ADDRESSES ON ROMANS
fully than could any human expositor or teacher. We shall attempt only to outline and summarize the thoughts presented here by the Spirit of God, as He tells us what His will for us is in our relationship: ( 1 ) To God; ( 2) to the Body of Christ: (3 ) to the world: (4) to governments in the world: and ( 5) to "him that is weak in the faith." THE CHRISTIAN'S RESPONSIBILITY TO GOD 12:1, 2 Keeping in mind all ''the mercies of God,'' as presented in chapters one to eight. let us read together 12:1, 2: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." If you are ever to know the will of God, my Christian friend. you must present your body "a living sacrifice" unto Him. "But," you may ask, "do I have to do that, in order to know God's will?" Yes; that is His Word. You know what making a sacrifice means. It is giving up something infinitely precious to you. In Old Testament times Israel made dead sacrifices. As believer...-priests, we are to make living sacrifices. Do you recognize the fact that your body is "the temple of the Holy Spirit"? Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians, saying: "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and i~ your spirit, which are God's" (I Cor. 6:19, 20). God is not dwell...- ing in temples made of brick and stone and mortar today. The only temple He has in this age is our bodies. J Often people ask me: "Is it right for Christians to smoke cigarettes? Is it right to do this or that?" And my answer is, "Would you smoke a cigarette in the Church of the Open Page 224]
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