Identity Series (9)
Identity Series • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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RECAP AND INTRODUCTION
Church, last week we talked about the mercy of God that brings us to the altar. Paul told us in Romans 12:1-2 that because of God’s mercy, we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. That means worship is not just the song we sing; worship is the life we surrender. We saw that true worship is not trying to earn God’s love, but responding to the mercy we have already received in Christ. Mercy brings my body to the altar, but Paul does not stop there, because a surrendered body must be joined to a renewed mind. If my body is offered to God, but my mind is still being shaped by the world, I will keep living below the identity grace has given me.
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
So now Paul takes us deeper into Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Last week we saw that the world has a pattern, and that pattern wants to name us, shape us, disciple us, and define us. But if we are in Christ, we cannot let the old identity keep telling us who we are. That is why the mind matters. What I believe matters. What I meditate on matters. What I agree with matters. What I let speak into me matters. And that brings us right into where we are going today, because if the mind is the place where transformation happens, then the enemy is going to fight hard for the mind.
BODY OF SERMON
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10 that we are to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. In other words, not every thought deserves a home in your mind. Some thoughts need to be arrested, confronted with truth, and brought under the authority of Jesus.
That is why 2 Corinthians 10:5
5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
says we “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
The Tony Evans Bible Commentary IV. True Apostleship versus False Apostleship (10:1–13:10)
The apostle Paul is willing to go to battle against false apostles because he does not wage war according to the flesh (10:3). He recognizes that the warfare in which he is engaged is spiritual and requires spiritual weapons that are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds (10:4). By “strongholds,” Paul isn’t talking about physical fortresses, of course, but about destructive patterns of thought that lead people astray and hold them hostage to sinful, harmful and addictive behavior. We know Paul is concerned with the mind because he is demolishing arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and he wants to help believers take every thought captive to obey Christ (10:4–5). Satan’s strategy is to block the knowledge and/or application of God’s Word in the thinking of believers so that they can be held hostage by his lies, which are communicated through false teaching.
If addictive behavior is present in a person’s life, that behavior is not the stronghold but merely its fruit. Strongholds can only be demolished by the knowledge of God—that is, by truth. As Jesus told his disciples, “The truth will set you free” (
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Not every thought deserves a home in your mind. Some thoughts need to be arrested. Some thoughts need to be brought before the authority of Jesus. Some thoughts need to be confronted with truth.
When the thought says, “You are too far gone,” the renewed mind says, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” When the thought says, “You will never change,” the renewed mind says, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.” When the thought says, “Sin is your master,” the renewed mind says, “Sin shall no longer be your master.” When the thought says, “You are alone,” the renewed mind says, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
A new identity needs a renewed mind, because you cannot live free while still thinking bound.
And renewal does not happen by accident. The mind is renewed as we bring it under the Word of God, under the truth of Christ, under the leading of the Holy Spirit. That means I have to ask, “What am I feeding my mind?” What am I listening to? What am I watching? What am I meditating on? What voices am I allowing to shape me? What lies have I repeated so long that they sound like truth?
Because the mind cannot be renewed by truth it never receives. If the world gets my attention all week and God gets my attention only when I am in trouble, I should not be surprised when my thinking feels more conformed than transformed.
But when I begin to let the Word of God speak louder than the world, renewal starts happening. When I let Scripture challenge my fears, renewal starts happening. When I let the Spirit convict my thoughts, renewal starts happening. When I stop rehearsing the old lies and start agreeing with God’s truth, renewal starts happening.
A renewed mind helps us recognize and live in the will of God.
Paul finishes verse 2 by saying, “Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
This means the renewed mind helps us discern what pleases God. The more God renews our thinking, the more we recognize what belongs to Him and what does not. The more my mind is shaped by the Word, the more I can see the difference between God’s will and the world’s pattern.
Before renewal, the world’s pattern can look normal. Sin can look harmless. Pride can look like confidence. Bitterness can look like protection. Lust can look like love. Greed can look like ambition. Compromise can look like wisdom. Selfishness can look like self-care. Anger can look like strength. Unforgiveness can look like boundaries. And the old identity can feel like reality.
