Satan wants no one to be triumphant, especially Christians. A verse in Romans 12 points to three things that will empower Christ’s disciple unto victory here and for eternity.

Christ Himself is the victory {1} that we need in this life and for eternity. If we truly have Christ within we will be existing here on earth in such a way as He did. We will be thinking like He thought and will be doing things as He did. Of course, disciples grow into this as time goes on. There are many directives in the Word of God to help us let the power of His life shine through us.

Romans 12 has numerous directives, some of which are presented in brief phrases. But to better understand those directives we should at least start with the first two verses of chapter 12: “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

While I could have just used verse 1 it was important to bring in verse 2 since we command our bodies by our mind. So it is very reasonable to include the mind in the directive to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. By the grace of God our minds should be set upon the Holy Spirit and not upon what we want {2}.

With the fact that the true disciple ought to continuously offer himself {3} as a living sacrifice, let us look at verse 12 where, among other things, I see directives for empowerment unto triumph: “rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer”.

I. Rejoice In God’s Sure Hope 12a

“rejoicing in hope”

For most, immediately there is a problem. While it is easy for anyone to rejoice when things are going well, it is against human nature to rejoice when things get sour. Nonetheless this is one of a multitude of commands in the Holy Bible to rejoice. It sure can be against human nature, so that ties in with the directive to make our bodies a living sacrifice.

We are to be rejoicing in hope, and we will soon address that hope, but if we are rejoicing in God’s hope then we are not depending upon others. We are also being a living sacrifice because we are avoiding self-pity, as well as staying away from ungodly sadness and depression.

If we are truly redeemed by God the grace of Christ enables us to lovingly serve God by rejoicing. Just looking at God alone gives us reason to rejoice. He is true, pure, faithful, and much more. We gain strength as we rejoice in Him by praising and worshiping Him. Sometimes it is like lifting a barbell. At some point, one struggles to lift the weight but as they keep at it day by day they gain more strength.

The true disciple of Christ has this primary hope to rejoice in: salvation (see 1 Thessalonians 5:8). It is not that the true disciple of Christ is not saved, but we rejoice in that since we are saved there is the sure hope of us to grow in Christ, to become more godly over time. We also have the sure hope of complete salvation after physical death or when the rapture occurs because at that point we will be clothed with immortality (1 Corinthians 14:54). With Eternal Life (zoe) comes eternal satisfying purpose. Those truly saved will be serving God in the Millennial Reign of Christ and in the new heavens and earth (Revelation 20 to 22).

II. Resort To His Grace 12b

“persevering in tribulation”

It should also be easy to see why “persevering in tribulation” would be a living sacrifice for the true believer in Christ. Our old nature would not mind to give up, give in, compromise, or anything else to be at ease. Other ways to be a living sacrifice would include not relying on self or others in trouble but relying upon God through Christ. When it comes to a living sacrifice this also goes hand in hand with the fact we should rejoice, which gives us power to persevere. The “icing on the cake” so to speak is that as a true Christian perseveres here they receive certain rewards for eternity.

Tribulation in this verse is to be understood as trouble. While trouble happens to everyone, only those truly in Christ can go through troubles with eternal blessing and reward. For more information on this, please see a previous article, Victory In Your Vessel {1}.

III. Resolve To Remain In Prayer 12c

“devoted to prayer”

Prayer is not mainly about asking God, but it is most definitely having a conversation with God through Christ. Not only should we speak to Him but we need to learn to listen to Him {4}. This is how we are to fellowship with God. In one way, this should be going on all of the time, but then there should be times of focused prayer.

In both ways our “prayer life” should not stop. To help us, it is good to always be aware to a degree of His presence no matter where we are or what we are doing. “Devoted” in the NASB is found as “steadfast”, “steadfastly”, etc., in other translations and versions. Strong {5} shows the word can have the following meanings:

We can be a living sacrifice for the glory of God in prayer as we strive to focus upon God and His desires instead of focusing upon self and our ways or our troubles. If we seem to need extra time with Him then fasting could be the answer for us. Instead of eating, we could take the time we would be eating and spend it in wonderful fellowship with God through Christ.

Put It Together To Be Empowered By God And For God

If we carefully note Romans 12:12 (and its surrounding verses) we will see all the action is mostly ongoing -- it is not to stop. The passage is expressing a state of being that a true disciple ought to be in. So, in verse 12, the true child of God ought to exist as rejoicing in hope, persevering in trouble, and continuing steadfastly in prayer. This needs to be our state of being, the way in which we continuously exist.

Anyone who truly in faith responds to the invitation of making Christ King of their life is brought into the Kingdom of God by His grace and is enabled to live in this way. Or perhaps I should capitalize Way, since what we have seen in verse 12 is part of the Life of Christ, the only Way to the Father (John 14:6). If we remain in Him we will be in the Way He wants us to be and also be ready to leave this earth.

Notes:

{1} Please read Victory In Your Vessel at https://newsandsociety.expertscolumn.com/victory-in-your-vessel .

{2} Please also read End The War at https://newsandsociety.expertscolumn.com/end-the-war .

{3} Used in the proper traditional sensible sense, denoting all people, male and female. I could not care less about being politically correct.

{4} Please read To Hear The Voice Of God at http://holybibletreasures.expertscolumn.com/article/hear-voice-god .

{5} From an electronic version of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong incorporated in the Online Bible program, and so throughout the article whenever the ancient language is referred to and no other authority is cited.

This article was written in the form of a sermon (message) outline with comments. God willing by April 17, 2018 (hopefully much sooner), you should be able to hear the actual message (sermon) by selecting a link at http://www.sapphirestreams.com/life/audioM.html#M491 .

Unless otherwise noted all Holy Scripture is from the New American Standard Bible changing LORD to YHVH as it rightly should be when the text so indicates and adding “(The Existing One)” to readily express the meaning of His Name without making repeated explanations in articles. * = For other versions the spelling of some words is updated for our time in addition to changing LORD to YHVH as it rightly should be when the text so indicates.

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