Grow: worldview

Romans 12:1-2 is so familiar that its significance often gets overlooked. But when I was studying these verses to prepare for my message last Sunday, I was struck by how much depth there really is here.

The NIV says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will."

The first thing we should note about this passage is that it begins with the word "therefore." Whenever we see "therefore" in the Bible, we should ask ourselves, "What is the 'therefore' there for?" It really doesn't make sense to start reading a passage that begins with "Therefore" and not back up to see what was said beforehand. It would be like if I came up to you and suddenly said, "Therefore, I need to go down to the store."

But, if we back up and read a few verses before Romans 12:1-2, then we see this amazing doxology that Paul writes describing how wonderful God is. Therefore (that is, because God is so wonderful) we should offer our bodies as living sacrifices.

Now there's another important word in this passage, and that is the word "through." This single word gets translated as "in view of" in the NIV. But if we wanted to be literal, we would say, "I urge you, brothers, through God's mercy." What I mean is, the only way we can come to God at all is through his mercy, that is, through his Son and the merciful sacrifice of the cross. So, first of all, we need to recognize that our ability to come to God and offer ourselves to him depends, not on our effort or ability, but on the mercy of God.

Also, this passage says that offering ourselves to God is our spiritual act of worship. Some translations might say that it is our reasonable or rational act of worship. The Greek word behind the English here is where we get our word "logical" from. So, offering ourselves to God is not only spiritual, it is also reasonable and rational. Why? Because Romans 11:33-36 declares how glorious God is. Therefore it is only reasonable, in light of God's greatness, that we offer ourselves to him.

As we do this, and we transform our lives through the renewal of our minds by reading Scripture and spending time in prayer, getting a Biblical worldview, we will then be able to discern what God's will is.

It was great to worship with you this weekend!

Have a blessed week, and God willing, I'll see you next week at the Gathering.

-Tim