But when God renews the mind, we start seeing differently.
We begin to recognize God’s will. We begin to desire what is good, pleasing, and perfect in His sight. We stop asking, “What can I get away with?” and start asking, “What pleases the Lord?” We stop asking, “How close can I get to the world?” and start asking, “How fully can I belong to Jesus?”
That is a sign of renewal. A renewed mind does not just help me avoid sin; it helps me live as someone who belongs to God and desires His will.
This is where Romans 12 becomes very practical. Paul is not just giving us theology to admire. He is telling us how true worship becomes visible. Verse 1 says, “Offer your bodies.” Verse 2 says, “Do not conform. Be transformed. Let your mind be renewed. Then you will discern the will of God.”
So true worship involves the whole person. God wants my body on the altar and my mind in renewal. He wants my life surrendered and my thinking transformed. He wants my desires purified and my discernment sharpened. He wants me to live as someone whose identity has been changed by mercy.
And that means the question is not only,
“Have I offered myself to God?”
The question is also,
“What is shaping my mind?”
Is the world shaping me? Is fear shaping me? Is shame shaping me? Is culture shaping me? Is social media shaping me? Is my past shaping me? Is my pain shaping me? Is bitterness shaping me? Or is the Word of God renewing me?
Because a living sacrifice cannot keep thinking like the old life is still in charge.
Church, this is the next step in the Identity Series. We started by seeing that God defines who we are in Christ. We saw in Acts 2 that the Holy Spirit fills ordinary people and makes them witnesses. We saw that the crowd does not get to define what God has filled. We saw that the Word of God defines the people of God. Then we came to Romans 12 and saw that the mercy of God enables us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, which is our true and proper worship.
Now Paul is showing us that true worship cannot stop with a moment of surrender. True worship must become a transformed mind and a transformed life.
God is not simply asking for your body while leaving your thinking untouched. He is not simply asking for attendance while leaving your identity unchanged. He is not simply asking for religious behavior while leaving your mind conformed to the world.
He is calling for the whole person.
Your body on the altar.
Your mind in renewal.
Your identity in Christ.
Your life proving the will of God.
And this brings us to the altar of the heart.
Some of us need to ask, “Lord, where have I been conformed?” Where have I let the world press me into its mold? Where have I let shame shape me? Where have I let fear disciple me? Where have I let old habits tell me who I am? Where have I placed my body on the altar but kept my mind in agreement with the old life?
Some of us need to say, “Lord, I do not want to just adjust my behavior. I want to be transformed.” I do not want to just look better on the outside. I want You to renew me on the inside. I do not want to live from the old identity with Christian language. I want to live from the new identity You have given me in Christ.
Some of us need to bring our thought life to the altar. The anxiety. The shame. The lust. The bitterness. The self-hatred. The fear. The pride. The old labels. The lies we have believed so long that they feel like truth. And we need to say, “Lord, renew my mind.”
Because when God renews the mind, the old lies start losing their authority. When God renews the mind, the world’s pattern starts losing its grip. When God renews the mind, we begin to see ourselves through mercy instead of shame. When God renews the mind, we begin to desire His will instead of just tolerate His commands. When God renews the mind, we begin to live like people who truly belong to Jesus.
So today, in view of God’s mercy, place your body on the altar and let God renew your mind until your life begins to prove what His mercy has made you.
Do not be conformed to this world.
Do not let the world name you.
Do not let shame define you.
Do not let the old identity disciple you.
Do not let your past own your thinking.
But be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Let the Word of God speak louder than the world.
Let the Spirit of God renew what sin has twisted.
Let the mercy of God define who you are.
Let the truth of God reshape how you think.
And let your life become a living testimony that the will of God is good, pleasing, and perfect.
Because mercy brought you to the altar.
Worship placed your life before God.
And renewal teaches you how to live as the person grace has made you.
