I. Our Motivation For Dedication V. 1
A. Voluntary
1a
I beseech you therefore, brethren,
1. Beseech- parakaleo- to come alongside and exhort. “I beg of you please”.
2. Brethren- A Christian’s dedication to God is meaningless unless it is voluntary.
3. In fact, dedication to God can only be a voluntary.
4. A church goer might change their outward behavior because of peer or church pressure.
5. That isn’t dedication to God; that is religious behavior modification.
6. Paul is appealing to the minds and hearts of his listeners.
7. He asked them to be willingly dedicated to God because it is right and reasonable.
8. Dedication to God would also lead to discovery of his perfect will.
B. A Response To God’s Mercy
1b by the mercies of God,
1. Mercies
a. Justification- Justified with God, made innocent through faith in Jesus.
b. Sanctification-The Holy Spirit working holiness into the life of a Christian.
c. Glorification- The future state of the Christian, in glory in the presence of God.
2. The follower of Jesus must live in a constant mindfulness of what God has done, is doing, and shall yet do in his life. That
is a great part of our motivation for dedication.
C. It’s Reasonable
1f which is your reasonable service.
1. Reasonable- logikos- rational, agreeable to reason, following reason.
2. Service- latreia- service unto God; speaks of the service done by the priests.
a. Old Testament priests prepared and brought offerings to the altar to be consumed.
b. The Christian is both the offering and the priest, as he brings himself to God.
3. Wuest- This idea is “in harmony with the highest reason”.
II. Our Dedication To God
A. A Lifelong Dedication
1c
that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
1. Present- paristēmi- “to place beside or near, to offer, to put at one’s disposal.” To yield.
2. It is the same word used to describe the presenting of the animal sacrifices.
3. In contrast to a one time sacrifice that had been slain, we are to live daily for God.
4. The offering we bring to God is us. Our bodies, thoughts, words, actions, intentions.
5. Wuest- “Place your body at the disposal of God”.
B. A Holy Dedication
1d holy,
1. Holy- hagios- That which is set apart for God. It includes the idea of purity.
2. Chrysostom, 347–407 AD Early Church Father- “How can the body become a sacrifice? Let the eye look on no evil, and it is a sacrifice. Let the
tongue utter nothing base, and it is an offering. Let the hand work no sin, and it is a sacrifice wholly consumed by fire. But more, this suffices
not, but besides we must actively exert ourselves for good; the hand giving alms, the mouth blessing them that curse us, the ear ever at leisure
for listening to God.”
C. That Which Is Acceptable To God
1e acceptable to God,
1. Acceptable- euareston- something which is well approved, eminently satisfactory, or extra-ordinarily pleasing.
III. Dedication Leads To Discovering God’s Will V. 2
A. Don’t Be Conformed To This World
2aAnd do not be conformed to this world,
1. Conformed- sunschematizo
2. Kenneth Wuest paraphrases the following…
a. Stop being conformed to another pattern.
b. “Stop assuming an outward expression which is patterned after this world, an expression which does not come from, nor is it representative
of what you are in your inner being as a regenerated child of God.”
c. “Stop masquerading in the habiliments (clothing) of this world, its mannerisms, speech expressions, styles, habits.”
2. This World- This does not speak of the physical Earth, but of the thoughts, opinions, speculations, hopes, impulses, aims,
and aspirations of the culture that we live in.
3. Spurgeon spoke of the unsaved as “worldlings”. Hearts & minds rooted in the culture.
4. Don’t act like a worldling, for that is not what you are.
5. Acts like a Christian, for that is what you are.
B. Do Be Transformed
2b but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
1. Transformed- metamorphoomai- the act of a person changing his outward expression from that which he has to a different one, an
expression which comes from and is representative of his inner being.
a. In Matthew 17, Jesus was on the Mt. Of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John. His appearance became bright,
and they saw Jesus in His glory. In His normal human state, he didn’t appear as His real, complete self, but in
Matthew 17, he was transformed. He experienced the fullness and reality of His inward being. His outward
expression matched the fullness of His inward being.
b. Christian: be becoming who and what you are. Allow the Spirit of God to be free in you. Present yourself to God.
That is what you have been saved to do. That is what God is working in you. If you have the Spirit of God, that
trajectory and experience is the “real” you. Not worldliness, but godliness.
2. Renewing of your mind- anakainōsis- a complete change
a. The Holy Spirit brings spiritual illumination to the Christian’s mind.
b. John 16:13-15 13However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His
own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
14He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine
and declare it to you.
15All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
c. What a beautiful thing it is to see a mind changed, and a heart follow.
C. Discover God’s Will
2c
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
1. That you may prove– dokimazō- to put to the test for the purpose of approving.
2. God’s will
a. Good- agathos- useful, pleasant, agreeable joyful, happy
b. Acceptable- euarestos- well pleasing
c. Perfect- teleios- lacking nothing, completeness, brought to its finished goal.
What prevents these things from happening?
1. Lack of understanding or remembrance regarding the mercies of God.
2. Hard heartedness; love of sin, love of self.
3. Giving into peer pressure to be like the world. Faith and repentance are needed.
4. Not believing that God has a perfect will for your life. Being satisfied with “less than”.
5. Perhaps in the past, you felt that you knew God’s will, and pursued it, but the situation turned out badly. Now you are
afraid, not knowing if you could even discern God’s will, and not wanting to risk taking that chance that things might turn
out badly again.
6. God is good, and faithful. Even if we misread His will, He will use it to mature us.
7. Mark 5:36 “Do not be afraid; only believe.”