Romans 12:1

ROMANS 12:1

“Your Reasonable Service”

The Bible says In Romans 12:1-2, “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 pay prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. We are beseeched by the mercies of God. God is very merciful. The Psalms say tender in mercy. Mercy means not getting what you deserve in your sinfulness, judgment and punishment for sins including eternal damnation in the lake of fire. If you are saved by the name of Jesus you have received mercy for your sins. To beseech means to beg and implore with an emphasis that what is being asked for is very important.

We are beseeched by the mercies of God to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. It’s only acceptable unto God if it’s holy. God wants it to be 100%. If something is 99% clean and 1% dirty, is it holy? A little leaven leaventh the whole lump. For it to be a holy, an acceptable sacrifice it must be 100%. This is what God really wants and is looking for. Some one who will give their all to Jesus all the time. Someone who will do their best for Jesus in everything they do all the time.

It is a high standard, living for Jesus is. It is a standard of perfection. The thing to remember is that human beings are sinners, very sinful sinners. Therefore, we must rely on Jesus and his forgiveness for our sins. 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

We have a reason to become a living sacrifice unto God because of his mercies. Some people are sacrifices in death. But God wants us to be sacrifices in life. People honor a sacrifice. They remember a sacrifice. There are not many who are willing to sacrifice. To sacrifice your life means to live not for yourself or for the things of this world, the love of this world, the pride of life, the things of the flesh, but it means to live for the things of God: the heavenly things in heavenly places.

To be a living sacrifice means to live for God one day at a time. The mercies of God are a reason that we can live for him. His mercies are new every morning. Because God is merciful it is reasonable to say that we can be a living sacrifice for him. Too many people put an emphasis on their own effort and strength. But men are sinful by nature and they will fail unless they are relying upon God. God does not fail. What we should rely upon are Jesus’ mercies every day. If you rely upon the mercy of God then you will succeed in being a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable. God will make you a living sacrifice if you follow his will and rely upon his mercy.

To be a living sacrifice means that you give up loving the small things of this life like working to make money, having a normal life, having friends, having a reputation in society: the simple daily things that you would normally think about. Instead of thinking about them, meditate on the Bible.

The Bible says In Romans 12:1-2, “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 pay prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Romans 12:2, be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. I John 2:15, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” If you love the world, you will be conformed to the world. Romans 7:25, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

Therefore, love not the world. Ife you love Jesus then you will want to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. In other words, if you love Jesus, you will love his word and you will study the word and think about the word and meditate on the word.

You can serve God by what you think about. If you think about God’s Word, it will transform you and it will renew your mind. This phrase “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” means that when you read and think about the Bible: you allow the Holy Spirit to work in your heart using the word.

It is part of your reasonable service to uplift the name of Jesus. To do this you must love God. We are supposed to love God with all the heart, all the mind, all the soul, and all the strength. Be not conformed to this world: But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.

The Bible says In Romans 12:2… “ that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

It is important to know what God’s will is for your life. God’s will for your life involves big life-changing decisions and day by day decisions. There are three words used here to describe God’s will: good, acceptable, and perfect. If you know these three words concerning God’s will, you will find it easy to know and follow God’s will in your life.

The will of God is good. If it is good for you then it is not bad. Jesus was the sacrifice for sin. Being a sacrifice may not seem like a good will from a human perspective. But by doing so, Jesus saved the world. God has a will for your life too. It may not always seem good from your perspective but you can take it on faith in his word that it is. Humans don’t know everything that God knows. God knows the end from the beginning.

The will of God for your life is acceptable. This means you have every reason to submit to the will of God. If something is acceptable then it is good to do. If you accept something then you allow it in your life. Acceptable can mean agreeable. God’s will is something that you should agree to do. There is no logical, practical, spiritual, or good reason to disagree with going where God wants you to go, working where God wants you to work, saying what God wants you to say, witnessing to whom God wants you to witness to.

The perfect will of God. If something is perfect then it is holy and without sin. God does not make mistakes in anything. The Word “perfect” comes from the same word when Jesus was on the cross and said, “It is finished.” The work of Jesus on the cross was a perfect work. What that means is that Jesus fulfilled the law, completely fulfilled the judgment and punishment for sin. He made a way for people that they might be saved.

And God has a perfect will and work for you to do too. God’s will for everyone is different because we are all unique souls.

The Will of God is good, acceptable, and perfect. To prove the will of God all it takes is to know his Word. If you ever have doubts as to what God’s will is for you then study the word or pray to God. In prayer there is peace of mind to be found. The Holy Spirit gives believers peace of mind in knowing the will of God.

Your reasonable service is to uplift the name of Jesus Christ. Uplifting the name of Jesus begins by believing in it. If you have never confessed your sins to Jesus then you should do it right now. Get on your knees, close your eyes, and pray to God for forgiveness of your sins and he will save you. Jesus never turned one soul away even the worst of sinners. God’s will is good, acceptable, and perfect. It is the will of God that you be saved.

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