Tyler van der Hoeven
Discover the Truth
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.
Let's take this one step at a time for these are hard sayings which are so easy to pass over but so desperately need to be taken to heart if we are to be serious in our pursuit of righteousness. First of all lets break it down a little to what this little two verse section is asking of us.
◊ Present your bodies as living sacrifices
◊ Do not be conformed to this world
◊ Be transformed by the renewal of your mind
◊ Discern what is the will of God
Well that looks easy doesn't it, only four things, yet look at them, present your body as a sacrifice? What! Don't be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind? What; that all about? Discern what is the will of God, that sounds like a tough thing to do. Before we get all dejected and move on to more comfortable terrain lets just read through it slow and steady and see what we can dig up.
Present you bodies as a living sacrifice. Ouch, a sacrifice was no easy or comfortable thing to be, rather it was something destroyed for the sake of saving something else. Yet we are not called to destroy our bodies but rather to present them as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. So, regardless of exactly what that is, the end goal is spiritual worship. So we must learn how to sacrifice our bodies yet not cause them to stop living, and do that in a holy and acceptable way. Wait though, perhaps we do not fully understand the meaning of sacrifice. Think about it, if I put my best sheep on an alter of stone and cut it up, burn it up, and praise the Lord what have I done? I most certainly have sacrificed my best sheep but why? Because that sheep was not as important to me as my relationship with the Lord. I killed my best sheep to show the Lord that a right standing before Him was more important to me then keeping my best sheep. It never meant merely just burning up my sheep on stones for the sake of keeping a law or doing it because it was the "thing" to do but because I love God so much. Take that to this verse and see how it applies. Present your bodies in such a way to God as to say "I don't love myself as much as I love You Lord. My comfort, my ease, my bank account, my satisfaction, my joy, indeed all of me Lord is on a lower standing then You and my relationship with You. You mean more to me then all of these and gladly would I give each and every one up before I gave You up.
1 Samuel 15:22
And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
That's an easy thing to say but so hard to live out. How does your life say to God that He's the most important thing to you? Take a look at the world and the things they are sacrificing themselves for. Take a look at the broken families with full bank accounts, take a look at the prisons and the thriving drug rings. Then take a look back at home, how does your life show your commitment to Christ as Supreme Lord of your life? Are you spending extra time at work or at home? Where is your free time going? Your free money? Don't assume anything, we need to begin thinking through what we're doing and why. If we're going to march under the banners of Christ and wait anxiously for our rapture into Heaven we're going to need to take a closer look at what the followers of Christ do. Many are marching to heaven, but all to many are marching in the wrong direction.
This leads very nicely right into points 2 and 3 of this section. "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind."
The first thing I see by reading through this is that by default we are conformed to this world, we are worldly. That's a tough mold to break out of, yet by God's grace once we are saved, we are out and have begun a transformation. It's interesting to me that the mind is what is transformed. Its not the heart, its not the soul, its not your actions, its your mind. Why? Because that's where the mold of the world is. Its in the world, its the world that says you want to get rich and retire early, its the world that says if your not happy with the way things are, change them, change your job, change your house, your car, your wife. Life is about the here and now, enjoy it, live in it, and don't worry. This is the thinking which we need to be transformed from, the mindset that life is all about me, about my happiness, my satisfaction in the here and now. We were made with an eternal soul, and each day we give away a little bit more of that soul, either to God, or to the temporary here and now. Your mind, by default, speaks much louder then the Spirits voice. Your mind says, "You want it? Then get it! You only live once." Indeed, until the Spirit breathes life into a dead man's spirit, he'll never respond or react to the voice which says, "And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:17
This again leads beautifully into the fourth and final point, the summary. "That by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." The will of God, that thing which seems so elusive to so many Christians yet I believe God makes so clear in His Word. He may not tell you whether to buy this or that, to marry this guy or that girl, to take give to this charity or that missionary but His will is bigger then all of these. The will of God is not so much a thing or idea but exactly what it is, the will of God. Its what God wants, not what you want. If you truly desire to honor God and glorify Him with every choice you make then you will submit your will to His will. How do you do that? Look up! What did we just read? We say, "God, I sacrifice my interests, I sacrifice my best skills, nothing I have is my own for it was You who ultimately gave it all to me. The world says I should be retiring next year, but is that what You want? How would you have me spend my free time this summer, the world says I should party with my friends, go to the beach, and eat out every night, but is the really how you would have my spend my time? Father, I'm really struggling in my marriage, she's just so difficult! The world says I should just ditch her and pick out a new one but Father thats not how you treat me as part of your church so what would You have me do?" Pray Christian! O pray, pray, pray! Do you want to know what your earthly employer wants, what his will is? You ask him don't you? So much more should we ask our Heavenly Commander for what His will is. You will do this through prayer, and not just sometimes saying a quick prayer, but often, focused, and fervent times of prayer. Do this especially before big events in your life, such as "popping the big question", buying a house or car, career or job change. O how this is not natural, indeed, this is so unnatural and foreign to our once dead spirits, yet, if you want to do what God wants you to do, (His will) then you'll ask Him. Take much time in prayer, fast, do what you must and what you can to seek the face of God. All to often its not that I don't know what the will of God is, but that the will of God is not my will. What I want is not what He wants so I must bend and do what I want, or I must break and do what He wants. Do not follow the patterns of this world, the day by day assumptions that this is what people do. O how we assume and are patterned by the culture and society around us. Don't just throw the world out, but bring God in and let Him work His will in you and your life will be transformed as you become a Christian.
Hebrews 10:36
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
1 Peter 2:15
For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
1 Peter 4:1-2
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.
