We Desire to Worship Authentically (Rom 12:1-2)

Introduction

If you have your Bible, please turn it to Romans 12:1-2.

Over the past two weeks we’ve been working through a series concerning our church’s core values—what makes us us. Josh started the series with a sermon concerning our desire to be completely Bible-based in all we say and do. I continued the series last week with a sermon dealing with our desire to equip believers and to be discipleship-focused.

This morning, our core value is that we desire to worship authentically and I really want to start this sermon by making a firm statement based on my experience pastoring multiple churches over a decade. I believe the average Christian has a faulty understanding of what genuine worship is. And I can prove that statement by asking one question, what do most people think of when someone says, “Let’s Worship?”

Almost always, the response is music—in most churches, when someone says, “Let’s worship together” they say it right before singing, but musical worship is only one aspect of genuine worship and to think that only musical worship is worship shows a fundamental lack of understanding of what worship is.

So, let me start by saying what worship isn’t and then we’ll just into Scripture. Despite common misunderstandings, worship is not:

just music

just singing

just praying

just reading Scripture

just attending church

or even, just participating in the ordinances of communion and baptism.

In addition, worship is not:

an emotional experience (though emotions can be influenced while you worship)

a high-energy experience or extravaganza (though you can worship in a high-energy experience)

a low-energy, overly contemplative experience (though you can worship in a low-energy contemplative experience)

And worship does not:

happen only on Sundays

occur only at church

during a certain time of the day

Worship is far more complex than those overly simplistic ideas, but it is also vastly simple.

So, if worship isn’t just the elements of worship, and it isn’t necessarily an emotional experience or a contemplative experience; and it doesn’t just happen Sunday at church what exactly is worship and how should we worship?

That’s where our text comes in for this morning.

Let’s read Romans 12:1-2.

Romans 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, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

As we study this passage and really work through this sermon, the sermon will be split into two parts: (1) What Worship Means and How do we do It? (1-2) and (2) What does it mean to Worship Authentically? The goal is for your to fully understand what genuine worship is and what it looks like in such a way that you then understand why we put such an emphasis on worshiping authentically within our local church. Or, in other words, we want you to walk away recognizing what true worship is and then seek to worship God truly in every aspect of your life.

Prayer for Illumination

What Worship Means and How Do we do it? (1-2)

So, we’re in the book of Romans and because we’re parachuting into Romans, I do want to give a little bit of background information about the book and the people it is written to.

The book of Romans was written by the apostle Paul a little later in his life to the Christians in Rome.

We know it’s a little later in his life based on the missionary plans that he gives in Romans 15—many believe that he was about to embark on his third missionary journey and was presently in Greece (probably in Athens) when he wrote this letter.

We know that Paul is an apostle, which is what gives him the authority and right to write these letters.

And, in this case, the part that makes Romans unique is that he is writing to a group of Christians that he doesn’t really know.

Unlike the other churches that he wrote to, he didn’t start the church in Rome and thus, he doesn’t really know the people.

And knowing that Paul really doesn’t know the people gives us some insight into why he’s writing this letter to them.

We know that Paul has always had a desire to meet the Christians in Rome—to encourage them and for them to encourage him, he just hasn’t made his way out there.

However, as he gets ready for his third missionary journey, part of his desire is to see the Romans before heading to Spain. “since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while.” (Rom 15:23-24)

So, he’s hoping to see them in Rome, but he doesn’t really know them nor did he plant their church—so he does something that’s wise in that he spells out what Christians believe in this letter.

Essentially, what he’s doing is he’s making the statement that he’s looking forward to seeing them because they believe the same things that he does.

And while doing so, he reminds them of the need for true belief to result in true action.

So, if you were to read Romans through, what you would see is this:

Rom 1-11—Paul lays out a basic framework of what Christians believe.

He talks about salvation being by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone (1)

That God will judge those who refuse to repent of sin and believe in Him (1)

He reminds us that God is absolutely righteous and just in His judgment against sinful mankind (2). In fact, it would be completely unjust for God not to judge sin for what it is (3).

Paul then shows us how even Abraham was saved because of his faith (4) and in doing so, reminds us that peace with God is only possible through faith itself (5).

