INTRODUCTION BIBLICAL/HISTORICAL CONTEXT

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1 LIVING GOD S WILL Romans 12:1-2 Lesson for October 29-30, 2011 Scott Susong [TEACHERS: With this lesson I am using the teach more by covering less method. It is only 2 verses but these 2 verses are power-packed with incredibly important truth. It is better to go deep & thorough with a few verses rather than skim over the top for the sake of covering more material.] INTRODUCTION What is God s will for my life? How can I know God s will for my life? This is a question asked by many believers in many different ways. It is a legitimate question and yet the approach to an answer can be problematic. The problem comes when someone asks this question out of a vacuum. That is they are not studying God s word, praying, attending worship or Bible study. They may not even be a believer but out of the blue they want an instant formula for God s will for their lives: where they are supposed to live, whom to marry, what job to take, etc. So, I want to suggest something to you: apart from an obedient walk of faith, you will never really know God s will. God s will is not something that comes to you in a vision or some vague impression. It is something you do; it is something you obey on a daily basis. You discover God s will in the daily walk of faith. Paul addresses this in Romans 12:1-2. BIBLICAL/HISTORICAL CONTEXT Most commentators agree that Chapter 12 begins the practical section of the book of Romans. Chapters 1-11 are doctrinal. I hesitate to use the word practical because it can be easily misunderstood. Some may look at it in this way: the doctrinal is dry, other-worldly, hard to grasp; the practical is the good stuff, how it affects my life, easier to understand, etc. Others might look at the opposite: the doctrinal is deep, satisfying study; the practical is shallow and frivolous. We should not fall into the trap of either extreme. ILLUSTRATION: Railroad tracks have 2 rails; both are equally important. An aircraft has 2 wings; both are equally important. We would never say, I prefer the left rail or the right wing over the other or, The right wing is the good stuff! The doctrinal without the practical is dead orthodoxy. The practical without the doctrinal can be at best living by emotion and at its worst living an unbiblical lifestyle. So, the word therefore in 12:1 looks back over the previous 11 chapters and forward to the last 5. The last 5 chapters answer the question: In light of the doctrinal teaching, how does it work in my life? In the last chapters Paul addresses such things as dedicated service to the Lord, spiritual gifts, being subject to the government, the practical side of love, weaker v. stronger brother, self-denial, unity of Jew and Gentile believers and Paul s plans to see the believers in Rome and to go to Spain. In Chapter 16 he closes this great epistle with personal greetings in which he mentions no less than 35

2 individuals by name! He shows the great balance between doctrinal teaching and personal involvement with people. APPLICATION: As Paul did so must we: teach strong biblically accurate doctrine but at the same time be involved with people. We are in the people business! For the beginning of Chapter 12 Martin Luther states: After the Apostle, in the preceding chapters, has laid the foundation, namely, the true foundation, which is Christ he now builds upon this foundation (Christ) gold, silver and precious stones. [Luther s commentary on Romans, page 165] F.F. Bruce, in his Commentary on Romans, says: Doctrine is never taught in the Bible simply that it may be known; it is taught in order that it may be translated into practice. (page 225) So, we return to our original question: How can I know God s will for my life? It can be known by obeying and applying the 3 commands in Romans 12:1-2 Present Do not be conformed Be transformed I. PRESENT YOUR BODIES A LIVING SACRIFICE, verse 1 This command is an absolute; it is a non-negotiable without which the believer cannot know God s will for his life. Notice how serious Paul is as he gives this command: I urge you, brethren ; the King James says I beseech you. Paul is pleading with them to do this and to understand it. This dedication of oneself to the Lord is the basis for all other relationships Paul discusses in the remainder of the book. Words are important and these words are critical to our understanding of the dedication process. Let s break it down 1. to present this word means To yield, to dedicate. In the OT - Proverbs 22:29 to stand before. This referred to a man skilled in his work standing before a king ready to serve the king. He had dedicated himself to serving the king. Deuteronomy 10:8 this referred to priests who stood before the Lord to serve the Lord by doing such things as carrying the ark of the covenant and the many other priestly duties. In the NT, the word means to place at the disposal of. Matthew 26:53 Jesus was being arrested in the garden; His disciples pulled their swords to defend Him; He told them to put their swords away and then He said, Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal twelve legions of angels? (italics & underlining mine). The angels could be dedicated or put at Jesus disposal to serve Him and defend Him. This is the same word Paul used in Romans 12:1.

3 Romans 6:12-13 (read) the word is used 2 times in these verses to mean to present yourselves, either as instruments of unrighteousness or to God as His instruments. Again, it is the idea of presenting oneself for service. Summary: So, Paul urges his readers (including us) to present ourselves to the Lord to serve Him for the rest of our days on earth. The tense of this word suggests that it is a once-for-all-time dedication of oneself to Him. It is an event not a process. It may or may not happen at salvation; it may or may not be accompanied by an emotional experience everyone is different and unique. Nor does it mean that the person who makes this commitment then automatically must become a pastor or missionary. Leave those details up to the Lord. There is one major decision followed by many small decisions based upon the one major decision. Question: what do we dedicate/present? 2. your bodies. This means the whole person everything you are and everything you do. Before we trusted Christ we used our bodies for sinful, selfish pleasures. Now, we belong to Him and want to use our bodies for His glory. This would include our sex life, our work, our time, money, diet, sleep, exercise, what we watch/read, where we go the whole package. 3. a living and holy sacrifice. This harkens back to the OT sacrifices. The entire animal was sacrificed as an offering to the Lord. Problem: those animals were dead; we are alive. We make a conscious decision to place ourselves on the altar. But, sometimes our tendency may be to crawl off the altar and do things our way. Martin Luther: you owe God a reasonable sacrifice and not animal sacrifices, for this is proper according to the new Law (of love). [Commentary on Romans, page 167] As a believer, we are holy because of what Jesus has done for us in dying for our sins. To be holy means to be set apart for God s purposes. 4. acceptable this word means well pleasing. We are acceptable to Him because of what Jesus has done on our behalf. 5. your spiritual service of worship another translation of the word spiritual is rational or reasonable. In other words, when we present ourselves to Him we know what we are doing. It is not routine or ceremonial but our minds and spirits are fully engaged. It is thoughtful and deliberate worship not just going through the motions. APPLICATION QUESTION: At whose disposal are you placing yourself? Everyone is serving somebody or something. No one is neutral, existing as a totally independent person. Also, as Jesus said, you cannot serve 2 masters God and money. Obeying God s will means placing ourselves at His disposal. TRANSITION: The first and most crucial step to knowing God s will is to present ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice. It is a one-time fork in the road decision. What is next? What does this involve? II. DO NOT BE CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD

