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Paul continues to explain what a consecrated life looks like in the arena of our relationships, but this time, he shifts the focus from relating with other believers within the church community to relating with persecutors outside the church community. The gospel calls us to love our "enemies". To do so, we ought to recognize their humanity, refuse to take up revenge, and show them undeserved kindness. We can respond in this way as we trust that God will bring perfect justice in the end, and that the only way to truly overcome evil is with good.

As the Apostle Paul continues to explain what it means to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God, he now turns his attention towards community. Christians should sincerely love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. This kind of sincere love is marked by holiness, respect, enthusiasm, endurance, and practical help. As we have been first loved by God, may we also love one another well in the family that God has called us to!

In issuing the call to rightly respond to the gospel by offering ourselves as living sacrifices, Paul highlighted the importance of being transformed by the renewal of our minds. Paul now unpacks how to rightly think of ourselves with sanctified self-awareness. Sanctified self-awareness rightly understands our identity in Christ, humbly embraces our dependence upon community, and faithfully uses our gifts to serve others.

After unpacking the new realities that stem from the gift of God's grace, Paul expounds on the practical applications of the Gospel. We respond to the Gospel of God by continually surrendering all of life to God as living sacrifices. We are formed into living sacrifices by resisting the mold of the world, renewing our minds through the truths of God, and living out the truth in practice. As we seek to become living sacrifices, we continually rest in God's grace that sustains us through it all.

Jesus Christ shows that the kingdom of God is now here and that he is equal to God the Father by working to heal the needy in order to give life, even on the Sabbath.

God has given us the capacity and call to exercise wisdom and discernment. And although we can obtain information through AI, we cannot obtain wisdom through AI. AI even threatens our capacity and responsibility to think critically and to think deeply. Instead, wisdom is meant to be obtained through life experiences and observations. We are also meant to obtain wisdom through a shared community - to gain wisdom from one another. And lastly, wisdom is in knowing Christ, who became to us the wisdom from God.

There is understandably a lot of fear and uncertainty regarding AI, which can produce a sense of existential hopelessness regarding humanity's future. But as people made in God's image, we need hope to survive. Thankfully, in Christ, we have a living hope that is rooted in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that points ahead to our everlasting inheritance, and that is secured by God’s power here and now. As such, we can faithfully pursue the ordinary things that God has called us to do, and we should encourage one another with the unshakable hope that is only found in the gospel.

Ironically, although AI promises a life of leisure by eliminating hard work, very often the exact opposite takes place. As AI prioritizes endless productivity and hyper-efficiency, AI often promotes a life of hurry. But an overly busy life can be one of the great challenges to following Jesus as humans made in God's image. An important antidote to a life of hurry is to play. Play is the free and fun enjoyment of God’s good creation, which in turn leads us to more deeply enjoy God Himself. As such, we need to play well by creating margins and rhythms for play and by giving thanks to God as we play.

With the fall, work became cursed along with humanity. And so humanity has toiled and struggled. Yet, AI promises a utopic vision of eliminating scarcity and minimizing the "hard" in hard work. It assumes a negative view of work itself and ignores the core needs of worth, dignity, and purpose. But because of the Imago Dei, we are created for work. There is true dignity, purpose, and worth in all work. And work becomes more than just the "bottom-line," but rather work is cultivation, ministry, and service. Christians must maintain this higher vision and ethic of work because we believe in a higher calling. Therefore, we must exercise practical wisdom in all fields as AI continually transforms the work landscape. We must remember that we have a higher person we serve and work for.

As people made in the image of God, we are made for interdependent relationships in community. The challenge that AI can pose is that it promises relational intimacy without relational inconvenience. But if we are to thrive as image bearers of God, then we need to intentionally build relationships in community through commitment, hospitality, vulnerability, and reconciliation.

AI offers a vision of user-centered utopia through technology, which can challenge our worship of God. But being made in God's image, humans are made to worship God. True worship is enjoying our full salvation and our deepest satisfaction in Jesus, which in turn shapes us to become more like Jesus. In the age of AI, we should prioritize gathering together as God's people to worship God.

The image of God refers to humanity’s unique identity as God’s representatives to the rest of creation. The image of God implies that every human being has inherent dignity, that our physical embodiment is important, that we are created for dependent relationship with God and others, and that we are to live in accordance with God's character. In light of those implications, we should approach AI as a tool that develops our humanity rather than as a device that diminishes our humanity.

After presenting his thorough and rich teachings on sin, faith, God's sovereignty, and Israel, Paul brings this theological portion of his epistle to a close with a doxology that summarizes his thoughts. Paul concludes that God's wisdom is unfathomable. God's ways are unfathomable. And God's grace is unfathomable. All things are from him so we thank him. All things are done through him so we rely on him. And all things are to him so we glorify him. Let us join with Paul in this doxology of praise and wonder.

Although Israel has largely rejected God, Paul argues that God has not rejected Israel. Rather, God has a plan of salvation for Israel, which involves preserving a faithful remnant in Israel, using Israel's rejection to bring the gospel to all nations, and securing the fullness of salvation for Israel in due time. Seeing that should encourage us because God is always at work, often in mysterious ways, to carry out His plan of salvation.

Paul continues to address the "problem of Israel" and he deals with one final objection: What if Israel didn't believe the gospel because they never had the chance to hear the gospel? To that objection, Paul shows that Israel had ample opportunities to hear the gospel. As such, when it comes to evangelism, we need to share the gospel with beautiful feet (sacrificial initiative), open mouths (clear explanations), and outstretched hands (winsome perseverance). While we don't have the power to change hearts, we have been given the feet, mouth, and hands to share the gospel that can change hearts.