Are You Ready to be Committed?
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. 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.
Romans 12:1-2 are very precious to me. As a babe in Christ, the Lord
showed me these verses, along with several others, to show me that Christian
growth and maturity, as well as finding the will of God, was not limited by God
Himself, but only by my willingness (or lack thereof) to follow the clear
instructions of Scripture. As Lester Roloff put it so well, “It could
be, the problem is you!”
Now, it’s also worth noting the context that immediately precedes
our text. Paul has just shown us in chapter eleven that God is not through with
Israel by any means, but “…that blindness in part is happened to Israel,
until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be
saved…” Now read verses 32-36 of
chapter eleven. Now hold your place in Romans, but turn to 2 Corinthians as we
read chapter three. Some time ago, I preached a message titled “One Thing I
Know” and showed you some places in Scripture where God opened the eyes of
some folks to some spiritual things. God, in His infinite mercy, has seen fit
to allow you and I to get in on the blessings of heaven through the salvation
He bought for you and I on Calvary. Now if you are saved and born again this
morning, you have been sealed with the holy Spirit of God unto the day of
redemption. It is the ministry of the Spirit of God to teach you spiritual
things. Look at 1 Corinthians 2, starting in verse 9 down to the end of the
chapter. This is exactly what the Lord Himself promised back in John chapters
15 and 16.
So what is the bottom line for you and me? Personal commitment.
James tells us, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth
to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like
a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man
think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man
is unstable in all his ways.”
Are you ready to be committed?
I.
Personal Commitment is
Started with a Transaction; v.1
“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.”
·
It Must Be:
·
A Limitless Transaction (don’t hold back…be sold-out for God!)
·
A Liberating Transaction (2 Cor. 3:17 “…where the Spirit of the Lord
is…”)
·
A Life-Giving Transaction (John 11:25; 14:6; Acts 11:18; 13:46-48)
II.
Personal Commitment is
Supplied with a Transformation; v. 2a
“And be not conformed to this world: but
be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind…”
·
It Must Be:
·
A Reconciling Transformation; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
·
A Redeeming Transformation; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 1:18
·
A Refining Transformation; 1 Peter 1:18-25; Psalm 12:6-7
“…purified seven
times…”
·
Tyndales Bible;
1526
·
Coverdales Bible;
1535
·
Matthews Bible;
1537
·
Great Bible; 1539
·
Geneva Bible; 1560
·
Bishop’s Bible;
1568
·
Authorized Version
1611 Holy Bible
III. Personal Commitment is Settled with a Transference; v.2b
“…that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and
perfect, will of God.”
·
It Must Be:
·
A Trustworthy Transference; Pr. 20:6; Mt. 25:23; 1 Cor. 4:2; 1 Tim. 1:12; 2 Tim. 2:2
·
A Truthful Transference; John 4:23-24
·
A Total Transference; (notice three wills of God are shown
here…)
1.
You can live a good life, as a Christian, and do good things, but they are
“unacceptable” because you were out of the will of God the entire time, doing
Your own thing.” This probably describes 50% of all real Christians in America
today.
2.
You can do some things that God will accept at the Judgment Seat of
Christ for those were specific things He told you to do. (That will account for
another 40% of all real Christians in America today)
3.
You can find out exactly what God wants you to do, and do it exactly the way God wants you to
do it. (That will be 10% or less of the Body of Christ in America, today)
Are you ready to be committed? Personal commitment
is started with a transaction, it is supplied with a transformation, and it is
settled with a transferance.
“Colossians
1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by
wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his flesh
through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his
sight: 23 If ye continue in the faith grounded
and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was
preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a
minister;”
As the
Psalmist said in Psalm 119:31, “ I have stuck unto thy
testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.” The Lord has done, and will
continue to do His part, will you?
Are You
Ready to be Committed?