The Early Church · c. AD 57
Chapter 25
A Living Sacrifice
Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.
For parents
Paul writes that the one in authority “doesn’t carry the sword for nothing” against those who do evil (Romans 13:4), and he names sins to put away, among them drunkenness and sexual sin, in soft words (13:13).
’s letter to went on. “So, brothers and sisters, I urge you by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living , one that is holy and acceptable to God. This is your spiritual service. Don’t be shaped to fit this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you can test and find out God’s will, which is good, well-pleasing, and perfect.
“Through the grace that was given to me, I tell each one of you: don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. Think with good sense instead, in keeping with the measure of faith that God has handed each person.
“One body has many parts, and the parts don’t all do the same work. It is the same with us: we who are many are one body in , and each of us is a part of the others.
“Our gifts are different, according to the grace that was given to us. If the gift is , let’s prophesy in proportion to our faith. If it is serving, let’s give ourselves to serving. The one who teaches should give himself to teaching, and the one who encourages should give himself to encouraging. The one who gives should do it generously. The one who leads should work hard at it. The one who shows mercy should do it cheerfully.”
“Let love be real,” Paul wrote, “with no pretending. Hate evil, and cling to what is good. Be tender toward one another, with the love of brothers and sisters. When it comes to honor, put one another first.
“Don’t slow down in your hard work. Be eager in spirit as you serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Stand firm in troubles. Stay steady in prayer. Help meet the needs of the , and make a habit of welcoming guests.
“Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Don’t set your mind on high things, but keep company with the humble. Don’t be wise in your own eyes.
“Don’t pay anyone back harm for harm. Care about what all people see as honorable. If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with everyone.
“Dear friends, don’t take revenge yourselves, but leave room for God’s anger, because it is written, ‘Revenge belongs to me; I will pay back, says the Lord.’ So, ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink, because by doing this you will heap coals of fire on his head.’
“Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
“Everyone should be subject to the authorities over them,” Paul wrote, “because there is no authority except from God, and every authority there is has been put in place by God. So whoever resists the authority is standing against what God has set in order, and those who stand against it will receive judgment.
“Rulers are not a terror to good work, but to evil. Do you want to have nothing to fear from the one in authority? Do what is good, and he will praise you, because he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid, because he doesn’t carry the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an avenger who brings wrath on whoever does evil.
“So you need to be subject, not just because of that wrath, but for the sake of your as well. This is also why you pay taxes: the authorities are servants in God’s service, doing this very thing all the time. Give everyone what you owe. If you owe taxes, pay taxes. If you owe customs on goods, pay customs. If you owe respect, give respect. If you owe honor, give honor.”
“Owe no one anything,” Paul wrote, “except to love one another, because whoever loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments say, ‘You shall not commit ,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ and ‘You shall not .’ This saying sums up those commandments and every other commandment there is: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. So love is the fulfillment of the law.
“Do this, knowing what time it is. It is already time for you to wake up out of sleep, because salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed. Most of the night is gone, and the day is near. So let’s throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light.
“Let’s live properly, as we would by day: not in rowdy parties and drunkenness, not in sexual sin and indecent acts, and not in fighting and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and don’t make plans to feed the desires of the flesh.”
“Now accept someone who is weak in faith,” Paul wrote, “but not to argue over opinions. One person has faith to eat anything, but someone who is weak eats only vegetables. Don’t let the one who eats look down on the one who doesn’t eat. And don’t let the one who doesn’t eat judge the one who eats, because God has accepted him.
“Who are you to judge a servant who belongs to someone else? Whether he stands or falls, he answers to his own master. Yes, he will be made to stand, because God has the power to make him stand.
“One person thinks one day is more important. Another thinks every day is alike. Let each one be fully sure in his own mind. Whoever keeps the day keeps it for the Lord, and whoever doesn’t keep the day does that for the Lord too. Whoever eats, eats for the Lord, because he gives thanks to God. And whoever doesn’t eat does that for the Lord too, and he gives thanks to God.
“None of us lives for himself, and none of us dies for himself. If we live, it is for the Lord. If we die, it is for the Lord. Whether we live or die, then, we are the Lord’s. This is why Christ died, rose, and lived again: to be Lord of both the dead and the living.
“But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you look down on your brother? We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, because it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, to me every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess to God.’ So each one of us will answer to God for himself.”
“So let’s not judge one another any more,” Paul wrote. “Judge this instead: that no one should put a stumbling block in his brother’s way, or anything that would make him fall. I know and am sure in the Lord Jesus that nothing is by itself. But if someone thinks a thing is unclean, then to him it is unclean.
