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GE. 3-4 (1/4) |
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"THE FIRST RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS"(1/4) |
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NEW THIS WEEK |
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"THE FIRST RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS"(1/4) |
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THE CHURCH ON HIGHER GROUND |
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HOMEPAGE |
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OTHER STUDIES |
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SERMON NETS short messages |
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PATHLIGHT Light for our Pathway |
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Homepage |
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Gen. 4:1-11 (2/2) |
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A BAD CASE OF FALLEN FACE |
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Josh. 1:5-9 (5/5) |
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THE PROMISE OF HIS PRESENCE |
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Ps. 1:1-6 (6/6) |
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THE BLESSED AND THE UNGODLY |
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Jn. 21:1-17 (4/4 & 2/2) |
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DO YOU LOVE ME?... PERFECT LOVE |
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Ro. 12:1-2 (1-4/15) |
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#1-4...NOT CONFORMED, BUT TRANSFORMED |
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Ro. 12:1-2 (5-8/15) |
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#5-8...NOT CONFORMED, BUT TRANSFORMED |
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Ro. 12:1-2 (9-12/15) |
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#9-12...NOT CONFORMED, BUT TRANSFORMED |
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Ro. 12:1-2 (13-15/15) |
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#13-15...NOT CONFORMED, BUT TRANSFORMED |
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Not Conformed, But Transformed/Ro.12:1-2 (9-12/15)
#1 Not Conformed, But Transformed/Ro.12:1-2/Acceptable and Reasonable (9/15)
#2 Not Conformed, But Transformed/Ro.12:1-2/Negative and Positive (10/15)
#3 Not Conformed, But Transformed/Ro.12:1-2/Don't Be Squeezed (11/15)
#4 Not Conformed, But Transformed/Ro.12:1-2/Be Transformed (12/15)
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#1 Not Conformed, But Transformed/Ro.12:1-2/Acceptable and Reasonable(9/15)
The difference in total commitment and a donation is explained like this. A pig and a chicken were talking one day; the chicken said, "Why don't we go into business together?" The pig said, "OK, what do you suggest we do?", "How about a restaurant?" said his fine feathered friend. "OK", OinKed the pig, "What kind should it be?" The upwardly mobile yard bird said, "How about a breakfast bar, featuring BACON AND EGGS?".........After a long pause the pig said, "No way!" "Why not?", clucked the chicken. "Because for you it would require a contribution, but for me it would take a total commitment." For those that take your Jewish roots too seriously, this is not a kosher story, but the point is well made. God REQUIRES... He does not suggest... TOTAL COMMITMENT. A contribution, donation, offering, gift, regardless of how generous is not acceptable.
In our passage, Paul tells us that total commitment is our REASONABLE or ACCEPTABLE SERVICE. In a day and society which teaches that we cannot please God and that God doesn't require anything from us, Paul's words are revolutionary. But that is what we need...a spiritual revolution. God wants us to offer our body as a LIVING SACRIFICE. No restrictions, nothing witheld. He wants it to be voluntary, separated from sin, separated to God, cleansed, and totally surrendered. This is reasonable and acceptable. God told Israel, "But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you" (Le.22:20). The Psalmist prayed, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer" (Ps.19:14).
Paul elaborates on this thought when he writes in Ephesians 5, "3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10 Proving what is ACCEPTABLE unto the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."
Paul prayed for the Christians at Colossae to be filled with the knowledge of God's will so, "10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;" (5:10-11). John told us that we can not only obey God's commandments, but we can go beyond that and do what is pleasing in God's sight (1Jn.3:22). Early believers rejoiced when they were persecuted because it showed they were WORTHY to suffer shame for His name. (Ac.5:41). Paul directs us to walk WORTHY of our calling in the Lord. (Ep.4:1.)
It is clear from the Scriptures that we are expected to give to God an acceptable, pleasing and worthy life. Not everyone will trust and obey God in our world today. May we be the ones who make that acceptable sacrifice to God.
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#2 Not Conformed, But Transformed/Ro.12:1-2/Negative and Positive(10/15)
There are two sides to salvation; God's side and man's side. There are two sides only because God determined that there should be two sides. God planned salvation* and God implemented salvation. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself*. However, God determined that man should participate in salvation. God gave man a free will at creation* and, by grace, God enables man to exercise his free will so that he may accept or reject God's salvation*.
