The Secret of Holy Living

The Secret of Holy Living

Romans 12:1-2

I heard about a son who called his parents on New Year’s Day. His dad answered the phone so he decided to ask him a question, “Dad, what’s your New Year’s Resolution?” He said, “My New Year’s resolution is to treat your mom like a princess all year long.” Later, the son asked his mom what her resolution was. She replied, “Mine is to make sure your father keeps HIS resolution!”

Here we are on the very first Sunday of a brand-New Year. My guess is that some of your resolutions have already been broken and some of you are bummed out about it. Some of you probably didn’t even make any resolutions because you knew you wouldn’t be able to keep them.

Many of us have entered into the New Year with a sense of excitement and thrilled to see 2020 put behind us. Maybe you’re battling the blahs and uncertain what 2021 may hold for you. We say happy New Year to each other and we wonder if its even possible to be happy.

No matter your feelings, most of us would love for this year to be different.

Would you like to know what would make 2021 really great? Would you like to know how we could make this year better than any year in the past? How we could achieve more? How we could live in 2021 with a new attitude committed to living and serving God faithfully?

We all could use some practical help in our day to day walk with God. In our text for this morning, we find some insight into an area of our walk that we should never overlook. We see in these two verses the secret to holy living.

Paul tells us what God expects from us and how we’re to achieve His goals for our lives. He tells us that holy living revolves around our surrender to three areas.

Let’s pray, read our text and find out what they are and what they demand.

Pray!

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

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. 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.

The first area we see is:

The Worship of God

Paul tells us that presenting our bodies to the Lord is our “spiritual worship.” Other translations say this is our “reasonable service.” The word “spiritual” come from the same word we get the word logic from. It has to do with our real nature and being genuine especially in contrast to our physical nature. And the word “worship” has the idea of public worship following set rules, especially concerning the service of the Levites in the tabernacle and later the temple.

It comes down to meaning something like presenting our bodies to Him is our logical service of worship before the Lord. In other words, when we are totally submitted to Him, it is the highest form of worship that we can give!

With that in mind, let’s look at this first verse and see what Paul means when he calls on us to present our bodies.

The challenge

We are called to “present your bodies.”

God is calling on us to present all that we have, are and ever will be to Him for His glory and for His use. The word “present” means to “to make available or accessible.” It means that we aren’t holding anything back from God, but we’ve placed our all on His altar and we’re at His disposal!

The idea here is of total surrender to God. Far too many people want to be saved, but they’re not willing to lay everything on the altar. They’re guilty of holding back areas of their lives that are important to them. Maybe it’s your career, your hobbies, your pursuits, your entertainment, your time or your vices.

God wants it all!

The word “present” is in a tense that suggests a one time for all time action. We shouldn’t present our bodies to God only to take it back and use it for ourselves again. When we’ve given it to Him, it is His forever!

There’s a challenge and

The cause

Paul says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God.”

Paul has been determined so far in the book of Romans to make the clear point that we are only redeemed because of the grace of God.

Therefore:

Romans 5:1 ESV

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:9 ESV

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Romans 6:4 ESV

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Romans 8:1 ESV

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The cause it that He bought us a Calvary and we belong to Him

1 Corinthians 6:20 ESV

for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

We were headed to hell when He found us. He gave us the faith to believe and He saved us by His grace. We owe Him everything. Let us be like Paul and ever be aware of that fact:

1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain…

Let us understand that God has the absolute right to tell us what to do and let us respond faithfully just as Isaiah, “Here I am! Send me.”

There’s the challenge, the cause and:

The consecration

We’re told that our bodies are to be presented as a “living sacrifice.”

It sounds just a little painful, doesn’t it? I mean a sacrifice at this time was an animal that was put to death, its blood was shed and its flesh was burned on the altar. That doesn’t sound like something I want any part of.

But the difference between what the people of the Old Testament and what we are called to do is this:

· Their sacrifice had to die.

· Our sacrifice is to live!

There are some similarities between our sacrifice and theirs.

See, just as it was for those under the law, the sacrifice we’re commanded to make is costly, painful, personal and necessary.

