Expectations

Romans 12:1–2 NKJV

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Introduction:

The Christian faith!

There always seems to be a good deal of misunderstanding about what our responsibility is as a believer in Christ.

The Scripture says we are saved by Grace through faith, justified by faith, and that works play no part in the sacrifice that was made for us at Calvary.

In short, Jesus paid it all!

Which begs us to ask the most important question:

Why do we need to do anything?

Or another way to ask the same question, is there any need to practice lawful living if we are free from the law?

A great question and perhaps one we’ve all asked ourselves at one time or another.

Today, I want to answer this question and set the record straight.

I. As Christians we have a reasonable service.

That reasonable or as some versions translate it, rational service, is to present our mortal bodies a living sacrifice.

But then again, if Jesus did the whole work of redemption, why does it matter?

That may be theologically correct on one hand and a logical conclusion for one to make, given the facts.

However, we are not in a position to exegetically surmise anything more than what the truths establish.

In other words we are in no position to dismiss a Biblical command because of our theology.

Thus, we cannot dismiss this reasonable service the apostle commands, because this service is connected not to the sacrifice of Christ, but to the relationship we have been brought into because of His sacrifice.

I want to give you three reasons for our reasonable service:

A. We are now part of His body.

1 Corinthians 12:27 NKJV

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

What does this mean?

Well, for one it means that we are not our own, so we do not have the right to chose to do whatever we desire, but to chose the things that are in accordance with His desires.

In light of the present killings and senseless violence we have witnessed, no true Christian can justify retribution or hate.

No, I am not calling for pacifism, but for holiness.

If we know that vengeance belongs to the Lord ( Romans 12:19; Heb. 10:30), then why do we allow the enemy to get us all worked up?

And why do we allow him to control our thoughts and actions?

Why do we not rather bring it to God in prayer, seeing we are now part of the body of Christ?

The second reason:

B. We are now servants of God.

Colossians 3:24 NKJV

24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

Who are we to serve?

Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Who do we belong to?

Yes, we belong to Jesus.

So then why are we still serving ourselves and our selfish ambitions?

Being a servant of Christ is not too difficult if we are surrendered to His Lordship.

It is very difficult, however, when we are not.

2 Timothy 2:24–26 NKJV

24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

This passage has been around since the inception of the Christian church, and very few have ever put it into practice.

It calls for a gentle spirit as Jesus had.

It calls for humility.

It calls for patience.

And yet even today we have so many leading and teaching with pride, arrogance, impatience, and if they could, would persuade people with force.

This is not the servant of Christ.

The third reason:

C. We are called into a new life.

Romans 6:4 NKJV

4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

We see here that there is no option for the believer.

Anyones who has been born again has been redeemed back to God.

Baptism is not the means of grace, it is a reflection of what was done at calvary!

When anyone trusts Christ’s sacrifice for the payment required for their own sin debt, they follow Jesus in Baptism, the outward reflection of what has taken place inside.

This act of obedience is the start of a different and new life.

That new life is what we are all called to walk in.

How much is lost by those who have bought into a truncated gospel!

You know what I mean, the believer’s fire insurance, the once saved always saved club that receives all the blessings but never pays any dues.

And I don’t mean to imply that we can pay anything for this salvation, that’s why Paul speaks about justification by faith in Romans chapter five.

But, he does not leave it there, but then shows us what that faith looks like in real time.

Isn’t it true that people pick out certain sections of the New Testament, while ignoring others?

Can we reconcile Jesus’ teachings in the gospels with the authors of the Epistles?

Has not God given us a complete and perfect record of our salvation and new life in Christ?

The answer to these questions is unequivocally, yes!

II. As Christians we must not conform to the world.

We now come to verse two.

Romans 12:2 NKJV

2 And do not be conformed to this world…

Conformed means to mold oneself to something else, or to shape one’s behavior to another.

This is why we are to present our bodies a living sacrifice.

This is why we we strive for holiness.

This is why we have a reasonable service.

So that we (in the flesh) would not be conformed to this world!

Now, if you think about this logically it seems like a weird request.

In fact it seems non-sensical because if I was just saved and called out of the world, the same world I’ve been living in my entire life; captivated by and accustomed to it, have I not already been conformed to it?

How can Paul say that we must not be conformed to it then?

Unless, the change that has occurred to us in that moment we believed, was so radical a change that our inner man was made completely new!

And that is precisely what the scriptures say.

Now, we don’t really see it, because what we see is the flesh still struggling, still behaving badly at times.

But God is quite clear, and since as I said in the first point, that we must take the truth which is His word according to what Jesus says in John seventeen at face value, we must believe what God says, and not what our senses tell us.

Who you are as a Christian is not defined by what you do, but who He is and what He has done for you!

Let me say that again.

Who you are as a Christian is not defined by what you do, but who He is and what He has done for you!

You are in Christ, and as such, are in Him, you who are the beloved.

Beloved because you are the body of Christ.

Beloved because your life is hid with Christ in God (Col.3:3).

