Who am I?...In my Right Mind!
Romans 12 verses 1-8
What do you think of yourself? In his book ‘When Men Think Private Thoughts’ Gordon MacDonald has two men playing a game at midnight. These two men are from completely different ends of the economic and social spectrum. One is a multi-millionaire and living in a penthouse apartment. The other lives in a small house, is a carpenter and yet it is this man who is the more content when he weighs up his lot in life, his estimation of himself and how others view him. MacDonald says that at some point everyman plays the midnight game. I would go further and say that at some point every one of us here have played just such a game in our minds and hearts. We have taken stock of life. Weighed up how others see us. We have examined what we think of ourselves. And I believe it would be fair to say that the majority of you did not view yourselves in a positive way. Let me read you three verses again from Romans 12 and I want to concentrate on these this morning as we look at Who am I?...In my Right Mind! Read Romans 12 verses 1-2
Context – the letter to the believers at Rome, who were predominantly Gentiles, was written around AD57 when Paul was on his third missionary journey. The purpose of the letter was to prepare the way for his coming to Rome, to present the basic gospel of salvation to a church which had not received the teaching of an apostle before and to explain the relationship between Jew and Gentile in God’s overall plan of redemption. The first 11 chapters outline the doctrinal teaching of the gospel and as you see chapter 12 verse 1 begins with the word ‘therefore,’ linking the practical outworking (which is about to follow) with the doctrine outlined previously. So let us look at verses 1-3 of chapter 12.
Verse 1 – Paul begins this section of his letter with a call to wholehearted and whole life commitment to God in light of His mercy to the believer. We read that Paul ‘urges’ or beseeches them to offer their ‘bodies as sacrifices.’ I know the NIV has it as ‘living sacrifices’ but the Greek literally reads ‘offer your bodies as sacrifices, living, holy and pleasing to God.’ It is significant what Paul asks them to do here. The idea of offering yourself as a sacrifice would have been familiar to the believers in Rome. However the difference is that instead of an animal being offered to God it was to be there bodies. Further this was a conscious choice by them, the animal in a sacrifice had no choice. The animal was killed but they were to offer themselves not as those who had died but as living, holy and pleasing to God. This sacrifice of themselves was not a dead one but one full of the energy of life and like all sacrifices they belonged to God and could not be taken back by the giver. In essence Paul is saying to them in light of the mercy God has shown you in sending Christ Jesus to die for you, to save you from the wrath of God and eternal damnation, in light of this mercy, you are to offer all that you are, all that you have, every part of your life to God. You no longer belong to yourself but to God. The recipients of this letter knew that sacrifices were offered morning and evening in the Temple and so they would have understood that Paul was calling them to a daily offering and commitment of their lives to God. This was no once a week offering. This was more than a daily five minutes. The call is to wholehearted and whole of life commitment to God as a response to His mercy shown in salvation. Paul concludes verse 1 by saying this ‘is your spiritual act of worship.’ The daily sacrificing of their lives to God was their ‘spiritual act of worship.’ This was to be an intelligent and deliberate choice every day for them. The animal sacrifice had no choice, they did and they were to choose everyday to surrender their lives to God. Note please that for Paul ‘spiritual worship’ was to do with daily living and their daily walk before God – it was not limited to what they did when they came together as the body of believers on Sunday morning.
