The Fifth Reformation

The Fifth Reformation audio

The Fifth Reformation

Romans 12:3-8 (p. 1763)                                                                      November 12, 2017    

. . . so in Christ we who are many form one body,
and each member belongs to all the others.   Romans 12:5

Cogito ergo sum

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
Romans 12:3

1. Renewal changes how I think about MYSELF
2. Not “high thinking”: ______________________________________________________
3. But “right thinking”: ____________________________________________________

A theology of “membership”

Just as each of us has one body with many members,
and all these members do not have the same function,
so in Christ, we who are many form one body,
and each member belongs to all the others.   Romans 12:4-5

1. Membership is  ORGANIC
2. Membership reflects  DIVERSITY  and  UNITY  (one head, but lots of different graces!)
3. Membership means NOT JUST BELONGING TO, BUT DEPENDENT ON EACH OTHER

The same gifts today

We all have different gifts, according to the grace given us . . . .     Romans 12:6

 

Prophesying: _________________________              Serving: _____________________________

 

Teaching: ____________________________             Contributing: _________________________

 

Encouraging: _________________________             Leadership: __________________________

 

Showing mercy: ______________________

 

Two application questions

1. The LOVE  Test

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,
I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
  If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,
but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1

Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.
1 Corinthians 14:13

2. The FLAME  Test

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.  For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:6

More study resources for Romans 12

Tim Browning’s message “Not Puffed Up” at https://www.
monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/mp3/076%20Romans%2012.03-08.pdf

Bob Deffinbaugh’s  sermon “Straight Thinking” at https://
bible.org/seriespage/30-thinking-straight-about-spiritual-gifts-romans-123-8

Ligon Duncan’s message “A Call to Humility” at https://www.fpcjackson.org/resource-library/sermons/a-call-to-humility-and-service

Michael Horton’s “Romans from 30,000 Feet” from “An Overview of the Book of Romans”, http://www.reformationtheology.com/2011/04/romans_from_30000_feet_by_mich.php

Sinclair Ferguson’s “The Great Exchanges” at http://www.ligonier.org/blog/great-exchanges-romans/

F.F. Bruce’s paraphrase of Romans at https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/eq/1958-2_bruce.pdf  or Paternoster Press (1965); Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Eerdmans, 1977); and The Epistle of Paul to the Romans (Eerdmans, 1963).

Tim Keller’s Romans For You (The Good Book, 2014).

William Hendriksen’s Romans in BNTC (Baker Books, 1980).

James Boice’s Romans, Volume 4, (Baker Books, 1991).

Earl Palmer’s Romans series notes “The Greatest Book”, Winter 2002, University Presbyterian Church, Seattle, Washington.