The rest of the story

OK for those of you with about 30 minutes to kill, LOL I now have the rest of the answer to the question I posted recently.

Does Salvation require Transformation?


How many of you remember the old Wendy’s commercial that ran back in the late 80’s? It had three beautiful women salivating over a hamburger that looked really good. It had a big bun, lettuce flowing over the edge,, I mean this thing looked great, it had all the right smells, looks. Remember what happened when they opened the burger? There was this little measly piece of meat that was suppose to pass as a hamburger. And the famous line from that sweet old lady "Where's the beef?"


Well looks can be deceiving can’t they? How long do you think a burger chain selling burgers like that would stay in business? Not long I would imagine. I mean the sandwich looks great on the outside, but on the inside, it leaves a little to be desired doesn’t it?

A few weeks ago, Pastor Gary talked about how we can look good and sound good on the outside, but on the inside we look really bad? Well, in many ways, some of us as Christians can resemble that hamburger. We can say all the right words, like hallelujah, Praise God, Amen, Justification, and Sanctification. We can even look good; going to church every Sunday, volunteering for the nursery or yard cleanup, putting some money in the offering plate, teaching a class or offering to bring the snacks for SS. But if we were to look inside, we might find very little in the way of substance.

In Romans 12:1-2, Paul is urging the Romans he is writing to, to be transformed. He has been explaining to them an opportunity that has fallen into their laps from God, and his instructions to them call for change and transformation.
Now before we get to that part of the story, I want to back up and bring this into context for you, so you can understand this clearly. So we are going to start at the beginning of the book of Romans and speed through it to give you a snap shot of what’s happening.

Romans 1-3 talks about How God is angry with humanity for their sin. This scripture is describing God’s response to humanities sinfulness.

Romans 1:28-32 “Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Imagine if your kids acted like this, imagine how angry that might make you. Here God clearly has a reason to be angry.

Romans 3-5 talks about a rescue from God’s anger through believing in Jesus Christ

Romans 3:21-24 “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

There are a few words here that we need to understand. Another way to describe Righteousness is to say that it is, “an act against injustice”, this would be Christ. So you could read that scripture like this, “But now Christ from God…”. The other word here that we need to understand is redemption. This means to recover or to rescue. And the last word is justified. For the meaning of this word, lets’ just break it down. “Just if I’d”, as in just if I’d never sinned. So now hopefully we can read that scripture with more clarity.

Romans 6-8 Talks about being set apart for Christ and His work

Romans 6:8-14 “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

This scripture makes it clear that if, we are bought by the blood of Christ, that is to say, if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and rescue, then we are to turn away from or die to our sin. Then we are to offer ourselves to God as tools that He can use. Why should we do this? Because, we no longer live under the law of sin, but of grace.

Romans 9-11 Talks about God bringing the Gentiles into Israel’s inheritance.

Romans 11:17-23 “If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.”

This simply says, Israel was an unbelieving people. Because of that unbelief, God brought non-Israelis or Gentiles, you and I, and allowed us to be part of that family tree. But we should not be proud or arrogant of it. We stand by faith alone, the Israelites are God’s chosen people. We can be cut off from the family just as easily as they were. We are to remain in God’s kindness and by doing so, we will remain in the family.

Now the last section of the book of Romans is where we are going to spend our time. Chapters 12-16 all deal with God’s desire for us to live according to His will. But chapter 12:1-2 specifically, is what I want us to focus in on. Earlier I posed the question to you, “Does salvation require transformation? I want you to find that answer.

Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Transformation is a funny word in that we often think of it to mean a physical change. The word transformation when used in Romans and other sections of the bible means something a little more. The Greek counter part of the word transformed is MetamorphaO. What does that sound like? Metamorphosis… it means a complete or total change.

A butterfly is a great example of the word Metamorphosis or transformation. A Monarch Butterfly going through the process of transformation is a neat thing to watch. You can youtube monarch butterfly time lapse and fine some neat videos there.
As a caterpillar, it will eat everything in sight. It waste's no time exploring, or looking at the vegetation, it does what it know's it needs to do, and eats, and eats, and eats. As it eats, it will get bigger and start changing it's color. It’s lines start getting more defined and it grows in size. Once it has anchored itself to the branch of the vine, it will cocoon itself. The cocoon comes from within the skin of the caterpillar. It’s outer layer will split open and it will cocoon itself from the inside. When it comes out of the cocoon, the head will be at the opposite end of the cocoon from when it started. When it emerges, it will be completely changed specimen. It’s color, shape, design, size, function, ability all changed. It will be completely transformed into a new being.

This is what Paul is calling on the Romans to do in chapter 12. He is urging the Romans and Gentiles to be transformed into a new creation in Christ by renewing their minds. But is this transformation necessary? Do we have to go through this process to be saved or rescued by Christ?

I would remind you of the Israelites and what they chose to do. They chose to live life their way, in all sorts of lust, deceit, misdeeds, evil and murderous ways. They didn’t give their bodies to God, nor did they sacrifice anything of themselves for His glory, and they were broken off of the branch because of it. In other words, their inheritance was removed from them because of their actions.