In doing so, we see the contrast between the death that’s found in Adam and is passed down through what we call original sin to all mankind; and the life that’s found in Jesus and is given to those who repent from sin and believe in Him (5-6)

We also learn that because of Jesus, we’re now set free from the Law itself and are fellow heirs with Him and will receive a future glory because of Him (7-8)

Ch. 9 then points out how God has chosen His own people, ch. 10 then tells us that salvation is available to anyone who would repent and believe, and ch. 11 speaks of how there are still some in Israel that will believe, but salvation is open to everyone regardless of ethnicity.

See how Paul essentially works them through the basics of Christianity? Particularly concerning that of soteriology or salvation?

Romans 12, which I won't go into too many details with because our passage is from that chapter, then acts as a transition between thinking mostly doctrinally in chs. 1-11 and then thinking practically from chs. 12-16.

Essentially, now that you know the truth of the Gospel, you’ve repented of your sins, and you believe in Jesus Christ—this is then how you should live and how you should act, what you should do, and how you should think.

Or, in other words, as you continue in Romans after Romans 11, you get the “so what?” of the passage. Now that you do believe, don’t just say you believe, but live like you believe.

Now, again, Romans 12 acts as a sort of transition. Because of everything that Paul says in Rom 1-11, he then makes an appeal or he asks them or ur urges them or even begs them to do something in particular—and what it is is that they are to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, v. 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.” Let’s think through this a bit:

First, let’s consider what the Bible teaches about sacrifices.

Any Jewish person who reads the letter to the Romans would be able to tie in the idea of sacrifices to the Old Testament pretty easily.

Remember, the Bible has always been clear that salvation was not through the offering of sacrifices, but rather the faith that resulted in them offering the sacrifices.

However, the Jewish people (at least those who took seriously the covenant and the Mosaic Law) would know that the reason they offered their sacrifices was to point forward to the day when an ultimate, perfect sacrifice would be offered and they would know very clearly that their sins needed to be atoned for and the only way to atone for sin is through the shedding of blood.

They would know that this was such an integral truth to their faith to the extent that they would regularly offer sacrifices as they obeyed the Mosaic Law.

Now, here’s the thing, most of the believers in Rome aren’t actually Jewish—they’re primarily Gentiles. So, you might ask whether or not they would understand the need for sacrifices and the answer is a resounding yes.

Remember, the Gentiles were also pagan—they worshiped the gods of Rome and Greece prior to believing in Jesus Christ and as part of their worship of these false gods, they offered sacrifice.

The difference being that the Jewish people offered sacrifices to Yahweh for both the atoning of their sins, to give thanks, and the like.

The Gentile people worshiping false gods primarily offered sacrifices to earn the favor of that particular god—the mindset was, if you offered a sacrifices to Artemis, your hunters would return with fresh meat; if you offered sacrifices to Zeus, you were hoping for his protection; and so on and so forth.

Jew and Gentile both have a significant understanding of what it’s like to offer sacrifices to gods.

And they’re familiar with the idea that when you offer this sacrifice, it either dies or was never alive and it isn’t something that you intend to get back, whatever remains is left to the temple itself.

They know that part of the reason (so they think) of offering sacrifices is to earn the favor of their particular god; and, in the case of the Israelites, they know that part of their sacrifice’s purpose is to show them what it means for the need for blood to atone for their sins.

They’re all familiar with the idea of offering sacrifices to a being that is higher than them, what they’re not familiar with is the idea of offering themselves as the sacrifice.

And yet, that’s precisely what Paul states—that they are to offer themselves up as a living sacrifice to God, Himself.

Note, that Paul does clarify that He means for them to offer themselves and still be alive after it—you might not think that that would need to be clarified, but human sacrifices were a real thing in the Ancient Near Eastern world, so it’s good to have that clarity.

The question then is, if you are to offer yourself as a sacrifice—what does that actually mean?

Clearly, you’re not burning yourself like you would do an animal sacrifice because it’s intended for you to keep living.

Clearly, you’re not giving yourself to the temple itself like you would do a fruit or grain offering.

So, something about offering yourself up as a sacrifice that’s still living is different than how you would normally give a sacrifice, but before we talk about that, notice that there are some qualifiers to this idea of offering yourself up as a sacrifice.

Third, consider the qualifiers for what it means to be a sacrifice—that you must be holy and acceptable.

The idea of being holy is a significant idea because it’s a word that’s used to describe God thrice, that He is holy, holy, holy. And the idea behind the word is actually that of separation from sin—that He is without sin.

