Romans Part 12: Not Conformed to This World

[Robert]

In chapter 11 of Romans, the Lord revealed through Paul's writing to the brethren in Rome that instead of the nation of Israel being cast aside forever, God was using their rejection of Him to reach out to the Gentiles, and use that outreach to bring Israel back to Him. Now in chapter 12, the Lord lays out how we are to walk with Him:

"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."(Romans 12:1-2, NASB, emphasis mine)


Continuing the thought from the end of chapter 11(that the Lord shut all up in disobedience and under the Law, so that He may show mercy to all), Paul reveals how we are to walk. First off, we are" to present our bodies as living and holy sacrifices." But what does this mean? Are we to lay on an altar and sacrifice ourselves?


No, that's not what God is asking here.


If we turn back for a moment to Romans chapter 8, scripture tells us:

"So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him." (Romans 8:12-17, NASB)

What the Lord (via Paul's hand) is saying here is that we are to live unto the Lord and not our own flesh. This is what it means to be "living sacrifices"; we are not sacrificing ourselves to be killed, but we are instead offering ourselves up in service to the Lord. Christ paid the penalty of death with His own blood; what we are doing now is living unto the Lord and casting off the deeds and wants of the flesh. And to do that, we follow what is spoken next: to "not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind". This means exactly what it says: to not conform or accept the ways and thinking of this world. Our minds will be transformed when we read scripture, pray and put into practice what the lord speaks to us through the word and His Holy Spirit.

This is why we MUST be in the Word constantly; it truly is the Bread of Life!!! Without it, the world attempts to conform us back to its' ways and means, and it will surely do so without mercy or consideration. When it comes to our walk, there is NO middle ground!!! We either serve God or this world, it cannot be both!

Paul then tells us with what kind of heart and mind we are to serve:

"For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness."

We are instructed not to exalt ourselves in our thinking, but instead to do what we are gifted to do. No one member of the body is any greater than another due to the gift or task asked of the by the Lord; instead, they are to perform their role unto the Lord with their utmost, and in humility. This is where we need to be honestly humble about ourselves and to do our work to our best degree. The one who washes feet as it were is no less than the one who teaches great truths; what makes one great is the faith and the humility with which they serve.

We then see how we should treat the brethren:

"Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality." (Romans 12:9-13, NASB, emphasis mine)

Our love needs to be sincere; it means honestly caring for one another and not just "putting on an appearance." Yes, we're not always going to agree, and at times we may not like some folks. But fleeting emotions and concern for anothers' best interests are worlds apart; love is not merely a feeling we get, but honestly caring for the welfare of another. This is also what it means to "give preference to one another"; we place their good above our own. In other words, we do not seek ourselves first, but their good. This goes against the world's idea of "looking out for number one", and rightfully so. God knows that the only way to live is to care for one another above ourselves, so that all will care for each other and none will be forgotten.

That said, we are also to stay away from evil and to embrace what is right and pure. This links into the beginning of the chapter about being renewed by the transformation of our minds. We no longer look for wickedness, but goodness. We are to continue in our service, not with the fervor of a religious zealot, but with the love of a heart give to God. And we "rejoice in hope"; that is, to be joyful knowing that we have salvation and are reconciled to God. The most beautiful person in all existence is not out of any reach, but we are reunited with our heavenly Father through His Son, Jesus Christ!

Finishing out this passage of Romans 12, "persevering in tribulation" means no matter the trial, trouble or situation, we trust in the Lord and keep on going. Our situation doesn't determine our faith, but we trust in the Lord to bring us through our situation. To be "devoted to prayer" means we continually pray, remaining in a spirit of prayer at all times, ready to go before the Lord at a moments' notice when the need arises. "Constant prayer" doesn't mean praying every single moment of every day, but it means always begin ready to go into prayer, and praying regularly. It means we get into talking to the Lord and often. Lastly "contributing to the needs of the saints" and practicing hospitality" say what they mean, and mean what they say. We provide what we can, when we can, for those of the brethren in need and not to turn away those we do not know.

The body is not closed to the brethren we do not know, else, how do we get to know them? Yes, we exercise discernment, but we also show compassion and warmth as well. We are to be "as wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."


