Transformed | Philippians 2:12–13; Romans 12:1-2

ME

Retired Football Players

*Andrew Whitworth Rams Lineman pic*

I'm always intrigued by how retired athletes take care of their bodies after their careers are over.

Some are so tired of the constant workouts from their careers that they just stop working out altogether and get in terrible shape.

Others stay in shape throughout the rest of their lives or get into even better shape than when they played sports.

One guy that got into amazing shape post-career is someone UK fans are familiar with: Tim Couch.

*Tim Couch UK pic*

Tim was the only #1 NFL draft pick to come out of UK.

And he was in decent shape, just not really muscular. You don't really have to be huge when you're the QB.

*Tim Couch Pic Today*

This is Tim today, pictured with the current QB at Kentucky, Will Levis.

Now Will is no small guy, but Tim makes him look tiny!

I mean, he's 45 years old and looks like he should still be playing linebacker right now!

The guy has been working out like crazy since he retired from the NFL.

WE

*Title Slide*

For many of us, the older we get, the more aches and pains we have, the harder it is to bend over, and we seem to have less and less energy as the years go by.

Some of this is due to age, but some of it is due to the fact that we quit being active.

We played sports or were in marching band during our teenage years, and then just quit moving our bodies once high school was over.

And when we stop moving our bodies, we quit exercising and working out, our bodies get used to laying around on the couch.

Now, it would be great if we could stay in shape while not going on walks or working out because that stuff hurts… but unfortunately that’s just not how God made our bodies.

And just like our physical bodies will break down without activity, the same is true with our spiritual walk.

If we fail to exercise our spiritual muscles, we become spiritually lethargic and either stop growing in our walk with Christ… or actually regress and start to become weaker and weaker in our faith.

GOD

Last week we talked about the grace of God- how He brings us from death to life at salvation, and how this same grace keeps us from a life of sin.

Today we’re going to talk about our part in working out what God has worked within us.

There’s no better place to start when talking about this than the letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian church.

Philippians 2:12–13 NIV

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Keep Going

Philippians 2:12 (The Message)

What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning.

Paul does not call them to something new, but rather to continue and build upon the obedience they have already shown.

These Philippians have been faithfully following God, and he just says “Keep going!”

Sometimes it can be disheartening when you’re faithfully doing all you can to obey Christ, yet the culture around you and even some in the church are living sinful lives.

Church people- that’s just another reason why it’s so important for you to seek to obey Jesus… because not only is a dying world thinking there’s nothing but hypocrites in the church, but others who are staying faithful to the Lord can get discouraged when you’re not even trying to honor God with your life.

Y’all here me on that?

I’m not saying if you’re a Christian then you’ve got to be flawless and can never make a mistake, but you need to be giving it all you’ve got to honor God.

And the opposite is true as well:

If we’re all obedient to God, then we begin to build each other up in the faith:

Proverbs 27:17 NIV

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

and then when we grow together, those who don’t know Christ will start to look at our church and begin to notice that we actually are the real deal and they will become curious about this Jesus that we follow.

If you’re a Christian, you should be seeking to live a life worthy of the calling that God has given you and be obedient to God- Keep on going!

Work it Out

Philippians 2:12–13 (AMP)

work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ).

[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.

This isn’t a question of working for their salvation but working out their salvation. The Greek verb here means “to bring about” or “to carry out” something. The present tense of the verb indicates a consistent and ongoing effort. But what would it mean for the Philippians to do this?

Verse 13 makes clear that working out their salvation involves cooperating in God’s ongoing work of moral transformation within them, both individually and as a community.

This requires a daily life of disciplined obedience—what Paul also calls in the book of Romans the “obedience of faith.”

You know what helps us to keep this disciplined obedience?

Reverence for God- even in the midst of our irreverent culture:

Hebrews 12:28–29 NIV

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”

Reverence for God is necessary not only because God is in their midst, enabling their obedience, but also because God will hold the church accountable for their actions and relationships with others. Paul reminds his friends in Philippi that Christian obedience is not something to be taken casually. It demands full seriousness and determined effort.

-Dean Fleming

When we’re here in the worship service, we need to praise God from whom all blessings flow!

When it’s time for God’s Word to be shared from right here, it’s time to listen up.

It ain’t me or Pastor Curtis just making stuff up here- we literally ask the Lord every single week to speak through us.

And there are godly men and women that pray over us every Sunday morning in the chapel.

