INTRODUCTION
What does being a Christian, being someone who has received God’s mercy, mean for the way we live our lives? How does being a Christian make a practical difference, day to day, for you and for me?
In my next few talks I am going to work through the answers that Paul gives to that question in Romans 12. Tonight we start with verses 1 and 2, which set the scene for the rest of what Paul has to say.
IN VIEW OF GOD’S MERCIES
In the first 11 chapters of Romans the apostle Paul provides a bold, clear and detailed outline of the gospel:
- the nature of our sin as rejection of God and our need, therefore, of God’s mercy
- His grace in sending Jesus to overcome sin, paying its penalty for us and bringing us into a right relationship with God through faith
- the power of God’s Holy Spirit in leading us into a deeper knowledge of God as Father and firmer trust in Christ as saviour
- the wonder of the reality of God’s eternal purposes being worked out in the proclamation of the gospel in all the world.
All of which means that being a Christian is the greatest privilege! What a wonderful gift it is to have received God’s grace and mercy! This gives us sufficient reason to live the life that Paul describes in the last 5 chapters of Romans.
Why should we love others? Because God has loved us!
Why should we serve others? Because God has been our servant!
Why should we forgive others, even our enemies? Because while we were God’s enemies, Christ died for us and God forgave us!
That is why Paul commences chapter 12 with the phrase, “in view of God’s mercies”. Living a Christian life is not about winning God’s favour, but is a response to the favour He already has shown us. Living a Christian life is not about earning our way into heaven, it is about walking towards heaven because we are already guaranteed a place there. Along with Paul, I urge you brothers and sisters to recognise the nature and significance of God’s mercies for the way you live your life.
LIVING SACRIFICES
A “sacrifice” is something that is offerred to God. Paul’s argument here is that the appropriate response for us to make to the sacrifice Christ has made on our behalf is to offer up our lives to God, by making Jesus not only our Saviour and Friend, but also our Lord and Master.
It is important that it says we are to offer a “living” sacrifice. Sacrifices are normally thought of as being offerred in death, like the bulls and goats of the Old Testament. But in our situation, the sacrifice of death has already been offerred by Jesus, who has given His life as an atoning sacrifice for us. He took the punishment that we deserve, to bring us into a new life, the abundant life that He came to bring us (John 10:10).
I used a technical word there – atonement. What does that mean? Putting it simply it means that are are now at one with God. Break the word up like this: at – one – ment.
This is the context of the offerring we make to God. It is not another offerring to pay for our sins, to bring us into God’s favour. Rather, because we are already at one with Him, it is only right that we offer the living sacrifice of the whole of our lives – our heart, mind, sould and strength – in worship and service.
This is a theme of Paul’s writings. For example he says to the Ephesians, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (Eph 4:1) and to the Thessalonians “we ask and urge you {to} live in order to please God”. (1 Thess 4:1-2). (Also see Colossians 3:1-4 or Hebrews 12:1-3).
DO NOT CONFORM
It is not easy to live a life that pleases God. One reason is that although we are at one with Him we are still living in a world that isn’t. Our daily environment, the atmosphere that we breathe so to speak, pushes us to live the old way. The pattern of living that we see all around us is not one in which lives are offerred up to God – on the contrary, the world pressures us to live selfishly; to live materialistically; to live busily, cramming activity and work into every corner; in short, to live without God.
Christians, we are urged to resist, to defy, these pressures. Do not conform to that pattern of life. Or as one translation puts it, “don’t let the world squeeze you into its own mould”.
From the beginning, God has called His people to live significantly different lives to the world around them. To Israel He said, “don’t be like the Egyptians or the Canaanites …. Obey my laws.” (Leviticus 18:3). Centuries later Ezekiel had to declare that God had passed judgment on them, however, because in disobedience they had “conformed to the standards of the nations around” (Ezek 11:12). Many of the teachings in Jesus’ sermon on the mount are along the lines that “this is how the world does it, but I say to you otherwise” or “when you do X, don’t be like the world around you”. (Matt 5-7).
GOD’S WILL
To what, then, should we conform if not the pattern of the world around us? The answer – to God’s will, which verse 2 tells us is “good, pleasing and perfect”.
Note that in the sermon on the mount, Jesus wasn’t introducing new ways of living for God’s people. Rather, He was highlighting how the people had let themselves be conformed to ungodly, unbiblical ways of behaviour and then calling them back to God’s true ways.
All the prophets in the Old Testament had done the same – they were calling people back to God’s ways.
That’s what Paul is doing here – urging us to seek to follow God’s will.
His will is GOOD – because it reflects His character, which is good. Everything that God does is right and for the best. Therefore, when His will is obeyed it is of the highest benefit to all people.
His will is PLEASING – when we obey it pleases God, yes! But when we obey it also pleases us! As the Psalmist said, “ you have made known to me the path of life; you fill me with joy in your presence; with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” (Ps 16:11 – one of my favourite verses in the whole Bible.) Or as Jesus said in the Beatitudes, “blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matt 5:8)
His will is PERFECT - we are not talking here about narrow legalism, but principles of love and high ethics. His will is perfect because it covers every situation. There is no decision that you will ever have to make in your life that God’s will, revealed in scripture, cannot provide guidance upon. His will is perfect, because by it we are established in a relationship with Him forever. “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” (Ps 19:7)
BE TRANSFORMED
We come finally to the “how” of this matter. How are we to conform to God’s will? The answer – by our minds being transformed and renewed. This is not to say that our emotions are irrelevant, but it does say that how we think is of the utmost importance to how we will live. Often we cannot control how we feel – good, bad, angry, sad, etc – but emotions are morally neutral. An angry person can behave well or they can go on a rampage. A contented person can be compassionate or they can be indifferent to the needs of others. How we think will determine how our emotions translate into how we behave.
Again, this is a theme in the writings of Paul:
a) He tells us in Ephesians that non-Christian thinking is “futile” because it lacks understanding and is separated from God. The result is impurity, undulgence and lust that is never satisfied. Christians, however, are made new in the attitude of their minds, which leads to seeking righteousness and holy living. (Eph 4:17ff)
b) He encourages us in Colossians to “Set {our} minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Col 3:2)
c) He urges the Phillipians to “think on these things “ – truth, nobility, loveliness, excellence, purity (Phil 4:8f)
And lest we think this is just a Pauline idea, note that Peter starts his great passage on holiness with the injunction “prepare your minds for action” (1 Peter 1:13f).
All of these passages teach us that the renewed and transformed mind focusses on godly things; on God’s standards of behaviour; on God’s priorities.
They teach us that the renewed mind looks for God’s will (asking, if you like, ‘what would Jesus do?’); that the renewed mind approves of God’s will; and that it sets out to obey God’s will. It asks of each decision in life: does this conform to godliness or worldliness? And then it chooses the godly option.
The renewed mind recognises failure. It repents of sin and calls on God for mercy and help. It trusts in God and is not arrogant. It LISTENS to God, recognising that as Isaiah said, “God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; God’s ways are not our ways.” (Isa 55:11)
Conclusion
In conclusion, might I suggest that a good way to start the process of allowing God to transform our minds is to commit key verses and passages from the Bible to memory. In this way we can store up a treasure chest of God’s words that we can meditate upon, chew over and draw upon when faced with decisions or confronted with difficulties.
There is more to it than that, of course, and the rest of Romans 12 looks at several key areas of our life to elaborate how this transformation process will play out. We will be challenged, encouraged and uplifted.
“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.”
