Will of God 1 HS

The goal of these 2 verses is that you find the way of life that makes Christ as valuable as he really is, that's worship

Worship: express the value of Christ

First 11 chapters of Romans give theology that will turn your life into doxology.

verse 1 is the means of verse 2

You don’t conform, etc and that will lead into a lifestyle of verse 1

TransformYou are already new identity. Now God says: “Become what you are” (1 Cor 5:17)You HAVE put on the news self, which is BEING renewed” col 3:10The whole point of the having a new mind is so that we can dicern the will of God.two uses of “will of God”--- (God is in control of all things, yet disapproves of many of them)1. God’s Sovereign DecreeSovereign control of everything that comes to passHe is just in control of the universeMatthew 26:39- “…not as I will, but as you will”- “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him”- For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. Peter knows that God’s will may be sin happening to Christians.- “he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?2. Will of CommandIt is what he commands us to do. It can be broken, ignored, frustrated. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ In other words, some do His will some do not. His commands can be broken by us, and they are everyday.2 ways of thinking. Both are true. Both are important. Both need to be believed in. These 2 truths accomplish something when they are put together:They give us the hope we need when tragedy strikes. We can say “i know that God is in control and will use this pain to do something incredible.” And we can say “I know that God is good and his will was not for evil to happen.” But, then we can also say “I know God could have stopped this, but he didn't. I don’t know exactly why he didn’t. I don’t understand why he does everything he does. Except, I know he is good. Which means that there is something planned. Something glorious. Something born out of the ashes of pain and hurt that he promises to redeem as we submit to his reign as King.”

Transform: You are already have a new identity. Now God says: “Become what you are” (1 Cor 5:17)

You HAVE put on the news self, which is BEING renewed” col 3:10

The whole point of the having a new mind is so that we can discern the will of God.

Two uses of “will of God”--- (God is in control of all things, yet disapproves of many of them)

1. God’s Sovereign Decree

Sovereign control of everything that comes to pass

He is just in control of the universe

- “…not as I will, but as you will”

- “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him”

- For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. Peter knows that God’s will may be sin happening to Christians.

- “he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?

2. Will of Command Directive

It is what he commands us to do.

It can be broken, ignored, frustrated.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

In other words, some do His will some do not.

His commands can be broken by us, and they are everyday.

2 ways of thinking.

Both are true. Both are important. Both need to be believed in.

These 2 truths accomplish something when they are put together:They give us the hope we need when tragedy strikes.

We can say:

“I know that God is in control and will use this pain to do something incredible.” And we can say “I know that God is good and his will was not for evil to happen.” But, then we can also say “I know God could have stopped this, but he didn't. I don’t know exactly why he didn’t. I don’t understand why he does everything he does. Except, I know he is good. Which means that there is something planned. Something glorious. Something born out of the ashes of pain and hurt that he promises to redeem as we submit to his reign as King.”

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God

. One Do and One Do not

Don’t be like this world. Don’t look like everyone. Don’t act like everyone. Don’t be like everyone else.

Do transformed. Do different. Do something strange. Do completely awkward compared to everyone. Do new.

If you follow these commands what will your life look like?

You will know what the will of God is

You will be different

You will be worshipping

Your life will be holy and pleasing to God

You will live your life sacrificing for something that matters.

This Will is the Command Will

That means that Paul is writing about the Christian walk and explaining that if we want to know what Jesus want’s us to do in every little decision then we will have to practice the Christian walk in order to be trained or “discern” what he would desire.

He says live differently, like I did. Be transformed, like you already are. THEN you will have the tools and the knowledge to see what God has as good, pleasing and perfect.

This is very important in our big life decisions, in our small life decisions and, in fact, i the part of our lives that have no decisions really.

Most of what you do, you don’t decide to do. It just happens.

You breath, move, react, believe or disbelieve, take, go, stop, often times without any thought at all. You just do it.

But, God’s will and his command for us in this is important to.

Do not be angry. Do not covet. Do not be jealous. Do not hate. Do not be anxious. do not envy. Do not be prideful.

We break his commands all the time. We go against his good, pleasing perfect will every day.

We need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that it isn’t just thinking through the big decisions. It isn’t just thinking through the small decisions. It is our whole life, our whole heart, our whole being made new.

you need to make the bad tree good and then there is good fruit. But you can’t do that.

