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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 (13-15/15)
#1 Not Conformed, But Transformed/Ro.12:1-2/Transformed is the Act of God(13/15)
#2 Not Conformed, But Transformed/Ro.12:1-2/The Renewed Mind(14/15)
#3 Not Conformed, But Transformed/Ro.12:1-2/the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.(15/15)
#4 Short Study/Kinds of Perfection
#5 Just a Thought on Romans 12:1-2
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#1 Not Conformed, But Transformed/Ro.12:1-2/Transformed is the Act of God(13/15)
"And be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
God will transform, that is, change us if we allow Him. Yes, I said allow Him. God has given us the ability to either accept or reject His work of salvation in our lives. God has granted the power of self determination to each one of us. He has designed that we, finite creatures, are able to say "Yes" or "No" to the Infinite and Almighty God. There is a price to pay for refusing to surrender to Him and there is an eternity of blessings for surrendering our all to Him, but still we have a choice.
The first works of transforming us took place at our conversion. We were changed from the DARK TO THE LIGHT, from DEATH TO LIFE, and from the rule of the DEVIL TO THE LORD. Paul is calling for a deeper level of transformation. The Psalmist tells us that we go from STRENGTH TO STRENGTH (84:7), John tells us that not only have we moved from law to grace, we receive GRACE FOR GRACE (1:16) in other words grace follows grace, or as Paul said in Romans, the righteous shall live by faith and that righteousness is revealed from FAITH TO FAITH, one level of faith to another level of faith (1:17) and as he said to the Corinthians that we are changed from GLORY TO GLORY (2Co.1:18), not just from the glory of Moses to the glory of Jesus, but from one level of glory in Christ to another level of glory in Christ.
The Christian experience is a mixture of the instantaneous and the progressive. God does a work of grace in an instantaneous moment and then we grow in that grace for a period of time. Then He does another work of grace in an instaneous moment, after which we also grow. The overview of a Christian life would look something like the following.
* God begins to speak to us about our need for forgiveness, and a right relationship with Him which causes us to sense our guilt and ask God to forgive us our sins and come into our lives.
* God forgives our sins instantly because Jesus died for us on the cross and His Spirit regenerates or quickens us [gives us new life] in an instant because Jesus was raised from the dead.
* God leads us and strengthens us as we begin our life and walk with Him. We learn the Bible and learn to pray and witness, and resist temptation and obey His Word. We discover our weaknesses and sometimes fail, which leads us to confession and repentance. We love the Lord, but find that we don't love Him with the whole heart. We trust the Lord, but find we don't trust Him with the whole heart. We obey and follow the Lord, but find that we don't obey and follow fully. Each failure results in brokenness and repentance, after which God forgives and renews us.
* God shows us as Christians that we have what the Bible calls a "carnal mind"*, a "double mind"*, an "evil heart of unbelief"* and "the root of bitterness"*. He then shows us that we can be delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convinces us that we need to make full surrender and trust Him for our deliverance from the pollution of sinful nature.
* God cleanses us from the sinful nature instantly when we believe that His blood cleanses us from all sin. We retain our human nature and therefore the capability to sin, but we are delivered instantly from the propensity [the tendency] to sin.
* God continues to lead us and we continue to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord.
This act of God transforming the Christian by cleansing and delivering from the "old man", the "carnal mind", the "double mind", the "evil heart of unbelief" and the "root of bitterness" is called Entire Sanctification. John Wesley explained the experience of Entire Sanctification this way; It is something we approach gradually, enter into suddenly and grow in forever. This is that to which Paul was calling us when he said, "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed..."
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#2 Not Conformed, But Transformed/Ro.12:1-2/The Renewed Mind(14)
When speaking of God's work of grace bought for us by Jesus' death and resurrection and brought about in our lives by the work of the Holy Spirit, we use the word "salvation." The word SALVATION is interchangeable with DELIVERANCE and RESCUE. Part of salvation, deliverance or rescue is "forgiveness." Forgiveness is an essential part of our salvation, but not the only part. Forgiveness is being rescued from judgment for our sins. Forgiveness is what God does for us, but there are other parts of our salvation which God does in us or to us.
Remember, though salvation is the work of God and comes only from God, it has both a Divine and human side to it. The human side includes faith, repentance and confession among other things. The Divine side includes cleansing, regenerating, adopting, leading, empowering, renewing and refreshing. The human side of this passage in Romans 12:1-2 is consecration or commitment and the corresponding Divine side is transformation.
