notes

Main point summary

Paul beseeches Christians to present their bodies to God and be renewed in their minds, that they may prove what is the will of God.

Arc

editing

NT

Romans 12:1-2

nkjv

I beseech you therefore, brethren,

by the mercies of God,

actionmanner

that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,

which is your reasonable service.

ideaexplanation

And do not be conformed to this world,

but be transformed

by the renewing of your mind,

negativepositive

that you may prove what is that good

and acceptable

and perfect will of God.

actionpurpose

αἰών Noun strongs : G165 source : from the same as ἀεί ; an age, a cycle of time

discourse

Notes

Therefore 1a-b What does the "therefore" build on? It builds on the mercies of God which Paul mentioned in the chapters before. Among many other mercies of God, the Roman Christians: were justified in Christ received peace with God in Christ were reconciled to God in Christ received life in Christ are in union with Christ are in the Spirit under grace in Christ receive God's everlasting love with Christ are God’s elect in Christ present your bodies 1c This connects to Rm 6:11-14. To present is what is "reckoned, considered" or "accepted to be true". Without presenting the body to God, lusts take over and rule the body which turns the members of the body into instruments of unrighteousness. a living sacrifice means that the whole life is a sacrifice. Not only on Sundays but always 100% devoted to God. A living sacrifice, when no one is around, in the family, with Christians, at work, on the soccer field, always and everywhere the same. To present your bodies a living sacrifice is a continues presentation. Storms of lust may rise at times and will desperately try to get the body off the altar. Life on the alter can get uncomfortable and the easiest way out is to give in and get off the altar. So, sins reign must be denied and the body holy devoted to God. When the body is presented as a living sacrifice in complete devotion to God, then the presenting of the body is also acceptable to God . reasonable service 1d To present the body to God makes only sense because of the great mercies of God. How could we not give our all to the One who gave us all with Christ? Someone who doesn't understand or has a great lack of understanding of the Gospel, will not agree at this point. To present the body a living sacrifice is only reasonable if the mercies of God appear as they are. God's mercies are better than all the fleeting goods of this world. conformed to this world 2a How is one conformed to this world? What does world mean? The word "world" shows up 11x in the book of Romans (ESV). 9x "world" is translated from the Greek as the universe: κόσμος. 1x it is οἰκουμένης (Rm 10:18) "the inhabited earth" And one other time here in Romans 12:2 - αἰῶνι "an age, a cycle of time". What is "this age" like? Thanks to the many mercies of God, there are countless good and honorable things in our age such as, to mention only a few, a shrinking but yet still existing value for the family, a work mentality, support of people in need, and a care for the neighbor. On the negative side, much of this age is driven by lust for money, power, and pleasure. That's what motivates some people to get out of their beds in the morning. That's what people boast in if they think to have enough of it. And out of an over-desire for these things some people commit immoral acts and crimes such as murder, adultery, theft, slander and the like. When anything captures the Christian mind possessively to live life for apart from God, then he is conforming to the standards of this fleeting age and will experience great emptiness, after an initial satisfying rush. Thankfully, that emptiness is often the cause to run back to our merciful God, who receives the humble gladly and opens the eyes to the awesome blessings in Christ. In other words, whenever Christians become so comfortable in this world that they forget the new world yet to come, they are living by the standards of this world. Abraham knew that reality and lived as a pilgrim on earth (Heb 11:10). Likewise, Mose who forsook the riches of Egypt and chose to suffer with the people of God because he looked ahead to the reward in the coming age (Heb 11:24-27). transformed by the renewing of your mind 2b-2c How does the transformation by the renewing of the mind look like? The renewing of the mind is the "reckoning" Paul describes in Chapter 6. By thinking truth often, our minds get transformed to think truth more naturally. It is to meditate on the word of God. To think over the word God speaks. To thoroughly 'digest' them and let them become part of us. Christians learn and grow to be solid thinkers. It happens by studying the word of God. Christianity is definitely more than an emotional boost and some entertainment on Sunday mornings. Will of God 2d-2e The will of God can be discerned through examination and testing. It requires a transformed mind to do that, otherwise, His will may be inadvertently mistaken because the standard by which the discerning is done, is of this age. The will of God is always good, acceptable, and perfect. I find it a great pleasure to spend time with older Christians, who have already walked most of their Christian journey with true desire to please the Lord. Not very seldom, I'm surprised to see how the truth of the word of God affected their life story. Sometimes I wonder if they even know how much they are affected because they don't make always a direct reference to the Bible. I'm thinking of dear Christians who suffered unjustly, at times even from other Christians who should have been a support. Why are they still with these Christians? Why have they not left as others did? How were they able to forgive? - They have discerned the will of God and proved His will in their lifetime. Not that they are super-Christians, they are still broken but healed by faith and their faults and weaknesses are known to them more than ever before, nonetheless, the work of God is clearly seen in their lives. Besides scripture, these are the people I go to in order to think something over and to discern the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God for my life.

Phrase

Romans 12:1-2

I beseech you therefore, brethren,

by the mercies of God,

Context

that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,

Content

holy,

acceptable to God,

which is your reasonable service.

Explanation

And do not be conformed

Negative

to this world,

Destination

but be transformed

Manner

by the renewing of your mind,

Means

that you may prove

Purpose

what is that good

and acceptable

and perfect will of God.

phrasing