The Why and the What of Spiritual Commitment: Overview of Romans 12-15

Can a single decision change a Christian’s life? I think it can!

There is one decision that the Book of Romans urges every Christian to make. It is a decision so significant and with such potential to transform and bless that Paul devotes eleven chapters to preparing us to consider it.

Romans 12:1-2 invites individual believers who have read this great treatise on the mercies of God to respond in a way that pleases God and maximizes their experience of their so great salvation. It is a commitment to God separate from the decision to put your faith in Christ, and it moves the Christian into a new experience of devotion and intimacy with Christ. The choice we are asked to make is to present our lives to God:

When you give your life to God, He gives it away to others!

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In our modern minds, chapters 9-11 may seem like a sudden history lesson, interesting to some but irrelevant to the discussion. Understanding the great and glorious themes of salvation and appreciating more than ever the mercies extended to us through grace (chapters 1-8), we could quickly move straight to the practical application of those themes to our lives in chapters 12-16.

Not Paul. Guided by the Holy Spirit Himself, the apostle to the Gentiles digresses into a discussion of his people, the Jews, who had, for the most part, failed to accept the salvation offered in the Gospel, even though they were God’s chosen race and it was presented to the Jew first (1:16-17).

When we ask these questions we need a history lesson on the mercies of God. The Greek word for mercy occurs seven times in these three chapters but only twice in the rest of the letter! To assure us that God is faithful to His promises while remaining righteous, Paul begins with the particular problem of the Jewish resistance to the Gospel and ends with an unfolding of the divine purpose in history, which, in some ways, goes beyond any comparable passage in the whole Bible. The lesson is profoundly simple:

Israel’s past, present, and future prove that God is a Faithful Promisekeeper!

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Listen, and be encouraged.

Salvation then includes the free gift of justification, the process of sanctification, and the future rewards for the sanctification process included in glorification. In moving from “sanctification salvation” to “glorification salvation,” we are moving from what we are to “work out” (Philippians 2:12-13) with a view to future reward (2 Corinthians 5:10) having received “justification salvation” as a grace gift apart from any works (Romans 3:24) to the actual experience of our promised deliverance from the very presence of sin forever in heaven (Romans 13:11; 1 Peter 1:9).

In Romans, Paul transitions from sanctification to glorification in 8:16-17 by speaking of two categories of glory—unconditional and conditional. This begins his presentation of the glorifying mercies of God in salvation.

Romans 8:16 and 17 confront us with a double heirship. One of these is for all believers. The other is for believers who suffer in fellowship with Christ. Echoing the words of the Lord in the upper room (John 16:33, 17:22-24), Paul reminds us of another reality…when we will not feel the way we do now:

When life is hard, think of your forever home with Jesus.

Find in-depth study notes and more at recenteredontheword.com

Purchase our discipleship manual, Beginning in Grace, on Amazon or buy in bulk here.

Our flagship course, The Recentered Intensive can be found here.

Questions or comments about the episode? Email us at info@recenteredgroup.com

We’d love to hear from you!

Learn more about Recentered Group and our ministry at recenteredgroup.com