By
1.
INTRO:
1.1. In our last study, we finished up chapter 11 as we looked at verses 17-33.
1.2. We continued to see how that by simply looking at the scriptures that it should be clear that this chapter teaches that Israel as a nation shall at some time in the future be restored to the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ.
1.3. In our study today, we are going to look at chapter 12, verses 1-2.
1.4. In this study, we will see that really for the first time in this book that the apostle Paul goes from teaching us what the Lord has done for us to teaching us about how we are to apply these truths in our lives in our serving God. As he does in each of his epistles, in the latter section of the letter the emphasis of his writing goes to application of God’s word, and Paul is very direct and wide sweeping in describing what our responsibilities as Christians are in light of the great truths that we have learned concerning the multitude of things that the Lord has done on our account.
1.5. Paul will urge us in the strongest language that because of God’s great mercies and blessings that He has given us that we should present our bodies to Him as a living sacrifice, one that is holy and acceptable to God.
1.6. Paul will then go on to describe how that we must enter into the process of the transformation of our minds, that is our thoughts and thinking, to those things that holy and pleasing to God. We will look at the importance of controlling our thoughts and the meditations of our heart and how to daily renew our minds.
1.7. VS 12:1 - “12:1 I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” - Paul urges us as believers to present our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to God as our spiritual service of worship
1.8.
In chapter 12, we have now gotten to the application-oriented portion of
the book of Romans. In chapters 1-11 of
the book, Paul has concentrated upon what God has done for the believer. If we were to only have chapters 1-11, we
could almost come to the conclusion that the believer in Christ need not worry
at all about his walk before the Lord.
However, from now until the end of the book, the focus of the book will
be application via exhortation.
1.9.
So many pastors today make the mistake in their teaching of taking the
scripture and preaching only upon what is the believer’s responsibility before
God. They will take a book like the book
of Romans and preach about every “ought-to” they can think of for the Christian. However, pastors would do better if they
followed the apostle Paul’s leading in all of his letters and first teach the
people what God has “done” for them, such as Paul has done in chapters 1-11, and then the natural response
of the people should be to be ready for what is to be their responsibility
before God when they teach that part.
1.10.
In this verse, first of all Paul does not “demand” that the Roman Christians
present their bodies up to God, rather he says ‘I urge you.’ Using this word, Paul is saying in effect, “I
beg you!” to do
this. Although as an apostle he would
have the authority to demand obedience, instead he begs them that they do this
as their natural response to having received God’s grace in their lives. Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following
definition for this word translated here as ‘urge’ :
1)
to call to one’s side, call for, summon
2)
to address, speak to, (call to, call upon), which may be done in the way
of exhortation, entreaty, comfort, instruction, etc.
2a) to admonish, exhort
2b) to beg, entreat, beseech
2b1) to strive to appease by entreaty
2c) to console, to encourage and strengthen by
consolation, to comfort
2c1) to receive consolation, be comforted
2d) to encourage, strengthen
2e) exhorting and comforting and encouraging
2f) to instruct, teach
1.11. To whom Paul was speaking as he begs them to present themselves unto God is, the ‘brethren.’ What he is giving in this verse is an exhortation to all who have come to faith in Christ for salvation.
1.12. Paul has already told us that everything we have has been given to us by God. Therefore, we can only give back to God what He has given to us, with one exception, and that is we can give to God our own love, worship and obedience. We can yield up ourselves to God, we can freely and voluntarily give our very bodies to Him to do with us as He pleases, and this is the very thing that He truly desires for us to do.
1.13. In Paul’s day, all of the religions of the world, except Christianity, taught their followers to offer sacrifices to appease their gods and gain their favor. However, in Christianity Paul knew that Jesus Christ had already made one sacrifice for all time for our sins and therefore we Christians have already been accepted by God. The Lord though wants us as Christians to offer up our very lives to Him as a “continual” living sacrifice.
1.14. It would be a shame to learn such great truths as Paul has taught us and then not to properly and responsibly act towards them. Paul has spent eleven chapters describing the great privileges that we as believers in Christ have been given, however it is always the case that what accompanies “great privileges” is “great responsibility.” In these verses, Paul describes that the responsibility that we have before the Lord is to be a living sacrifice to Him, one that is holy and acceptable, our reasonable service of worship.