You need Jesus to pay for your sins and then the Holy Spirit to come do it for you.

God’s will --- Good, pleasing, and perfect.

God will’s --- Good, pleasing, and perfect.

Stage 1: The Renewed mind and The Bible

God explains as much of his will as we will know in the Bible

The Renewed mind and The Bible

God explains as much of his will as we will know in the Bible

Not in a Crystal ball, not in tarot cards, not in seance— only in the Bible

Since he hasn’t given us ways to make little decisions that means that he doesn’t want us to know exactly what will happen. He could have given us a magic 8-ball but, he didn’t.

But, the Bible without the renewed mind won’t be of much help. People use the Bible all sorts of wrong ways because their minds have not been renewed by the Holy Spirit

The Bible will be used to equip us for “every good work”. Not just some of the good works. But ALL of them.

That means if God’s will is for us to do good works, then we need to be saturated in the word with a renewed mind.

Stage 2: The Renewed Mind and the Bible and Decisions

You won’t have a crystal ball, but you have good works. Ok, but now you still need to make decisions. How is that going to happen?

What will happen naturally is that as you seek an answer your renewed mind will be moved by what it has seen in Scripture and has felt through growth in the Holy Spirit and it will begin to feel out the path that is most like the mind of Christ.

The “Spirit of the mind” begins to act like the Holy Spirit as it is shaped and grown and the Holy Spirit.

This is very different than hearing voices or waiting for lightning to strike.

The more you know who God is, the more you will know what pleases him and what he hates.

The more you know God the more you will know how to act and what to decide.

The more you know who God is, the more you will know what pleases him and what he hates.

Compare: laboring in study, prayer, wisdom seeking for a renewed mind to apply God’s word to your life and asking God for a direct revelation.

The more you know God the more you will know how to act and what to decide.

Stage 3: The Renewed Life and everything else

Compare: laboring in study, prayer, wisdom seeking for a renewed mind to apply God’s word to your life and asking God for a direct revelation.

I think you would be surprised at how much of your life decisions are about:

Stage 3: The Renewed Life and everything else

maybe .01% is big life decisions

I think you would be surprised at how much of your life decisions are about:

maybe 4.9% is regular other decisions

maybe .01% is big life decisions

leaving close to 95% of your life to happen without decisions

maybe 4.9% is regular other decisions

Hundreds and hundreds of acts a day that you don’t even consider

leaving close to 95% of your life to happen without decisions

Almost all of your attitudes

Hundreds and hundreds of acts a day that you don’t even consider

almost all of your facial expressions and body positioning

Almost all of your attitudes

This means that almost everything you do— another way to phrase that is, almost all of your opportunities to follow the will of command of God you do or don’t do without thinking.

almost all of your facial expressions and body positioning

They spill out. They just happen. They are just there. They are who you are naturally. what you believe naturally. what happens by itself.

This means that almost everything you do— another way to phrase that is, almost all of your opportunities to follow the will of command of God you do or don’t do without thinking.

Jesus in For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. 35 A good person produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil person produces evil things from his storeroom of evil. 36 I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak

So, don’t be angry, don’t be upset, don’t be jealous, don’t be anxious. Those are commands we break and we don’t even think about them.

They spill out. They just happen. They are just there. They are who you are naturally. what you believe naturally. what happens by itself.

The Renewed mind is a change. It is new. It is the work of God in us. It is a huge, different change.

Jesus in For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. 35 A good person produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil person produces evil things from his storeroom of evil. 36 I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak

In order for the spill over to be good it has to be a good tree. you can’t make it good. Only God can renew your mind. Only God can make you new.

So, don’t be angry, don’t be upset, don’t be jealous, don’t be anxious. Those are commands we break and we don’t even think about them.

Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

The Renewed mind is a change. It is new. It is the work of God in us. It is a huge, different change.

This is an easy truth: you need to read your Bible.

In order for the spill over to be good it has to be a good tree. you can’t make it good. Only God can renew your mind. Only God can make you new.

This is a harder truth: you need to believe that giving yourself to the written word of God is one of the most foundational and important things you can do.

Saturate yourself with the word. Know what it says about how to live a life that is pleasing and holy to God. Strive to live that life. The Holy Spirit will renew your mind in that.

