Romans 12:1, 2
It is perfectly reasonable for God to ask believers to give Him their whole body, soul, mind and spirit. In light of the price that Jesus paid for us at the cross, that is not too big a request. Paul calls it our “reasonable service”, for you and I are already holy by the blood of Jesus, thus when we give ourselves to Him, we are “acceptable”.
Now I am no different than any other pastor in that I want every person in my church to live a life of honor before the world. I want each Christian to show forth the characteristics of Christ and to let their fruit speak of His grace and favor. Part of this desire is so that the church will be strong but there is also a part that wants it because I want to see that the message of grace and favor works. By experience and by testimony I can tell you, it works!
While we pastors may come up with a long sermon series on how to live right, there is no greater verse in the New Testament for believers to read and know than Romans 12:2 when it comes to looking less like the world and more like Jesus. Paul starts by telling you what not to do and then explains how:
1. “Be not conformed to this world” – The Greek word for “conformed” here is ‘sunschematizo’ which means “to pattern after a certain thing”. Paul is telling believers not to pattern the way that they live after the way the world lives. This doesn’t have anything to do with our dress or our homes or jobs, but rather it involves structuring our lives around the same principles by which sinners govern themselves. It is not to “this world” that we are most loyal, but rather to the next one.
2. “But be ye transformed…” – There is a transformation that must take place within a believer that is much like the one that took place the moment that we were born again. At conversion, our old things passed away and everything became new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Now, we must have another transformation that is ‘metamorphaomai’ in Greek meaning “to reflect the inside”. Our outside needs to begin to reflect our inside.
3. “…by the renewing of your mind” – Here is the answer to how we cease to be conformed to the world and begin to reflect on the outside what is happening on the inside. We must renew the way that we think about who we are in Christ. This word appears only twice in the Greek New Testament, the other time being in Titus 3:5 where we have been renewed by the Holy Ghost. When we change what we think of us to line up with what He thinks of us, we start to reflect on the outside what the Holy Ghost has done on the inside.
4. “That ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” – This portion of scripture is not telling us to go out and find the perfect will of God for our lives. In connection with the previous statements within the verse, and in light of the Greek meaning of “prove”, we find something completely different. “Prove” is “to recognize as genuine after examination”. When our mindset becomes as His we will prove to the world what it means to be truly good and acceptable and perfect inside of the will of god. When sinners examine us they will have to conclude that we are what we say that we are, and all because we think of ourselves the way that He thinks of us.
Need a bit of help with changing your mind? Just know what He thinks about you. He sees you as righteous and forgiven because of the blood of Jesus. Still not enough? Then take what Paul said to the church at Philippi:
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God” (Philippians 2:5, 6).
It is perfectly reasonable for God to ask believers to give Him their whole body, soul, mind and spirit. In light of the price that Jesus paid for us at the cross, that is not too big a request. Paul calls it our “reasonable service”, for you and I are already holy by the blood of Jesus, thus when we give ourselves to Him, we are “acceptable”.
Now I am no different than any other pastor in that I want every person in my church to live a life of honor before the world. I want each Christian to show forth the characteristics of Christ and to let their fruit speak of His grace and favor. Part of this desire is so that the church will be strong but there is also a part that wants it because I want to see that the message of grace and favor works. By experience and by testimony I can tell you, it works!
While we pastors may come up with a long sermon series on how to live right, there is no greater verse in the New Testament for believers to read and know than Romans 12:2 when it comes to looking less like the world and more like Jesus. Paul starts by telling you what not to do and then explains how:
1. “Be not conformed to this world” – The Greek word for “conformed” here is ‘sunschematizo’ which means “to pattern after a certain thing”. Paul is telling believers not to pattern the way that they live after the way the world lives. This doesn’t have anything to do with our dress or our homes or jobs, but rather it involves structuring our lives around the same principles by which sinners govern themselves. It is not to “this world” that we are most loyal, but rather to the next one.
2. “But be ye transformed…” – There is a transformation that must take place within a believer that is much like the one that took place the moment that we were born again. At conversion, our old things passed away and everything became new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Now, we must have another transformation that is ‘metamorphaomai’ in Greek meaning “to reflect the inside”. Our outside needs to begin to reflect our inside.
3. “…by the renewing of your mind” – Here is the answer to how we cease to be conformed to the world and begin to reflect on the outside what is happening on the inside. We must renew the way that we think about who we are in Christ. This word appears only twice in the Greek New Testament, the other time being in Titus 3:5 where we have been renewed by the Holy Ghost. When we change what we think of us to line up with what He thinks of us, we start to reflect on the outside what the Holy Ghost has done on the inside.
4. “That ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” – This portion of scripture is not telling us to go out and find the perfect will of God for our lives. In connection with the previous statements within the verse, and in light of the Greek meaning of “prove”, we find something completely different. “Prove” is “to recognize as genuine after examination”. When our mindset becomes as His we will prove to the world what it means to be truly good and acceptable and perfect inside of the will of god. When sinners examine us they will have to conclude that we are what we say that we are, and all because we think of ourselves the way that He thinks of us.
Need a bit of help with changing your mind? Just know what He thinks about you. He sees you as righteous and forgiven because of the blood of Jesus. Still not enough? Then take what Paul said to the church at Philippi:
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God” (Philippians 2:5, 6).
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