The word holy denotes wholeness, entireness, perfection in a moral sense. 1. God is the infinitely Holy One (Thomas J. Shepherd, The Westminster Bible Dictionary (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1880), 250.)

The idea of being acceptable ties in with the holy idea—you’re acceptable, if you’ve been made holy.

How do you do this? And I have two answers: (1) from that very same dictionary, but (2) from the passage itself:

First from the dictionary, “Christians are holy, because they have within them the Holy Ghost (Acts 13:52; Rom. 15:16; 1 Cor. 6:19), and because they are consecrated to God’s service (Rom. 12:1; 1 Cor. 3:17; Col. 3:12; 1 Thess. 5:27). 3. Persons, places and things are holy where they are dedicated to God” (Thomas J. Shepherd, The Westminster Bible Dictionary (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1880), 250.)

Or, in other words, being a Christian alone is what makes you holy in the first place—Jesus makes you holy when you take on His robes of righteousness as you repent from your sins and believe in Him—there’s a status of holiness in that act of salvation.

But it doesn’t stop there—because if you’re like me (and I’m willing to guess you are), you recognize that you struggle with sin and thus, you hear this idea that holiness is “wholeness, entireness, perfection in a moral sense” and you know that you aren’t holy in that sense.

And that’s where the second part of this passage comes in—yes, Jesus makes you holy when you repent and believe, but there’s an aspect of this through the process of sanctification in which you are still being made holy as you live on this side of eternity.

In a sense, it’s paradoxical—Jesus has made you holy because he has set you apart as His own, but the Holy Spirit is still making you holy because we’re still in a sin cursed world.

The question is, how does this work? And the answer to that question and the second answer to the question of “how do you do this” is found (2) in the passage itself—look at v. 2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

So, even though you’ve status-wise been made holy, you’re still in the process of becoming holy and thus, this is how you do it.

You are to “not be conformed to the world.” what that means is actually really simple—you shouldn’t act, behave, think, or feel the same ways that the world (who doesn’t believe in God) acts, behaves, thinks, or feels.

Of course, there will be some overlap because God’s grace covers even unbelievers a little, but the reality is if you feel yourself thinking, acting, behaving, and feeling the exact same as people who don’t believe in Jesus, you probably don’t believe in Jesus either.

Rather, you are to be transformed.

The word translated as transformed is the Greek word μετανοια, which is the same word that we get metamorphoses from, which is defined as a “change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one.”

Insects go through metamorphoses as they change from larvae to their final form or from caterpillars to butterflies.

While we think of the process as being a little disgusting, the reality is that there’s some beauty in the process as a being changes from one to a different being.

And it gives a significant idea of what’s supposed to happen to us as Christians—that we’ve been transformed, but we’re currently still being transformed.

And that metamorphoses is how sanctification is described here.

How does this work? It works as your mind is renewed or made new—of course, the question is then, how is my mind renewed?

It’s renewed through the Word of God—as Jesus Himself prayed, “Father sanctify them in thy truth; Thy Word is truth.”

As you read the Word, sing the Word, reflect on the Word, hear the Word preached, hear the Word taught, as you surround yourself with the Gospel and the truths of Scripture, as you meditate on the Words of God, God, through the Spirit, renews your mind.

And as you do these things, the way you think changes because you’re learning to think how God thinks and you’re learning how to love the things that He loves and hate the things that He hates.

Of course, which then results in the idea that you can discern the will of God, which is good and acceptable and perfect, which we could talk about at length, but time prohibits us this morning.

Rather, note that it is a fool’s errand to attempt to figure out what God wants in your life if you aren’t being transformed by the renewing of your mind.

If you want to do God’s will in your life, it really starts by engulfing yourself in God’s Word and allowing His Word to change you.

Now think through these verses with me because it’s so easy to get caught up with the details of this verse that we miss the whole point. Rather, in the context of the letter to the Romans, Paul is abundantly clear with the Romans—again chs. 1-11 explains the core beliefs of Christians particularly concerning salvation and then he tells everyone that they need to present their bodies as a living sacrifice by God’s mercy before telling them to not be conformed, but be transformed, which is your spiritual worship of the Lord.

I think the implication is actually pretty clear—that the way we’re to worship God properly, truly, authentically is by being transformed by God’s Word in such a way that we’re made into a holy and acceptable sacrifice to give to God. And that idea is already a big indictment against the idea that we only worship God when we sing together on Sundays.