1.15. The writers of the books of the Bible often wrote of the blessings of God’s mercy and lovingkindness that they had experienced, for instance:
1.16. The prophet Isaiah wrote about the great mercies and blessings of the Lord he had experienced in Isaiah 63:7, “7 I shall make mention of the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, According to all that the Lord has granted us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has granted them according to His compassion And according to the abundance of His lovingkindnesses.”
1.17. Likewise, the Psalmist wrote about how that the mercies and lovingkindness of God leads us to continually praise the Lord in Psalm 105:1-4, “1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples. 2 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders. 3 Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad. 4 Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually.”
1.18. The book of Lamentations is really just one big dirge of sorrow, grief, and pain written by the prophet Jeremiah as he realized all of the judgments that were coming upon God’s people, the Jews, because of their disobedience. Yet, in Lamentations 3:22-23 as he considered how God so gently and perfectly cares and provides for His people, He wrote greatly extolling God for His mercies and lovingkindness, “22 The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
1.19.
Puritan Edward Griffin wrote a treatise on the many mercies that we as
believers have received from the Lord, and the following is just a small
extract of his recounting of those many blessings, “Our table is
furnished and our raiment supplied by his benign hand. We are blest with
pleasant habitations and possessions; we enjoy the delights of refined society,
the blessings of friendship, and the life and happiness of our friends. Our
health is sustained by a thousand minute and constantly repeated touches of his
hand to the various parts of our complicated machine. All the pleasures of
imagination, of memory, of hope, of sympathy, and of sense; all the magic
charms which play on nature's face, are the gifts of his bounteous hand. By his
watchful care we are protected from countless visible and unseen dangers. By
innumerable impressions made on our animal spirits by his careful touch, we are
put in tone to enjoy the objects around us. More numerous are his mercies than
the stars which look out of heaven. On no section of our life,—on no point of
nature's works,—scarcely on a circumstance in our relations to society, can we
fix our eyes, without seeing "the loving kindnesses of the Lord." But
when we lift our thoughts to his "great goodness towards the house of
1.20. E.M. Bounds wrote the following concerning an attitude of prayer that is produced by love for God, “Love is the child of gratitude Love grows as gratitude is felt, and-then breaks out into praise and thanksgiving to God: "I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplication."”.
1.21. The motive that Paul tells us that we ought to have for presenting our bodies up to God is ‘the mercies of God.’ In chapters 1-11, Paul has been unfolding the many ‘mercies of God’ to the Christian, as he explained what all it is that the Lord has done for the Christian. Because of all that the Lord has done for the Christian, as is revealed in chapters 1-11 of Romans, the Christian is begged and beseached to do only that which is reasonable in response: present his/her body as a living sacrifice to God.
1.22. LET’S REVIEW some of the mercies of God RECORDED IN CHAPTERS 1-11 OF rOMANS to which Paul refers in VERSE 1 OF CHAPTER 12 :
1.23. God demonstrated His own love
toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us: 5:8
1.24. The righteousness of God is
imputed to the believer by his faith in Christ for salvation: 3:22.
1.25. The believer in Christ is
justified apart from the works of the Law:
3:28.
1.26. Having been justified by his
faith, the believer in Christ has “peace with God” (a peace treaty has been
signed by God): 5:1.
1.27. The love of God has been
poured out within the hearts of true believers through the Holy Spirit whom
they have received: 5:5.
1.28. The believer is saved from the
wrath of God through Christ: 5:9.
1.29. Having been reconciled to God
through Christ, the true believer is saved from the power of sin through
Christ’s life: 5:10.
1.30. The true believer reigns in
life through Jesus Christ: 5:17.
1.31. The true believer is
identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection, and through
reckoning himself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus he has victory
over sin, temptation, the world, and the devil:
6:6, 6:12.
1.32. The true believer has mastery
over sin since he is no longer under the law, but under grace: 6:14.
1.33. The believer in Christ no
longer serves God in the oldness of the letter of the law, but in the newness
of the Spirit: 7:6.
1.34. There is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus: 8:1.
1.35. The law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and of death: 8:2.
1.36. If the Spirit of Him who
raised Christ from the dead dwells in us, He who raised Christ from the dead
will give live to our mortal bodies:
8:11.
1.37. The true believer is a son of
God, and has received the Spirit of Adoption, having been freed from the Spirit
of slavery: 8:14-16.