The tansformation spoken of here is the "transforming of the mind." God wants to change the way we think, the way we look at things. Our outlook on life is called our worldview. Life can be looked at from two perspectives; the WORLDLY WORLDVIEW or GOD'S VIEW. We are born with a tendancy to look at things from the worldly worldview and then we are conditioned by society and even the religious community, including the carnal church, to look at things from a worldly worldview. When we come into a "saving" relationship with Jesus, we come with our worldly worldview, but He brings God's view into our lives. We then have these two different and conflicting perspectives vying for control of our minds, the carnal or worldly and the spiritual or Divine. The Biblical term for this is "the double minded man." God wants us to be single minded, that is to be spiritually minded.
This is what Paul is calling us to in Romans 12:1-2. The transforming of the mind is the work of God in the life of the person who is yielding total control to God. He says the same kind of thing in his letter to the Ephesians, "That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ep.4:22-24.) Paul told the Christians at Phillipi to be humble and to have the "mind" of Christ (Ph.2:5.) The purpose of God in salvation is to perfect us in holiness and to conform us to the image of Jesus. The transforming of the mind is essential to the change in man.
God wants us to have victory over sin and tempatation in every way. He wants us to overcome every temptation which attacks our minds. In 2 Co.10:5 we are told to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. It is futile and evasive to say that we cannot bring every thought under His authority. The Bible says we can and that we should, therefore whoever tells us that we cannot, does not believe God or His word. Most of our defeats take place in our minds before they take place in our bodies. If we conquer every thought, we will control every word and deed. We can have victory in word, thought and deed. If we have victory in word, thought and deed, we will be more than conquerers. We can have victory in our mind because He will renew our minds and we can have the mind which is in Christ Jesus. Though we will not be perfect in the "glorified" sense of the word, while in this body, we can have a perfect mind of love, trust and obedience to Him, here and now (Ph.3:15.)
God will transform us in the renewing of our minds.
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#3 Not Conformed, But Transformed/Ro.12:1-2/the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.(15/15)
"That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
God wants us to do that which is pleasing in His sight*. However, since we are not naturally disposed to obey or follow Him, we need to have God change us in our nature. He does this by...
(1) Redeeming our human nature (the nature to be human, which includes our spirit, soul and body). Our spirit is brought into a right relationship with God, our soul is forgiven and made new and our body is yet to be changed at the resurrection but is indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
(2) Giving to us a new nature, divine nature (the nature to be like God.)
(3) Delivering us from the old nature or sinful nature (the corrupt nature brought about by sin and the nature which tends toward sin).
After God redeems us from our sinful past, restores us to our God-likeness and removes from us our Old Man, He expects us to do His will and to prove (test, show) what is the will of God.
We can know the will of God*. It is made known to those who are following Him* and walking in His steps*. It is made know to those who are abiding in Him*. It is made known to those who are obeying Him*. It is made known to those who are listening to Him with the whole heart*. It is made known to those who trust Him with the whole heart*. It is made known to those who love Him with the whole heart*. The will of God can be known, but only by those who have a new mind and have totally surrendered everything to God. It is only known by those who are living in a present state of trust and obedience.
The world is looking for someone to demonstrate the power and will of God. You can be that person. When you let God do in you the work of miraculous grace that transforms you, then you will be able to show or prove the will of God to the world around you. No more of the off and on, hot and cold, in and out, back and forth Christian living which seems to be the standard in the world around us. The wholly dedicated man or woman can be holy even as He is holy*, can be pure even as He is pure*, righteous even as He is righteous*. When you are totally surrendered and experience His total deliverance, you will not only know will of God...you will know THE GOOD and ACCEPTABLE and PERFECT WILL OF GOD.
To understand this, picture a spotlight with the brightest light at the center and a different intensity around the center and then a dim light at the far endges of the spotlight. Beyond the dimness is darkness. The PERFECT WILL OF GOD is the brightest light in the center of the "spot." This is where God wants us to be. If we therefore "walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.*" God wants us to be in the center of His will*.
