I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to
present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to
God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by
testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and
acceptable and perfect.

My aim in this message is that you would be encouraged by God
and enabled by his Spirit to build your life on the mercies of God
revealed in Jesus Christ. There are two parts to this aim: 1) that
you would build your life on something; 2) and that you would build
it on the mercies of God revealed in Christ. I see those two things
in the first half of verse 1 of Romans 12. It says, “I appeal
to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God. . . .”

1. Build Your Life on Something

First, my aim—the aim of this passage—is that you
would build your life on something. The second part of the aim is
that your life be built on God’s mercy, but let’s not
go there yet. Let’s stay right here and make a very important
point: the Christian life is built on something. Where do I get
this, and what do I mean? I get it from the word
“therefore,” and I mean that all your behavior and
emotions and thoughts should be based on God-revealed truth in the
Bible.

The Word “Therefore”

Consider the word “therefore” in verse 1: “I
appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of
God.” That’s a very important word. There is a whole
worldview in that word. How do we use this word? Two examples:
“On April 28 the church voted 315
yes to 39 no to move ahead with the vision of Treasuring Christ
Together and the Mounds View Campus; therefore, in two
weeks we will purchase a new campus. “Therefore” means
that the action to buy is built on something, namely a strong
affirmation from the church to move forward with this vision.
It’s not arbitrary. It doesn’t come out of nowhere. It
has foundations. Years of reflection and refinement and prayer and
searching the word of God. Months of planning and working and
discussing. Finally, some exciting fine-tuning with the input of
God’s people. And then a strong vote of affirmation.
Therefore—and only therefore—we move ahead.
Our actions as a church are built on something.

Or consider this true story from last week in Fortaleza, Brazil,
where one of our teams is building a church. This is another
example of what “therefore” means. Linda Oatley, one of
our missionaries to street kids in Rio de Janeiro goes with
Noël and Talitha from Rio to Fortaleza to join our team a week
ago. Linda gives her testimony to the women of the church telling
how she had wanted to be a missionary from the time she was
younger. Her husband was never interested. In the end he abandons
her and divorces her. After a long and serious wrestling she
decides as single woman, now 50, that she would give her life to
needy children in missions. The women were deeply moved.

The next morning in a women’s gathering the pastor’s
wife stood and with tears said, “My husband has always wanted
to be a missionary to Chile, but I have refused. Now Linda’s
testimony has broken down all my objections and changed my heart,
and therefore, I am willing to go.” Therefore! This
new turn in her life is built on something. It didn’t come
out of nowhere. It has roots. It has a foundation in the truth and
faithfulness of God that she saw in Linda Oatley’s life.

When Paul says, “I appeal to you therefore,
brothers . . .” he is saying: The life I am calling you to
live (in Romans 12-16) is built on something. It doesn’t come
out of nowhere. It has roots. It has a foundation. Christian living
has roots. It has foundation. It has causes and grounds and
reasons. And that is no small thing!

For the next five chapters Paul will call us to live a certain
way as Christians. And with this word “therefore” he is
saying: The foundation we build our lives on is the foundation laid
in Romans 1-11. Paul is turning now from doctrine to practice. He
is turning from theology to ethics. From what is true about God and
Christ and salvation to what we should do—what we
therefore should do because of Romans 1-11. Because of all
the truth about God and sin and Christ and the cross and the Spirit
and faith and justification—because of all that we have seen
in Romans 1-11, therefore we are to build our practical
lives on this. Paul moves from foundation to application with the
word “therefore.” Christian acting and feeling and
speaking are not rootless. They have foundation. They are built on
something. Paul spent 11 chapters, and we spent six years, laying
the foundation for the building of Romans 12-16. If we miss this
connection, we miss everything.

