“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.” (Romans 12:1-2 ESV)
Now, this “appeal” made by the apostle Paul is not a mere suggestion nor is it just a friendly recommendation. It is a righteous and godly exhortation, holy urging, cautioning, strong encouragement, beseeching, insisting, counsel, admonishing, and a call to a particular action, to change. And it is based upon the mercies of God, i.e. on what Jesus did for us in dying on that cross and in putting our sins to death with him so that, by faith in him, we might now die to sin and walk in obedience to his commands in holy living.
Because of Jesus’ blood sacrifice for us on that cross, in order to deliver us from our bondage (addiction) to sin, we are able, by the grace of God, to do what Paul was exhorting the Christians to do here. So this is not something that we do in our own flesh, power, strength, and wisdom. For this is of the Spirit and not of the flesh. So no amount of “trying to do good” via human effort is going to accomplish the righteous requirements God has upon the lives of those who profess to believe in him as Lord and as Savior.
Action is still required on our part, but as empowered by God via submission to God/Christ as Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives, and by surrender of our wills to the will of God for our lives. And that action is obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in cooperation with the Spirit of God and his work of grace in our lives in transforming us in heart and mind to make us more like Jesus in character, thought, word, and behavior. For God’s grace trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return (Titus 2:11-14).
However, the truth of what is being taught to us here has very strong opposition in the church and in the world today. So many charlatans today, and their followers, have turned God’s grace into a license to continue living in sin without feelings of guilt and with no requirements of God to die to those sins and to now walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. For they have diluted and altered the gospel of Christ in order to make it more agreeable and comfortable to the ungodly and to human flesh.
Thus, these charlatans have changed the character of God/Christ, of his church, of his gospel, of our salvation from sin, of God’s promises to us, and of his grace to make them more friendly, welcoming, and pleasurable to the people of the world and to those still walking according to the flesh in sinful addiction. So, what they are presenting to the people as the true character of God and of his gift of salvation from sin is indecent, immoral, improper, corrupt, dishonest, and impure so as to attract the world to their gatherings.
For they have replaced the true God with a false god who pampers people in their sins. And they are declaring all of God’s promises to his people for all who merely make a profession of faith in Christ (lip service only). But all of God’s promises have stipulations, requirements, and conditions for those promises to be fulfilled. And most are not teaching that we must die to sin and obey our Lord, but they are letting people continue to flounder in their sins while claiming God’s grace over all sin (even deliberate addictive sin).
But if we read the teachings of Christ, and of his NT apostles, IN CONTEXT, we will learn, if we are willing, that so much of what is being taught as “the gospel” is a very twisted and perverted distortion of the true gospel of God’s grace and of his provision for the salvation of human lives from addiction to and the punishment of sin, so that we can be in true fellowship with God and have the hope of eternal life with God. So many of the “memes” on social media are loaded with the lies which are being presented as truth.
So, Paul’s appeal is not only that we might now surrender our lives to the Lord Jesus as living sacrifices, holy to him, via self-denial, dying to sin daily, and walking in obedience to his commands, but it is that we are not to be conformed to the ways of this sinful world. But that is what these charlatans are leading the professers of faith in Christ to do, to be conformed to the world, because they are conforming God’s character, his church, his grace, his gospel, and his promises to the sinful nature and sinful pleasures of this world.
And please note here that just because you attend a “worship service,” and you raise your hands and sway your arms and your bodies to the music, as you sing along with the lyrics to the song, that in itself does not constitute true worship of God. For it is not true worship of God if our lives (minds, bodies, hearts, characters) are not given to the Lord as living sacrifices to him in holy living, but if we are still surrendering ourselves to the thinking, speaking, behaving, and attitudes of this sinful and corrupt world.
For the Scriptures teach that if we claim to be in fellowship with God/Christ, but while we walk (in conduct, in purpose, in practice) in darkness (sin, wickedness, immorality), we are liars. And if we say that we know God, but while we do not obey his commandments (New Covenant), in practice, we are liars. For whoever makes a practice of sinning (deliberately) is of the devil, but whoever practices righteousness is righteous in the sight of God. So if sin is what we obey, and not obedience to God, it leads to death, not life.
[John 8:31-32; John 10:27-30; John 14:15,21,23-24; John 15:1-11; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14,24; Romans 11:17-24; Romans 13:11; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 15:2; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 5:3-6; Colossians 1:21-23; 2 Timothy 2:10-13; Titus 2:11-14; 2 Peter 1:5-11; Hebrews 3:6-15; Hebrews 5:9; 1 Peter 1:3-9; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6,15,24-25; 1 John 3:4-10,24; 1 John 4:19-20]
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
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