Verse 2 – But how were the believers in Rome, and us today, to live such lives of sacrifice? Verse 2 is one of thee most significant verses in all of Paul’s letters. Read verse 2. The dedicated life is also to be the transformed life. Paul wants them to be able to maintain their commitment to Christ. So often people start out with great commitment to Christ but over time it wanes and some even fall away. Some of you this morning know exactly what I am saying. You have lost that initial passion you had for Christ. The flame of faith is almost extinguished this morning. Why? What happened to smoother your faith? I think the answer lies in verse 2. What happened was ‘conformity’ to this world and not ‘transformation’ in the light of the world to come. Let me explain that to you. Before you came to Christ you lived according to the old man, self, the old Adam. This old Adam was by nature sin, and lived according to the flesh by choice. When you came to Christ that was changed. By the new birth you no longer live according to the old nature but according the Spirit of God which is now in you. You are now a co-heir with Christ, a sinner saved by grace with the hope and promise of eternal life in heaven. But here is where the rubber hits the road – you know must choose to live either according to the Spirit or the flesh. You must choose daily which will be the determining factor in how you live your life each day. Paul says to the believers the challenge is not to conform to the patterns, the sinful ways, the sinful thinking, of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of your minds. How is this done? Well let me say to you Paul only ever uses the word ‘transform’ on one other occasion in his letters – 2 Corinthians 3 verse 18, read – where it speaks of being changed into Christlikeness. You know the word ‘transform’ which Paul chooses to use is the same word used to speak of the transfiguration of Christ before the disciples on the mountain. Paul says to the believers at Rome, and to us, that there is to be a conscious renewing of our minds which will transform our lives so that they become sacrifices which are living, holy and pleasing to God. Look at the text closely and you see the way this renewal will transform us – with our minds we understand the patterns of this world which lead us not to transformation, not to daily sacrifice for Christ, but to conformity with this world. In Galatians 1.4 Paul says that as believers we have been delivered from this present age, whose god is satan (2 Cor.4.4) and that we live by the power of the age to come (Heb.6.5), therefore why would we conform to the thinking and the ways of this world. You see Paul understood that in the spiritual life of every believer the battle for control of the mind would ultimately lead to either victory or defeat in daily living. That is why he has spent the first 11 chapters of his letter outlining doctrine – because what you believe ultimately decides how you live. The man who believes that success is decided by wealth and possessions will live accordingly. The world cheapens relationships, marriage, family life and people live accordingly. What you think dictates how you live. Psychologists tell us there are two simple rules to do with the mind:
The Law of Concentration and the Law of Substitution. In the Law of Concentration they tell us that whatever we dwell on grows in our life experience and becomes part of us. In the Law of Substitution they tell us that our conscious mind can only hold one thought at a time and you can substitute a positive thought for a negative thought and vice versa. Think about those two laws for a moment in relation to what Paul has just said in verse 2. Can you see how they work out in our thinking and daily life. What you feed your mind with will ultimately be seen in how you live. If you neglect the spiritual food of the mind then you will end up living a Christian life which is one of weakness and ultimately defeat. Paul says that the conscious renewing of the mind, an ongoing present process, leads to transformation into Christlikeness. We no longer think like an unbeliever. We no longer feed our minds on the things we once did but on things which build us up, strengthen our faith and encourage others. Paul says when we do this we will be able to discern the will of God for our lives. So many of you are unsure, ignorant and blind to the will of God – not because you do not want to know it but because you do not have the spiritual mind to know it because you have starved your minds of spiritual food for years. The truth is for some of you this morning the pages of Vogue and colour charts have made a bigger change in your lives than the Bible ever has. Fashion, the media, popular psychology, folk religion and superstition has changed your lives more than the truth of the gospel. Why is that? Last Sunday morning when Trevor was speaking about Fields of Life – you know the one thing that God kept saying into my heart over and over again – see what I can do with and through one life who is being transformed by the renewing of his mind. What about you this morning?
Practical Application
It would be very easy this morning to leave this sermon at this point and leave you to sort it our for yourselves – but that would be to fail you as a pastor. Let me give you some very practical advice this morning about renewing your mind and transforming your life. I once had a t-shirt which read ‘No pain – No gain.’ There are no shortcuts to spiritual growth or maturity. There is no easy route to renewing a mind and transforming a life – in fact it is a painful path and it is a lifelong path. So here is my advice, gained from Scripture and from my own walk with God.
First – you must consciously surrender your life to Christ, each day. Consciously commit your life to Him each morning. Even say it out loud ‘Today, I am going to live for you Lord Jesus Christ.’
Secondly – daily prayer and Bible reading is essential if you want to renew your mind, to know the will of God and be transformed. That requires discipline of time and it requires determination because all sorts of things will demand your time. Make it a priority each day to spend time in God’s Word and in God’s presence in prayer. Get Bible reading notes – I highly recommend any by the Good Book Company. I have left old copies at the back – you are welcome to take them.
Thirdly – be in a relationship with at least one other person for spiritual growth. Find someone you can trust, someone you can relate to and invite them to hold you to daily bible reading and prayer. Jesus never sent His disciples out on their own – it was always two by two. When Thomas went off on his own he had to wait another week to see the risen Christ, and he was rebuked for his unbelief.
Finally – feed your mind with the things that are wholesome. That means discipline over what you watch, what you read, what you listen to in the media and also what you say. Let us be honest here – many of you as parents are more protective of what your children view than you are of your own minds and hearts – and yet you are then making decisions, eternal decisions, for yourself and your families. Waken up here. If you fill your mind with the things of this world you will conform to this world and fit into it without a whimper. Let me finish with a promise from God’s Word – read Isaiah 26.3 – that is God’s promise to you this morning concerning the renewing of your mind and the transformation of your life.
Amen.