What Paul states in Romans 12 is that true, genuine worship of God is something that engulfs every aspect of your life as Jesus saves you and as the Holy Spirit transforms you through the renewing of your mind. Or, in other words, if you want to worship God—true worship engulfs your entire life beyond just what you do on Sunday morning.

So, what does it mean to worship Jesus authentically?

What does it mean to Worship Authentically?

Think back to the statements I made in the introduction.

Worship is not just music just singing, just praying, just reading Scripture, just attending church, or even, just participating in the ordinances of communion and baptism.

Worship is not an emotional experience (though emotions can be influenced while you worship), a high-energy experience or extravaganza (though you can worship in a high-energy experience), or a low-energy, overly contemplative experience (though you can worship in a low-energy contemplative experience)

Worship does not happen only on Sundays, occur only at church, or during a certain time of the day

Worship can certain include these things, but it’s not merely these things. Rather, Romans 12 tells us what it means to worship authentically.

Rather, true authentic worship is you offering every aspect of your life, every part of your being, every ounce of who you are as a sacrifice to the King of kings and Lord of lords who has made you holy in status and is making you holy as part of your sanctification and worship of Him. With that in mind, I think there are four ideas that ought to be explained as part of this section.

First, true authentic worship is required of you if you genuinely believe (1)

It is foolish to think that you can receive the gift of salvation, but then not worship the God who gave you the gift—and yet, that’s how many professed Christians act.

Many people who profess to be Christians do so on the basis of a prayer they once repeated or simply because they occasionally attend a Christian church or because they attended a Christian church as a child, but if worship is to engulf every aspect of your life as you’re being transformed by the renewing of your mind, it doesn’t seem likely that you genuinely believe if you aren’t worshiping Him in every aspect of your life as you’re transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Rather, to me, it seems as if you’ve desired the gift rather than the giver—and since you think you’ve gotten the gift of salvation, you don’t bother with knowing the giver—and if that’s the case, let me be abundantly clear, you aren’t a genuine believer then.

If you’ve truly tasted the grace of God through salvation, you will want to worship Him—and Paul makes it clear that true, genuine worship happens throughout your entire life, it’s required.

The Bible is abundantly clear that worship is the proper response when one experiences God’s grace—so, there really ought never be a time in your life as a believer where you can think that you’re saved, but then not worship God for saving you.

Now, of course, we might struggle with worshiping properly, but as an individual, if you get to the point where you think you can’t worship the Lord, there’s something significantly wrong and you need to reevaluate whether you are actually a Christian.

True authentic worship involves offering every aspect of your life to Jesus—so, if there’s an ounce of your life that you’re trying to keep from Him, there’s a significant problem.

Truthfully, the only reason that I have to say that worship is necessary is because most people worship everything, but God.

And it is utterly sinful for us to do so.

Second, true authentic worship influences every aspect of your life (1)

Starting with the idea that worship of God ought to happen in your life every day—it should not be limited to Sunday morning, you should be worshiping God with how you live and what you do.

Meaning, you ought to be worshiping God as you work with how you work.

You ought to be worshiping God as you drive with how you drive.

You ought to be worshiping God as you do your chores at home, as you care for your children, as you live your every day life.

Really, worshiping of God ought to shape how you live every day—including your schedule and what you prioritize in life.

For instance, we live in a world that currently elevates youth sports on Sundays to the extent that people will rearrange their schedule so that their children can participate in sports.

Or, you’ll see churches that offer the same service throughout the week—not because they need more space, but because they’re trying to appeal to people who prefer not to go to church Sunday morning.

Or, you’ll see people who will only go to church on Sundays or only go to church for evening studies or only participate with church functions if there’s nothing “better” for them to do.

If that’s how they treat church, which they can see; how do you think their worship of God, who they can’t physically see goes?

I’ll worship God, if I have time

Or, I’ll worship God, but only if I get to do it while golfing

See the issue?

Worshiping God ought to be of utmost priority to you to the extent that you will rearrange your life so that you can worship God more.

Because worship of God ought to take priority over every other aspect of your life.

Third, true authentic worship requires change (2)

Clearly from Romans 12, true worship requires a change of mind, which results in a change of heart, which results in a change of action.