“But if food is causing your brother grief, you are no longer acting in love. Don’t let what you eat destroy the one for whom Christ died. Then don’t let your good be called evil, because God’s Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but , peace, and joy in the . Anyone who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by people.
“So then, let’s go after the things that make for peace, and the things that help us build one another up. Don’t tear down God’s work for the sake of food. All things are clean, it’s true, but it is wrong for the one who makes a stumbling block by eating. It is good not to eat meat, not to drink wine, and not to do anything that makes your brother stumble, or be offended, or be made weak.
“Do you have faith? Keep it to yourself, before God. Anyone who doesn’t judge himself for what he approves is happy. But the one who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating isn’t from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin.
“Now to him who is able to make you firm, according to my Good News and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revealing of the mystery that was kept secret through long ages. But now the mystery is brought to light, and through the Scriptures of the prophets, at the command of the eternal God, it is made known to all the nations for the obedience of faith. To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.”
“Now we who are strong,” Paul wrote, “ought to carry the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each one of us please his neighbor in what is good, to build him up.
“Even Christ didn’t please himself. Instead, as it is written, ‘The taunts of those who taunted you fell on me.’ Whatever was written in earlier times was written for us to learn from, so that through perseverance and through the Scriptures’ encouragement we might have hope.
“Now may the God of perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of one mind with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, so that all together, with one voice, you may give glory to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“So accept one another, just as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God. Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the for the sake of God’s truth, so that he might confirm the promises the ancestors were given, and so that the might praise God for his mercy. As it is written, ‘For this reason I will give praise to you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.’
“Again he says, ‘Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.’ Again, ‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Let all the peoples praise him.’ Again, says, ‘There will be the root of , the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles. In him the Gentiles will hope.’
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may be rich in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.”
“My brothers and sisters,” Paul wrote, “I myself am sure about you: you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to counsel others. But in some parts I have written to you more boldly, to remind you. I have done it because of the grace that God gave me to be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I serve as a priest of the Good News of God, so that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, made holy by the Holy Spirit.
“So in Christ Jesus I have something to boast of in the things of God. I won’t dare to speak of anything except what Christ has done through me, by word and deed, so that the Gentiles would obey. He did it in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of God’s Spirit. And so from , and all around as far as , I have fully preached the Good News of Christ.
“Yes, I have made it my aim to preach the Good News where Christ had not yet been named, so that I would not build on another person’s foundation. But as it is written, ‘Those who never had news of him will see. Those who haven’t heard will understand.’
“This is also why I was held back from coming to you so many times. But now I have no place left in these regions, and for many years I have longed to come to you. Whenever I travel to , I will come to you. I hope to see you on my journey, and to have your help on my way there, if I can first enjoy your company for a while.
“But now, I tell you, I am going to Jerusalem, serving the saints. and were pleased to make a gift for the poor among the saints who are at Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased to do it, and they are in debt to those saints. If the Gentiles have been given a share in the spiritual things of the saints there, they owe it to them to serve them in material things too.
“So when I have done this, and have made sure this fruit is theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain. I know that when I come to you, I will come with the full blessing of the Good News of Christ.
“Brothers and sisters, I beg you by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. Pray that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in , and that the service I have for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so I can come to you in joy through the will of God, and find rest together with you.
“Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.”
“I commend to you , our sister, who is a of the that is at , that you receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and that you assist her in whatever matter she may need from you, for she herself also has been a helper of many, and of my own self.
“Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own lives for mine. I thank them, and so do all the assemblies of the Gentiles. Greet the assembly that meets in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my dear friend, who is the of Achaia to Christ.
“Greet Mary, who worked hard for us. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives and my fellow prisoners, who are notable among the apostles, who were also in Christ before me.
“Greet Amplias, dear to me in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my dear friend. Greet Apelles, approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my relative. Greet those of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who work hard in the Lord. Greet dear Persis, who has done much work in the Lord.
“Greet Rufus, who is chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, and Hermas, and the brothers and sisters with them. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss. The assemblies of Christ greet you.”
“Now I beg you, brothers and sisters,” Paul wrote, “look out for those who are causing divisions and making others stumble, against the teaching you learned, and turn away from them. People like that don’t serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own stomachs, and with smooth and flattering speech they fool the hearts of the innocent.
“Everyone has heard of your obedience, and so I am glad about you. But I want you wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil. And the God of peace will quickly crush under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
“, my fellow worker, greets you, and so do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my relatives.”
“I, Tertius, who write the letter, greet you in the Lord.”
“, my host and host of the whole assembly, greets you. , the treasurer of the city, greets you, and so does Quartus, the brother. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all! Amen.”