So hear me: listen up when the Word is preached!

Not because I want you to hear me yapping up here… but because it’s GOD’S HOLY WORD that is being spoken to us.

And if we listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit - allowing Him to point out things in our lives that aren’t pleasing to God, encourage us when we’re down, and give guidance in confusing times, then we’re so much more likely to be working out this great salvation Christ has given to us when we go to work, school, ball games, you name it.

And hear me- when we’re out in the community, we best be acting the same out there as we are in here.

Living obedient lives because we understand God ain’t just in the church building.

He’s among us as we deal with that difficult client, with the waitress who’s struggling with our order, in the car when that guy just cut you off, at school when a kid wants to pressure you into doing something you know is wrong.

Look- I know many in here will hear me today and just keep on doing whatever you feel like doing.

Because you think the Youth Pastor is off his rocker today and he wears jeans with holes in them anyway so what does he know?

(Btw… John the Baptist wore camel’s hair for clothing and since the guy ate locusts I bet he had holes in his fit too.. just sayin’!)

But for everyone who is older than me in the room I want you to understand something:

My generation (Millenials) and Gen Z coming up can sniff out a phony from a mile away.

They don’t expect you to be perfect, but they do expect you to be REAL. AUTHENTIC. Who you say you are.

So if you’re putting on a show of praising God here and living like the devil when you’re out of here, many unchurched teenagers and young adults are going to think all Christians are that way and they won’t ever darken the doors of a church.

And sure, those people are responsible for whether they accept or reject Christ.

But if you push them away by living like a phony, you will be held accountable:

2 Corinthians 5:9–11 NIV

So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.

Workout Illustration

(Dumbbell Pic)

Have Corban come up to help illustrate

Need a Weightbench and beef jerky

(bench press),

Muscles don't grow when you're working out, that's when they are breaking down.

(Beef Jerky)

However, when they are repaired by protein, nutrients, and sleep, they grow back stronger than before.

(bench press),

We work out our salvation by being obedient to Him

We aren't just sitting around as Christians- God doesn't bless spiritual laziness.

We get in the Word of God, we listen and talk with our Heavenly Father, and we go out into the world and live like Jesus lived.

(Beef Jerky)

and then His Holy Spirit works and moves within us to make us into who He wants us to be.

And that enables us to live like Paul called the Romans to live:

Romans 12:1–2 NIV

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. 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.

Christians are to shape themselves, their thinking and their doing, to faith in Christ.

Verse 2 can be translated like this:

Romans 12:2

“Do not let yourselves be shaped by what everyone else does, but rather let yourselves be transformed by a whole new way of thinking, so you can discern what conforms to God’s will, namely what is good, and pleasing, and perfect.”

That is grace at work: to be able to hear these things—and obey!

*Title Slide*

The Roman Empire in Paul’s day was far from the one true God.

They worshipped a host of false gods, were deep in sexual sin, and people acted like they didn’t have no sense.

Sound familiar?

The further a society strays away from God, the worse off that society is.

But after a period of intense persecution, eventually Christianity swept through the Empire until it became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Here’s what happened though: Christians started to get lazy when it wasn’t as risky to be a Christian.

They were all about following a religion rather than following Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of their faith.

And this mighty empire began to decline.

When the Roman empire was falling apart and the foundations of a civilization that had learned to value the Christian church were crumbling, a Christian theologian named Augustine learned how one can spiritually survive the breakdown of civilization here in the book of Romans.

We can do the same today.

Hear me- God may intervene if hearts of the people in our country turn back to Him, but if our nation keeps going downhill morally and spiritually, it will eventually breakdown just like Rome did.

But just like Augustine, in a wicked culture we can go against the grain of evil that is so prevalent among us, not conforming to what others are doing, but allowing the Holy Spirit of God to transform our minds.

And it’s at this point we will be walking fully in the will of God- working out our salvation with fear and trembling as He works within us.

And you know the great thing about this? We can walk in God’s will TOGETHER:

“According to Paul, God is at work through the Spirit to create communities that prefigure and embody the reconciliation and healing of the world. The fruit of God’s love is the formation of communities that confess, worship, and pray together in a way that glorifies God.”

-Richard Hays

When we as a church, are united together and living transformed lives, we help bring others to Jesus Christ so they can be reconciled to Him.

And that brings healing to our society. Nothing and no one else but Christ can do that!

Do you believe that our society needs healing?

Unless you’ve had your head in the ground since 2020 you’d say ABSOLUTELY!

