ROMANS 12: 1-2
ACCEPTABLE WORSHIP
A tearful distraught young woman approached a pastor who had been speaking on worship at a conference and told him that she could not live the Christian life the way she should. She said, "I'm frustrated. My worship experience is not meaningful and fulfilling as I know it should be. I don't have spiritual victory or a sense of accomplishment in my daily life either. I struggle with everyday obedience and am constantly defeated. Can you help me?"
He asked her how she had attempted to solve the problem. She responded, "I've tried everything. I've attended churches where they speak in tongues and have healings. I've tried speaking in tongues, been slain in the spirit, been prophesied over, but nothing helps. I'm not satisfied, I need God to do more for me."
The pastor replied that he thought he could see the problem. The key to true worship, spiritual victory and true happiness is not in trying to get all we can from God, but in giving all that we are and have to God. So many people come to God, come to worship, praying, hoping for personal benefit. But the proper focus is not only what we want to receive but on what we should give.
The Christian is called to serve God with his whole being. This sacrificial service occurs in and becomes worship. True worship includes many things such as prayer, praise, thanksgiving, and serving God by serving others. But above all else, our supreme act of worship is to offer ourselves wholly and continually to the Lord as living sacrifices. Till we give our body, mind and will as a living sacrifice to God, our worship will not satisfy as it should, because we have not given as we should. Remember, it is in giving that we receive.
The joy and satisfaction which so many Christian lack can be received only by surrendering back to the Lord what He has already given to us. When we surrender our body, mind and will to God as a living sacrifice, then we can truly render spiritual worship (CIT).
I. THE BASIS OF SURRENDER, 1a.
II. THE ACT OF SURRENDER, 1b.
III. THE TRANSFORMATION OF SURRENDER, 2a.
IV. THE PROOF OF SURRENDER, 2b.
The grace of obedience is urged upon us by God's mercy in the begin of verse 1. "I urge you therefore brethren by the mercies of God,"
Paul begins to convey by the verb urge (parakaleo) a mixture of entreaty and authority. The meaning of urge is "calling alongside," here in a context of exhorting, admonishing or encouraging. The people he was loving exhorting were the brethren. The brethren are those who have received a new heart and a new inner desire. The gentle command, conveyed by urge can only be obeyed by brethren, by those who already belong to God's family. The unbeliever cannot dedicate themselves without reservation to the Lord.
Therefore refers back to the previous four verses and is even based on all that has come before. Therefore, because "for Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen"(11:36).
Therefore, because of the mercies of God discussed in the first eleven chapters of Romans. The motivation and reason we can do what God is urging us to do is because of and by the mercies. What are some of those mercies Romans mentions? We have received grace, Jesus died in our place, we received been forgiven, justified freely by faith, been reconciled by Christ, given eternal life, given His life giving Spirit, being conformed to the image of His dear Son, have Christ interceding for us, have His love poured out into our hearts, have all things working for good, and possess His love that can not be separated from us. We have received faith, peace, hope, share in Christ's righteousness and His glory, and can call God Father because we are His children. What great mercies the child of God has received!
The most compelling motivation for faithful obedient living should not be the threat of discipline or the receiving of rewards but overflowing and unceasing gratitude for the marvelous mercies of God. Such mercies should motivate and empower believers to complete surrender and commitment to the Lord
II. THE ACT OF SURRENDER, (1b).
Verse 1 also commands an act of surrender for the mercies of God that urge and empower us to fully surrender our life to God. "Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."
Believers are here called upon to present or surrender their body as a living and holy sacrifice. This is the only proper, logical and appropriate response for one who has received God's fathomless mercies.
The verb present [paristemi is the technical expression for presenting a victim for sacrifice] was often used in the Greek Old Testament for a priest presenting an offering on the altar. Here, the term carries the idea of surrendering or yielding up. The believer is called upon to yield or surrender his or her body as an act of sacrificial worship. The verb present is in the imperative mood which set it apart as a command.
The tense of the verb (infinitive) indicates that we are to present our body once for all times. The gift which was brought to the altar became consecrated to God and no longer belonged to the one who offered it, but to God. Christians no longer belongs to themselves but to God who has redeemed or purchased us with the price of His Son.
When someone asked WILLIAM BOOTH, founder of the Salvation Army, the secret of his success, Booth remained silent for several moments. Finally, with tear-filled eyes, he said, "There have been men with greater brains or opportunities than I, but I made up my mind that God would have all of William Booth there was."
Several years later when General Booth's daughter heard about her father's comment regarding his full surrender to God, she said, "That wasn't really his secret - his secret was that he never took it back."
That's the problem with a living sacrifice. It can get off the altar. Yet we, like William Booth, can response to God's grace and mercy in saving us, by giving Him our all - and never taking it back.
