A Life Pleasing to God (Part 2) – Romans 12:1–2

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

PRAY 

To live pleasing to God, let the gospel motivate your total devotion and continual transformation through renovated thinking. (Rom 12:1-2)

These verses flow from all that Paul has said up to this point, and they form the foundation for Paul’s continued instruction on Christian conduct. This is a paradigm for all the remaining exhortation because it explains the basic whatand how of the Christian life. And because this is so fundamental and practical, we are proceeding with a second week on these verses.

As an aid to help us understand and meditate on the text, I offer two ways to think about the structure of the text in order to clarify the parts and process Paul describes. Here’s one of those (with a small adjustment from last time). At its core, what Paul gives us is a picture of…

The Distinctly Christian Life

THE WHY: Motivated by God’s mercies in the gospel

THE WHAT: A life of total devotion to pleasing God

THE HOW: Continual transformation through renovated thinking

THE GOAL: A life pleasing to God according to His will

Or here’s another visual representation of this ‘all-in’ commitment to continual transformation that is motivated by gospel mercies and aimed at a life that is pleasing to God.

The mercies of God should motivate lives of total devotion to God, which is our rational way to serve him. And a life of total devotion is enacted and maintained by ongoing transformation through minds that are being constantly renovated according to the Spirit of God and not the spirit of this age. By this we will be moving in the right direction of discerning and doing the will of God for his people. Last week we addressed the first two parts of this.

Live Pleasing to God: Gospel Motivation

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God…”

Paul wants us to realize that God’s mercies to us in the gospel of Jesus Christ is the most powerful impetus to live pleasing to God. God’s acceptance of us by grace through faith is truly a better motivation than merely fear of punishment or trying to earn his favor. Although we deserve punishment, and cannot sufficiently merit his favor, God has provided for his own righteous requirement through Jesus, and in him he adopts us as his beloved children.

Accordingly, Paul’s urgent call is for a life of…

Live Pleasing to God: Total Devotion

“…to present your bodies as a sacrifice—living, holy, and well-pleasing to God—your reasoned worship.”

We discussed this at length last time, so now we’ll just remind ourselves that responding with this whole-life commitment to God’s grace is the only rational, reasonable way to worship God—to serve him with all that we are and have.

And now we continue our study with verse 2, where Paul emphasizes…

Live Pleasing to God: Continual Transformation

“And do not be conformed to this age but be transformed…” 

Grammatically this verse is parallel to the first, beginning with “and.” But it is most likely conceptually subordinate in the sense of explaining and developing the life of total devotion. This could be seen as both the what and/or the how of total devotion—of becoming a living sacrifice, which is our reasonable worship in response to God’s gospel mercies. So it is either parallel as a part of this life of total devotion, or it is parallel in explanation as to how one may actually grow in and maintain a life of total devotion.

First, do not be conformed to this age, this era of history, this world system (with its values, beliefs, and morals in contrast to God’s will and ways). We must fight back against it, resisting its pressure, because the age that Paul describes is still the extended era in which we also live. Furthermore, Paul clearly implies that it is not good but evil, even as he describes in Gal 1:4 that this present evil age is that from which Christ has delivered us. Finally then, it is the world order to which we were adhering before faith in Christ (Eph 2:2), so we must now intentionally and continually exercise our freedom from former habits and ways of thinking.

So Paul says something like, don’t be squeezed into the mold of this evil age. I picture us as being like metal that is heated by the stresses and strains of life. But will we then slip back into old patterns or will we actively submit to the Spirit of God to shape us into becoming like Jesus?

It is true that you have become a child of God, even a new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17), but there are still two contrary factors at play in this age until Christ returns or calls you home: 1. Under God’s sovereign plan, Satan is yet influencing the worldview and activity of individuals and of systems (even religions) that do not submit to Christ and obey his word.  And 2. The vestiges of our sinful ways remain with us, when we were formerly under the control of this evil age.

For me these lead also to 2 significant implications, one for each: 1. We must be constantly alert and active to evaluate and discern the wrong values influencing people and systems and also the wrong values foisted upon us in popular culture. To be sure, not every part of everything is automatically evil and insidious. But if you were in Satan’s position, wouldn’t you aim to lull people into complacency and progressively move them away from truth?

2. We cannot trust our own thoughts and especially our motives until they are remade in the image of Christ. And since that process is never complete, we must always be alert to the possibility, even the probability, that our motives are tainted with sin. We must be actively and regularly filtering out the dross of self-interest and self-exaltation. - Especially in situations where decisions must be made, or conflicts with fellow believers exist, we must quickly and frequently check our motives against the pattern of Christ in God’s word. We must prayerfully and continually strive to submit to the Spirit, with the goal that he will produce his fruit in us: selfless love, deep joy, lasting peace, patience like God’s forbearance, sincere kindness, true goodness, enduring faithfulness, Christlike tenderness/gentleness, and self-control over our thoughts and feelings that influence our words and actions.

