Last Sunday, in our series looking at Romans, we emerged from the difficult issues of chapters 9-11 into the easy to understand chapter 12. The trouble with the bits of the Bible that are easy to understand is that we have no excuse for not obeying them.
Paul starts this section with a couple of verses that set up the rest of the letter. The rest of the letter is the practical outworking of what he says here.
And Paul starts by saying, in verse one, that when we consider everything that God has already done for us the only appropriate response is to offer ourselves over fully into God's service.
Why do we do what we do? One of the issues that the previous chapters raise - if we wanted to read them that way - is the apparent contradiction between being saved by grace on the one hand, and the threat of being cut off from God if we slip from belief into unbelief on the other. We are told that we are not saved by works ... but somehow our works are significant.
So why do we serve? Here Paul makes it clear. Our service is a willing and loving response to everything that God has already done for us - another word for that is 'worship'. Worship is not just about singing songs in church on a Sunday - it's about everything that I do in response to what God has already done.