Discover the Truth
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.
Let's take this one step at a time for these are hard sayings which are so easy to pass over but so desperately need to be taken to heart if we are to be serious in our pursuit of righteousness. First of all lets break it down a little to what this little two verse section is asking of us.
◊ Present your bodies as living sacrifices
◊ Do not be conformed to this world
◊ Be transformed by the renewal of your mind
◊ Discern what is the will of God
Well that looks easy doesn't it, only four things, yet look at them, present your body as a sacrifice? What! Don't be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind? What; that all about? Discern what is the will of God, that sounds like a tough thing to do. Before we get all dejected and move on to more comfortable terrain lets just read through it slow and steady and see what we can dig up.
Present you bodies as a living sacrifice. Ouch, a sacrifice was no easy or comfortable thing to be, rather it was something destroyed for the sake of saving something else. Yet we are not called to destroy our bodies but rather to present them as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. So, regardless of exactly what that is, the end goal is spiritual worship. So we must learn how to sacrifice our bodies yet not cause them to stop living, and do that in a holy and acceptable way. Wait though, perhaps we do not fully understand the meaning of sacrifice. Think about it, if I put my best sheep on an alter of stone and cut it up, burn it up, and praise the Lord what have I done? I most certainly have sacrificed my best sheep but why? Because that sheep was not as important to me as my relationship with the Lord. I killed my best sheep to show the Lord that a right standing before Him was more important to me then keeping my best sheep. It never meant merely just burning up my sheep on stones for the sake of keeping a law or doing it because it was the "thing" to do but because I love God so much. Take that to this verse and see how it applies. Present your bodies in such a way to God as to say "I don't love myself as much as I love You Lord. My comfort, my ease, my bank account, my satisfaction, my joy, indeed all of me Lord is on a lower standing then You and my relationship with You. You mean more to me then all of these and gladly would I give each and every one up before I gave You up.
1 Samuel 15:22
And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
That's an easy thing to say but so hard to live out. How does your life say to God that He's the most important thing to you? Take a look at the world and the things they are sacrificing themselves for. Take a look at the broken families with full bank accounts, take a look at the prisons and the thriving drug rings. Then take a look back at home, how does your life show your commitment to Christ as Supreme Lord of your life? Are you spending extra time at work or at home? Where is your free time going? Your free money? Don't assume anything, we need to begin thinking through what we're doing and why. If we're going to march under the banners of Christ and wait anxiously for our rapture into Heaven we're going to need to take a closer look at what the followers of Christ do. Many are marching to heaven, but all to many are marching in the wrong direction.
This leads very nicely right into points 2 and 3 of this section. "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind."
The first thing I see by reading through this is that by default we are conformed to this world, we are worldly. That's a tough mold to break out of, yet by God's grace once we are saved, we are out and have begun a transformation. It's interesting to me that the mind is what is transformed. Its not the heart, its not the soul, its not your actions, its your mind. Why? Because that's where the mold of the world is. Its in the world, its the world that says you want to get rich and retire early, its the world that says if your not happy with the way things are, change them, change your job, change your house, your car, your wife. Life is about the here and now, enjoy it, live in it, and don't worry. This is the thinking which we need to be transformed from, the mindset that life is all about me, about my happiness, my satisfaction in the here and now. We were made with an eternal soul, and each day we give away a little bit more of that soul, either to God, or to the temporary here and now. Your mind, by default, speaks much louder then the Spirits voice. Your mind says, "You want it? Then get it! You only live once." Indeed, until the Spirit breathes life into a dead man's spirit, he'll never respond or react to the voice which says, "And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:17
This again leads beautifully into the fourth and final point, the summary. "That by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." The will of God, that thing which seems so elusive to so many Christians yet I believe God makes so clear in His Word. He may not tell you whether to buy this or that, to marry this guy or that girl, to take give to this charity or that missionary but His will is bigger then all of these. The will of God is not so much a thing or idea but exactly what it is, the will of God. Its what God wants, not what you want. If you truly desire to honor God and glorify Him with every choice you make then you will submit your will to His will. How do you do that? Look up! What did we just read? We say, "God, I sacrifice my interests, I sacrifice my best skills, nothing I have is my own for it was You who ultimately gave it all to me. The world says I should be retiring next year, but is that what You want? How would you have me spend my free time this summer, the world says I should party with my friends, go to the beach, and eat out every night, but is the really how you would have my spend my time? Father, I'm really struggling in my marriage, she's just so difficult! The world says I should just ditch her and pick out a new one but Father thats not how you treat me as part of your church so what would You have me do?" Pray Christian! O pray, pray, pray! Do you want to know what your earthly employer wants, what his will is? You ask him don't you? So much more should we ask our Heavenly Commander for what His will is. You will do this through prayer, and not just sometimes saying a quick prayer, but often, focused, and fervent times of prayer. Do this especially before big events in your life, such as "popping the big question", buying a house or car, career or job change. O how this is not natural, indeed, this is so unnatural and foreign to our once dead spirits, yet, if you want to do what God wants you to do, (His will) then you'll ask Him. Take much time in prayer, fast, do what you must and what you can to seek the face of God. All to often its not that I don't know what the will of God is, but that the will of God is not my will. What I want is not what He wants so I must bend and do what I want, or I must break and do what He wants. Do not follow the patterns of this world, the day by day assumptions that this is what people do. O how we assume and are patterned by the culture and society around us. Don't just throw the world out, but bring God in and let Him work His will in you and your life will be transformed as you become a Christian.
Hebrews 10:36
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
1 Peter 2:15
For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
1 Peter 4:1-2
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.