Since we are a living sacrifice [oxymoron] we must daily lay down our own desires and put our energy and resources at God's disposal. In his hymn Elisha A. Hoffman asks: "Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid? Your heart, does the Spirit control?" Those are penetrating questions. How would you answer them? [What has God done for you? In what ways have you been living for yourself? What are the rewards of living for the Lord?] In consideration of all that the Lord in His mercy had done for us, we are to give our bodies as living sacrifices to God. For Christ showed His love by dying for us; we show ours by living for Him.
By bodies Paul means, not only our skin and bones, but the totality of our being. Out bodies are not only our physical being but our mind, emotions and will. Before we trusted Christ we used or presented our body for sinful pleasures and purposes, but now that we belong to God, we want to use our body for His glory. Just as Jesus Christ took upon Himself a body in order to accomplish God's will on earth, so we must yield our body to Christ that He might continue God's work through us. Therefore, we offer our bodies as instruments of righteousness to God (Romans 6:13,16,19). We offer our feet to walk in His paths, our lips to speak His truth and spread the gospel, our tongues to bring healing, our hands to lift up the fallen and perform service as He directs, our arms to embrace the lonely and unloved, our ears to listen to His word and the cries of distress and our eyes to humbly and obediently look toward God. The Lord created our body for Himself and in this life, He cannot work through us without in some way working through our body. It is because our body still remain unredeemed that it must be yielded continually to the Lord, otherwise sin will reign in our mortal body and we will obey its lusts (Rom. 6:12).
We are commanded to offer our body as a "living and holy sacrifice."
As noted earlier the language is from the Old Testament sacrificial system. There a priest would take an animal slay it and place it on the altar in behalf of the person who brought the animal sacrifice. Now the sacrifice of dead animals is no longer acceptable to God. Because the Lamb of God was sacrificed in our place the redeemed of the Lord are now to offer themselves, all that they have, all that they are, as a living sacrifice. Where true worship starts under the new covenant is with the offering of one's self to God as a living sacrifice.
[There are TWO SACRIFICES in the Bible that illustrate the difference between dead and living sacrifice. The first is Isaac (Gen. 22). Isaac as a teenager willingly put himself on the altar and would have died in obedience to the Lord's will (Heb. 11:4, Isaiah 15:22, Ps 51:17, 2 Sam. 12:13). God sent a substitute lamb in Isaac's place, but when Isaac got off the altar he was a living sacrifice to the glory of God.
The Lord Jesus is the other illustration of a living sacrifice. He actually died as a sacrifice in our place in obedience to the Father's will. But He rose again. Today He is in heaven as a living sacrifice, bearing in His body the wounds of Calvary. Both these stories illustrate the willingness to offer what God wanted, everything they held dear]. The living sacrifice we are to offer to the Lord who died for us is the willingness to surrender to Him all our hopes, plans, everything that is primarily precious to us. As we die daily to our old self, the world, the flesh and the devil we become a living and holy sacrifice.
A holy sacrifice means a sacrifice set apart for a SPECIAL PURPOSE. In Peter Deison's book The Priority of Knowing God, he tells about an occasion when President EISENHOWER was addressing the National Press Club. He opened his remarks by apologizing because he was not a great orator. Then he told his audience that his situation reminded him of a boyhood experience on a Kansas farm.
Eisenhower recalled, "An old farmer had a cow that we wanted to buy. We went over to visit him and asked about the cow's pedigree. The old farmer didn't know what pedigree meant, so we asked him about the cow's butterfat production. He told us that he hadn't any idea. Finally, we asked him if he knew how many pounds of milk the cow produced each year. The farmer shook his head and said, "I don't know. But she's an honest old cow and she'll give you all the milk she has!"
Eisenhower then concluded his opening remarks, "Well, I'm like that cow: I'll give you everything I have."
The Lord doesn't expect from us any more than we have to offer, but He does want us to be faithful and to give Him our very best effort. May we say willingly and gladly, "Lord, I give You my life and everything I have is now Yours."
Remember the hymn, "Give of your best to the Master," Give Him first place in your heart, Give Him first place in your service, Consecrate every part.
ON THE LINE! To many athletes, it's the most dreaded phrase in existence. It might come pouring forth from the coach's mouth at the beginning of practice, in the middle of practice, or at the end of practice. It's three little words that strike fear into the hearts of every member of the team. Just when you think it is safe to take a breather, the coach bellows, "On the line!"
You drag yourself to the end line of the basketball court or the goal line of the football field. Then you wait to hear whether you will face wind sprints or "suicides" or some other form of torture. You know one thing for sure - you're going to run till you drop.
Why do athletes present themselves to the coach day after day and say, in essence, "Okay, coach, do with me what you want. Run me into the ground if you must. I'm here to do what you say"? They do it because they know the coach has their best interests at heart and that only through his wise direction can they succeed.