1.38. The true believer is a
joint-heir with Christ of all that belongs to Him: 8:17.
1.39. The sufferings of this present
world aren’t worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in us (we
shall have a glorified body like Christ’s):
8:18.
1.40. he Spirit helps our weakness
in prayer: 8:26-27.
1.41. All things are working
together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose: 8:28.
1.42. Having once entered into the
unbroken chain of being foreknown, predestined, called, justified, and
glorified, God shall complete the work of salvation in our life: 8:29-30.
1.43. God will freely give us all
things: 8:32.
1.44. No person or creature can
condemn us since God is the one who has justified us: 8:33-34.
1.45. We overwhelmingly conquer all
the foes in our life: 8:37.
1.46. Nothing in this life or the
one to come can separate us from the love of Christ: 8:38-39.
1.47. We are a vessel of mercy (God
has given us mercy though we deserved His wrath and punishment), prepared
before the creation of the world for glory, and God has chosen to make known to
us the riches of His glory: 9:23, and
11:30.
1.48. If we confess with our mouth
Jesus as Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we
shall be saved: 10:9.
1.49. We as a wild olive branch have
been grafted into the olive tree of God’s chosen people the Jews, and as such
we inherit all of the blessings of the olive tree: 11:17.
1.50.
Paul doesn’t beg the Christian to present His Spirit, or any external
possession as such, but rather he asks him to present his ‘body’ up to God. The ‘body’ is where our Christian testimony is lived out. It is the vessel through which God chooses to
dwell as well as to use for the completion of His purposes in this world. Maybe you have never considered this before
but what you as a Christian do in your body is very important to God. It is with your body that you are to glorify
and serve the Lord and be a creation and showcase of the great mercies that you
have received from the Lord through Jesus Christ. For these reasons the Christian is beseeched
to present his body up to God.
1.51.
The Christian’s body is to be presented up to God as a ‘living
sacrifice.’ The Old Testament Law prescribed the
observance of several sacrifices, both for sin as well as part of an act of
worship. The Christian is freed up from
the observance of the letter of the Law, including the observance of sacrifices,
however Paul writes that the believer should present himself, his whole body,
to be a ‘living sacrifice’ to God. THIS MEANS TOTAL
COMMITMENT: The believer’s life is to be
completely dedicated to the will and service of God as a result.
1.52.
Not only is the believer’s life to be a living sacrifice, but in God’s
sight it is also a ‘holy sacrifice’ to Him. This word
‘holy’ means
separated and set apart to Him. The
Christian is called a ‘saint,’ which is a word that means ‘holy one,’ and when a person receives
Christ as his Lord and Savior, he is considered as set apart for God’s use and
glory. His life is no longer to be his
own, for he has been bought with a price through Christ’s death at Calvary, as
Paul writes in 1 Cor. 6:19-20, “19 Or do you not know that your body is
a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you
are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify
God in your body.”
1.53.
When a person lifts up his body to the Lord as a living sacrifice which
is holy and dedicated to Him, the Lord looks at that person as being ‘acceptable’ to Him. In other words, God accepts the dedication of
anyone’s life to Him, it is good in His sight, and just as when the Lord
testified of His Son Jesus Christ, so He testifies of us, “This is my
beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” History records
that God has mightily used those who have committed their lives completely to
the Lord!
1.54.
The last clause in verse 1 is, ‘which is your spiritual service of
worship,’ and this word
translated as ‘spiritual’ in this translation also carries the meaning of ‘reasonable,’ I think that ‘reasonable’ probably carries more the
idea intended by Paul here. The Greek
word translated as ‘spiritual’ has the following definition in Strong’s Greek
Dictionary:
1)
pertaining to speech or speaking
2)
pertaining to the reason or logic
2a) spiritual, pertaining to the soul
2b) agreeable to reason, following reason,
reasonable, logical
1.55.
What God asks of us in presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice is “reasonable” when we consider all of the
mercies of God given to us as revealed in chapters 1-11 of Romans. In fact, whatever God requires of a man is
never unreasonable. God doesn’t require
a Christian to do things that are unreasonable, and He doesn’t require that a
Christian commit intellectual suicide.
In fact, the Lord says, In Isaiah 1:18,“18 “Come now, and let us
reason together,”Says the Lord, “Though your sins are
as scarlet, They will be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.”