So if we are to receive salvation through Jesus Christ, we must be Transformed into a living sacrifice of service to God.
What does this living sacrifice look like and what does it mean for us. The term “living” indicates that something that is alive, moving, and dynamic. It is not dead, it is not almost dead, it is not restricted. It is rather free to act and react. The term sacrifice means dedication, given to, surrendered. So we could say that a living sacrifice is “a living and dynamic human that is surrendered to God.”

Now when you think of offering something to God, you would generally think of offering something that was of highest quality right? Now think of how we treat ourselves, and our bodies. If God were to walk into your house today, how many of you would be ashamed of your offering? I would be. I don’t take care of myself near as well as I should. I get little to no sleep, I have poor eating habits and I don’t exercise. How good is my sacrifice going to be if I don’t take care of myself. We need to think about such things and be concerned with what we are offering to God.

We need not only take care of our bodies but our spirit and mind as well. We can become very mentally lazy. I didn’t understand this until I went back to school. I never thought my mind could work the way it does now. I never thought I could recall information the way I can now. But it is because I exercise my mind, I read a lot, I think a lot, I get headaches a lot….. My point is we can’t just go home and sit in front of the TV or be entertained. We need to exercise our mind, and we can do so by studying God’s word. In the process of our studies, our spirit will be exercised as well. When we study the Bible, we are tested to put to action what we have read, and we are given great insight into God’s will for our lives. we are stretched to think beyond our preconceived ideas. In doing so we renew our minds, and we start to think differently. Being a living sacrifice of service to God frees us glorify Him. And as we glorify him with our bodies we also glorify Him with our minds, as we are

Transformed into a Kingdom Thinker.

I think through problems, situations, and decisions with a carnal mind. But as I read the Bible and study it’s wisdom and instruction, I find myself thinking through the lens of Christ. How did Christ go about figuring this out? How did Christ handle this situation? How is this decision going to affect those around me? And will it help them to see Christ? In chapter 8:6 of Romans Paul writes, “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
When we put the Kingdom and God’s ways before our own, God will bless us and make sure we have the stuff we need. Our tithe or offering is a great example of this, something we can all relate to. Today our stock market and economy looks very bleak. Our pensions and investments are being threatened and the bill from the bailout that we are going to leave our kids is astronomical. Prices at the grocery store are going up it seems almost on a daily basis. Insurance premiums are on the rise, and so is the fear of many Americans for their future and the future of their kids. All of this financial strain, and God wants us to give Him some too. With the carnal mind, it is unfair and impossible to spare the extra money. But looking through a Kingdom lens, God has commanded us to give a tithe or ten percent of our increase, meaning our income, as an offering to Him. And we are to do so with a joyful spirit. Hard to do in today’s economy. But God’s grace is enough and His storehouse is larger than ours. God will supply all your needs when you follow His commands.


Another way to put that is to say, we do the will of God when we put His ways’ before our ways’. It is hard to do that sometimes. Often God’s ways’ will go against what we feel like doing, what we feel is the best way, but learning how to live by the will of God is part of the transformation process. As we surrender our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, and as we start to think through the lens of Christ, we will also be

Transformed to do God’s will.

The transformation process is essential to this point. Without transformation by the renewing of our minds, we will never be able to prove what God’s will is for our lives. Our very character, nature, essence, and our inner being, must be changed to reflect the character, nature, and essence of Christ. Until that transformation begins, we cannot presume to know the will of God.
Doing the will of God requires us to put our own desires aside, push away temptations, to choose even force ourselves to ask God what He wants us to do, and listen to that, instead of listening to our own nature and desires.
How many of us listen to God on a daily basis? How many of us start out our day asking God what He desires that we do that day? Sometimes I do, on the mornings when I get up on time and I’m not rushed to get to work I do. But what about those days when everything seems to start off in a dead sprint? Those tend to be my worst days, because I didn’t take time to stop and ask God what He wanted with my life that day. Imagine if you would, tomorrow morning when we all wake up to start our day. Imagine if we stopped, before we did anything else, and we thanked God for our rest and a new day, then we asked him, God, today I am yours, what do you want me to do today? Who do you want me to speak your truth to Lord? Who can I help today God?
Can you imagine the impact we could have on this community, on this city and world if we stopped each morning and asked God what he wanted us to do, and then went out and did it?
I wonder, how many of us have shared Christ with someone this week? How many of us have taken the time to call a friend that is going through a rough patch in his or her marriage, or in his or her health, or just sat and talked with someone that needed to unload or was lonely? How many of us turned the TV off this week and sat down with our kids and taught them about God’s word? How many of us stopped this week and prayed for our neighbor, family member, friend? Were you Christ to someone this week?

I tell you the truth, unless we remain in Christ, unless we daily submit ourselves to His will, unless we choose to be changed and transformed from the inside out, we will never make a difference in this world, in this city, or even in this community.

If we become ineffective, we are in danger of being cut off the vine and thrown into the fire. We will be of no use to God. The absence of transformation in our lives will have a direct impact and negative effect on this community and in our salvation. The change, the road to recovery so to speak starts today. You, me, each one of us as the body of Christ have a decision to make today. Each one of us, must choose offer our bodies as a living sacrifice of service to God, we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds to become Kingdom thinkers, and as we are transformed, we will be able to prove what God’s will is for our lives.

So again I ask the question, does salvation require transformation? I think we can all agree that it does.

Salvation requires transformation into the likeness of Christ. This process of transformation is necessary and imperative for the future of the church, and for our own salvation.