And like the top of your dresser or nightstand, you find yourself needing to clean it up again and again. Even that by itself isn’t sufficient. Paul continues. Avoiding the pressures of this evil age isn’t enough. Those wrong patterns of thinking must be replaced with something else. - A dirty carburetor must be cleaned, but then we must consistently refill the tank with clean fuel to run the engine effectively. - Or you might think of it like the fact that our bodies constantly live on water. You are drinking something, but is it all Dr Pepper or is it pure water? Your mind is filling up with something that shapes you, but is it the pure truth of Christ’s character and commands?

“And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed.” “Be transformed” here means continual change into Christlikeness… accomplished by the Spirit. Besides the transfiguration of Jesus, the verb metamorphoo is used in the NT only here and in 2 Corinthians 3:18. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” So this transformational process matches what Paul described in Romans 8:29 “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

The verb is passive in both places because the Holy Spirit does the transforming into Christlikeness. But on our part this is a voluntary, active submission to the will of God for the Spirit to do his work in us. The verb is also present tense, leading us to understand that it is a process which continues throughout the Christian life. While we actively trust in God that he will continue to keep his promise to remake us to be like Christ, we also actively and intentionally submit to the Spirit for this purpose. But how do you invest yourself in what the Spirit is willing to do?

Do not be pressed into the mold of this age, but be transformed (into Christlikeness) with new patterns of thinking. So this ongoing transformation is accomplished by the Spirit through…

Live Pleasing to God: Mind Renovation

“…through the renewal of the mind…”

This continual transformation is produced through ongoing mind renovation, through learning new patterns of thinking. Our physical lives, this house in which we live, is never finished being renovated in this life. We keep on striving to let the Spirit make us new in a fight against the pattern of this age trying to press us into its mold.

As we noted last time, since Paul views humans holistically, he presses the critical correlation between what one thinks and what one does. Our patterns of thinking directly correspond to our affections and desires, and to our words and behaviors. And what Paul therefore describes is not a reshaping from the outside (like Michelangelo sculpting David from marble) but is a radical re-orientation that happens from within the human heart.

Consider how intensely practical this is that Paul says we must learn new patterns of thinking according to God’s truth instead of the mold of this age.

How will we recognize and deny false teaching, or how will we recognize and seek help when spiritual authority is used for wickedness? We must be continually renewing and strengthening Biblical truth and growing in Christlike character so that we can perceive a fake flower and fake scent because of our familiarity with and love for the genuine rose. This is why a fellowship of humble and growing believers is so essential, and sound teaching, and consistently spending time with God in his word and in dependent prayer, because by it God is retraining your thinking according to his own perfect thoughts.

Where will we gain a spirit of calmness and level-headedness when the madness of things happening in this world swirls about us? Through the gospel of God we will rest knowing that our King is on his throne and is soon returning for his own. When there seems to be no solution to a present problem, or at least nothing that we can do about it, we must consistently meditate on the sovereign control and providential care of God at work in all things.

How will we not give up in the face of adversity and our own insufficiency? The gospel reminds us that God is sufficient; he is enough. Gospel meditation will renew our thinking such that the reasoned response of our affection for God is to persist in total devotion. And we know that such total devotion, because of God’s own faithfulness, will continue to result in ongoing transformation into the image of Christ, for us and for others. Then we are once again renewed in belief and commitment that the Spirit of God changes us by the word of God because of the completed work of Christ.

And are we not inclined to let our thoughts dwell on the ephemeral, what is temporary and fleeting. Instead, we need our minds re-oriented on things of lasting importance, of eternal significance. We must aim to see beyond what seems consequential and captivating at the moment and focus our thoughts on that which is more fundamental and more significant in the long-term (2 Cor 4:18). We must recognize ourselves as not bound by this age but set our minds on the age to come. 

So do you not think that your mind needs re-training in all ways by gospel thinking instead of worldly thinking? Here’s another example: To be like Jesus, we must learn to forgive a repeated offender who is seeking forgiveness in an effort to grow in the right direction (77 times or 70 x 7 times). But are inclined to think, I was deeply cut by the first offense, and even now lesser offenses sting the scar. We then tend to assume that the person isn’t really repentant if it sometimes happens again. But shouldn’t we give a growing believer the same benefit of the doubt that we would want—space for grace to continue growing? More importantly, we should offer forgiveness by renovated thinking based upon the gospel truth of our own forgiveness, which transferred us into the kingdom, and which continues to forgive the trespasses of God’s growing children. If God forgives me and them, must I not also do the same… if I would be like Jesus?