4 Whereas the presenting of ourselves to God is a one-time decision; the command to not be conformed to this world is a continual process. It does not and cannot happen overnight. What does it mean? Again, words are very important let s break it down. 1. This world. It is this world as opposed to the next. It is the temporal/temporary as opposed to the eternal. A good description of the world is found in 1 John 2:15-17(Read). Notice that loving the world is counter to doing the will of God. Now, you might object by saying, Hey, we have to live in this world what are we supposed to do, go live on a mountain and be totally isolated? No. We do live in this world and it is biblical to take care of earthly responsibilities. It has been said that we as Christians are in the world but we are not of the world. What we are to avoid is the influence of the world system described by John which is dominated by lust, pride, is anti-god and anti-christ. James Stifler, in his Commentary on Romans, describes the world in this way: Its spirit is selfishness and not love; its pursuits are the pleasing of self and not God; and its domination is from the evil one and not from Christ, whose rule it rejects. To be conformed to it is to be world-like, or age-like, selfish, self-seeking, and devoid of the Holy Spirit. [page 205] Not a pretty picture! 2. Do not be conformed this means to follow a pattern like a dress pattern. We ve just seen what the world system is like and God s will for us is that we resist being cut out of that same pattern. The translation of the NT by J.B. Phillips has the best rendering I have ever seen of this phrase in Romans 12:2: Don t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold. SUMMARY So, to live out God s will for our lives we present ourselves totally to Him, put ourselves at His disposal, to accomplish His agenda not ours. This involves NOT being conformed to the world but there is a positive side as well III. BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND Quick review living out God s will for our lives involves A one- time, fork in the road decision to present yourself totally to the Lord. A continuous process of not conforming to the world which will always pull us away from the Lord. The third component is also a continuous process: transformation by the renewal of our minds. 1. Transformed this is where we get the English word metamorphosis which means a marked change in appearance, character, condition or function (American Heritage College Dictionary, page 856). Becoming a Christian is all about change. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that

5 those who are in Christ are new creations the old has passed away, the new has come. It is the person inside that is changing and being renewed read 2 Corinthians 4:16. It is a day by day overhauling. How? 2. by the renewing of your mind. A change in behavior always begins with a change in the way we think. Colossians 3:10 says that we put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him. This is a process of progress in the Christian life which never ends. Again to quote Stifler from his commentary: The Christian life does not mean to stand still, but to move from that which is good to that which is better. St. Bernard of Clairvaux rightly says, As soon as you do not desire to become better, then you have ceased to be good. (page ) The world wants to change us through pressure from the outside; the Lord changes us from within through His Holy Spirit. I love what Warren Weirsbe says in his commentary on Romans called Be Right, If the world controls your thinking, you are a conformer; if God controls your thinking, you are a transformer.(page 149) ILLUSTRATION: As a believer you can be either a thermometer or a thermostat. The thermometer reflects the temperature around it; the thermostat changes the temperature. A worldly Christian fluctuates with the influences of the world. A Godly Christian reflects Jesus Christ, is becoming more and more like Jesus and influences others around him for Jesus sake. Satan uses the world to tempt and conform us; God uses His word to transform us. SUMMARY: To live out God s will for our lives we (1) present ourselves totally to Him, (2) continually are not conformed to the world and (3) we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. Where does that leave us? What is the end game? IV. PROVE WHAT THE WILL OF GOD IS This is where we have been headed all along! Now, to prove does not mean to prove like in a court of law with facts and evidence. The evidence of God s will is our living it out. This word translated prove means to put to the test, examine, approve, demonstrate. This word is used in Luke 14:19 of testing an oxen for its usefulness. So, here in Romans 12:1-2 it would mean to test and live out God s commands with the result being to discover God s will to prove by experience. Let s put it together We present ourselves to Him; we are not conformed to this world but are transformed, changed by the renewal of our minds and in so doing we live out God s will and plan for our lives. That is how we discover God s will! Luther said of God s will that it is something which we can learn only from experience. Only faith transforms the mind and leads us to where we may prove the will of God. [Luther s commentary on Romans, page 168]

6 CONCLUSION J. B. Phillips first published his translation of the NT under the title Letters to Young Churches which included all of the epistles. It was published in 1947 and the intro was written by none other than C.S. Lewis. I close with the Phillips translation of Romans 12:1-2 With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give Him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to Him and acceptable by Him. Don t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the Plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands and moves toward the goal of true maturity. Amen and amen!