Hinduism Has No “Therefores”

This may seem obvious to you. I hope so. But for millions it is
not. For example, contrast Hinduism, the religion of hundreds of
millions mainly in India. I just read an article this past week by
Herbert Hoefer. He wrote:

The proper name of “Hinduism” is “Sanatana
Dharma” or ‘the eternal way of life.’ You can
have whatever beliefs you like, but you are expected to live out
“dharma.” Your religion is expected to participate in
the values and customs and organization of society. . . . If a
Hindu finds you to be a person of character and propriety, it does
not matter to him that much if you have differing theological
beliefs. What matters first and foremost is that you are a person
of dharma. . . . Within Hinduism itself, one can identify
hundreds of different religious traditions. [1]

You can see that Paul’s view of life and the Hindu view of
life at this point are radically different. Hinduism does not teach
11 chapters of clear, objective, historical, and spiritual truth
about the nature of God, and then say, therefore live the
way these truths demand. No, in Hinduism what your objective
beliefs are about God are not essential. The Hindu way of life, the
dharma, is not preceded by a great therefore
rooted in objective truth. There is a whole biblical worldview in
this little word, “therefore.” I plead with you to
think about it, and embrace it, and to build your life on the great
Gospel truths of Romans 1-11—the mercy of God revealed in
Jesus Christ.

The Point of Christianity: To Glorify the Mercy of God
in Christ

Let me give you one reason for this and an application. The
reason Christianity must build our lifestyle on God’s mercy
in Jesus Christ is that the whole point of Christianity is to
glorify the mercy of God in Christ. We exist to put the glory of
God’s mercy in Christ on display. So Paul spends 11 chapters
opening the mercy of God in the work of Christ, and then says,
“therefore” build your lives on this. Live a life that
shows this! That’s why you exist.

So we say, “Because of God’s mercy revealed in
Christ, therefore, I do this and not that. Because of
God’s mercy revealed in Christ, therefore I speak
this way and not that way. Because of God’s mercy revealed in
Christ, therefore I cultivate this kind of emotion and put
that kind to death. Because I exist to glorify the mercy of God in
Christ, I live this way and not that way. Christian living is built
on something!

An Application for Parents: Don’t Say “Just
Do It”

One application: Parents, teach your children that the behavior
and attitudes you expect from them are built on something!
Don’t say, “Just do it.” As they get older help
them see that the standards of thought and attitude and action and
entertainment and ministry and mercy are all built on the mercy of
God in Christ. Help them see that Christian living is not a list of
do’s and don’ts, it is a way of showing the glory of
God and Christ. Help them see that Christian living—for
children and teenagers and adults—is built on the
gospel—on the beauty of Christ crucified and risen and
reigning. The question is not mainly, “What’s wrong
with this music or this movie or this party or this dress or these
drugs or these friends?” The question is, How can I act and
speak and feel so that I help my friends see the worth of Jesus
above all music and movies and parties and friends? How can I live
to show that Jesus didn’t come into the world to help me
party better but to help me love better and die better?

Cultivate in your home the understanding of the word
“therefore” in
Romans 12:1. Help the children absorb
this worldview. The Christian life has roots. It has foundation. It
is built on something. Because of the truth of Romans 1-11,
therefore live the life of Romans 12-16. That’s
Paul’s first message in verse 1.

2. Build Your Life on the Mercies of God

Now the second part of the aim of this message I have already
made clear, namely, that you not just build your life on something,
but build it on the mercies of God. Verse 1: “I
appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of
God…” Just think of this: Of all the things that
Paul could have picked out from Romans 1-11as the root and
foundation of your new life in Christ, he picks out the mercies
of God. What an amazing statement! Having written of
God’s wrath and righteousness and judgment, and of our fall
and sin and death, and of Christ’s death and resurrection,
and of justification by faith alone, and of the coming of the
Spirit to sanctify us and keep us, and of God’s absolute
sovereignty in his faithfulness to the elect and to
Israel—having said all of that, he picks out this one great
reality as the sum, or the height, of it all, and says, therefore,
by the mercies of God I appeal to you.