He’s called for us to put our entire being on the altar but at the same time we must function in the world around us. Let me share quickly what that means.

A living sacrifice means that we are to be on the altar wherever we are

No matter what our surroundings may be, we’re to remember that this body and all it is belongs to God. There is never an instant in life when we’re out of His view or free to live as we please.

A living sacrifice means a constant, continuous sacrifice.

This isn’t something we do from time to time or when we feel like it. It isn’t just when we come to church or around other Christians. We’re to offer this body to the Lord and never ask for it back again!

A living sacrifice means that we sacrifice our own desires for those of God.

To be a living sacrifice means we don’t live for the world, pleasure or the flesh, but that everything we do is held to the guiding principle of God’s Word.

A living sacrifice means that we’re devoted to serving God.

We’re to lay down the ambitions and desires of the body and commit ourselves to doing only what God desires. We’re to be His vessels through which He can live and work in this world.

The bottom line of all this is that the sacrificing of the body is not something we only do in church. It implies that every action and activity we engage in is an activity to glorify and honor God.

The sacrificed body sees itself as the Temple of God. It realizes that God must be in absolute control of our will, emotions, passions, actions and the thoughts. All rights are released and the body is delivered to God to do with it as it pleases Him!

There’s the challenge, the cause, the consecration and

The conditions

Paul tells us how these bodies are to be sacrificed. He gives us two conditions that this sacrifice must meet.

An awesome sacrifice

We are meant to be “holy,” to be set apart and consecrated for His use.

The idea here is that when a life is totally sold out, separated and sacrificed to God, it will be an awe-inspiring thing! It will demonstrate the power of God like nothing else! I’m convinced that God could do more in a church with one genuinely sacrificed life than He could with 1,000 who were half-heartedly playing the church game!

I wonder how much awe our lives inspire?

An acceptable sacrifice

The word “acceptable” means “well-pleasing, satisfying.”

God is pleased when a life is sacrificed in service for His glory. It honors Him like nothing else can. It proves His power. It shows His glory. It tells a lost world that God makes a difference in the lives He touches.

The sad truth is this: we’re either pleasing God or hurting Him by the way we use our bodies. If we want to be pleasing to the Lord, our bodies must be placed on His altar, without reservation or hesitation.

But understand that this command isn’t for just for people like Billy Graham or Charles Spurgeon. This command is given to every member of the family of God. All of us are called offer ourselves on His altar to please God.

We see the worship of God and:

The Wisdom of God

Paul moves from the body to the mind which is the root of all our problems anyway. When we can get the mind to think the way it should, then the body will follow along. To do this, there are two steps that need to be taken. First:

Shun the mold

We are commanded to “not be conformed to this world.”

The word “conformed” means “being or becoming shaped or molded to a certain pattern.”

We’re not to allow this world to squeeze us into its mold. We’re not to allow the world to make us like it is! You see the world, and those controlled by its influence, are incredibly different from what God intends us to be.

This is made clear by a list of some of the works of the flesh:

Galatians 5:19–21 ESV

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,

20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,

21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these…

The world and the flesh are opposed to God. We’re to avoid being squeezed into the world’s mold! We must be different and stay different!

We must shun the mold and:

Shape the mind

We’re commanded to “be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

We get our word “metamorphosis” from the word “transformed.”

It’s what happens when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.

When a caterpillar enters into a cocoon and later emerges as a butterfly, what happens is that what was inside was allowed to be displayed on the outside. It’s the same creature but made new and different.

And that’s the same change that God wants in each of us!

He wants to transform us. He wants to change us. He wants to bring out what’s hiding inside of us and display it for His glory.

And He can only do that when we surrender to His will. He can only do that when we no longer allow the influence of the world and the flesh to control us.

There are basically three types of people in church. They’re distinguished by the way their minds operate. Let’s see where you fit in.

The sensual

People like this are controlled by the physical world around them. They live by their senses. Everything comes down to how they feel, what they see, how they’re affected, what they want, and what they hear. They may be saved, but they’re living far below their potential!