The two sides of salvation look something like this.
God's side: payment for sin [Jesus death on the cross and resurrection]; conviction of sin [Holy Spirit shows us our sin and guilt]; forgiveness; adoption; regeneration; cleansing; God gives us faith, repentance, confession, obedience.
Man's side: the exercise of repentance, confession, faith and obedience.
The Christian experience is not a rules and regulations religion. It is a living and loving faith relationship with God. However, since there are two sides to life [The Holy and The Un-holy, God's Way and satan's Way, Faith and Un-belief, Obedience and Disobedience], man is faced with choices. The choices are To Do or Not To Do, To Be or Not To Be, To Think or Not To Think. To Do the will of God or Not To Do the will of God; To Be a believer or Not To Be a believer; To Think God's thoughts or Not To Think God's thoughts. Though there are many whom He would like to save, not all of them repent*. We are saved only because God has chosen to save us*. And we are obedient because we are saved*. If we do not believe Him and accept His salvation we are not saved*. We are not saved because we do righteousness*, we do righteousness because we are saved*. If we do not make right choices, we are not saved. If we claim to have faith, but do not do the will of God our faith is dead and useless*. If our faith is dead and usless we are still in our sins*. Paul said, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Take note, we are saved by grace...not by works...we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works. If we are not doing the good works, we are not new creatures in Christ*. We are created in Christ Jesus to walk in newness of life* and not remain dead in our sins and trespasses*.
Since God has decided that man has responsibilities for his salvation, there are do's and don'ts. In the Old Testament there were Thou Shalt's and Thou Shalt Not's. Here in Romans 12:2 we have "Be Not Conformed, But Be Transformed." These are the Negative and Positive sides of total commitment. There are things we are "to do" and there are things we are "not to do". As is said in other places, Put Off and Put On*, Walk Not and Walk*, Speak Not and Speak*.
The negative side of salvation is not to be understood as "the bad side of salvation" since there is no bad side of salvation. The negative side of salvation should be understood as the "minus" side of salvation or the "TAKE AWAY" side. We are to "TAKE AWAY" the bad, sinful, destructive, unclean things from our lives. It is not bad to TAKE AWAY, hate and murder, lust and adultery, greed and theft, deceit and lying. It is good to get rid of those things. To "Do" the will of God is not the same as "Earning" our salvation. Obedience is Faith in Action. Dis-obedience is Dis-belief in action. That which is not of faith is sin* and the wages of sin is death*. The positive side of salvation should be understood as the "plus" side of salvation or the "ADD" side. We are to "ADD" the power, graces, characteristics and holiness of God to our lives.
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#3 Not Conformed, But Transformed/Ro.12:1-2/Don't Be Squeezed(11/15)
Here we encounter one of those parts of the "human side" of salvation. God gives us both a negative and a positive. DO NOT BE CONFORMED and DO BE TRANSFORMED.
To fully follow something means that we will fully turn from something else. I had a good friend [now with the Lord], who pastored on the coast of North Carolina. He was a really good preacher and I believe he loved the Lord with all of his heart. He had a personal commitment to Jesus that was no-nonsense and no compromise. He preached down the line by lifting up Jesus and putting down sin. However, he didn't get involved with Christian action. When it came to his preaching, he was out to make converts, not friends and when it came to his witnessing, he could care less what people thought of him. But when it came to confronting the false religions and the destructive social movements of the day, he just wasn't interested. He even made a statement once that "everybody is against something, but I'm for Jesus Christ." I loved and admired this brother greathly and he was probably the product of his training, but the fact is IF YOU ARE FOR JESUS CHRIST, THERE WILL BE MANY THINGS YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF AGAINST. The three great enemies of the Christian are
1- The World*
[the presentpolitical/economic/religious/moral/educational system which opposes God],
2- The Flesh*
[the nature that tends towards the antispiritual], and
3- The Devil*.
With this unholy trinity against us we are told by many pastors, preachers and teachers that we cannot live a life which is pleasing to God. But Jesus has procured victory over all of these enemies for us*, however, we must claim the victory by faith*.
