The apostle
Paul urged the Christians in Rome to realize the significance of the mercy of
God toward them. Then he wrote, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies
of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God.”
Our bodies don’t have to die to pay for our sin. Jesus has already done that, so
we need to accept what He has done and surrender our lives – body, soul and
spirit – completely to Him. We are to set ourselves apart for service to God.
That is what it means to be sanctified. It is a process that transforms us as
we surrender our lives to God daily. We are to live holy lives by the power of
the Holy Spirit within us. Paul says this “presenting our bodies as a living
sacrifice” is our “reasonable service.” It is not unreasonable at all. It may
go against the reasoning of this world, but it is the obvious next step once we
are born again. Our regeneration is not the end of the process. It is the
beginning of a new life learning to live in harmony with God’s kingdom. We can
learn to live every day in the presence of God.
In the next
verse, Paul tells us not to be conformed to
this world. To conform means to act in accord with the prevailing standards,
thought patterns and practices of a group or society, in essence, this world
system. We are born in harmony with this world’s standards. And we take on this
world’s nature, character and actions more and more as we grow in this world.
But when we are born again, we are born into a spiritual kingdom
to be in harmony with God. We are to grow daily in the nature of His kingdom, the
character of His kingdom, the actions or works of His kingdom. And we are
governed by the principles of His kingdom. Jesus said that He only said what
the Father told Him to say and only did what the Father told Him to do. He was
living in the world in a human body, but He was still operating in harmony with
the Kingdom of God.
Paul went on to tell the Roman
Christians in addition to not being conformed to this world, they were to be changed.
“But be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
We can only be transformed when we are born into God’s kingdom.
Then we can begin living in harmony with His principles. Our minds are renewed
as we study the Bible and allow the Spirit to enlighten us to the meaning of
each verse. With the Holy Spirit as our guide, our eyes will be opened to what
God is saying to us in scriptures we were not able to understand before. We
will sense His presence with us and, according to Isaiah, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever
you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.” The Holy
Spirit is our guide and comforter. He
gives us boldness when we need courage and conviction when we are turning the
wrong way. He gives us power, wisdom and discernment and brings to our minds
the things Jesus taught. We need the Spirit of God with us! We cannot walk in
the kingdom of God without the Spirit of God.
It is amazing to realize
that we are literally born into a literal kingdom that is above this world in
every way. We take for granted the fact that we grow in this physical world. We
don’t stay the same. It is also reasonable to understand that we are to grow in
this new dimension of which we have become citizens. We don’t stay the same. Our
physical growth in this world increases and then we begin to decrease in strength
and abilities until we die. But in the kingdom of God, we are constantly
growing and increasing in strength and wisdom. And our spirit never dies. Proverbs
4:18 says, “But the path of the just is like
the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.” The just are those who have received the righteousness of
Jesus Christ and are following His example. They are being governed by the principles of the kingdom of God, and have
discovered that they have within them the power of God’s kingdom, His authority,
wisdom and discernment. It doesn’t come from what we do or say. It comes from
the Holy Spirit Who is in us. And what we do and say comes from the Spirit. We
grow in faith, wisdom, knowledge and every other characteristic of the kingdom
as we are governed by its King. We can accomplish great things for the kingdom
of God when we are willing vessels surrendered to the King. Then, one day, our
bodies will leave this world and we will be with Him forever in that “perfect
day”.
Richard Stearns, president of World Vision US, said when he was a
boy he had to memorize questions and answers in catechism. One question was
“Why did God make me?” The answer is “God made me to love, serve and obey Him.”
Richard turned away from God soon after that to live life his way. But later,
after much research, he came face to face with the truth of Jesus Christ. He
said, “I had a stark choice to make. I could accept the astonishing truth and
commit my life to following Jesus Christ, or I could turn my back on God, walk
away from something I knew to be true, and spend the rest of my life living a
lie. There was no partial step I could take. Either Jesus would be the most
important truth in my life, governing all that I would ever do, or I would go it
alone, doing everything my way.” He chose Jesus and is making a profound
difference in the world.
When we choose Jesus, He will accept no less than everything from
us. We cannot live in harmony with Jesus and with this world at the same time.
When the people of Israel would serve God and idols, He did not accept them,
their worship, or their sacrifices. They were either fully serving God, or they
were not His. We cannot serve Jesus and be governed by this world and its
principles. We either belong to Jesus and live by His principles, or we are not
His at all.
Jesus warns us in the seventh chapter of Matthew that our works
will not get us into heaven, no matter how great they are. He said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in
Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then
I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart
from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
We are to say what the Lord tells us to say and do what He tells
us to do. We can find what that is by looking into the Bible and reading Jesus
teachings. We can know what to say and do by living in obedience to the Holy
Spirit living in us. We are transformed as we allow ourselves to be governed by
Him in full surrender.
1 John 2:5-6 says, “But whoever habitually keeps
His word and obeys His precepts [and treasures His message in
its entirety], in him the love of God has truly been perfected… By this we know
[for certain] that we are in Him: whoever says he lives
in Christ [that is, whoever says he has accepted Him as God and Savior] ought to
walk and conduct himself just as He walked and conducted
Himself.”
Let’s strive to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. When we do these things, we will be able to prove out in our lives
the will of God instead of the will of this world or our own selfish will. But
we must live in harmony with the kingdom of God
“I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that you present your
bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to
God, which is your reasonable service.
And do not be
conformed to this world,
but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove
what is that good
and acceptable and perfect
will of God.”
