Romans 12:1 New King James Version (NKJV)
Living Sacrifices to God
Romans 12:1
12 I beseech[a] you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your [b]reasonable service.
Romans 12:2 New King James Version (NKJV)
2 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.
1. Once we surrender in an attitude of sacrifice
2. ...We must stand fast embracing a spirit of non-conformity to this world.
God is in constant work to remove the love of the world [system, beliefs that are contrary to Him] out of us. He wants us to love and show kindness to people, but to hate the world system.
[ Do Not Love the World ] Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Bruce Hurt-The eyes of the LORD are searching to and fro throughout the earth (2Chr 16:9) for men and women who will not be conformed but rather transformed by the Holy Spirit into the image of Jesus Christ. Beloved, there is no "middle ground", no neutral territory - if you are a follower of Christ, you are either a conformer or a transformer! Your life is being changed either by pressure from without (conformation) or by power from within (transformation). As we yield in Romans 12:1 and meditate on His Word, God's Spirit transforms us into "living sacrifices" with "renewed minds", God saturated people who radiate His glory. May God be pleased to raise up a generation of transformers, not conformers, men and women whose lives are controlled by a Divine Power from within, not worldly pressure from without. Amen.
Loving the World and Being Conformed to it means: (1Jn 2:16)
- The lust of the flesh-the temptations on the body which God forbids
- the lust of the eyes-the wants of what we see to have which God forbids
- the pride of life-the self-life with opinions and beliefs which makes "me" and "my wants" first over God and others; selfishness.
Conforming-following after, agreeing, easily followed without being measured by God's Truth. Being fit into a mold, becoming similar to in a fashion that eliminates difference. Becoming the same pattern as the world; loving what they love, expressing as they express.
God calls us holy: meaning we are a separated creature to become different from the world in what we follow and what we express through our lives.
Conforming our life to what the world places as essential and right is one thing Christians are to hate and resist.
The believer has been summoned to the call of living a "living sacrifice." The Christian life is not "me" centered, planning my own life. It is a lifestyle of surrendering to God, discovering His will, and then sacrificing mine. The Church and Christian families need the biblical kind of believer who lives in a self-denying state toward pleasing God.
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