The Secrets of Holy Living Rom

The Secrets of Holy Living  Rom. 12:1-2

ebc   8/30/09

  These first two verses give us some practical insight on how to live in this world while we are waiting to go to glory. I have waiting for me a beautiful mansion, where no sin resides but before I go there I have many battles to face and fight.

  Paul gives us some insight on the secret of Holy living, the secret of living a life that is pleasing to Him.

  The secret has to do with surrender.

I.Worship (1)

  Notice the last part of verse one. Paul tells us that yielding our bodies to the Lord is our reasonable service.

  The word reasonable comes from logic. In light of who we are it is just reasonable that we present our bodies to Him.  

  The word service to perform sacred service. It has to do with worship. We find that yielding our bodies to Him is our logical form of worship.

  A.The challenge-

    1. We are called to present our bodies to Him.  Present- to place at one’s disposal.

    2. God is calling on us to present all that we are and all that we will ever be to Him.

      a. The idea here is surrender. Far too many people want the surety of Heaven but want to live their lives as they seems fit. They really don’t want God interfering in their lives.

      b. Present- a tense that denotes a one time for all time action.

  B. The consideration-

    1. “Therefore by the mercies of God”-  we are redeemed strictly because of the grace of God.

      a. Why would God be able to say surrender all to me- because he bought us at Calvary.

       1. 1 Cor. 6:20-

       2. We have no rights of our own. As a matter of fact when he found us we were headed for Hell and if he hadn’t saved us we would still be going in that direction.

          a. 1 Cor. 15:10-

  C. The consecration-

    1. We are to be a living sacrifice. In the Old Testament and sacrifice was to die, our sacrifice is to die to self but live to Him who saved us.

      a. A living sacrifice means a constant continuous sacrifice.

      b. A living sacrifice means that we put off our desires in favor of His

      c. A living sacrifice means that our body is devoted to the task of serving God.  

  D. The Conditions-

    1. holy- set apart for His use

    2. acceptable- that which is pleasing unto Him. The sad truth of the matter is we are either pleasing God or hurting him by the way we use our bodies.

II. Insight (2a)

  A.Replacing the mold- Mold- to reshape. We aren’t to allow the world systems to shape us.

    1. Gal. 5:19-21-

    2. The world systems is quite different from what God expects us to be.

  B. Reshaping the mind- we are to be transformed as our mind is reshaped.

    1. Transformed- from the word metamorphosis. This describes the transformation of a butterfly from a caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly.

     a. Now, He wants to transform the mind (the soulish part of man) so that the flesh might be changed. What we must remember is that this flesh will do what the mind tells it to do. It is only when the mind is changed and brought under the power of God that the flesh can be brought under control.

III. Desire (2b)

  Having sacrificed our bodies and reshaped our minds we can now do His will in our lives.

  A.A depiction of his will

   1. As we yield our bodies to Him His will becomes more clear and important in our lives.

     a. It is precious- no matter what the Lord may ask us to do we will find in the long run it is best for us.

     b. It is pleasant-  Pleasant in the sense that when His will is revealed to us, it is something that we are made willing to do. As we move through this life, God is in the business of maturing us. As we grow, His demands on our life change. Through the experiences of life God grows us and matures us so that when His call comes and His will is revealed, we are equipped and ready for whatever He calls us to do.

      c. It is perfect- nothing we can add can improve God’s plan for our lives. When He reveals His will to us, we need to realize that God sees the end of the matter before the matter begins. He knows the path we will take and He knows the obstacles and valleys we will pass through as we go. He knows where the provisions are that He has already placed along the way. His plan cannot be improved upon, but it must be followed for their to be victory and blessing! We can be in no better place that the perfect will of God for our lives!

  B. A demonstration of His will-

    1. As we yield our bodies and minds to Him we will be able to live out his plan for us.

    2. As a result of our being used of Him souls will be saved and God will be honored through our lives.