This is not careless. Look at Romans 15:8-9. “For I tell
you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show
God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to
the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify
God for his mercy.” There it is. The aim of all 11
chapters—all 16 chapters—is that we might make the
mercy of God look great among the nations.

The Mercies That Will Flow From Us as We Build Our Lives
on the Mercy of God

O Bethlehem, let’s build our lives on the mercies of God.
Let’s say, Because of the mercies of God in Christ I will
live the life of Romans 12-16. You know we are on the right track
here when you just walk down through chapter 12 and look at all the
mercy that is going to flow out of us when we build our lives on
the mercy of God.

• Verse 8 (near the end): “the one who does acts of mercy,
  [let him do it] with cheerfulness.”
• Verse 9: “Let love be genuine.”
• Verse 13: “Contribute to the needs of the
  saints.”
• Verse 14: “Bless those who persecute you.”
• Verse 15b: “Weep with those who weep.”
• Verse 16b: “Associate with the lowly.”
• Verse 17: “Repay no one evil for evil.”
• Verse 19: “Never avenge yourselves.”
• Verse 20: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is
  thirsty, give him something to drink.”

We are entering a world of mercy, as we move into Romans 12-16.
Why? Because our lives are built on something. Rooted in something.
They are built on the mercies of God. Our lives are rooted in the
mercies of God. Our lives are founded on the mercies of God.

The word mercy here implies not only forgiveness for the guilty,
but especially tenderhearted compassion for the helpless and
desperate. This is what we expect after Romans 1-11. See if you
don’t hear both in Romans 5:6-8:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for
the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous
person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even
to die—8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.

Did you hear both sides of mercy? We were weak and helpless
(that’s one side), and we were sinners and guilty
(that’s the other side). Mercy responds to both. Mercy
forgives the guilty and mercy pities the
helpless. Have you built your life on that? Or maybe I should ask,
Have you saturated your life with that? Have the mercies of God in
saving you sunk to the center and core of your life, so that you
are living from a deep spring of humble, brokenhearted happiness in
the God of mercy?

Would you pray for me to be this way? This is what I long for.
At the core of my being—where my unpremeditated words and
facial expressions and grunts and twitches come from—at the
core of my being to be swimming, childlike, in the forgiving,
compassionate mercy of God. I will pray this for you too.

Oh, how we need to be this way! How else will we keep loving
each other in the days to come when the vision of Treasuring Christ
Together will test our capacities for mercy to each other?

How else will we love our enemies at home and on the mission
field and return good for evil, when we are slandered because of
our stand on the inerrancy and authority of the Bible, or on the
meaning of marriage, or on racial justice, or the horrific undoing
of the ban on partial-birth abortion, or the message that there is
no way of salvation except through Jesus Christ? If our lives are
not built on and saturated by the mercies of God in Christ, how
will we stay merciful and magnify the Lord?

Mercy Is Not Spineless

And you know, don’t you, that mercy is not spineless. Look
at the first two phrases of verse 9: “Let love be genuine.
Abhor what is evil.”Abhor” is a really
strong word. When you love deeply, you must hate passionately what
destroys the beloved. But mercy weeps while it hates. Mercy hates
evil, but in our personal relationships repays no one evil for evil
(verse 17). Mercy knows what its like to be hurt and offended, but
does not avenge itself (verse 19). Mercy knows what it’s like
to have enemies, but says, “If your enemy is hungry, feed
him.”

Mercy is not weak. It has an unbreakable backbone, but is very
soft to the touch.

May God encourage you and enable you by his Spirit to build your
life on the mercies of God revealed in Jesus Christ. Receive these
mercies. Entrust your life to them. Embrace them for the
forgiveness of your sins and all the help you need to live a life
of mercy.

[1] Herbert
Hoefer, “Land of Dharma,” in Mission
Frontiers, Vol. 26, No. 3, May-June, 2004, pp. 10-11.