Let us break the first part of this verse into short, manageable phrases. BE NOT CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD, BUT BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND.
We need to understand that there is a difference in the meaning of the English word "world" as it is used here and in John 3:16. The Greek word in John 3:16 was "cosmos", which means the NATURAL or PHYSICAL WORLD or THE PEOPLE in it. The Greek word used by Paul is "aion" which means AGE or TIME or SYSTEM. Though it is true that we should not love the world [cosmos] nor the things in the world [cosmos], because if we love the world the love of Father is not in us, it is the conformity to the world mindset [aion], about which Paul is warning us in Romans 12. BE NOT CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD. Do not be squeezed into the mold of this world. Do not let this present evil age set your standards, attitude, focus. It is sometimes called peer pressure and it squeezes people into it's own image. Paul said those who are saved are chosen to be conformed to the image of Jesus (8:29). On the other hand, satan wants us to be conformed to this present anti-Christ mindset or world view. Though we are given a directive to NOT BE CONFORMED, we are not left to our own ability to overcome the world. Jesus has bought for us the victory over the world. Paul told the believers in Galatia that Jesus, "... gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world [age], according to the will of God and our Father"*. The Divine side included Jesus giving Himself to deliver us, but the human side is our choosing not to be fashioned by the world system. The human side is only accomplished because of what was accomplished on the Divine side and because God presently works His will into our lives. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.*"
Let God work His good pleasure in you, BE NOT CONFORMED.
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#4 Not Conformed, But Transformed/Ro.12:1-2/Be Transformed(12/15)
God does not empty us of something bad and leave us empty...He empties us of something bad so He can fill us with something good. Whenever Jesus takes something away from us, He always gives us something better in it's place. Most people do not know this from firsthand experience since most people never surrender all to God. God allows us, by His grace, to turn loose of anythng which weighs us down and then to grab hold of that which saves. How absurd it would be for a shipwrecked man in the middle of the Pacific to keep his tightly held grip on a chest filled with gold and precious stones which are dragging him to a watery grave, while others are pleading for him to let go and grab a "life-line" nearby. Yet this is the picture of a person who holds onto the things of this life which are useless in the long run. Unlike this story, you can't really "take it with you when you go." Like the fellow said at the graveside service of the richest man in town, when asked, "How much did he leave when he died?" "ALL OF IT."
People hold onto image and character traits just like our imaginary friend held onto the "treasure chest." They want to have the good things of life but not live the life that procures them. They want to end up in heaven but they don't want to follow the path which takes them there. But if we want to be pleasing to God we must turn loose of anything which is not God's will.
This passage calls for a change in us. The change is not a REFORMATION, [a change brought about by our own efforts], but a TRANSFORMATION, [a change which is wrought in us by God.] We choose not to be conformed to the world, [squeezed into the mold of the world system], but then God transforms us [changes us into His likeness].
To be changed into His likeness takes the miraculous work of God. When a person accepts Christ as their Savior, they are forgiven of their sins and they receive a new nature. We have HUMAN NATURE by virtue of being born human, we have SINFUL NATURE by virtue of being born as Adam's descendent, but we receive a DIVINE NATURE when we are born again or born of the Spirit. Having divine nature does not make us into God, it is simply an imparting of the likeness of God. Remember, we were created in the image of God but through Adam's sin God's image was lost and the image of Adam was passed on to all of his descendents. In redemption we are not only brought back to the image of God, we are lifted to a higher level than we had in creation. The saving work of God begins with His imparting His likeness to us but He continues to work His salvation in us for the purpose of perfecting that likeness.
One of the Biblical terms for the "SINFUL NATURE" is "OLD MAN" or "OLD SELF", whereas a term for the new or "DIVINE NATURE" is "NEW MAN" or "NEW SELF." When a person is "saved", they receive a new nature, divine nature. This is the beginning of the work of our being "conformed to the image of His Son." But "getting saved" or "born again" is just the initial step whereas "total commitment" is a step which allows God to perform a deeper and more comprehensive work in our lives.
If we give to God OUR ALL, He will give to us HIS ALL. Now that is a great deal. He not only will forgive our sins and impart to us a new nature, He will perfect us in the likeness of His Son and in holiness of heart and life.
Be not CONFORMED but be TRANSFORMED.
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