So we see then that Paul tells us not to be conformed to the world that we previously lived in and for, because we are now quite different.

Now remember what I said in the first point - this is about a relationship.

And when you are in a relationship you have a responsibility toward the other person.

Are you married? If you do not do the things to please your spouse, then you are a miserable spouse.

Do you have a bestie? If you do not treat them well, then you are a miserable friend.

Are you an employer? If you do not treat you employees well, then you are a miserable boss.

Do you have a boss? If you do not perform your job with integrity and honesty, then you are a miserable employee.

You see, when you are in a relationship, you have a duty to treat the person or persons in that relationship well, otherwise you are conforming to the world.

In Christ, we have a responsibility and duty to do the things that please God!

Again, this is our reasonable service.

If we conform to the world we were freed from, we would be going backward.

If we can understand the honorable relationships we maintain in this world, like the aforementioned ones, then why can we not understand this one?

Again, this is reasonable and expected.

This now leads me to the next thing the apostle says, that…

III. As Christians we must be transformed.

An interesting word in deed - transformed.

The Greek word represented here is the one we derive metamorphosis from.

Now, this is not the transformation of the flesh (the old man, the sin nature) which is dead, but the nature of our new man displayed in our thoughts and actions.

This is not an act!

It is not a broadway play where we are called to play a role.

As we begin to renew our minds around the commands of God’s word and by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, we are genuinly and wonderfully changed in every facet of our being.

2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV

18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

And so with this transformation there is a different mindset.

The things I used to love, I no longer love!

The things that used to excite me just don’t do it for me anymore.

Now, let me stop right here for a moment and explain something fundamental to the faith.

When I say that “the things that used to excite us just don’t do it for us anymore”, I am not saying that physical urges and wants do not still tempt us, only that our minds have more important things to dwell upon.

I am for all intensive purposes in a place caught between two opposing fronts -

The old man, the flesh that has been nailed to the cross and has been considered dead, and the new man which is my new nature in Christ.

And so like the Apostle Paul says in Romans 7:22–23 “ For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”

So we see then that we are being transformed by the renewing of our minds.

The same thing is said in …

Ephesians 4:23 NKJV

23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

Do I need mention that this does not add to salvation, contribute to it in any way, nor is it living according to the law?

Because I think we can all see that the scriptures do not bear that out.

I have been made new in Christ and as holy as it takes for one to enter the kingdom of God.

But, I am being transformed in the renewing of my mind day by day, that I might be conformed to the image of Christ right here, right now.

There’s also another side to this.

In our renewed minds we are conforming ourselves to the image of Christ,and so we are learning to live like Him and act like Him.

Considering all the evil around us and everything that opposes itself to the commands of God, we cannot be drawn into satan’s battle.

We do not fight against flesh and blood, so then how do we fight against people who have a different political view, or those that post hideous things on social media, or culturally perverted people that make your skin crawl?

With a renewed mind.

Realize this, there are only two groups in the entire world, yes two:

The saved and the unsaved!

And because God is not willing that any perish, He is very much concerned with how we handle ourselves and the witness we project.

IV. As Christians we prove what the will of God is.

Romans 12:2 NKJV

2 “… that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

When we speak of proving something, we imagine the undeniable evidence of the veracity of a thing or situation.

In its Biblical understanding, the word is usually associated with the testing and examination of a thing as to its genuineness.

This word is also in the present tense which means that it is an ongoing process.

You and I are living a new life in Christ because of what He has done for us.

We have received the Spirit of God and have obeyed the gospel call in that we have trusted Christ for our redemption.

Our old man is nailed to the cross so the new man can live for God.

As we live this new life of faith, we are transformed into a creation that is new and different, that the world can clearly see, which is a miracle of God.

As we realize this change that is occurring within, the evidence of its presence is revealing itself in our outward actions, not the other way around.

Far too many times rules and moral positions take the place of a renewed mind, creating a conformed exterior that lives in opposition to the inward man.

We call these people, Hypocrites!

It is God’s will that we live righteous lives, but that righteousness must be the fruit of the inward man who is walking in the Spirit (Gal. 5:25).

This is the will of God!

Conclusion:

As we close here today, I want you to think about this one thing.

The words Paul used in this text are of a familiar tone to those that would have read or heard it read in Rome.

Pagan Temple worship was part of the religious practices of the Romans, as was Yaweh worship in the Temple at Jerusalem for the Jews.

The illustration created in the minds of those who heard these words was quite powerful.

Paul is begging them to present their own physical bodies on the alter of sacrifice.

This is a deeply spiritual act of obedience to be carried out every minute of every day, to the One True God who has given them everything.

Present it as a living sacrifice, separated unto God, which is your rational service.

Are we not a royal priesthood of believers according to 1 Peter 2:9?

So then as priests, we are authorized to offer this sacrifice.

We do not need another sacrifice for sin, that is why this sacrifice is a living sacrifice.

It is reasonable for those in the new relationship with Jesus.