This is an easy truth: you need to read your Bible.

And then test; examine; interpret; approve- prove it by testing it.

This is a harder truth: you need to believe that giving yourself to the written word of God is one of the most foundational and important things you can do.

You can’t pray over every single decision so you know things need to be ingrained into you. You need to have a new nature.

Saturate yourself with the word. Know what it says about how to live a life that is pleasing and holy to God. Strive to live that life. The Holy Spirit will renew your mind in that.

You will learn

And then test; examine; interpret; approve- prove it by testing it.

You can’t pray over every single decision so you know things need to be ingrained into you. You need to have a new nature.

You will learn

By trusting in the Sovereign will of God and walking in the Command will of God I will experience the will that he has for my life.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 12

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

What is therefore there for?

Mercy- Think about all the mercy I talked about. “mercy” is an interesting word for the last 11 chapters. They are all so full of complex doctrine and think headed theology. But, at the end of discussing them Paul says we should be thinking of all of these things as God’s Mercy.

He appeals to their logic, “it is only reasonable to act BECAUSE of the mercies of God”. He mentions mercy 10 times.

Action- Now, we don’t just think. We didn’t just learn for the fun of learning. we didn’t just decide this will be an academic chore. Paul is going to ask us to do some thing now because of what the mercy of God has shown us.

The most reasonable thing to do when a commendation has been cancelled is to offer one’s self to one’s savior out of gratitude. Gratitude is, then, the impetus of all human action and worship toward God. “...in the New Testament religion is grace, and ethics is gratitude’ (Letters, 1877, p. 16).

Boa, K., & Kruidenier, W. (2000). Romans (Vol. 6, p. 362). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

A living sacrifice- we used to use the lives of others as a way to sacrifice with God. We used to used the death of other beings to get us right with God. Now, we only use the death of his son. Now, we sacrifice our own lives. But, not just our life force. We don’t just give up our living (at least not yet). Instead, the Creator teaches us to give our life, lifestyle, life blood, life dreams, life goals, our mind, our thoughts, our desires, our actions. Instead of giving him just a death, he asks for our whole life.

“Make” a sacrifice VS “Be” a sacrifice--- OT vs NT

Maybe more pointedly, God is not asking for your gifts. He isn’t asking you to dedicate yourself to him. There is really only one thing that we can give to God: our right to yourself. In another way: the only thing you can actually sacrifice is yourself. or another way: The only thing that you can surrender to God is who you call King.

He has everything else. He doesn’t want or need anything else. In fact, anything else is worthless unless this comes first.

Holy and pleasing - The sacrificial life he asks from you is not a sinful mess. He does not desire an empty, gross, self-centered person. He asks for a life that is worthy to be given to a righteous God. When you are giving this type of life, you are giving worship.

True worship- To worship is to express the whole value of God. When you are worshipping Jesus you are living in a way, thinking in a way, desiring in a way that will cause everyone to look and see that you value God the highest.

“the World”- this age. the darkness. Satan is the god of this evil age (, , ) If Satan is control (and he is) then we need to avoid the push to align ourselves with the world- morally, philosophically, intellectually, politically, emotionally, and ultimately behaviorally.

But- this one word shows us the path. Naturally we are want to conform. That is our born nature, our regular, unadulterated desire- we want to be like the world. “But” there is hope. There was a defensive approach, now here is the offensive play.

Be transformed- This is the positive command now. while there was a DO NOT there is also a DO. Do be transformed. Transformed shows us that we really are already conformed to the world. We are not neutral. Our hearts desire evil. He says DO NOT desire that but actually, DO be transformed. We are already transformed in Christ. We have a new identity. So, now we act like what we are. We live like who we are. We engage the transformation that God has laid out for us. This command is big and we don’t know exactly where to begin with it. He goes on/.

Transformation (Metamorphoo) is the same word that we get metamorphosis— changing into a beautiful butterfly.

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind- The transformation is not passive. It happens to us, but there is a process by which transformation comes about. Here Paul lets us know that it is by the renewal of our minds from one place to another that we see change. The spirit of our mind undergoes change and that change then works outward into all the farther reaches and we are transformed from the inside out. The creation that moves forward will controlled by a new captain and thus the choices will be different, the perspectives will be different. The face, body, and habits may look the same. But the more that renewal takes place, the more difference will be seen.