If you’re exactly the same as you were prior to your salvation, something isn’t quite right—your mind ought to be transformed, your heart’s affections ought to be changing, your actions ought to be different.

If for no other reason than true worship of God comes as you’re being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Now, of course, none of this is immediate—it takes time to be made holy as He is holy, but if you haven’t changed whatsoever towards resembling Jesus Christ, you really have to question whether you genuinely are saved.

Forth, and finally—true authentic worship never ends (2)

You notice that the process of being transformed by the renewing of your mind never reverts—you don’t have your mind renewed and then suddenly years from now you’re back to where you were.

It’s a continuous process from the point of your salvation until you are face to face with Jesus.

You’ll also notice the results of being transformed:

The ability to discern God’s will, what is good and acceptable and perfect

The willingness to serve the body of Christ (3-8)

And an inner change that reflects the fruits of the Spirit (9-21)

Or, in other words, the more you truly, authentically worship Jesus—the more sanctified you become; and the more like Jesus you become the more and better you are at actually worshiping Him.

True, authentic worship is more than what can ever be done just on Sunday morning—it engulfs every area of your life—and if what you think or call worship doesn’t, you really have to ask, what are you actually worshiping?

And that’s where our application comes into play. We’ll take our application in two ways by answering the question, “What does it mean to worship Jesus authentically?” (1) As an individual and (2) as a church.

Application

What does it mean to worship Jesus authentically as an individual?

To worship Jesus as an individual means that you’re offering every bit of your being to Him as a sacrifice.

It means that you’re not holding onto any area of your life for yourself, you’re giving it all to Him.

It means that you’re engulfing yourself into the Word of God and you’re letting the Spirit renew your mind through His Word.

It means that you’re being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ in every aspect of your life beyond just what happens on Sunday morning.

To worship Jesus as an individual means that you’re in the process of following Jesus completely.

You’ve recognized that your life is not your own and you’ve given full control to Jesus who is the Christ.

It means that you’ve shifted your focus in life from just yourself to the one who is the King of kings and Lord of Lords.

To worship Jesus means that you’ve given and are continuously giving yourself to Him.

Now, what does it mean to worship Jesus authentically as a church?

To worship Jesus in a corporate setting means that we shift our focus away from ourselves and we offer all of us as a sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to Him.

It means that when we gather for worship, we’re worshiping Him as He intends for us to worship—meaning our preferences don’t outweigh His preferences as we sing, as we pray, as we read His Word, hear His Word, and participate in the ordinances—it’s not about us, it’s about Him.

It means that all that we sing puts our focus on Him rather than how we feel or what we want

It means that as we pray, we’re praying according to how He has taught us to pray—for His will to be done, not for our own will to be done.

It means that as we read His Word, we’re doing so while recognizing that it is His Word and wanting to hear His Word.

It means that as we hear His Word preached, we’re doing so anticipating to hear from God and desiring to apply His Word to our lives as He intends for us to do so.

It means that when we participate in the ordinances—the Lord’s Supper and baptism, we recognize that they symbolize the Gospel itself and we well up with praise for all that He has done for us.

It means that when we gather for reasons outside of corporate worship, whether that’s for classes on Thursdays, prayer on Saturdays, or Discipleship Groups, we do so for the purpose of better worshiping Him.

That’s why during Equip Classes, we focus on developing our worldview, so we see things better as He intends for us to see them.

That’s why during prayer on Saturdays, we focus on praying for our communities, so that we keep the Great Commission before us and so that we view the people around us as God sees them.

That’s why during Discipleship Groups, we work through the whole Bible together slowly—so that we worship better the God who is revealed in Scripture.

The idea being that as we continue as a church, we never really want this church to be about us—because if it is about us, we’re really worshiping ourselves. Rather, we want everything about this church, what we do, what we sing, what we say, what we preach and teach all to be about Jesus.

It’s only when every aspect of our church is focused on Jesus alone that we’re genuinely worshiping the King of kings and Lord of Lords.

That’s why we do things the way that we do here at Grace—because we’re trying to do everything we possibly can to lead you to worship the Lord authentically and truly.

You need to worship Jesus authentically—and the way that you do that is by offering yourself completely and wholly to Him, by being transformed by the renewing of your mind, which results in your heart’s affections changing, and actions changed because your heart and mind is changed.

So, are you authentically worshiping Jesus? Or are you worshiping something or someone else?

Pastoral Prayer