Romans 12:1-2

March 23 – Romans 12:1-2

Now that Christ has done his work to us and for us we are now made pure and holy before God.  And because we are holy we now can live our lives devoted to God.  Our lives come from God and now we bring them back to God.
 
Paul speaks this way when he says that we are now a living sacrifice by the mercy of God.  We can throw away our lives for others, we can give them everything we are and have because we know that through the sacrifice of our lives comes renewal, peace, and joy in the resurrection.

Paul calls on us to do this as our form of spiritual worship.  To be a sacrifice means that we are priests and our service to our neighbor and our world represents the mercy and character of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul then calls on us to not be conformed to the ways of this world.  But rather to be transformed by the renewal of your mind.  Our minds have now gained the wisdom and understanding of Christ by the Holy Spirit.  He has given us a new way to look at the world.  The same way that Jesus sees the world.  So as we test the things given to us in life we may discover God’s good and gracious will.  And what is good and acceptable and perfect to him.