If we rush ahead of His leading, we will not remain in the center of His perfect will. If we lag behind His leading, we will not remain in the center of His perfect will. If we drift to the left or right of His leading we will not remain in the center of His perfect will. Note also, once we are out of His perfect will, it is much more difficult to get back where we should be than it is to just remain in His perfect will. Don't be satisfied with the edges of His will, nor even the "good", but always want the best. Remember, the greatest enemy of that which is best is that which is good.
His perfect will is GOOD. It makes us do good* and it makes us good*. Though we are not saved BY good works, we are saved TO DO good works. We were created for good deeds* and our good deeds become the robes of our righteousness which we wear in heaven*.
The perfect will is ACCEPTABLE. It makes us acceptable*. It makes our sacrifices of love acceptable*. It makes our service acceptable*.
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#4 Short Study/Kinds of Perfection
Since we are looking at passages which call us to perfection, I thought I would share this short lesson which I posted in another study group. If you have questions, please ask them.
There is much confusion about "perfection." To make it simple we should understand that there are different kinds of perfection.
* Absolute perfection. Only God has absolute perfection. This is perfection in morals, knowledge, power, wisdom and all other areas consistant with Divine nature.
* Angelic perfection. Perfection belonging to angels and not communicable to other creatures.
* Adamic perfection. Perfection exclusively belonging to Adam before the fall.
* Believers perfection. Usually called Christian Perfection, but I broadened it to cover Old Testament saints as well. Perfection belonging to Believers as obtained by faith and given by God through grace. It is perfection of heart purity and love. It is the perfection that God requires and provides through His saving grace. It is a perfection of quality and not of quantity. It meets up to the perfection required by God at that time and for that person.
I will be glad to deal with this more specifically, but thought this would give us at least an overview and basic understanding.
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#5 Just a Thought on Romans 12:1-2
I would like to say a few words about the lessons from Romans 12 that we have been looking at for our devotionals recently.
The revelation of God is much deeper and wider and higher than we will ever appreciate. God has designed us for success and greatness. And though we lost our first estate through Adam's sin, and we have estranged ourselves from God by our own sins, God has provided a salvation that is greater than all of our sins and as Paul said, "Where sin did abound, grace did much more abound." As the writer of Hebrews called God's deliverance, it is, "...so great salvation." A song says something to this effect, sin will take you further than you have ever gone; so it is true that salvation will take you higher than you could ever imagine. "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin" and, "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world." These are true, but then we see such pitiful living by the vast majority of Christians around us, that it appears that the standard of Christian living set forth in the Bible must not be attainable in this life. If we were to take the Sacred record at it's face value we would be wonder how the present day Church could be so vastly different from it's original form. If we study Church history we see great periods of frailty and failure, but we also see periods of great faith, piety and personal sacrifice. If we listen to the testimonies of Christians around the world in the places of persecution today, we wonder why those who have so little and seem to be so backward in a high-tech world outshine and outlive those who have all the advantages in the western world.
Though I cannot speak authoritativly about Christians in persecuted lands, and I can only speculate about Christians in history, it is obvious that most western Christians today have not come to the point of self sacrifice. They do not examine their own hearts and do not cleanse their ways. There is so much clamoring for our time, attention, energy and affection today that we don't have anything left for God. We are able to block out anything from our lives that is too demanding. We fill our time with work, recreation, social engagements, TV, radio, music, reading, friends and a plethora of other activities, so that God cannot even get through to us. We wear ourselves out running in circles and chasing wild geese and have no energy to spend on the pursuit of righteousness. We listen to all those around us telling us that we cannot be holy or that we cannot be more than conquerers through Christ and end up living down to the level we have established for ourselves.
I hope that each of us will see what God says and what God can and will do with us when we are totally surrendered. It may be that we need to seek God alone because there is no one nearby who believes in total commitment nor in His ability to completely deliver from sin. But if we close ourselves in with God and His word, and if we allow Him to search our hearts we can present ourselves to Him for His cleansing, delivering and empowering. We can experience God more than we ever have before and yet, less than we ever will again. We will not depend on our own attainments or righteousness, we will be able to rest completely in His finished work on the cross as it works more freely in our hearts.
The issue of spiritual greatness is not in how loud we shout or how high we jump, but in how straight we walk as we walk with Him in the light and in the power of His Spirit.
I just wanted to jot a few thoughts down in hopes that someone who is wrestling with their spiritual walk will finally sell out completely to God and believe Him for their complete deliverance.
Pastor David
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