How then is a renewal taking place? what exactly happens to get us transformed? through knowledge God changes our affections. Things we liked before we realize our bad. Things we thought were good are realized to be evil.

says we are “being renewed in the knowledge in the image of its Creator” and this takes place as “we are being renewed day by day” (). Who is the image of God? Jesus. Who is the Creator? God the Father. Who is working with us changing us every day we allow him to? The Holy Spirit. There is a trinitarian work that renews us every day, the more we know Him.

All of this is opposed to the age of Satan. You can’t be renewed by that knowledge or engergy.

God opens our eyes. Then exposure to the light of God in our life gives us perspective. We can begin to see what doesn’t work. We can begin to see ugliness that we thought was beauty. We can begin to see beauty that we had completely overlooked--- because our eyes had been shut but he opened them (salvation/transformation) and now when his light is shed into our life we can see clearly (renewal/transformation).

All of this is opposed to the age of Satan. You can’t be renewed by that knowledge or engergy.

Can you imagine living life with all light strobing?

God opens our eyes. Then exposure to the light of God in our life gives us perspective. We can begin to see what doesn’t work. We can begin to see ugliness that we thought was beauty. We can begin to see beauty that we had completely overlooked--- because our eyes had been shut but he opened them (salvation/transformation) and now when his light is shed into our life we can see clearly (renewal/transformation).

Imagine trying to drive, watch a movie, take a picture, read a book. It is impossible to really make it anywhere in life if the lights never stay on. That is how we treat our Christianity.

We want to transform and build things and so we flip the lights on real quick cause we read for a bit and that teaches us. But, we don’t make a commitment to reading so soon we forget and the lights go back off.

Can you imagine living life with all light strobing?

Imagine trying to drive, watch a movie, take a picture, read a book. It is impossible to really make it anywhere in life if the lights never stay on. That is how we treat our Christianity.

We listen to some sermon or teaching. But we call that enough teaching and never pray about it, talk to others about what it means, we might not even change anything in our lives because of it. The lights go back off.

We want to transform and build things and so we flip the lights on real quick cause we read for a bit and that teaches us. But, we don’t make a commitment to reading so soon we forget and the lights go back off.

You know if your were to flick the lights on and off for a cucumber plat it wouldn’t really produce any fruit and it would only work half as much as it should. It would be half-alive and half dead.

We listen to some sermon or teaching. But we call that enough teaching and never pray about it, talk to others about what it means, we might not even change anything in our lives because of it. The lights go back off.

Cont.- the renewal of our mind is what trans forms us. The light of God working in our hearts and minds is what renews our minds.

You know if your were to flick the lights on and off for a cucumber plat it wouldn’t really produce any fruit and it would only work half as much as it should. It would be half-alive and half dead.

Are you flickering the lights on and off? Just enough light to stay alive? Not enough to really change. Not enough to renew. Not enough to be different. Not enough to give fruit. Just enough to be there. half dead.

Cont.- the renewal of our mind is what trans forms us. The light of God working in our hearts and minds is what renews our minds.

So that you may discern— The whole purpose of this path is that we reach an end where we know what the will of God is. His will is what is good, perfect and pleasing. The will of God (command will) is right here in front of it. So, can we discern it, test it, trail it, prove it by test? He is saying that we should be transformed and renewed in our minds and that will allow us to live a life that is sacrificial and holy for God. Once we are doing that we will be able to discern what we should be doing in life because we will be walking by the light. Not strobing, tripping over stuff. We can see what is clear and in front of us by the light of God and make our decisions clearly. We can test what we should do because we will know what is right and true by how we have ben living our lives.

Are you flickering the lights on and off? Just enough light to stay alive? Not enough to really change. Not enough to renew. Not enough to be different. Not enough to give fruit. Just enough to be there. half dead.

So that you may discern— The whole purpose of this path is that we reach an end where we know what the will of God is. His will is what is good, perfect and pleasing. The will of God (command will) is right here in front of it. So, can we discern it, test it, trail it, prove it by test? He is saying that we should be transformed and renewed in our minds and that will allow us to live a life that is sacrificial and holy for God. Once we are doing that we will be able to discern what we should be doing in life because we will be walking by the light. Not strobing, tripping over stuff. We can see what is clear and in front of us by the light of God and make our decisions clearly. We can test what we should do because we will know what is right and true by how we have ben living our lives.

