Romans 1:9
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you
Tag: We Must Serve God in Spirit
Paul is quite familiar with the concept of serving God in the flesh. As a Pharisee he was very steeped in fleshly worship:
Philippians 3:4-7
... though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Paul no doubt remembered the words of Jesus:
John 4:23-24
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Paul knew that we needed to be changed in our minds about worship and needed to transform our thinking into spiritual thinking in order to present our bodies for “spiritual worship.”
Romans 12:1-2
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. 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.
To many attempt to wage their spiritual battles in the flesh. But, our battles can’t be waged in the flesh:
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
Paul was serving God in the spirit because that is the ONLY way to worship and serve God.
See also: Philippians 3:3 and Romans 1:11
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