Rom 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Firstly, I want to explain these two verses of scripture, then I will bring it all home to us and for us.
Lets start with the first verse:
You see, there were basically two types of offerings in the Old Testament.
First there was the offering for sins and trespasses. Basically, these types of offerings were for sins against God, and sins against our neighbor. The word “trespass” means ‘to invade the property or rights of another without consent’.
This is what Christ was alluding to when He said all of the commandments could be summed up into 2 commandments.
Mat 22:37-40 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
These first sacrifices were offered before reconciliation, as a means of bringing us back in favor with God.
The second type offering, the burnt offering or peace offering ….was offered after the first offering in celebration of what God did through the first offering, Which is reconciled us to Himself, or in simpler terms…...God accepted it as payment for our sins….Instead of death, which is what should happen as a result of our sins.
Both type offerings had to be unblemished…which means there could not have been sick and not one mark or scar could be on them… they were set apart for an offering unto the Lord.
So, when the Romans 12:1 says I “beseech you” that is to say, “I plead with you”….. the apostle Paul is making a plea to the Romans, that as God showed them mercy, Christ on the cross…a sin and trespass offering…. they would present their bodies as a living sacrifice…or peace offering in celebration for what the sacrifice of the lamb of God Jesus accomplished for us!
Let’s look at the next verse of scripture:
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
This word “conformed” comes from the Greek word “soos-khay-mat-id'-zo” meaning - to fashion ones self according to; To adopt or to imitate a posture or an attitude. In other words… to be molded or shaped by.
God calls us to drop one thing and pick up another……we are to drop the ways of the world and pick up a transformed mind. The word here “transformed” can be better translated… “Metamorphosis; to radically change”.
You see…this term “Morph” denotes not an outside posturing or imitation of something…but a manifestation of God in your inner most being….. Manifesting Himself through… to the outer being…….
The word renewing,
“be ye transformed, by the renewing of your mind”…….the word
renewing is a constant…it is an
action word……It is always occurring. The word renewing is better understood by
translating it “Renovate”.
Let your mind be renovated (out with the bad…and in with the new and improved), that
you may prove (not guess….not think)
what the good, perfect and acceptable will of God is. Prove to who?? Prove
to yourself!!
God wants you to know beyond a shadow of a doubt what His good, acceptable and perfect will is……and this can only be done by renewing or renovating….your mind with His word. The New Living translation reads Romans 12:2 this way;
Don't copy the behavior and
customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing
the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will
know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.
Let’s look at some other verses of scripture that speaks on this same thing:
Eph 4:22-24 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts (the word corrupt means: marked by immorality, to lower in character, morals or value)
Verse 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