1.56.
There are many eastern religions in our world today that are “non-reason” based. In fact, the “existentialists” tell us that “life is
futile and that there is no hope,” and so many in our world have become open to these eastern religions
as a result of being indoctrinated into existentialistic thinking. The people in these “non-reason” groups have experiences that
they cannot explain, and they do not feel like they need to explain them. They don’t know why they feel like they do,
they just do, and they think that their feelings or experiences validate
themselves. However, this is not what
the Lord in His Word asks of us as Christians.
He says that we are to present our bodies up to Him as a living
sacrifice, and that this is a ‘reasonable’ service of worship.
His demands of our lives as Christians only make sense.
1.57.
Finally, Paul writes that it is the Christian’s reasonable service of ‘worship.’ The Jews would offer up sacrifices in their
worship, as they would also dance and have their feasts. However, what the Lord wants from the
Christian for worship is not an external rite of any kind, but rather it is ‘themselves,’ and our entire life is to
be lived in ‘worship’ to the Lord. In order to have
an acceptable worship of God, the Christian must offer himself/herself
completely up to the Lord as a living sacrifice to serve Him without reserve.
1.58.
We Christians must present our bodies up to God for His use. We must die to our old sin nature as Paul has
taught us to do in this book and lay our life down upon His altar in order that
we might be the vessels that He wants us to be in every area of our life. We must learn to give up the things that He
wants us to give up, and accept into our life the things that He wants us to
accept. Our lives have been bought by
the precious blood of Christ, and because of what He has done for us, we must
yield ourselves completely to be at His disposal.
1.59. Pastor Lance Ralston writes, “Several years ago, on an extremely hot day, a crew of men were working on the road bed of the railroad when they were interrupted by a slow moving train. The train ground to a stop and a window in the last car -- which by the way, was custom made and air conditioned -- was raised. A booming, friendly voice called out, "Dave, is that you?" Dave Anderson, the crew chief, called back, "Sure is, Jim, and it's really good to see you." Dave was then invited to join Jim Murphy, the president of the railroad, for a visit in his personal coach. For over an hour the men talked and then shook hands warmly. As the train pulled out the crew immediately surrounded Dave and to a man expressed astonishment that he knew Jim Murphy, the president of the railroad as a personal friend. Dave then explained that over 20 years earlier he and Jim Murphy had started to work for the railroad on the same day. One of the men, half jokingly asked Dave why he was still working out in the hot sun and Jim Murphy had gotten to be president. Somewhat embarrassed, Dave explained, "Twenty-three years ago I went to work for $1.75 an hour and Jim Murphy went to work for the railroad." Both men had started, side by side, on the same day but their perspective and commitment meant all the difference in what happened in their lives.”
1.60. Again, pastor Lance Ralston writes, “Alexander the Great once approached a strongly fortified walled city with only a small group of soldiers standing outside the walls, and he raised his voice and demanded to see the king. When he arrived, Alexander insisted that the king surrender the city and its inhabitants to him and his little band of fighting men. The king laughed, "Why should I surrender to you? You can't do us any harm!" But, Alexander offered to give the king a demonstration. He ordered his men to line up single file and start marching. He marched them straight toward a sheer cliff. The townspeople gathered on the wall and watched in shocked silence as, one by one, Alexander's soldiers marched without hesitation right off the cliff to their deaths! After ten soldiers died, Alexander ordered the rest of the men to return to his side. The townspeople and the king immediately surrendered, as they realized that if a few men were actually willing to commit suicide at the command of this dynamic leader, then nothing could stop his eventual victory. Many people today are willing to die for some cause, some philosophy, even some petty and passing pleasure. Just think how much power Christ could have in our area with just a portion of such commitment.”
1.61.
When Cortez landed at Vera Cruz in 1519 to begin his conquest of
.
1.62.
Let me ask you to apply these truths to yourself :
1.63. What is holding you back from
being all that the Lord wants you to be?
1.64. What is compromising your testimony
to the people in your life?
1.65. What has God told you to give
up that you are currently holding on to?
1.66. What has God put on your heart
to go and do, yet you have procrastinated about it?
1.67. Have you gone the other way
from where God called you as the prophet Jonah did who was commissioned to go
and preach repentance to the people of Ninevah?
