Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
I. God’s Call For Us to Present Our Lives to Him
A. Become a Living Sacrifice
Last week we began looking at this passage and we saw that God is placing a call upon us as believers to live our lives for Him. Paul refers to it as ‘presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice.’ What is a living sacrifice? Perhaps I can best explain it with a real-life situation.
Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse… 17 Repay no one evil for evil…18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men…20 Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. NKJV
I think that you will agree with me that this is a difficult passage of scripture to live out. It’s easy to read; but it seems almost impossible to live. How can we love those who don’t love us?
Many of us recognize that Paul’s words are very similar to what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” NIV
Jesus said that the natural thing to do is to hate our enemies. Paul indicates that the natural thing to do is to seek some sort of revenge. That’s the natural thing to do. But, as children of God, we’re not to live naturally; we’re to live supernaturally. Consider what else Jesus said about loving our enemies.
“That you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:49 NIV)
God loves people who don’t deserve His love. Rather than hating them and wishing them harm, God sent His Son to die for their sins. Therefore, as the children of God, we are to love the unlovely as well. But how do we do this?
Paul tells us that we are to be a living sacrifice. To be a living sacrifice means that we have to let go of our natural feelings and inclinations to hate our enemies and we have to embrace God’s will for us to love them. The sacrifical part is us dying to ourselves and the living part is God living through us. Or in the case of us dealing with our enemies, it’s God loving the unlovely through us.
B. To Become a Living Sacrifice is the Reasonable Thing For Us to Do
We should note also that Paul tells us that this is the reasonable thing to do.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
In light of all God has done for us, and in light of all that God still wants to do through us, the logical thing for us to do is to give our lives to Him.
II. Our Conflict in Trying to Be a Living Sacrifice
All of this sounds good; yet I still say that it’s hard to do. It’s hard to die to self. Self keeps screaming out for attention.
A. Recognizing That It is a Struggle
We all struggle in dying to self; even the Apostle Paul. How do I know that? Consider what he said in the book of Romans –
Romans 7:15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do – I don’t do, and what I hate to do – that’s what I do. (author’s translation taken from NIV)
The verbs in this passage are in the present tense which seems to indicate that Paul was still fighting a battle with self. We read also from the book of Galatians –
Galatians 5:17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to naturally do whatever you want. (author’s translation taken from NIV)
We’re all fighting a spiritual battle between the desires of our old nature and our new nature in Christ. The Holy Spirit is encouraging us to do one thing while our old nature is crying out for us to do another. Can we have victory; and if so, how? Consider once again what Paul tells us in our passage from Romans 12 –
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
B. Finding Strength Through Our Relationship With Christ
1. Do Not Be Conformed to This World
I’ve really searched hard for an example of what it means to be conformed and I think I’ve found it. Take a coin out of your pocket and look at it. How are coins made? They’re stamped out by a huge machine called a ‘press.’ As the press comes down with tremendous force and strength, it conforms the raw material into the image we hold in our hands.
a. Do Not Be Conformed to This World
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world…
Probably the best translation for the word ‘world’ is culture. Sometimes it’s translated as ‘the spirit of the age.’ It’s the mindset of the world we live in. It’s in our entertainment and music. It’s in our news media. It’s in our fashion world. It’s in our government and politics. It’s in our education. It’s everywhere. It’s all around us.
b. We Must Stop Allowing Culture to Conform Us
Literally Paul is saying, “You must stop immediately allowing yourselves to be influenced by your culture.” Does culture influence us? Perhaps the simplest example of this is fashion. One woman wears something and it looks good and suddenly every woman has to have it. That’s not to say that all fashion styles are sinful, but that we’re heavily influence by our peers and culture. Now gentlemen, before you become too critical of your wives, let’s talk about camo. Why is camo cool, even for people who don’t hunt?
The real problem is not so much fashion as it is our philosophy of life and moral values. Today we are under tremendous pressure to conform to the standards of this world. To intensify this pressure, those who are unwilling to conform are often labeled as haters and bigots.
2. But Be Ye Transformed
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
In order for us to do God’s will, we must stop being conformed by our culture and we must start being transformed by the power of God.
a. What Does It Mean to be Transformed?
The best way to explain what it means to be transformed is to tell you that it is from the Greek word used here for transformed is the word from which we get the English word – ‘metamorphosis.’ What is metamorphosis?
Metamorphosis is the miracle God performs when He changes an ugly worm into a beautiful butterfly. Paul tells us that in order for us to do God’s will, the ugly worm of our fallen nature has to be transformed into the beautiful nature of Christ. How does this happen?
b. How Can We be Transformed?
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Transformation occurs as our minds are renewed. Strong’s Concordance defines ‘renewing’ as: {a complete change for the better.} God takes the ugly butterfly and He transforms it into the image of Christ. How does He do this?
Almost every Bible commentary I read on this passage mentioned the necessity of God’s Word to transform our minds. The Bible says –
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.” (see Psalm 119:9)
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
We must have constant exposure to God’s truth in order for our minds to be transformed from the ugly worm into the beautiful butterfly. However, it takes more than just a simple reading of God’s Word in order to change us. The word ‘mind’ refers to our reasoning. God’s Word must change our reasoning so that we will recognize and approve what is His good and acceptable and perfect will.
3. Transformed From One Level of Glory to the Next
During my studies, I came across this passage from the book of 2 Corinthians:
2 Corinthians 3:18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit. (HCB)
To fully appreciate this passage, we have to look back into the Old Testament to the time when Moses was with God on Mount Sinai. Exodus 34 says that Moses spent forty days with God as the LORD gave him the Old Testament Law. Afterwards we read –
Exodus 34:29 When Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, he wasn’t aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the Lord.
Moses’ face literally glowed from his having been in God’s presence. His face reflected the glory of God. So great was this glow of God’s glory that he had to put a veil over his face in order to not frighten the people.
As I studied this, I thought about a time when the people of Israel did not have the opportunity to have intimate fellowship with God. Only the High Priest could enter into the Holy of Holies once a year and even then he did so with fear. But when Jesus died on the cross, the veil that separated God and man was torn in two from the top to bottom and today you and I are encouraged to come boldly into God’s presence and to call Him our ‘Daddy.’ (see Hebrews 4:14-16; Romans 8:15)
It is through this intimate relationship with God that He renews our minds and transforms our character.
"Seeds of Faith" 