Romans 11 & 12 mark and conclusion and a transition in the book of Romans. Paul in Romans 11 is finishing his explanation about God’s relationship with the nation Israel. God had set Abraham and his descendants apart to have a special relationship with them. Now that Jesus had come not everyone who was jewish accepted Jesus. Does that mean that God has abandoned His people? Paul’s answer is emphatically no! He has not. There has always been a remnant of faithful Israel. We even see this applied to the church that Jesus was building in Matthew 13:24-30. Inside of the larger group of people who say they follow God, there is a core of people who are faithfully following God with more than just lip service. Paul paints a picture of unified believers both jews and gentiles.
As Paul ends chapter 11 the believers might be wondering, okay then how do we worship God? If it isn’t through the Law or other cultural practices, what does it look like to be a christian? Paul answers that question with chapter 12.
The first three verses could be summarized like this: Christians worship God intentionally with their whole lives, separating themselves from the evil of every age.
Christians are called to live their lives as intentional sacrifices to God. The whole world is trying to conform us into a pattern that is not like Jesus. We are called to be transformed. We have two practical ways of doing that…
Worship by Subtraction - Remove whatever keeps from living a life like Jesus
Worship by Addition - Add whatever helps you get closer to Jesus.
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