1.68. What command of God have you
stiffened your neck and hardened your conscience against?
1.69. Have you formally yielded up
your life to God in order to be a ‘living sacrifice’ holy and acceptable to
Him?
1.70. One author has written that ‘the
problem with living sacrifices is that the keep crawling off of the altar!” A living sacrifice is one that is continually
being offered, that is what the Lord desires for our lives as believers
redeemed by the blood of Christ.
1.71. Are you presenting your life
as a ‘living sacrifice’ daily to God? All through your
day? Or, do you keep part of your day
and your plans to yourself?
1.72. These days a lot of people want to got to heaven, however it is only saints, “holy-ones,” who will go to heaven. People ought to ask themselves as to whom they expect to meet when they get to heaven? Who are they going to hang out with? Who are they going to worship? Are they really fit for heaven? Its time to prepare our hearts and minds for heaven.
1.73. VS 12:2 - “2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” - Paul tells us here that we as Christians are not to be conformed to this world and its standards but rather allow the Lord to renew our mind
1.74.
Paul exhorts the Christians in this verse to ‘not be conformed to
this world.’ The word ‘conformed’ used here means “to
be pressed into a mold.” Paul writes to us that we are not to allow
ourselves to be pressed into the mold of this evil world system and people who
are in rebellion against God.
1.75.
The Greek word that Paul chooses to use for ‘world’ in this verse is not ‘kosmos,’ which is so commonly used for the people in our world which are in
rebellion against God, but rather he uses the Greek word, ‘aion,’
which has the following definition in Strong’s Greek Dictionary :
1)
for ever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity
2)
the worlds, universe
3) period of time, age
1.76.
I think that by Paul choosing this word ‘aion’ over ‘kosmos,’ he is emphasizing the fact that the Christians in his day were living
on earth in a particular ‘age’ or ‘period of time,’ however the real world to which they as God’s
people belonged was not temporal but eternal, not fleshly but spiritual.
1.77.
Paul begs us as Christians not to be ‘conformed to this world,’ nor to the philosophies and
way of thinking of this world, but rather to have our minds ‘transformed’ by learning God’s thoughts
and ways as revealed in His Word. The
reading of the Word of God, as well as listening to the teaching of the Word of
God causes a transformation in Christian’s minds. We begin to understand God’s perspectives on
life, and thus begin to think the thoughts that God thinks. It is God’s word that does this work of the
renewing of our mind. The word for ‘transformed’ used here is the word from
which we get our word, “metamorphosis.”
1.78.
As the Word of God ‘renews’ the Christian’s mind, he begins to be conformed into the
likeness of Christ in his behavior and speech.
1.79.
Paul writes in this verse that the result of a daily “renewing” of one’s mind by the Word of
God will be ‘that you may prove what the will of God is.’ The man who spends time in God’s Word on a
daily basis is one who is learning what God’s will consists of. He is learning wisdom and knowledge, and the
things that God approves as well as the things that God rejects.
1.80.
Paul writes an eternal truth in this verse as he says that God’s will is
‘good, acceptable, and perfect.’ You will never
be able to improve upon God’s will. You
will never come up with a better idea.
You will never find a solution that produces better results. God’s will is always ‘good,
acceptable, and perfect.’
1.81.
God is ‘good,’
and thus His will always consists of those things which are ‘good.’
1.82.
God’s will should always be ‘acceptable’ to a Christian.
In other words, His will should always be ‘reasonable,’ as Paul writes in verse
1. Properly understood, God’s will
should never be repugnant or unconscionable to a Christian.
1.83.
God’s will is ‘perfect,’ since He Himself is ‘perfect’ in all of His
attributes. He is omniscient, omnipotent,
and omni-present, as well as being perfectly holy
righteous, just, and loving. Even His
love for man is ‘perfect,’ as James writes about in 1 John 4:18, “18 There is no fear in
love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and
the one who fears is not perfected in love.”
1.84.