Athletes in training are a great picture of the Christian life described here. Believers are to be "living sacrifices." They are to give themselves to their Coach. Just as an athlete is successful only to the extend he puts his life into the coach's hands for a couple of hours a day, so is the Christian successful in service for God only when he puts his life in God's hands - 24 hours a day.
Have you presented your body as a living sacrifice for God? Are you willing to put your life "on the line" for Him so He can make you the world-class Christian He wants you to be?
Give yourself to God completely. Why? Because of what He did for you. Truly, it's reasonable to give yourself to the Lord, to say, "I'm laying my life down for You, Lord, because You gave Yourself for me. You have great things awaiting me. And I don't want to miss any of them now or eternally." Such an offering is holy (set apart), acceptable and pleasing ("pleasing" in 12:2) to God.
We also should give our life as a living sacrifice for this is reasonable or spiritual worship. The word translated reasonable or spiritual is logikos from where we get our words logic or logical. The term could be translated understandable also. It is as if any other service of worship outside of it being a living sacrificial worship is not logical or understandable before God. If we do not so offer our worship to God it is tainted or offered with defect or blemish. It could be like sacrificing a blemished or lame animal in worship to God (Mal.1:8).
When you offer you life as a living sacrifice, you will receive far more that you give. The hope of eternal life with Christ soars only as live for Christ. David Livingstone, the renowned and noble missionary to Africa, wrote in his journal,
"People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of the great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice which brings its own reward of healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter?"
"What a word, What a view, and what a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering or danger now and then, with a relinquishing of the indulgences of this life may cause the spirit to waver and sink; but only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which will so soon be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice. Of this we ought not talk when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who left His Father's throne on high to give Himself for us." (Livingstone's Private Journal: 1851-53).
Like Livingstone, Christians who offer a living sacrifice of themselves usually do not consider it to be a sacrifice. And it is not a sacrifice in the common sense of losing something valuable. The only things we entirely give up for God - to be removed and destroyed - are sin and sinful things, which only bring us injury and death. But when we offer God the living sacrifice of ourselves, He does not destroy what we give Him but refines it and purifies it, not only for His glory but for our present and eternal good.
[Service of worship translates in the single Greek word latreia which was used of service rendered in the Temple and in the N.T. refers to any ministry performed for God].
True worship does not consist of elaborate and impressive prayers, intricate liturgy, stained glass windows, lighted candles, flowing robes, incense and classical sacred music, nor does it require hand clapping or raising. It does not require great talent, skill or leadership ability. Yes, those outward forms may be part of genuine worship but they alone are not acceptable to God. Only after the worshiper has offered their being as a living sacrifice can one truly worship for then he or she worships in Spirit and in truth.
While visiting Franklin D. Roosevelt in the White House, Wendell Wilkie asked him, "Mr. President, why do you keep that frail, sickly man, HARRY HOPKINS, at your elbow?" Roosevelt replied, "Mr. Wilkie, through that door flows daily an incessant stream of men and women who, almost invariably, want something from me. Harry Hopkins wants only to serve me. That's why he is so near me!"
In text, the apostle Paul exhorts believers, on the basis of God's mercies, to give their body to the Lord as "a living sacrifice." He calls that our "reasonable service." We should be driven by such a deep love for and gratitude to God that we want only to serve Him.
Is your Christian service motivated by a sense of obligation or duty? Are you working merely to gain the praise and approval others? Do we desire to make a name for ourselves? Let's ask the Holy Spirit to help us examine our motives. Then we'll make sure that we are serving out of love.
You may try to serve God without loving Him, but you cannot love God without serving Him.
III. THE TRANSFORMATION OF SURRENDER (2a).
Verse 2 begins by stating two indications of believers who have offered their life to God's service. "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,"
Offering or surrendering of your life to God causes a new direction in life or a new lifestyle. This direction is not simply a goal of a new manner of living, we are shown what we must do to obtain the goal. There is something that should be shun and something that should be done.
This new direction is so needed for the world wants to control your mind. God though wants to transform your mind. The world wants to conform your mind to its way of thinking. God wants to transform your mind so you can think clearly.
Be conformed (suschematizo - "scheme") is a passive verb indicating that conforming, or being put into a pattern or mask, is something we allow to be done to us. The fact that the verb is imperative states that we are commanded not let that happen. The world seeks to pressure us into its mold. The world or age (aion) which seeks to conform us to that mass of thoughts, opinions, standards, speculations, hopes, impulses, aims and aspirations which pressure us from all sides.
But we must not be conformed to this world's entertainment, fashions, vocabulary, music, opinions, and attitudes. Yet its dominance is so powerful how can we resist its influence? The verse continues but "keep on being transformed by the renewing of your mind." The Greek verb translated transformed here and transfigured in Matthew 17:2 is where our word metamorphosis, a total change from the inside out (2 Cor. 3:18). Like a caterpillar transforms or metamorphosis into a butterfly. The key to this change is the mind (noos). The outward transformation is effected by an inner change in the mind, the control center of one's attitudes, thoughts, feelings and actions (Eph. 4:22-23).
