Word by Mail

ROM 236 - Title is - BE TRANSFORMED! PT 1- Rom 12:1-2

Do you remember that little 'survey' we did a while ago?

We asked everyone here to answer this simple question

"What would help you grow in your personal relationship

with Jesus Christ right now?"

Well - as I began this msg

I reviewed again, the results of that survey

& a FULL 2/3 (67%) of the responses to that survey

would be ABSOLUTELY BE MET

by Fully 'applying' today's text - to our Lives

This is very HUGE text - & a very famous text

& if we will allow the Holy Spirit to sear this into our hearts

so much so - that we actually choose to apply it to our daily lives

Then a full 2/3 of the responses to our survey - would be met

As we begin ROM 12

we come to the Grand Division of the book

For 35 weeks - we've dug into the Theological Truths of ROM

Now - Beginning Right Here

we get to start LIVING all that incredible Theology we've learned

Last week - we saw Theology become Doxology (Praise to God)

This week - we see Theology become - PRACTICALITY (practice)

It's time to put it all those great Truths to Work

It's time to turn the TALK - into the WALK

& the first TWO Vs's of the "How to Walk" section of Romans

Are some of The Most Powerful vs's in the Bible

to turn a TALKING Christian - into a WALKING Christian

So we're going to be careful - & take them very, very carefully

Let's start - w/ just the beginning - of Rom 12:1

Rom 12:1 - ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, . . .

In the NLT - Rom 12:1 says

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you . . .

& in the NKJ - Rom 12:1 says

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, . . .

I APPEAL to you

I PLEAD with you

I BESEECH you - - By the Mercies of God !!

Paul starts these vs's (& this section)

with an intense, passionate plea

This level of intensity in Paul's appeal

is found 3 other times in Paul's letters

& what's amazing to me is - ALL THREE of these other texts

where Paul intensely pleads with the church

Are (all 3) about Maintaining Unity & Humility in the church

1Cor 1:10 - ESV

10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

In 2Cor 10:1 we read

1 I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ . . .

& then he goes on to Defend the church

from the Division being sown by the False Prophets

Eph 4:1-3 Paul says - ESV

1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

In ALL 3 of these texts

I believe Paul is pleading so intensely

because he's speaking of "spiritual life & death" matters

& so he's speaking with as much intensity as he can

& Guys - that is how I spoke to you last week

in our "pre-message" sermonette

about Forgiveness & Unity in the church

Because these matters are truly on the level

of "spiritual life & death"

& so we must take them very, very seriously

AND - that is the exact same intensity

the Holy Spirit starts today's text (& this section) with

Again Rom 12:1 - ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, . . .

After the "Appeal" - comes the important word "Therefore"

what's it there for ?

The "therefore" refers to all of the previous 11 Ch's

of incredible theological truth

"Therefore" - because of the incredible truths

we've been studying for 35 messages

"Therefore" - the Over-ridding, All Encompassing response

to all we've learned

is for us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord

After 11 Ch's of Rom's - we know we CAN'T;

Make ourselves "Right" before God

We know we can't TRY HARDER

& we can’t even overcome the FLESH on our own

& so - this "How to Live" section of Romans

starts with the only "Reasonable" thing we CAN do

Present ourselves as a Living Sacrifice to God

the word “present” here - is the word used

for the presentation of the O.T. Sacrifice

& the word "bodies" here means - Your ENTIRE BEING

Every part of your life

& finally – the word “sacrifice” refers to something

that is totally consumed - as Worship to God

So – this is “a presentation of everything we are
to be completely consumed by God”

It means the Complete Surrender - of every area of our lives

to be CONSUMED by God - for His Purpose, & for His Glory

Just think about the Picture the word Sacrifice gives you

Something DYING

Something being GIVEN as Worship

Something being CONSUMED for God's use & God's Glory

& so - the "How to Live" half of Romans starts by saying

The only reasonable thing we can do

(after everything we've learned so far)

is to present the Entirety of our Being

to be Fully CONSUMED for God's USE - & God's GLORY

& so the Holy Spirit starts this section

FORCEFULLY - with Intensity

because there really is NO OTHER adequate response

to all that we've learned in the previous 11 Ch's

Again - Rom 12:1 says - ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, . . .

We've certainly learned in Rom's - over & over again

that we are MADE "holy & acceptable" to God IN Christ

So -this is not implying

we can make ourselves "holy & acceptable" to God

but it is actually a reference

to the OT sacrifices - that were given correctly to God

When the Sacrifice was given fully - & correctly - to God

it BECAME holy & acceptable (or pleasing) in God's sight

So the Holy Spirit is saying;

WHEN we give the Entirety of our being

to be Fully CONSUMED for God's USE - & God's GLORY

THEN - we will BECOME - a "living sacrifice"

that is Holy & Acceptable to God

& that is really Good News - Isn’t it ?

that all we have to do - is SURRENDER our lives

completely to God

& our lives will Become

a HOLY & PLEASING offering to God - - Man, that is great !