We Christian’s must realize the absolute necessity of having our minds ‘renewed’ by God’s Word. The Devil is involved in programming our
minds every single day through the various media and people in this evil world
in rebellion against the Lord. He does
this so that we will become more and more anti-Christ, and anti-moral, and
compromise our testimony to this world of what Christ has done in our life. The television programs, newspapers,
magazines we read, songs we listen to on the radio, etc, all are being designed
to subtly take our thoughts off of God and place them onto the flesh and the
things of this world. The only thing
that will ‘renew’
our minds is God’s Word. As we read,
study, memorize, and listen to God’s Word being taught, it will ‘renew’ our mind and draw us closer
to God and living our lives as He wants us to live it. We must at least equalize the programming of
our minds that is being accomplished by the Devil if we want to live our life
in such a way as to be pleasing to God.
If we do not choose to ‘renew’ our minds, we will eventually fall into sin and fall
away from Christ.
1.85.
I found the following pithy words on a web-site dedicated to helping
Christians realize the importance of renewing their minds :
“Unfortunately,
once you are born again absolutely nothing will change in your life unless you
begin the process of renewing your mind, or changing
the way your mind operates.
This is because your fleshy body is still being controlled
by your mind. Your body does what your
mind tells it to do. Renewing your mind
is the same thing as changing your mindset, and it is this renewing of the mind
that lets a born again believer have brand new Godly attitudes, goals, ideals, opinions, desires, and ideas.
But unfortunately for most believers, their spiritual
growth stops when they become born again because they don't do anything about
changing the way they think. Most go no further than being born again because
most people think that once they are born again, then that is all there is to
it because now they are saved saints of Jesus Christ that no longer sin. They feel that now that they are born again,
the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ are going to keep them out of sin.
But the truth is, the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ are
both there to help you but they will only help and assist you if they see
effort and labor on your part. No
effort, then no help. That is why so
many believers continue to commit the same old sins and have the same old
shortcomings that they had before they were born again.
Once you are born again, God isn't suddenly going to
show up and magically change you into a non-sinning happy and contented
believer. Once you are born again you
are still going to have a temper problem so that you still get angry if another
person "gets in your face" or cuts you off in traffic. Your still going to succumb to the lure of
alcohol. You can be born again 1,000
times and your still going to watch those filthy programs on television.
The sad truth is that many people who are born again
still live in misery. Still are
depressed. Still have thoughts of
suicide. Still curse people out. Still beat up the kids. Still drink too
much. So many born again Christians have
to put on that phony face so that it appears to the world that they are happy
sinless Christian followers of Jesus Christ.
So being born again doesn't mean that you are going to
stop a single sin that you have been committing. Nor does being born again prevent you from
having all those bad and depressing feelings.
They are all still going to be there.
It must be a terrible shock to a great many born again
believers when they realize that nothing has changed, that their life style is
still evil, that they are still committing the same old sins, in fact, they are
still sinning just as much now as they were before they were ever born
again. They must wonder why in the world
did they ever get born again in the first place.
But what they don't realize is that all being born
again does, is tell Almighty God that you really and truly want to change your
life around and that you are going to do everything in your power to
change. Being born again simply tells
God that you no longer want to follow the world but that from now on you want
to follow Jesus Christ. It is here that
God gives you a new heart, but that new heart is not enough. It is still vitally important for you to
change the way you think
about most of the things in your life.”
1.86.
Note carefully here that the Lord tells us that it is our responsibility
to continually renew our minds. This
doesn’t happen automatically because we are saved and it is not something that
the Lord miraculously does for us. He
holds you responsible Oh Christian for the renewing of your mind.
1.87.
We Christians need to recognize that the spiritual battles that we fight
are all battles of the mind, involving the things that we think about. I heard the analogy one time of the “bit
in a horse’s mouth,”
wherever you move the bit you move the entire horse’s body. Likewise, whatever controls a Christian’s
mind also controls his body, and thus his actions and speech. Therefore, it is imperative that a Christian
learn to take his thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ, as Paul exhorts
us to do in 2 Cor. 10:5, “5 We are destroying speculations and every
lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every
thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
1.88. CONCLUSIONS :
1.89. Today, I want to encourage you to commit your life completely to the Lord. In recognition of the many mercies of God you have received in your life, I encourage you to freshly lift up your body to the Lord to be a holy and acceptable service of worship to Him. This is only reasonable for you to do since you have received such great mercies from the Lord.
1.90. Are you renewing your minds every single day? Are you reading, studying, memorizing, and sharing God’s word with others every day? If not commit yourself to doing so today. Recognize that your life isn’t going to change until you become involved in the continual renewing of your mind.