The next passage is one that we often have trouble with:

"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. (Romans 12: 14-19, NASB, emphasis mine)

Often, when we are wronged, we want so badly to be vindicated and to see evil punished. But as strong as our desire for justice is, none of us are able to be just in the situations where we are wronged. But we are instructed instead not to repay evil with evil; we trust that to the Lord, and we are to empathize with those who are rejoicing as well as those who are mourning. Instead of dwelling on our own conditions, we are to be sensitive to the needs of those around us, trying our best to live in peace with them as we are able. Instead of placing ourselves above another or assuming we are better than another, we are instead to reach out to those that would be seen as "lesser" in social circles or society altogether.

All of this we do for the benefit of others; all of this is a testimony to the Lord, because we are not to do as the world would, but instead we are to let our actions speak for us and demonstrate that indeed, we are as different as we appear to be. This is another reason why we are strongly instructed not to avenge ourselves, for that is the world's way, and we are not to be of this world. Additionally, taking such revenge also takes out of God's hands His sovereign right to act, and blocks off those that would harm us from ever repenting of such evil.

Instead:

“BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12: 20-21, NASB, emphasis mine)

This may not seem to be a good strategy by the world's standards, but God knows what this can do. By not repaying with the expected reply of retribution, we are stopping the cycle and showing that we are not locked into the vicious circle or "hurt for hurt". It may also be the first time those that have hurt us have ever seen any sort of true kindness. And, if they still do not learn from it, we have left the situation in the hands of the Lord who will judge correctly and righteously. By leaving God room for his wrath, we actually open up the way for Him to show mercy and compassion on one made bitter in this world. And often, this is the last thing they expect!


As Paul writes for the Lord: we see that instead of doing as the world does, our walk is with the Lord is completely contrary to this world, and is far better than how the world would have us act. The world's ways are not better, but merely quicker and easier...



...and far too often, meet with disastrous results.


In part 13, we'll look at how we are to behave concerning those in authority.


I bid you all peace.


YBIC,


-Robert

[mattfivefour]

Another solid article, Robert.

In regard to HOW we should live, as you have outlined it above, I know many people say, "Well, I try and try but I just cannot forgive, pray, help, whatever, like I should." To which I always point them to the verse you quote above that people tend to read too fast. The verse is Romans 8:13— "If you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live." The phrase people usually overlook is "by the Spirit". Nobody can live the Christ life by their own self-effort. Only Christ could. Therefore, only Christ can in us. He is there by the Holy Spirit who is creating in us the very image of Christ. And it is by yielding ourselves to the Father by continually desiring from our hearts to be more and more like our Savior, through the methods of reading scripture and prayer that you point to, that we will find the victory and more and more walk as He walked. This is confirmed by the entire passage in Galatians 3, where Paul corrects the Galatian church in its thinking. He asks them: "Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3) In other words, we are sanctified just as we were saved: by faith in Christ and His finished work at the Cross.

The Word of God is a picture, and a mirror. It portrays the perfect man—Jesus Christ—to us, and reflects us to ourselves. The superimposition of our flawed humanity over against the image of the perfect One causes us to despair at times, I know. But God intended it to spur us, to cause us "not to think more highly of himself than he should" but to instead through the innate desire to become a natural reflection of Jesus that dwells within us after we are born again, to determine to be more like Him. This causes (or should cause) us to seek Him more and desire to surrender more.

Since Jesus won it all at Calvary, it is ours already, planted within us in seed form at our new birth. And as we daily yield to God, staying close by talking to Him and reading His Word to us, accepting in faith that the perfection of Christ is ours through Christ's perfect sacrifice on the Cross and desiring His will before ours, the Holy Spirit WILL create that beautiful fruit in us so that we do not have to consciously try to do good, we will automatically do it because it is more and more our nature to do it. And if we ever find ourselves in situations where the old flesh with its anger or lust or bitterness or hardness manifests itself, then that is God letting us know where we are and we need to willingly surrender that emotion to Him, confessing we cannot control it ourselves, but in faith accept that the victory is ours already and ask and trust Him to work it out in us.


I know that can sound a little like mental gymnastics; but it isn't. It is simply accepting God's Word in faith and recognizing that only HE can produce Himself in us. Jesus is the source of all victory and everything we need, the Cross is the means, and the Holy Spirit is the agent that works it all out in us. All we need is the "want to". And that comes naturally as we walk in communion with Him.

[IamPJ]

A really good study Robert. I enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing it!