Committed to Commitment - Romans 12- 3/15/09
Turn with me this morning to the book of Romans, chapter 12. We want to go on in this book written by the Apostle Paul to Christians living in Rome in the first century. Paul writes to them and tells them that we have “good news” to share with the world. Sometimes as Christians we forget that: we get so consumed by all the economic problems of the nation that we forget we have a HOPE that is not affected by all that happens on Wall Street. Paul says it is a bad news/good news scenario: We are all sinners and all under the condemnation and penalty of our sin. But God chooses, not because of anything we might do of ourselves, but purely because of His mercy and grace, to offer us forgiveness and salvation. God takes the righteousness of Christ and applies it to our empty, bankrupt spiritual accounts. And therefore we have hope no matter what problems we may face in this life. Because we know that this life is not all there is. Right now there is an inheritance waiting for us that is 10 billion times larger than what Bill Gates is going to leave behind. And God is holding it in store for us who are heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ.
We saw last week that we can rely on God to keep His promises to us. We saw in chapters 9-11 that God has been faithful to the nation of Israel in keeping every promise He made to them. And in the same way we can count on God to keep all His promises to us as well.
Today, we move on to Romans chapter 12. In almost all of Paul’s writings, he takes two parts. He spends the first part of each book teaching doctrine, and the second half teaching duty. The first part normally explains what the truth is, and the second half deals with how the truth affects us. First, who we are, second, how we live. So, let’s look at how Paul makes that transition here in Romans 12. Will you please stand with me as we read these verses. I’ll be reading this morning out of the New International version.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Let’s pray. Prayer for God to change us by His word.
This morning as we look at these two verses, we will see this theme: In light of all God has done for us, we need to commit our lives to serving Him. Paul is going to give us a reminder today that we need to make a commitment to honoring God, obeying God, serving God, doing the right thing in the right way at the right time all the time. And notice how Paul starts out. He gives us the
• Reason of Commitment - He says, Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy - Our decision of whether we owe a debt, an obligation, a commitment is based upon this truth: God has given us mercy. He has brought us a salvation which we do NOT deserve, which we cannot obtain on our own. God has been merciful in sparing us the punishment that we truly deserve. And because of His mercy, we should be changed.
In Matthew 18, Jesus told a parable about a man who was forgiven a very great debt. But he was not changed by that mercy. Instead he refused mercy for others who owed him money. The master therefore took vengeance upon that man, and sent him off to be tortured. And Jesus said, This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart. When we receive mercy, it should cause us to be merciful, to be forgiving of others. When we think of the mercy God has shown to us, it should make us eternally grateful to God for all He has done for us. That is the reason we are called to commit our lives to following God. But the sad fact is that often we have a
• Refusal of Commitment - Paul says, I urge you, brothers - he reminds them that we are those who have received mercy, received salvation, and who are to be changed. 2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! Ephesians 4:22 - You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
We SHOULD be changed by the mercy we have been shown. But sadly many, many Christians fall into the same trap and snare that the nation of Israel did. Paul says in verse 2 - Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world. Think about the history of the Jews in the Old Testament. God took Abraham, took him out of Ur in Mesopotamia, led him hundreds and hundreds of miles away from home to start over. God told Abraham that He would bless Abraham’s descendants, the Jews, and make a people out of them who would provide a blessing for all the nations on the face of the earth. But the Jews failed to live up to their calling.
Instead, the Jews had envy - they wanted to be like all the nations around them. The other nations had a king; the Jews wanted a king. The other nations worshiped idols; the Jews wanted a God they could see. Then they went from envy to encroachment - they were called to wipe out all the other nations, because God was fed up with their sinfulness. God knew these other nations would end up being a thorn in the side of the Jews, but the Jews left them go; they didn’t drive them out of the Promised Land. Then we see engagement - the Jews started intermarrying with these pagan nations. Even though God had told them to have nothing to do with them, the Jews defied God and said, “God, I know better than you!” Then came entrapment - once they intermarried, they started worshiping these false idols. The forgot the God who loved them and blessed them, and they started worshiping and praying to idols of wood and clay and stone.
And so, instead of the Jews changing their world, the world ended up changing the Jews. So much so in fact that God had to displace the Jews for 70 years and send them into exile out of their homeland so they would see how desperately they needed the help of the one true God.
But many, many Christians today follow that same pattern of the Jews. There is a refusal to be committed to following God. Instead, many Christians - those who know the mercy of God, those who know they are saved and going to heaven -- fall into the trap of being “conformed” to the image of the world. This word conformed means to “fashion oneself after another’s pattern.” The Phillips version puts it this way: Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold. We need to understand that as Christians we face a lot of external pressure to conform to our world. When Paul talks about the world here, he is not talking about the planet, but about society, culture, peers. He is referring to the forces at work in the age in which we live. In Galatians 1:4 he calls is a present, evil age. In 1 John 2 - we are told about the temptations of the world - For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. And sadly, many, many Christians “buy into” the salespitch that Satan sends our way. Notice Paul says here - Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world - it’s something that the Christians at Rome were doing, and they needed to STOP!
