Rom. 12:1-3

By David J. Riggs

Intro.
   A. In Rom. 12:1-3, we are beseeched or urged through the mercies
      of God.
      1. God's tender mercies are bountiful. Luke 1:77-79; Psalm
         20:1-9
      2. The goodness and mercy of God leads to repentance (Rom.
         2:4) as well as to many other things of godliness.
         a. Our texts list several of those things.

I. FIRST OF ALL, WE ARE TO CONTROL OUR BODIES. Vs. 1
   A. Our bodies are to be presented as instruments of righteousness.
      Rom. 6:12-13
   B. "A living sacrifice" - There were dead sacrifices in the O.T.  
      (dead animals).
      1. In the N.T. we give our living, breathing bodies. We keep
         our bodies pure (free from sin) and we give our bodies in
         service (wholly committed to the Lord).
   C. "Reasonable service" ("spiritual" ASV)
      1. Vine - "...Pertaining to the reasoning facilities; the      
         sacrifice is to be intelligent in contrast to those offered 
         by ritual and compulsion."
      2. The offering is an intelligent offering, not one that's     
         forced, or as a ritual.
         a. We do not do it because we have always done it, or
            because we were raised that way, but because we are
            converted to the Lord.
         b. We have determined in our own minds that we will
            serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

II. SECONDLY, WE ARE TRANSFORMED INDIVIDUALS.
   A. "Be not conformed to this world."
      1. There are many different shaped cake pans - as a star,      
         round, square; cake decorating offers a multitude of shapes 
         and sizes.
         a. The cake batter conforms to the mold, and when baked
            it resembles the mold.
      2. The Christian is not to be shaped or molded to this world,
         but to the Lord.
         a. He belongs to the Lord, and the Lord shapes his life. He
            shapes his conduct, speech, etc. Our lives conform to
            Him as the mold. Col. 3:9-10; 2 Cor.3:18
      3. The world wants us to be shaped according to it.
         a. 1 Pet. 1:14; 4:1-4 - In the past, you were conformed or
            molded according to the world in lust, drinking parties,
            revelries, and the like.
         b. But now you have obeyed the gospel, and they think it's
            strange that you don't run with them in the same excess
            of riot, or "the same excesses that riot produces."
   B. "But be transformed."
      1. The Greek word "metamorphosis" to transform or to change
         and is used only here and in Matt. 17:2; Mark 9:2.
         a. It is used in biology with reference to the change of the
            worm to the butterfly.
         b. Once I put a huge, ugly, green worm which I had found
            in the garden into a jar. I did this to teach a lesson to
            my small girls. It spun itself into a cocoon, and stayed 
            there several days. One morning we looked into the jar,  
            and there was a very beautiful butterfly. We released it,
            and it flew away. My girls were very impressed, so they
            filled the whole house with jars with worms in them.
            (1) In biology the emphasis is on the outward change,
                but in Christianity, on the inward.
   C. "By the renewing of your mind..."
      1. Thus, the inspired writer tells us how to be transformed.
         a. This is an excellent verse on the importance of Bible
            study. Also, 2 Cor. 4:16
         b. The Word of God changes our hearts, which results in
            an outward change.
            (1) It is the Lord's way of controlling our lives from
                day to day.
            (2) It is the Lord's way of strengthening us day by
                day.
   D. "That you may prove."
      1. "...That you prove what the will of God is, that which is
         good, and acceptable and perfect." (NASV) This is the order
         in the original manuscripts.
         a. Thus, by our Bible study, exercising our senses upon the
            Word, renewing our minds day by day, we can know the
            will of God. Eph. 5:9-11, 17
            (1) Through such "renewing of the mind" is the only
                way we can know the will of God.
         b. The reason many people don't know the true will of God
            is because they are not renewing their minds with the
            Word day by day.

III. THE WRITER ALSO BESEECHES US TO BE HUMBLE. Vs. 3
   A. The Lord left us an example. John 13:3-17
      1. His greatest example of his humiliation was in His death.
         Acts 8:33; Phil. 2:4-9
      2. Vs. 5 KJV - He could have retained it without being guilty  
         of robbery.
         a. "...Who, existing in the form of God, counted not the
            being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped..."
            (Vs. 5 ASV)
      3. "But to think soberly" - "denotes sound mind, rational;
         marked by grave, thoughtful demeanor."
         a. The humble person is the one who has the right view of
            himself.
         b. The humble person condescends to the lowly. Rom.
            12:16
         c. The "pride of life" is one of the avenues which causes
            one to be conformed to the world. 1 John 2:15-17
   B. What ever happened to Barsabas? Acts 1:21-26
      1. Since he wasn't chosen, was he like some who would then
         quit?
      2. Some have the attitude: "If they don't appoint me, or if    
         they don't appreciate my good work, I'll do nothing, or I'll
         move."
      3. If he was full of pride, he would have had that spirit, and 
         it would have brought about his destruction. Prov. 16:18
      4. However, if he was humble, which he probably was, he
         would have said, "I'll continue to serve in the best way I
         can."

Concl.
   A. Thus, in Rom. 12:1-3 we are urged:
      1. To present our bodies as living sacrifices.
      2. To not be conformed to this world, but transformed into the
         image of Christ.
         a. We use the power of the Word to do this. We are
            transformed by the renewing of our minds from day to
            day.
      3. To have a lowly view of ourselves.