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Romans Matt Carter Romans Matt Carter

Living Sacrifices

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Speaker: Matt Carter
Scripture: Romans 12:1-2
August 3, 2025

Sermon Notes

Outline:

  1. The call to offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices finds its motivational force in the mercies of God.

    • If the mercy God has shown you isn’t motivating you in the direction of offering yourself as a sacrifice, it’s likely that you’ve:

      • Been viewing your own sin as a small thing.

      • Lost sight of God’s holiness.

      • Or failed to recognize how much it cost God to pay for your sin.

  2. Though on the outside, the concept of a living sacrifice may seem like a contradiction in terms, Paul has been making sense of it though out the book of Romans:

    • Romans 6 and Galatians 2 — We were identified with Christ, both his death and his resurrection though the waters of baptism.

    • 1 Peter 1 — We’re owned by him because of the ransom paid.

    • Romans 8 — By the power of the Spirit we both put to death and are raised to new life.

  3. The offering of our bodies reflects Christ’s sacrifices in two ways but is distinct from his in one very important way.

    • Like Christ, we are the ones offering the sacrifice.

    • Like Christ, we are offering ourselves.

    • Unlike Christ, our offering is in no way an atonement.

      • It is a reasonable act of service in response to the atonement already made — worship.

      • Like Aaron the high priest, we are made holy to the Lord by a sacrifice made on our behalf.

  4. If we are offering our bodies (of which our minds are a part) it is a forgone conclusion that our minds will be transformed.

  5. A transformed mind can discern God’s perfect will because a transformed mind is the mind of Christ.

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Romans Dave Royes Romans Dave Royes

Always Through Faith

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Speaker: Dave Royes
Scripture: Romans 4:1-12
December 12, 2021

Sermon Notes

Romans 4:1-12: “What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” (Psalm 32:1-2)

Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.”

Notes:

Paul’s teaching style is to anticipate the Q+A; for example, “What about Abraham?”

The Old Testament does not offer a different means of salvation; the entire Bible offers one single means of salvation: By grace through faith in Christ.

Paul looks at Abraham as a test case: “If Abraham was justified by works, then you could expect boasting and entitlement. This is problematic because God is indebted to nobody.”

Abraham was justified by trusting God, who owns everything. Abraham’s faith was counted as righteousness.

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