The renewal takes place as the transformation pulls the butterfly out of the cocoon of the world’s conformity. It pulls the butterfly out as you test what you know the Bible teaches to be true.

You can discover the will of God in the Bible, test it out by living it, and prove that it is right. And if you live it out you will find that it is what is good, pleasing, and perfect. You will find that you are living life sacrificially and holy.

The will of God comes in two forms- God’s Sovereign Will and God’s Statute Will

Two uses of “will of God”--- (God is in control of all things, yet disapproves of many of them)

1. God’s Sovereign Will- deciding control

Sovereignty- complete control or Authority

He is just in control of the universe

- “…not as I will, but as you will”

- “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him”

- For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. Peter knows that God’s will may be sin happening to Christians.

- “he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?

2. God’s Statute Will- what he commands us to do

It is what he commands us to do.

It can be broken, ignored, frustrated.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

In other words, some do His will and some do not.

His commands can be broken by us, and they are everyday.

2 ways of thinking.

Both wills are true.

Both are important. Both need to be believed in.

These 2 truths accomplish something when they are put together:They give us the hope we need when tragedy strikes.

We need to know that God hated what happened.

We need to know that God had the power to stop it, but he didn’t— and we might never fully understand that in this life.

Because if you try to take away God’s sovereignty in the time of your pain, you will have no one to save you from it.

If you try to keep God from having the power of being in charge, you will have no one to perform the miracles you need.

We wont always know why but we can always trust.

We can say:

“I know that God is in control and will use this pain to do something incredible.” And we can say “I know that God is good and his will was not for evil to happen.” But, then we can also say “I know God could have stopped this, but he didn't. I don’t know exactly why he didn’t. I don’t understand why he does everything he does. Except, I know he is good. Which means that there is something planned. Something glorious. Something born out of the ashes of pain and hurt that he promises to redeem as we submit to his reign as King.”

God has told you everything you need to know to make the right decision.

Step 1: The Renewed mind and The Bible

God explains as much of his will as we will know in the Bible

Not in a Crystal ball, not in tarot cards, not in seance— only in the Bible

Since he hasn’t given us ways to make little decisions that means that he doesn’t want us to know exactly what will happen. He could have given us a magic 8-ball but, he didn’t.

But, the Bible without the renewed mind won’t be of much help. People use the Bible all sorts of wrong ways because their minds have not been renewed by the Holy Spirit

The Bible will be used to equip us for “every good work”. Not just some of the good works. But ALL of them.

That means if God’s will is for us to do good works, then we need to be saturated in the word with a renewed mind.

So step one is making sure that you have the Bible and you have a renewed mind- in other words, make sure that you are a Christian and that you believe the Bible is the true, authoritative word of God— no one else’s opinion matters.

Step 2: The Renewed Mind and the Bible and Decisions

You won’t have a crystal ball, but you have good works. Ok, but now you still need to make decisions. How is that going to happen?

What will happen naturally is that as you seek an answer your renewed mind will be moved by what it has seen in Scripture and has felt through growth in the Holy Spirit and it will begin to feel out the path that is most like the mind of Christ.

The “Spirit of the mind” begins to act like the Holy Spirit as it is shaped and grown and the Holy Spirit.

This is very different than hearing voices or waiting for lightning to strike.

The more you know who God is, the more you will know what pleases him and what he hates.

The more you know God the more you will know how to act and what to decide.

Compare: laboring in study, prayer, wisdom seeking for a renewed mind to apply God’s word to your life and asking God for a direct revelation.

So, step 2 is where we see the renewed mind pushed by the truth of the Bible into making you live a new way. Now, your life is beginning to be transformed. As decisions come up you can more easily see how decisions will affect your true worship of God.

This is where most people struggle. This is college. This si who will I marry. this si the big decsisions. How do I know if I am going to choose the wrong one?

Well, have you been living in the wrong one your whole life? Is the wrong one what guides your thoughts and motives and dreams? are you conformed to the wrong one? have you been transformed to the right one?

There are so many Commands of the will of god that w ignore when we are looking for the Sovereign will of God.

Stage 3: The Renewed Life and everything else

I think you would be surprised at how much of your life you actually decide: