"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God"(Romans 12:2)¹
Romans 12 begins with "therefore". It means that there are prerewuisites for offering the holy living sacrifice, that is, spiritual worship in the body. It means that when the salvation of Romans 8 is accomplished, it will be like that.
Therefore, just as you cannot urge a person who has not gained freedom in the truth to walk in the Spirit, if you ask someone who is not able to achieve personal salvation to offer your body as a holy living sacrifice to God, he will be terrified. They barely make up for themselves by diligently participating in the work of the church.
It is as if people go astray, thinking that seeking his kingdom and his righteousness means attending worship services and fulfillling their duties well. Those who are invited can read and hear the Bible and know it with knowledge, but unless they are chosen by the Lord, they cannot keep the word of the Lord. Those who do not have the Spirit of truth in them may realize that the new commandment that is one with the Lord is true, but they cannot keep the promise and taste the results.
Therefore, theology or bible study accumulates objective knowledge, but subjective knowledge in which the Word is embodied must have the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit. So, the dead sacrifice can offer a substitute and engage in work, but the living sacrifice must be very careful about whoever hears it becausr the body has to be offered to God. Because faith is not everyone's, and not everyone knows the truth. Knowing the mystery of the gospel that pursues the grace of Christ's atonement through which the word is fulfilled to us, we follow the path countless times, so we have to make changes in our spiritual and body.
The condition for those who offer the living sacrifices is that they do not imitate this generation first. A person of the flesh cannot overcome the ideas, values and fashions of this generation. That is why he warns us that there is woe to those who belong to the earth.(Rev.12:12) The reason we need to receive the Holy Spirit is to be saved in this generation.(Acts 2:40) The reason why the church is not like the church of the bible is not because it does not make efforts to reform, but because it is a community led by people who have not been born again and belong to the earth. If you become the enemy of cross, you become a person who has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit, so you hope only for the earth, your belly becomes your God, and you seek only the glory of the earth.(Philippians 3:18-19) So Paul is giving us negative command not imitate this generation.
Second, there must be a change of heart, and a spiritual system that can renew the mind must be built into it. This is personal and subjective spiritual knowledge and experience. It means that sinners who were in the image of Adam in the word of truth must have the mystery of gaining righteousness in Christ and being transformed into the image of Christ. As a result, the heart and mind are changed.
A people on You Yube say that all diseases are brain diseases. But the brain heals the body's diseases and builds immunity, but he doesn't know how to change the thinking that makes the brain healthy. We are set free from sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life that is in Christ, and we gain life and peace through the mind that walks according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.(Romans 8:6) Life and peace are the health of the brain and a strong immune system that fights or defends against all diseases. Romans 8 tells the process of a child of God who is free from condemnation in Christ, who kills misdeeds of the body with the spirit and enters into the glorious freedom of the Son of God. Therefore, you should always adorn yourself with that spiritual concept.
The third is to be discerning. We must have discenment between this generation, ourselves, and God. If you want to turn your back on this generation and move toward God, you must change yourself. These three are the three basic principles of spiritual worship and the living sacrifice. If you do not do this, you will not offer a living dscrifice. In fact, dead sacrifices offering substitutes do not need these things. It must be the trend of this generation to offer a dead sacrifice.
If we do not attain holiness in Christ, we cannot change the concept of man. If you do not know the will of God, God is not pleased. We must know the goodness of God. It is an unconditional and absolute good regardless of the reaction of the other party. And we need to know God's pleasing. As Genedis 1 says, it was good, when God is pleasing, we are also happy. The perfect of God is a completion. We must discern these three wills of God. Discerning the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God does not mean discriminating between likes and dislikes about people.
Romans 12 1-2 speaks of the living sacrifice. Verse 1, give yourselves. Verse 2, to do that, take these. We must have an attitude not to imitate this generation, and you must be free from customs, circumstances, fellowship, and organization. We must have spiritual secrets so that we can be transformed. And we must have the ability to discern God's will. In such a state, we must give our life to God.
In my experience, it took a considerable period of time to hear and accept the gospel of the grace of the Lord's atonement passed from Adam into Christ, because the gospel he heard was insufficient and incomplete. And as those who have been set free from sin and death in Christ, the mystery of godliness, which is not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, required a considerable period of time to attain the glory freedom of the Son of God. This is because our bodies are tainted with malignancy and vice that have become enemies of God. It also takes a considerable amount of time to establish a system that enters into the path of life and glory, knowing that it is a great blessing to deny yourself and take up your cross. As we take up the cross of the Lord along the way, we learn that Christ is the power and wisdom of God because the Spirit and life of the Lord work in me.(1Cor.1:24)
Not only that, it also take a lot of time to acquire to the knowledge of truth that ascends and ascends toward the throne of God's grace through the grace of the Lord''s atonement through the book of Hebrews. That is, "The bright road to heaven is before me, and even if I lack, you will receive me, Jesus Christ my Savior and King in the kingdom of glory",confess and goes ahead. After such a long spiritual training, we are starting to feel confident that we can finally offer our body to God as a living sacrifice.
If you read this artical, the Holy Spirit will give you a general understanding of how to offer the holy living sacrifice in our bodies and the basic knowledge. But it is embarrassing to shout irresponsibly to offer holy living sacrifice to unprepared people. That is why I always be careful with words that emphasize works. Please let the Holy Spirit know the true worship in the Holy Spirit and the truth, and teach us to worship God with our bodies as holy living sacrifices. Hallelujah!
Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.
Translated by Nancy Chung
COME AND SEE WORLD MISSION