So - this is NOT a "Requirement to be ATTAINED"

It is a Miracle that occurs

when our lives are Surrendered completely to God

& finally - the end of Rom 12:1 - really wraps this up

Rom 12:1 - ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

NKJ says "reasonable service" - it’s the same words,

but "spiritual worship" is more accurate in the context

Why - is offering God our entire lives (a Living Sacrifice)

best translated as our Spiritual Worship ??

Watch this - cause it's very cool

If you look in Harpers Bible Dictionary

under "Sacrifice" - it simply says - SEE WORSHIP

& everything that Harpers Bible Dictionary has to say

about SACRIFICE to God

Is all under the heading of WORSHIP

Because since The FALL of man - ALL Worship of God

has involved some form of Sacrifice

Now (unfortunately, as I say often)

Our Culture has managed to switch that around

& there are some today who think that Worshipping God

means that HE gives US something - (like whatever we want)

The only Problem with that - is it's just NOT Biblical

Thruout the OT - ALL WORSHIP of God

involves some form of Sacrifice

There are literally MILLIONS of sacrifices

referred to in the O.T. - as acts of Worship

& maybe you'd so - Oh that's terrible

I'm sure glad all those sacrifices have stopped

ARE YOU REALLY SURE YOU'RE GLAD ??

Because here's what's happens in the N.T.

Jesus Elevates EVERYTHING in our spiritual lives

far beyond the sacrifice of an animal

NOW !! - - the sacrifice considered Holy & Acceptable to God

is Every aspect - OF YOUR LIFE

Ooohhh - NOW some of you might be saying . . .

"Oh . . . OK . . . could I go back to the animal sacrifice instead ?"

But you see - all those animal sacrifices

were a PICTURE - A TYPE

& now we have Jesus Christ

who was sacrificed ONCE - FOR ALL

& Rom 6:10-11 says - ESV

Rom 6:10-11 - ESV

10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Jesus Christ fulfilled the "type" (picture) of all those O.T. sacrifices

when He died to sin, Once for All

But now (v.11 says) We are called to LIVE

as if we are actually DEAD to sin - & ALIVE to God in Christ

& Guys - THAT - is being a Living Sacrifice

& it is the elevation of the O.T. "Surrender" of an animal

to the N.T. "Surrender" of your life

& THAT is really good news

Because the OT Surrender of an Animal

could never give you NEW & ABUNDANT LIFE in Christ

But that is EXACTLY what the Surrender of your life gets you today

it get's you NEW & ABUNDANT LIFE in Christ

Man, that's good - isn’t it ?

& this LIVING SACRIFICE TO GOD

of EVERY area of our lives

Means now - everything we do - can become an act of worship

How we sacrifice for our spouse

How we sacrifice for our family

How we sacrifice at work

How we sacrifice in church family

These are ALL now areas of being a LIVING SACRIFICE

which is Our Spiritual Worship to God

AND - how we give Financially

is ALSO part of this Spiritual Worship

Giving to the Lord is an Absolute Unavoidable part

of being a Living Sacrifice

& a Critical part of our "Spiritual Worship"

Even in our "Singing Worship" together

which we can be mistaken as our only "WORSHIP" time

Even in our singing - we need to SACRIFICE

our own thoughts - & wants - & plans

& just Worship Jesus - for Who He IS - period

with no other distractions - & no "thought wanderings"

In other words - we need to sacrifice our "self focus"

while we're Worshipping God

& that makes us - a Living Sacrifice

So - in Vs.1 the Holy Spirit appeals intensely to us

by the Mercies of God

To present every area of our lives - as a Living Sacrifice

which means Surrendering every area of our lives

for God's use - & God's glory

Which is Our SPIRITUAL WORSHIP to God - AMEN ?

& now we're ready - to at least start - Vs.2

Rom 12:2 - ESV

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, . . .

A number of translations begin this Vs w/ "AND"

because it's a continuation from V.1

& so - continuing - the Holy Spirit says

"Do not be conformed to this world"

As a Christian, if you are conforming to this world

if you're fulfilling the desires of the flesh,

chasing after the things of the world

& focused on serving yourself

Then the chances of you

being a Living Sacrifice to God - ARE ZERO

Guys - we've got to be honest !!

Being a Christian doesn’t mean - WHICH CHURCH YOU ATTEND

Being a Christian means - JESUS CHRIST IS YOUR LORD !

& if you are being conformed to this world

chasing after everything this world tells you to chase

consumed by the things of this world

THEN . . . this WORLD is your LORD

We've got to get honest - with Ourselves - & with the Lord

1Jn 2:15 - ESV

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

That does NOT mean you can’t "operate" in the world

you don’t have to go be a Monk on a Mountain

This is about - - - WHO DO YOU SERVE ??

Are you really serving the things of this world ?

& are you willing to sacrifice whatever it takes

to get the things of this world?