Think about hunting -- that won’t be very hard for some of you-- you love to hunt. I grew up in a family of hunters. My brothers all love to regale one another with their latest and best hunting stories. And when you go out hunting, there are a few things you want to do. One of those is to dress in camouflage. You change your outward appearance to blend in with your surroundings.
Or think of soldiers on maneuvers. They wear camouflaged outfits to blend in with their surroundings.
We often live as camouflaged Christians. We outwardly try to conform to the world around us. We say, “Oh, I really don’t feel like the people I work with. My values are very different than theirs. I would never think about doing the things they do.” But outwardly, there is no difference between us and the unsaved people we work with.
We are chameleons who just try to blend in to our surroundings. But as Christian that is very opposite to what we are called to be. Jesus said in Matthew 5:14 - You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
We are called to be light, to be different, but often we camouflage our faith and live just like the world. The word used here for “conformed” is the word suvschematizo- which means to to be “one with” the “schemes” of Satan and the world. We buy into the twisted thinking of the world. We think we need just a little bit more. We aren’t content with what we have; we want a newer car, a better job, a bigger house. We watch commercials and we think we NEED to buy that new device on the shopping network -- even though we aren’t quite sure what it does. But it sure looked great! We buy into the schemes of the world hook, line, and sinker!
So, often we have a refusal of commitment. But instead, we need to have a
• Rescue of commitment. We need to understand this morning that if we would make a commitment to doing things God’s way, it would rescue us from a world of hurt and consequences. We often live as camouflaged Christians, living just like the world, chasing after every elusive dream Satan brings our way.
How do we change that? How do we strip off the camouflage? It comes by a choice of the will. Notice what Paul says in verse 1 - Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. What is the verb here -- what is the action word? OFFER! The tense of this word in the original means to make a “once for all” commitment. Just like a wedding ceremony. The bride and groom stand there and promise that from that day on they are going to be completely, exclusively faithful to their spouse. You say “from this day forward I commit myself to you!” That’s the type of offering Paul is talking about. It is a total commitment!
The barnyard animals were talking one day about Farmer Brown. The chicken said, You know, Farmer Brown has been so good to us, we should do something to honor him. I know, why don’t we give him a bacon and eggs breakfast.” The pig replied, “That’s fine you you -- you just have to make a contribution -- but for me that’s total commitment!”
And that’s what Paul is calling us to do: make a total commitment. God does not want us to make a contribution, or even to make a sacrifice; God wants us to BE a sacrifice. Often we think God is please because we contribute a little. We get up early and come to church. We reach in our pockets and put a couple bucks in the offering plate. Why, we might even pull out a $20 bill and throw it in. And we think God is impressed with our little contribution.
What we fail to understand is that God already owns it all! Everything we have is His. It is not ours. He has merely let us use it. And He wants us to give back in worship to Him that which He has entrusted to us. We are to present or offer our bodies to God as an act of worship.
What would you think of someone who walked into Cervany’s jewelers downtown, and asked to see a big 10 carat diamond ring. After they brought it out of the case and the person tried it on, if they walked out of the store what would happen? Roger Squiers would be called to arrest them, because they stole the ring from the store. It was not theirs to take; it belongs to the store.
In the same way, we often think we OWN the rights to our lives. Our old, sinful nature tries to hold on to that which it does NOT own. Because as Christians we are to live as a sacrifice. And when we choose to BE a sacrifice, to live a life that pleases God, to do things God’s way, to obey what the Bible tells us, we will find that that commitment actually will end up rescuing us from a lifetime of consequences. Then, we see the
• Renewal of Commitment - Paul says, Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. To keep from “blending in” to the world around us and to keep from being squeezed into its mold, we need to have a change come upon us. And that is the idea of the world transformed. It literally is the word metamorphosis. We all understand this word. It is the idea of a caterpillar spinning a cocoon and emerging as a butterfly. While conformation is an external conformity, transformation is an internal change; it is a change from within. To break away from being squeezed into the world’s mold, we need a difference in our lives- we have a different master - we no longer serve sin and self, we serve the savior
we need a difference in our labor - we have a different mission- we are called to a live of sacrifice & service, and we need a difference in our logic - we have a different mind- we are called to change the way we think.
It says we are to be transformed by the renewing of your mind - how do we change our lives? We start by changing the way we think. The world wants us to think a certain way. The world wants to control our thinking and so it exercises pressure from without to control us; but the Holy Spirit also wants to change the way we think; but He changes our minds by releasing power within in. This idea of transformation is the idea that we are internally changed by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not just a scheme, a pretense, but a true life change. The problem too many Christians have is that they just try to have moral reformation, they just want to clean up the outside of their lives while they don’t want to change inwardly, they don’t want to change their hearts. If you want to be truly changed, transformed, metamorphosized, it has to be an inward heart change.
