing so He reflecting the inward emotion of His being towards us. Both words can be rendered "pity" but the second word really means compassion. Paul has already made this distinction in chapter 9v15 where he says quoting from Moses "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." All blessings flow from Divine mercy (9v15; 9v16;9v18;9v23;11v30;11v31;11v32)., but what Paul is stressing here is Divine pity on our wretched state. The feelings of God in the matter are pronounced here, not just the facts of what He did but his inward feelings, His compassion towards ruined man. The story of this wondrous gospel is that God will take a man from the gutter to the glory, from sin to salvation, from the lowest state to the highest exaltations. This is what God has done for us, says Paul would we do something for Him?
The picture emerges of Jesus standing outside the perimeter walls of Jerusalem, and crying with passionate appeal to them "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem thou that killedst the prophets and stoned them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" Matthew 23v37 Will any one of us turn away from Divine compassion? This is the basis of the Divine appeal, from the great God of heaven who in tender inward compassion toward all of us, devoted Himself to our cause, and gave up everything He had so that we might be blessed, would we now give these little lives of ours back to such an One? Reading back the contents of Romans chapters 1-11, can any one of us fail to give something back to Him who gave His all? Is there any appeal so powerful as this, the power of love, Divine love for lesser mortals? Hopelessly ungodly and unrighteous, blinded by the hypocrisy of self-righteousness, under the wrath of a Holy God, universally and totally estranged from God and facing only a ruined future, the mercy of God intervened. In the words of the hymn writer:
In loving kindness Jesus came,
My soul in mercy to reclaim,
And from the depths of sin and shame,
Through grace He lifted me.
From sinking sand, He lifted me,
With tender hand He lifted me,
From shades of night, to plains of light,
O praise His name, He lifted me.
CAN ANY OF US REFUSE TO RESPOND TO THIS?
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