These are only some examples that are fresh in my own thinking. But let these fuel further careful processing on your own or with others. And do not be surprised when, just like in house renovation, you start fixing what you think is the problem only to find there is a more fundamental problem to address.

But Paul is helping us see that if we are to give our whole lives as a holy and pleasing sacrifices to God, then we must not foolishly think that worldly patterns of thinking are harmless. Instead, we must deliberately invest ourselves in God’s word to renovate our patterns of thinking, so that we begin to learn to think God’s thoughts after him. And the more we are continually transformed by the Spirit, the more we will be live pleasing to God by discerning his will.

A Life Pleasing to God

“that you may approve what God’s will is, what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.”

The Greek word dokimazo (approve) suggests the concept of finding out the worth of something by putting it to use or testing it in actual practice, which is why our translations are using multiple words for this one word. What Paul likely has in mind is both discerning and doing the will of God as a single activity. - As the houseplant detects the light and grows toward the light, and as the smaller fish perceives the danger and hides himself, so should be the new instinct of the mind that is being renewed according to God’s character and higher ways.

Being retrained in new patterns of thinking will lead to us recognizing and pursuing what God wants. The better we get to know a person, the more acquainted we become with his or her desires. (Examples: the way I know my wife, or the views of a mentor. As I live in relationship to them, I’ve seen what they think and care about and what they do in different situations. So too we get to know a person’s qualities, and we desire to emulate those qualities.) How much more as we come to understand God’s perfect qualities do we in adoration and admiration desire to become like him.

So as we are living in freedom from the mold of this age, we are intentionally submitting to transformation through new patterns of thinking. And this learning to think God’s thoughts after him will lead to us discerning and doing what God’s will is. And Paul describes God’s will as being what is good and well-pleasing and perfect. With these three adjectives we can tell that Paul has in mind God’s moral direction for us—for the way that we should be; in other words, how we should live at all times.

First, what is morally good in God’s sight (that which is of moral excellence) contrasts what is worthless. It contrasts the former way of life in which God has given sinners over to their own worthless/debased mind to do things that ought not to be done (Rom 1:28).

As we are becoming like Christ in this discerning-and-doing of renovated thinking, such that what is well-pleasing to God is well-pleasing to us. To do that which brings pleasure to God brings higher and greater satisfaction to us. - This would apply to our being pulled towards self-entertainment, towards physical desires that are outside of God’s ordained means for our good, or in unhealthy excess (eating), or toward vanity (too much focus on our outward appearance).

Perfect sounds like an impossible target until we understand that it means being complete in the sense of reaching maturity, and so to be without blemish or defect. And since we know that yes, we are maturing but have not reached the end of our maturing until glory, we keep thinking of it as a target. You do not stop aiming for the bullseye simply because you do not hit it every time. Just so, we strive to be like our perfect Father, perfect Son, and perfect Spirit. We are both motivated to be like him even while knowing that we will not be fully unblemished until he brings us home to glory. But we are exceedingly grateful to be in the realm of grace and on this journey that leads to glory.

Before we wrap this up, let me say a word about seeking God’s will when what we actually mean is praying for God’s direction concerning our own specific decisions:

First, remember that you will never know the secret will of God beyond what is revealed in his word.

Second, since we do know God’s moral will for us, we must outright reject doing what the Bible forbids. Instead, we must pursue everything the Bible commands.

Third, be willing to patiently and prayerfully wait on the Lord if you do not know what to do, while you continually focus on God’s stated will for who you should be (how you should live).

Finally, spend time drawing near to God, and make a decision, asking God to help you please him as you walk in it.

The more we know God in relationship to him, the better we think God’s thoughts after him and have peace to pursue directions that will allow us to function within his moral will for our lives.

Conclusion: To live pleasing to God, let the gospel motivate your total devotion and continual transformation through renovated thinking.

We’ve had a great deal of practical application today, so let’s conclude by zooming back out to a couple of big-picture applications.

What Paul describes is a new kind of life only available through faith in Christ. Repent of loving sin and trusting self, and call upon the mercy of God in the Lordship of Jesus to save you. If you do that, God promises to make you his child and continue this process of training you up as his child, to be like Jesus. At its most basic, God’s will is that you should repent of sin and trust in Christ.

So then the obvious but essential reminder for us as believers is to remain fully committed to this cycle of devotion to God and growth in Christlikeness. The gospel we receive through faith should motivate and empower us to present our whole selves to God as a sacrifice of proper, rational worship. In so doing we must strive against this evil age molding our thoughts and instead be continually shaped into the image of Christ our Lord. To this end we continually invest in the Spirit’s work through His word to renovate our minds, to rebuild our patterns of thinking. And when we learn to think God’s thoughts after him, we will please God by living according to his moral will.

PRAY