Romans 12:1-2 TPT “Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? To surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship.
2 Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.”
What is a genuine expression of worship? It is to be a daily thing to genuinely worship and not just on a Sunday in which you may feel good because of the music, fellowship, and because you may feel the anointing. You may raise your hands to express your worship, but that is just the outside and not the inside. What is to express genuine worship from the inside? You must be a living sacrifice each day, which shows gratitude to the mercy you have received unless you are a swindler who has yet to realize why you are really here. And in any sacrifice, there must be a cost. If it does not cost you anything, it is not a sacrifice, and it will not take you to holiness. When you die to yourself and choose to be co-crucified, now you are allowing a cost. When you choose to respond in revenge or by any means of the flesh, you are not willing to sacrifice your pride.
What are the cultural ideas and opinions you are mandated not to imitate? How are you to renew your mind which is to lead to transformation? The cultural or worldly ideas and ways are to be constantly offended, not forgive, respond anger to anger, continue to blame things or people, declare things are too hard or unfair, go into self-pity, blame God, ask why you cannot do what you like to do rather than choosing God’s Will, regretting, impatient, refusing to grow up, having tantrums, self-centered, possessing the wrong fear, sexual immorality, and the likes which the bible clearly says you will not inherit the Kingdom of God if you bear the fruit of death.
A person who has not been transformed is a person whose mind has not been renewed and such a mind is still carnal and swims in the realm of humanism.
A carnal mind is motivated by the flesh and cannot please God but will continue to collide with the Holy Spirit. How do you know if you are colliding with God? When you are a person who continues to collide with your authorities, such as pastors, other spiritual leaders, spouses, bosses, government, teachers, or any positions of authority, you are a person whose mind has yet to fully surrender. This is a mind governing of one’s own self-will. This is why your life is not as beautiful as Verse 2 promises. Unless your mind is renewed and you are transformed, you will miss the beautiful life because you will not be able to discern God’s Will, and you will go off on a tangent led by the flesh.
Therefore, in conclusion, listen and fully obey. You all know whether you carry guilt, unforgiveness, disobedience, or the like but refuse to fully surrender. To say, “I’m trying and butt….” is a sad carnal minded argument that does not deserve a response after years of grace. If you do not let go now and choose properly, then when? Then your worship is carnal, not spiritual, and in vain. The Father is looking for those who worship in spirit.
Pastor Steve Kim