Romans 12:1-3 ( NKJV )
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
Let’s take a closer look at Romans 12:1-3. There is obviously something very important in this verse. Paul begins with the word “beseech.” This is a strong English word. According to Webster, beseech means to beg earnestly or anxiously. Paul is begging his readers, with a great degree of concern, to get the truth he is bringing to them. It is very important.
Yesterday we talked from Proverbs 23:6-7 about the fact that “as a man thinks so is he.” The inner image we carry determines who and what we are. What and how we think either limits or releases us. Paul is brining this same truth into the new testament setting and telling us it is a vital part of how to live successfully as a Christian. There are a number of things about this verse I want to highlight for the rest of this week.
First Paul brings in the idea of the mercy of God. Why is this important in the beginning of this discussion? Because we must understand that God is not asking any of this of us as part of a judgment against us. He is not saying we must present our bodies as a sacrifice because we have sinned. He is saying quite the opposite. Jesus was the sacrifice for sin, no other sacrifice is required for that. It was mercy that sent Jesus to the cross.
Jesus was offered as a sacrifice for judgment against sin, however the motivation was no justice for God as much as it was mercy toward God’s children. Sin had to be paid for because God’s children, mankind, had to be set free. God gave Jesus who did not commit sin in order to pay for man’s sin. Mercy is giving what is not deserved. God gave us mercy by giving Jesus as a sacrifice for sin.
By this outpouring of God’s mercy, He made everything available to man. It was God’s mercy that enabled us to receive the new birth. We did not deserve to be made new creatures, but God’s mercy in Christ’s sacrifice made it available. However there is more to what God provided for us than the new birth alone. As we look at Romans 12 we see there is a total transformation available to us. This is to affect our whole being not just our spirit. The new birth occurs in the spirit of man. What about the soul? What about the body? They need to be transformed.
Paul is going to use language that could be interpreted as judgment. He is going to talk about a sacrifice. He is going to speak of holiness and service. He is going to speak of separation from the world. All of these things could be seen from a standpoint of an angry God that is demanding a certain obedience because of our shortcomings. However Paul wants to be certain that his readers understand that this is not the case. All he is about to say flows from and was made available by God’s wonderful mercy.
It was mercy that provided for our salvation. It is mercy that brings us the revelation of how to be transformed. Take some time today and thank God that you are not an heir to judgment. God has made you and I the target of His never ending mercy. We do not get what we deserve, we receive the benefits of God’s love. When He asks something from us it is not because he is angrily judging our shortcomings. It is motivated by His desire for us to fully partake of what His mercy has provided.
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