So, when we want inward real transformation, how does it come? It comes by renewing our minds -- by thinking different. Actually that is what the word “repentance” means - “to change the way you think.” The world has conditioned us to think a certain way, but repentance is when we change to think about things the way God thinks about them.
In Colossians 3:10 it says, Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. So, how do we renew our minds - through knowledge, through knowledge of the Scriptures, knowledge of the truth of God. That brings us back to the verse we looked at a few weeks ago: John 8:32 - Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. If we really want to break free from the world’s way of thinking, if we want to break free from the trap of all Satan’s schemes, if we want to break away from worldliness and self-centeredness and all types of negative thinking, what do we need to do? We need to come to the word of God. Psalm 119:9 - How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. . . I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. 2 Timothy 2:15 - Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Do you want to not be ashamed of your life and the choices you make? Then you need to let the word of God be your guide in all the decisions you make. And if we want to be guided by the word of God, then we are going to need to READ the word of God. We can’t just expect that when trouble comes we will just flip open the Bible and find the answers we need. God doesn’t work that way.
You’ve heard the story before about the man who needed answers so he flipped open the Bible and put his finger down. It landed upon Matthew 27:5 - So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. He thought to himself, God must want more than that for me, so he tried it again and his finger fell on Luke 10:37 - Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. He started to get a little scared, and he thought to himself, I’ll try it one last time, and his finger fell on John 13:27 - What you are about to do, do quickly.
If we really want to make wise choices in life, we need to make a commitment to change by living our lives according to the word of God. And to do that, we need to read and study the word of God so that when we are faced with choices we can have a mind that is ruled by the world of God. Here in verse 2 it tells us, Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. When we make our choices in life based upon the world of God, we will then be able to testify from experience that God’s will is good and right. When we live a life that is different than the world because our minds are controlled by what the word of God says, then God is pleased and glorified.
So, how do we do this? How do we change our lives through the word of God. Simply put, it is a choice of the will! That is the
• Reality of Commitment - The reality is that our mind controls our bodies, and our will controls our mind. You can choose what you think about. You might say, “no, things just pop into my head.” But you control, you decide whether those thoughts are going to stay there. The sin that comes is not being tempted with a bad thought, with a temptation to do evil, but the sin is rather when we choose to indulge the wrong way of thinking.
Did Jesus ever have a bad thought? I believe he did! But I believe He controlled His thinking and chose not to allow that thought to stay in His mind. What does James say? Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Satan may tempt you with wrong thinking, but let you will control your minds. Don’t allow yourself to give in to sinful thinking, because your will controls your minds, and your minds control your body.
Did you ever go to a car lot, and the salesman sees you are shopping for another car. He sees you eye up a certain one, and he comes over, hands you the keys and tries to get you to take it for a test drive. He tells you the price, and you say you are not interested. He confidently tries to dicker with you and tell you how low he can make the monthly payments, but he really doesn’t do much to lower the price. Why not? Because you are still holding the keys. As long as you choose to keep the keys, he knows he still has a sale. It’s not until you give back the keys that he is going to do his best to make the car appealing.
In the same way, we need to give God the keys to our life. Satan comes and tempts us, and we say I really shouldn’t do this, I’m going to hate myself tomorrow, I’ll feel really guilty -- but we never find the victory in life until we RESIST the devil and say the same thing that God says about those actions.
James 4:7 - Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
When Jesus is out in the wilderness, hungry, thirsty, tired from fasting for 40 days, and he is tempted by the devil, what does He do? He answers Satan three times with the same phrase: It is written! Why did Satan do that? He could have rebuked the devil and Satan would have fled. But Jesus did what he knew WE could do -- he used the word of God to rebuke Satan -- He used the word of God to enforce His commitment to do the right thing.
If we really want to break free from the mold of the world, and we want to be inwardly changed to be different, not led astray by the schemes of the devil, then we need to renew our minds by applying the word of God and choose in our wills to be committed to following God.
Finally, when we do that, what is the result?
• Result of Commitment - as we’ve already said, it is a life that pleases God, a life that proves God’s will is best, and a life that praises God through sacrificial worship. And that is a life that will stand out like a spotlight on a hilltop. The problem that we face is that too often we want to make a glorious “one moment commitment for God”-- Fred Craddock describes it this way:
To give my life for Christ appears glorious. To pour myself out for others. . . to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom -- I will do it, I’m ready Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory. We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking a $1,000 bill and laying it on the table -- “Here’s my life Lord, I’m giving it all.” But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $1,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there. Listen to the neighbor kid’s troubles instead of saying, “get lost” Go to a committee meeting. Give a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home. Usually giving our life to Christ is not glorious. It is done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at a time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it is harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul.”
And that is what this idea of commitment is all about: if we want to stand out, to break out of the world’s mold, we need to transform the way we think so we are internally changed and forever changed and every day we choose to focus our wills and minds on living according to the word of God, because we are absolutely convinced that everything our God calls us to do is for the best, and that He will reward us for our faithfulness.
That is Paul’s transition from doctrine to duty. In light of the mercy of God, we live a life committed to doing the will of God. And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. NLT
