Romans 12:1-2

Romans 12:1-2

True Worship 

I.                    A life of true worship means a life truly sacrificed, so we must be motivated by the mercies of God (v. 1)

a.       “Therefore”, in this case, as in every case in Scripture, calls us to look back at what was previously mentioned in Scripture. In this case, the call is to look back and consider the entirety Romans prior to our text. It’s on the consideration of the amazing doctrines in the first 11 chapters of Romans, the amazing truths that are characteristic of God alone and expressed and obtained through faith in the gospel of Christ alone, which Paul urges these people and us, in view of God’s mercies, to “present” our whole selves as living and holy sacrifices. Calling on the image of the Old Testament sacrifices, offered up on the alter in the temple as a pleasing aroma to God to stay His just wrath for the sin of the people, Paul calls us to offer up our whole beings, as continual and living sacrifices to God. Where the animal offered up according to the law must die, our sacrifice is the beginning of life. We’re motivated in response to the perfect and final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, which paid our sin debt in full, and propitiated God’s just wrath permanently, to live holy lives in the world, sacrificed to and set apart for God. The cleansing of our bodies through the power of the Holy Spirit, based on our faith in Christ’s sacrifice, renders our bodily sacrifice acceptable to God. Paul states the truth that the reality of what Christ has done for us, as His followers, is so amazing that it deserves our complete and total sacrifice, of all things, and all times. Paul describes the act of sacrifice on our part as our, “spiritual service of worship”. That phrase is best understood as indicating our “true worship”. Offering up our whole selves as living and holy sacrifices is an act of worship that requires inner and outer transformation, and one which isn’t confined to a temple, sanctuary, geographical, or temporal location, but that we sincerely understand the ramifications of Christ’s sacrifice so that it impacts every part of our lives, everywhere we live them, in every condition in which we live, for as long as we live, so that we live a constant expression of worship of Him. (v. 1; Lam. 3:22-23;           John 3:5; 4:23-24; 16:13; Rom. 3:10-12, 23; 10:13; 11:33-36; 2 Cor. 5:9; Eph. 3:20; Phil. 4:18-19; 1 Tim. 1:13-14;       Heb. 12:28; 13:15-16; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9-12)

II.                 A life of true worship means a life truly sacrificed, so we must be continually transformed from inside out (v. 2)

a.       We’re called to offer our whole lives up as living sacrifices to God, expressing true worship of Him with all that we are. But how do we do this? Negatively, we live lives of true worship, by not being conformed to the world. The world refers to “this age”, and to be conformed is the idea of being “pressed into a mold”. The world, governed by the prince of the air and dominated by a culture of sin, desires to press us into conformity with it, and steel our witness of true worship which brings salt and light into the decaying and dark world. But how do we avoid the powerful force which tries to stamp us out in an image that looks like this world, so the light of our true worship won’t shine brightly into the world according to God’s will? Paul answers this in the positive, by calling us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. The phrase “renewing of your mind” carries the idea of “being constantly renovated”. We don’t renovate our hearts, God does, but we must submit willingly to addressing all the issues He uncovers during His continual renovation. (v. 2a; Matt. 5:13-16;       Gal. 1:4-5; Eph. 2:1-3; 2 Cor. 4:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17) 

b.       By submitting willingly to His process of renovation, and working diligently and intentionally to address what He uncovers, we prove out God’s will through our lives, that it’s good, acceptable, and perfect. By nature, God can’t ask you to do anything that’s not for your greatest good. If His will doesn’t seem good to us, it’s because we’re resisting Him and worshiping ourselves. We must be mindful that good doesn’t mean easy! If it’s good for us, it’s also for God’s maximum glory and will be acceptable and pleasing to Him. And as we continually sacrifice our lives to Him, it’ll be acceptable and pleasing to us as well because we’ll continually grow in understanding and be increasingly motivated by His mercies. His plan for our lives will also reveal itself to be perfect and unable to be improved upon. As we grow to live each day and each moment, sacrificing every detail to Him, we grow in awe and amazement of His perfect will, plan, and purpose for our lives, and we desire with each passing moment to respond in sacrificial worship to our utterly amazing God! We give all of who we are, to all of God we know. So we must be continually growing to know Him, through lives of true sacrificial worship. (v. 2b; Matt. 13:44-46; Mark 10:18; Luke 9:23-25, 57-62; Rom. 8:28; 1 Cor. 2:16; 2 Cor. 3:18; Col. 1:9-14; 2:6-7)