The soulish

People like this are controlled by their intellect, their will and their emotions. There is actually a very fine line between a soulish person and a truly spiritual person. You see, being an intellectual, emotional or having a strong will isn’t always spiritual.

intellect

Some people may know the Bible forward and backwards but it doesn’t mean they are a spiritual person. There is a big difference between knowing the Word and living out the Word.

emotions

Some people may shout out or cry during services. They might lift up their hands in praise and say “amen.” Those things aren’t wrong but they aren’t always spiritual in nature. Far too often, they are simply the results of emotions.

will

Somebody may quit smoking or drinking when they’re saved. They might be able to simply walk away from something that had been controlling their life. That’s a good thing but it may not be a spiritual victory. It could just be someone with a very strong will.

The spiritual

These kinds of people are pretty rare in the church today. These are the people who allow the Holy Spirit to guide them in their thinking, their actions and their speech. They’ve given control to Him over everything.

So, how can we know the difference?

Well, the sensual person isn’t hard to spot. They stand out because they’re so selfish. The want things their way and will walk away if their preferences aren’t met. But the line between the soulish and spiritual is so fine that it’s hard for us to spot the difference. But the Word, God’s Word, is the one thing that can tell us whether we are pleasing the Lord or ourselves.

So, Paul is telling us that our mind must be renewed and the only way this is possible is by transforming it through the Word of God.

The body of a caterpillar hides a butterfly inside of it. Our flesh hides a glorious, new person inside of each of us. But our flesh needs to be subdued so that we can be set free to be who God desires us to be.

There is the worship of God, the wisdom of God and:

The Will of God

Having told us that the secret to a holy life revolves around worshiping God through the sacrifice of our body and through developing the mind of Christ in each of us, Paul moves on the tell us that accomplishing these two things in our lives will enable us to carry out God’s will for our lives in a way that honors Him.

As we submit our bodies and our minds to Him, His will becomes more clear and more important to us. There are three words that describe the will of God. First, it’s:

precious

No matter what He may ask us to do, we’ll find that in the end that it is good. It’s the enemy and the flesh that tell us that His ideas can bring hurt and problems into our lives. But God will never ask us to do anything that is not for our own good. Don’t be afraid of the will of God for your life because it is good!

It’s precious and it’s:

pleasant

It’s pleasant in the sense that when His will is revealed to us, it is something that we’re made willing to do. God is in the business of maturing us and as we grow, as we become more Christlike, the demands He places on our lives change.

As His will is revealed, we’re equipped and ready for whatever He calls us to do. If it doesn’t look possible then we’ve overlooked something He’s trying to show us. He will never lead us somewhere that we aren’t ready to go.

When God reveals His will to us, it’s because He knows we’re ready. When He shows us the time to move forward, we need to be obedient without question or reservation1

The will of God is precious, it’s pleasant and its:

perfect

There is nothing that we could add to God’s plan that would improve it. What we really need to see is that God knows the outcome of any situation before it even begins. He knows the path we’ll take and the obstacles and valleys we’ll pass through.

His plan, His perfect plan cannot be improved on. We can be in no better place than the perfect will of God!

So, when we submit our bodies and minds to God, we’ll be able to “discern” and live out God’s will in a world that is watching us. And when the world sees us living lives that glorify God, they’ll know that we’ve been transformed by grace.

And when we get to that point, He’ll use us to change even more lives. Souls will be saved and God will be honored. We’ll be proof positive to a doubting world that God can take the worst and make the best out of it. We’ll be the evidence to a perishing world. We’ll be the salt and light that we’ve been commanded to be.

So, the secret of living a holy life boils down to God having control of our minds, our bodies and our wills.

Does that describe the life you are living today? Is God in control of all you have and are?

First, are you sure you are saved?

Second, is your mind being renewed by the transforming power of the Word of God so that the new man on the inside is being permitted to live on the outside?

Third, have you discovered and surrendered to the will of God for your life?

I want to live a holy life. What about you? Will you join Him today? Will you surrender all to Him? Will you get serious about serving Him? Will you allow Him to transform you and your life into an awesome thing in His hand?