There’s a whole bunch of crazy mess going on around us, and the easy thing to do as a Christian is just talk about how bad this ole’ world is and say we can’t wait to escape it in heaven with Jesus!

And I look forward to that day as much as any of y’all!

But I’ve read the Word of God cover to cover, and I don’t see anywhere that Jesus was an escapist, running away from the people were deep in sin around Him.

He went to the sinner- whether it was the man full of demons or the tax collector or the woman caught in adultery, and He offered them healing and hope in Him.

He spoke the truth to them, saying things like “go and sin no more,” but He did it with a heart of love for their souls.

He ran to those lost in sin rather than trying to hide from them.

And all of His followers should follow this pattern.

Not compromising the message of the Gospel, but being unashamed and unafraid to share it with those who truly need to hear it.

“Like James, Paul’s concern is for practical, everyday religion. Religion that helps the helpless and empowers the powerless. Religion that puts fine talk about love into action. Ritual can never replace doing right. Just seeking God is no substitute for seeking justice in the street. Worship and prayer are not means of bribing God to give us security, justification, or emotional release. Sacrificial offerings, worship services, and private devotions are meaningful only in the context of a life of wholehearted obedience.”

-William Greathouse

WHEN I LET THE SPIRIT WORK IN ME, GOD TRANSFORMS ME

YOU

*Bazaar pic*

Pastor Charles Swindoll tells this powerful story:

“There was a bazaar held in a village in northern India. Everyone brought their stuff to trade and sell. One old farmer brought in a bunch of quail. He had tied a string around one leg of each bird. The other end of all the strings were tied to a ring which fit loosely around a central stick. He had taught the quail to walk around in a circle, around and around, like mules at a mill. Nobody seemed interested in buying the birds until a devout Brahman came along. He believed in the idea of respect for all life, so his heart of compassion went out to those poor little creatures walking in their never ending circles.

“I want to buy them all,” he told the merchant, who was elated. After receiving the money, he was surprised to hear the buyer say, “Now I want youto set them all free.”

“Say what?”

“You heard me. Cut the strings from their legs and turn them loose. Set them all free!”

With a shrug, the old farmer bent down and snipped the strings off the quail. They were freed, at last. What happened? The birds simply continued marching around and around in a circle. Finally the man had to shoo them off. But even when they landed some distance away, they resumed their predictable march. Free, unfettered, released, yet they kept going in circles as if still tied…”

The power of the Holy Spirit cuts the strings of sin. It’s time to stop marching and start flying.

Salvation is the first step, when our sins are forgiven and we are made right with God through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Sanctification is the next step. It simply means being “set apart”

At salvation, Christ comes into our hearts, but He’s not on the throne of our hearts yet.

When we’re sanctified wholly, Christ is on the throne of our hearts and the sin nature we were born with is eradicated.

We don’t have to live in sin because we’re transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit and are being renewed daily.

God wants to set you free from your sin nature, but you’ve got to allow Him to have full control, not walking around in the never-ending circle of sin and living like the culture around you, but being set free and transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Early Christian theologian Origen wrote:

“Our mind is renewed by the practice of wisdom and reflection on the Word of God and the spiritual understanding of his law. The more one reads the Scriptures daily and the greater one’s understanding is, the more one is renewed always and every day. I doubt whether a mind which is lazy toward the holy Scriptures and the exercise of spiritual knowledge can be renewed at all.

-Origen

*Title Slide*

*Prayer*

WE

Sanctification is not a solo performance; it demands a choir, an orchestra, a community of saints.

This was John Wesley’s point when he wrote:

“Holy solitaries” is a phrase no more consistent with the gospel than “holy adulterers.” The gospel of Christ knows no religion but social, no holiness but social holiness. Faith working by love is the length and breadth and depth and height of Christian perfection.

-John Wesley

*Title Slide*

One cannot be holy alone. Holiness is experienced only within the context of a holy church, more specifically a particular local community of believers

If we're gathering here as a church and then going out and gossiping, being complete jerks to people, hooking up in relationships with whoever we feel like, and living in sin just like the rest of our culture, then these gatherings don't mean a thing.

However, if we're living like Christ and offering our entire lives to Him outside of these gatherings, if we're spreading the Gospel by the words we say and the Christ-like lives that we live out in our community, then our gatherings mean EVERYTHING.

So may we go, and spread the only hope this world has- The Gospel of Jesus Christ.