If so - I urge you today - CHANGE MASTERS !

The MASTER of this World - -

The Bible calls him - the PRINCE of this World

His name is Lucifer

& his plan for you - is Eternal Destruction

& getting you to conform to this world

is the BROAD NET he uses - to drag you into that destruction

But God cries out to you - in this Vs.

DO NOT BE CONFORMED to this World

But - - BE TRANSFORMED !!

Right now - Each one of us is either being

CONFORMED to this World - or being

TRANSFORMED by God !

& so - I need you to really focus right now

cause I'm going to ask you a very important QUESTION

Why don’t we all just Bow our heads right now

I'm going to ask you ONE Question

& I'm going to beg you to be honest with God

Here's the Question;

Right Now in your Life - Are you being CONFORMED to the WORLD

or are you being TRANSFORMED by God

I'm not asking you if your PERFECT

I'm asking you WHAT DIRECTION are you moving in

Are you caught up in the BROAD NET of the WORLD

moving toward Destruction - - or

Are you being TRANSFORMED each day by GOD

moving toward New & Abundant Life

I just want to give you a minute

to confess to God right now in your heart

Which SIDE you're on - are you being CONFORMED to this World

or are you being TRANSFORMED by God

Dear God, Help us to be honest with you

not just today - but every day - in Jesus Name, AMEN

Now - - maybe you struggled a bit with that prayer

Maybe you were thinking - Well, I'm doing my best,

I'm trying my best - I'm just not perfect yet

OK - Let's talk about that a minute - THAT - IS RELIGION !

Saying I'm "Doing my best" - "I'm trying my best"

guys - THAT is what Religion is BUILT ON

But God wants to

Supernaturally - Radically - Transform your Life

& THAT CANNOT happen by you

"doing your best" - or - "trying harder"

It's NOT about you Trying Harder

Its about God Giving you NEW LIFE in Jesus Christ

IT'S ABOUT GOD GIVING YOU - A NEW MIND

Because God Transforms your Life

By Miraculously Renewing Your Mind

Again Rom 12:2 - ESV

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, . . .

The word “transformed” is ‘meta-mor-pho-mai’

from which we get our word ‘metamorphosis’

which means to change the FORM or STRUCTURE of a thing

Now - I have to share a very cool "personal revelation" with you

Sometime - Somewhere - I had read

that this is the same word used

for the Transfiguration of Christ

on the Mt of Transfiguration in LUK 9:29

But over the years I've gotten better GREEK TOOLS

& I found out yesterday - that is simply NOT TRUE

It's NOT the same word used for the Transfiguration of Christ

& here's the really cool part

The GREEK word used for the Transfiguration of Christ

means - to CHANGE TO ANOTHER ( OR THE OTHER) FORM

That's what happened at the Transfiguration

Jesus Christ changed to His OTHER Form

But Here - In Rom 12:2 - the word means

TO CHANGE TO A NEW FORM OR A NEW STRUCTURE

Which is very different than the Transfiguration of Christ

& so - that was a very cool discovery for me

So - Rom 12:2 tells us

NOT to be CONFORMED to this world - but

TO be TRANSFORMED by the Renewing of your mind

& we've made it clear

This is NOT something we can DO to ourselves

altho we definitely have a ROLE (a part) in it

But this TRANSFORMATION is done IN US

AS we are faithful to do "our Part"

Actually - the only other place - where this EXACT word

for Transformed is used - is in 2Cor 3:18

2 Cor 3:18 - ESV

18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

This is a PERFECT explanation

of what the Word is talking about in Rom 12:2

We ALL - who are BEHOLDING the glory of the Lord

are BEING transformed into HIS image

from one degree of glory to another . . .

& this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit

This is SO important - we've GOT to Grasp this !

The Phrase "Beholding the Glory of the lord"

is actually a picture of you "Gazing Intently" in a Mirror

only the Image in the mirror - is Not YOU - it's the Lord

& then (miraculously) - as you "Gaze Intently"

at the Glory of the Lord

You begin to TAKE ON a Degree of His Holiness

As we "behold" (gaze intently) at the Glory of the Lord

we are miraculously transformed into HIS image

from one degree of glory to another - BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

OUR JOB - OUR ONLY JOB - is to BEHOLD

(to Gaze Intently) - at the Glory of the Lord

& if we will - then the Holy Spirit will TRANSFORM US

BY RENEWING OUR MIND

& really this vs (2Cor 3:18) is one of the best descriptions there is

of HOW God "Renews Your Mind"

Again Rom 12:2 - ESV

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, . . .

The word "Renew" means to Renovate - to Remodel

STRONGS says = "a complete change for the better"

& THAT is exactly where we're going to pick up Next Msg !!

We've started the HOW TO LIVE part today

But there's so much more - & it's so critical

we're going to save it for the nxt msg - OK?

To finish today

Let's just read what we've studied so far in these 2 Vs's

Rom 12:1-2 - ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, . . .

Let's Pray