Renewal of the Mind (3)
A Sermon on Romans 12:1-2
Scripture
1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove …
Sermon Description
The Christian will certainly fail to understand Christianity if they reduce it to morality, escape from hell, or even simply the forgiveness of sins. In this sermon on Romans 12:1–2 titled “Renewal of the Mind (3),” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones reminds that Christianity is concerned with those things, but the Scriptures teach that the Christian life is so much more. The doctrine of regeneration, he says, tells that God enables the mind to know and appreciate the will of God. It is surely unnatural for fallen humanity to delight in the law of the Lord. It is contrary to the sinful nature to confess, no matter the dire circumstances of life, that God’s ways are always good. Indeed, the pleasure and delight the believer experiences concerning the will of God is both the result and goal of the renewal of the mind. Dr. Lloyd-Jones contends that the new outlook on life where the Christian believes God’s will is always good, always acceptable, and always perfect moves Christianity beyond other ethical systems of the world. Listen as he shows how the renewal of minds leads to the most glorious aspect of the Christian faith –– finding the will of God beautiful and most wonderful no matter what.
Sermon Breakdown
- The sermon is focused on Romans 12:2 which says "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."
- The sermon begins by explaining that Paul is introducing the theme of Christian living in Romans 12 after outlining Christian doctrine in the first 11 chapters.
- Paul gives the motives, manner, and ultimate objective of Christian living in Romans 12:1-2. The motives are the mercies of God, the manner is presenting our bodies as living sacrifices, and the ultimate objective is proving the will of God.
- Proving the will of God means testing, examining, and ultimately approving of God's will. It leads to understanding God's will and distinguishing between what pleases and displeases God.
- By nature, man does not prove or understand God's will. Man's carnal mind is enmity against God. Salvation enables us to prove God's will.
- As we renew our minds, we discover God's will is good, acceptable, and perfect. We see that God's will is for our good, we come to like and rejoice in God's will, and we see that God's will is perfect and aims for our perfection.
- God's will for us is perfection and conformity to the image of Christ. God will be content with nothing less than our perfection.
- We must renew our minds diligently so we can make these discoveries about God's will and say "Nearer, my God, to Thee" no matter our circumstances. God's way, not our way, is what we must desire.
- We must pray for a teachable mind to understand these truths and find delight in God's will.
The Book of Romans
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.