How does God renew our mind? It's really simple. God transforms our mind and makes us spiritually minded by His Word. As you listen to God's Word, meditate on it, memorize it, God's Spirit renews the mind and the lifestyle is not conformed but transformed. This renewed mind allows us to see ourselves, others, and the world from the perspective of Jesus Christ and His cross which will replace our delight in our sins with a hatred for them and instead of rejecting sinners we will have a love for them.
We are to allow the transforming Word of God to work within us and produce outward results instead of permitting external pressures to conform us to the world to shape us. If we will meditate on God's Word daily, it will influence our thoughts and help us grow more like Jesus (2 Cor. 3:18). Then will be able to prove the wonder of God's will to a doubting world. For if we are being transformed by the Word we won't be conformed by the world.
IV. THE PROOF OF SURRENDER, (2b).
Verse two concludes by teaching us that the purpose of the transformed life is to demonstrated the delight of doing God's will. "So that you may prove what the will of God is, the which is good, well-pleasing and perfect."
Those whose mind the Holy Spirit has renewed, reeducated and redirected results in a life that can prove what the will of God is. This renewed mind means we can not only know God's will we can live out or prove what the will of God is. [Prove (dokimazein) is prove by testing.] We can live out Gods' will and prove the following three qualities of God's will. We can prove God's will is good, well-pleasing (to God) and perfect.
As a Christian is transformed in his mind and is made more like Christ, he comes to not only to approve of God's will instead of his own will for his life but prove it. Then he discovers that God's will is what is good for him, and that it pleases God and that it is complete or just as it should be in every way.
But how does this occur? Your mind controls your body and your will controls your mind. You may think that you can control your will by will-power but that you will fail sooner or later is inevitable (as was Paul's experience in Rom. 7:15-21. See Dennis Davidson's message on that passage). It is only when we yield our will to the will of God that His power [Spirit] can take over and He can give us the will-power (and the want power) that we will worship in Spirit and truth and live the victorious Christian life, which is good, acceptable and perfect.
We can surrender our will to God through disciplined prayer. As we spend time in prayer we learn to know & trust God and surrender our will to Him by praying "Not my will but Thy will be done."
An ARCHITECT said that many of his clients who asked him to design a house had ALREADY MADE THE PLANS in their mind. What they really wanted was approval of their plans. What they really wanted was approval of their own ideas and the satisfaction of seeing him draw what they thought would suit their needs.
Some Christians proceed in the same way when they ask the Divine Architect to plan their lives. They pray for wisdom and guidance, but in their hearts they have already decided how they will attain certain goals or what goals they should be pursuing. They have missed the message of Romans 12:1-2. While they gladly trust Christ for salvation, they hold back from making the full surrender that is necessary to "prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
[A young girl attended a meeting in which she was challenged to yield completely to Christ. She wanted to do God's will but feared He might lead her into something she wouldn't like. After the service, Stephen Olford, the speaker talked with her and said, "Read Romans 12:2 carefully, and you will see that it is the ‘good will of God' that will be your portion. While it may not be an easy road, it will be acceptable to Him and bring the true joy you are seeking." Quoting George Matheson's hymn "Make Me a Captive, Lord," Olford came to the words, "My will is not my own, till Thou hast made it Thine." Suddenly it all made sense to her. With tears she prayed, "Thank you, God. I'm all Yours!"]
Have you surrendered everything to Him? Only as we go God's way can we know God's will.
CONCLUSION
To sum up, Paul's appeal is addressed to the people of God, based on the mercies of God and concerned with the will of God. Only a clear vision of His mercies will inspire us to present our body to Him and allow Him to transform us according to His will.
As a Christian is transformed in his mind & is made more like Christ, he comes to approve & desire God's will, not his own will for his life. Then he discovers that God's will is what is good for him, and that it pleases God, and is complete in every way. God has good, pleasing and perfect plans for His children. But only by being renewed spiritually can a believer ascertain, do, & enjoy the will of God.
God wants the eternal best for us, and because of His demonstrated mercies in Jesus we should joyfully give ourselves as a living sacrifice. God has good, pleasing & perfect plans for His children. He wants to transform people by renewing minds so that they live to honor & obey Him.
Have you ever presented your body as a living sacrifice? Will you? Are you seeking by God's grace to take the necessary steps to allow God to renew you mind? Will you?
[Take a moment for REFLECTION. Look again at Romans 12:1-2. What is your motivation for giving yourself over to God as a living sacrifice? What are some things you can do this week that indicate you are giving yourself to God.
Write down what you think it means to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. What situations will you handle differently if you are not conformed to this world?]
