Lesson 22
Romans 12:1-8
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Living by Faith: A Study in Romans
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1
After eleven chapters of theology, Paul now transitions to practical issues of Cristian living which,of course, is theology lived out.
Read Romans 12:1-2
1) What is Paul's appeal to the Romans?
2) Why must we be holy and pleasing to God and why must worship be spiritual? See John 4:24, Colossians 1:22, and 1 Peter 1:15-16.
3) The rest of Romans describes what this life of sacrifice looks like. Why must Christian living begin with the sacrifice of ourselves? See Galatians 2:20 and 1 Peter 2:5.
4) What areas of our lives must be offered up if we are to be a holy, acceptable sacrifice?
5) How do we actively offer our bodies and minds as a sacrifice? It's easy to have the good intention, but how do we actually offer ourselves to God in a real way?
6) Let's look at a few more passages that illuminate this idea of self-sacrifice. Write what you learn from the following passages and how they relate to sacrifice.
7) Why is sacrifice spiritual worship?
8) In Romans 12:2 Paul gives a command that is essential to keep if we are to live and think as worshipers of Jesus Christ. What is Paul's command and what is its purpose?
9) What role does Scripture play in the renewing of our minds? See 2 Timothy 3:15-16.
10) What effect has scripture had on your mind and life?
Read Romans 12:3-8
11) What is Paul's instruction about how we are to think about ourselves?
12) What is the relationship between faith and our self-understanding?
13) Do you think that offering ourselves as a sacrifice must proceed sober judgment? Please explain.
14) What does faith have to do with sacrifice, mind renewal, and transformation?
15) Read Romans 12:3-8 with Ephesians 4:1-16. What do you learn about the church from Paul's analogy of the body?
16) For what purpose does God give us spiritual gifts?
17) List the gifts Paul mentions in Romans 12:6-8 and how they are to be used.
18) Do you think spiritual gifts can be misused?
19) After studying Romans 12:1-8, how do you understand God's will for you and the use of the gifts God has given you?
Discernment takes time and testing. We may not know immediately the particulars of what we are to do, but we have been given the knowledge of God's will for what we are to be. If we are being according to his will, everything else will surely fall into place.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Philippians 2:4-7
Copyright © 2009, Carol Duffy. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Romans 12:1-8
Read Mark Learn Bible Studies
Living by Faith: A Study in Romans
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1
After eleven chapters of theology, Paul now transitions to practical issues of Cristian living which,of course, is theology lived out.
Read Romans 12:1-2
1) What is Paul's appeal to the Romans?
2) Why must we be holy and pleasing to God and why must worship be spiritual? See John 4:24, Colossians 1:22, and 1 Peter 1:15-16.
3) The rest of Romans describes what this life of sacrifice looks like. Why must Christian living begin with the sacrifice of ourselves? See Galatians 2:20 and 1 Peter 2:5.
4) What areas of our lives must be offered up if we are to be a holy, acceptable sacrifice?
5) How do we actively offer our bodies and minds as a sacrifice? It's easy to have the good intention, but how do we actually offer ourselves to God in a real way?
6) Let's look at a few more passages that illuminate this idea of self-sacrifice. Write what you learn from the following passages and how they relate to sacrifice.
- Galatians 2:20
- Luke 22:42
- John 3:30
7) Why is sacrifice spiritual worship?
8) In Romans 12:2 Paul gives a command that is essential to keep if we are to live and think as worshipers of Jesus Christ. What is Paul's command and what is its purpose?
9) What role does Scripture play in the renewing of our minds? See 2 Timothy 3:15-16.
10) What effect has scripture had on your mind and life?
Read Romans 12:3-8
11) What is Paul's instruction about how we are to think about ourselves?
12) What is the relationship between faith and our self-understanding?
13) Do you think that offering ourselves as a sacrifice must proceed sober judgment? Please explain.
14) What does faith have to do with sacrifice, mind renewal, and transformation?
15) Read Romans 12:3-8 with Ephesians 4:1-16. What do you learn about the church from Paul's analogy of the body?
16) For what purpose does God give us spiritual gifts?
17) List the gifts Paul mentions in Romans 12:6-8 and how they are to be used.
18) Do you think spiritual gifts can be misused?
19) After studying Romans 12:1-8, how do you understand God's will for you and the use of the gifts God has given you?
Discernment takes time and testing. We may not know immediately the particulars of what we are to do, but we have been given the knowledge of God's will for what we are to be. If we are being according to his will, everything else will surely fall into place.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Philippians 2:4-7
Copyright © 2009, Carol Duffy. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
