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.

Chapters one through eleven of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans explores the mysteries of God’s plan for the redemption of sinful man.  The letter to the Romans is more of a doctrinal exposition of the Gospel than a letter, written to the Christian audience in Rome about the year 58 B.C.  The Apostle Paul has laid his foundation and now, beginning with chapter 12 of Romans, he turns to application of these theological principles.

Paul begins by using the word therefore which is a bridge or hinge connecting what has been said earlier with the conclusions which are to come.  Paul has the authority to command his audience to obey the precepts he is about to present but instead the word beseech is chosen.  This choice of word underlies the principle of our free choice. (Remember, the Bible is God’s words spoken to us and was written under the complete supervision of God, using man as his agent.  It is perfect.  Nothing can be added and nothing can be taken away.)

We are urged to present our bodies – meaning our whole selves – body and soul, to God.  Jesus Christ is the full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the world and here Paul is asking us to be a living sacrifice.  We are urged to dedicate all that we are to God:   to make a choice as to how we are to live.

The first step of Alcoholics Anonymous calls for surrender and acknowledges the powerlessness of the alcoholic.  This is followed by an admission that only a power greater than ourselves could restore sanity and finally, a decision to turn the will and the lives of the alcoholic over to the care of God.  What the Apostle Paul is saying i Romans 12 is, we must surrender to the will of God, based on the knowledge of the theology that Paul has laid before us in Chapters 1 through 11.  This foundation does make a difference, because what we believe determines how we behave.

The Apostle Paul explores conformity to this fleeting temporal world we live in.  Instead of adapting to this world we can and should – by surrendering to the will of God – be transformed by the renewal of our minds.  Our outward expression is what is represented by our inner being –  the regeneration of our sinful nature.  We are urged not to be conformed which is external and does not express what is on the inside.  It is putting on an act and accepting a pattern of life that is imposed on us from without; a manner of life that is unstable and changing.  Paul calls for a decisive commitment and a maintenance of that commitment.  William MacDonald explains that the word conform is used here as the society or system that man has built in order to make himself happy without God; a world that is hostile to nonconformists; a world that is self centered, self pleasing, self indulgent, self concerned and indifferent to the needs of others.

Renewal of our minds is a continuous process – an essential change in the character of our thinking.  This is the process of new life that emerges from the new birth by the Holy Spirit.  The word of God, most especially through the Bible, is not merely to inform but to transform.It is not merely about feeling and doing but meditation and study which will lead to discernment and desire to do that will of God.  This ultimately leads to the transformation and renewing of our minds.

Verse 2 ends by saying that with our renewed minds we will be able to test and prove the perfect will of God.  This gift of discernment  is an increased power or ability to perceive what it is God’s will we should do – a stripping away of this temporal sinful world to be replaced by eternal truth and life.

another quote from my favorite, C.S. Lewis:  It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird:  it would be a jolly sight harder to learn to fly while remaining an egg.  We are like eggs at present.  And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary decent egg.  We must be hatched or go bad.