Romans 12:1-2 - "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove
what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Here in the first two verses of Romans chapter twelve, Paul, under divine inspiration, gives us a three step process to knowing the will of God.
1) The first step to knowing Gods will is: "Present your body a living sacrifice." This means utter, unreserved, unqualified surrender. If we think back to the sacrifices that God commanded to be offered in the Old Testament, we know that each one was to be given completely to God. Nothing was held back by the one who was presenting the offering. The animal was sacrificed on the alter and then burned before the Lord, or given to the priests, but nothing was kept by the one who brought the offering.
That's the idea that Paul brings out here when he says to "present your bodies a living sacrifice." We are to surrender ourselves completely to God to use as He will, and keep nothing back for ourselves if we are to know His perfect will for our lives individually. And furthermore, God will not reveal His perfect will to a person who is not surrendered to Him.
Surrender is an easy thing to talk about, but not so easy to practice. This utter surrender of one's whole life, body, soul, time and talents, is a personal transaction between the soul and God, culminating in a yielding of ones own selfish will to God as a result of the Holy Spirits inner working.
We must surrender to Gods will before He will reveal it to us. We must agree to do it before we know what it is. Let me put it this way: If I want a favor from one of my brothers, I often try to get them to promise to do it before I tell them what it is, and then hold them to their promise. I simply say, "will you promise to do a favor for me?" But more often than not, they come back with the response, "What is it?" By their response they show an interest in knowing what my will is, so that they can decide whether they want to do it or not depending on their own desires and interests. That's not surrender at all, but that's the way many Christians respond to God. God is, in effect, saying to all His children, "Will you do My will?" and too many are coming back with the response, "What is it, Lord? Tell me what it is so that I can decide."
That is the very opposite of Gods divine order. God requires that we first be completely surrendered and willing to do His will, whatever it may be, before He will reveal it to us. Such submission, such readiness is the first step toward knowing the perfect will of God. Without taking this step God is not likely to reveal His will. Without a shadow of a doubt, we will begin know Gods will when we begin to choose His will for our lives instead of our own. We often sing "I surrender all." But have we done this?
2) The second step to knowing Gods will, after complete surrender, is: Be not conformed to this world. This means separation from the world, from worldliness, worldly conformity, worldly ambitions, worldly living, worldly goals, worldly standards, worldly habits, worldly dress and worldly pleasures.
Just as God will not reveal His specific will to christians who are not completely surrendered to Him, He will not reveal His will to worldly christians. They are not in a position worthy of knowing it. Gods perfect will is a precious pearl, and He will not cast His pearls before worldly, unyielding Christians. He will not cast His pearls before swine.
The Bible speaks in several places against Gods people loving and following the world. 1 John 2:15 says - "Do not love the world nor the things in the world If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." James 4:4 says - "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." In 1 John 5:19 we read - "We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." And the Lord Jesus said in John 15:18-19 - "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you." He also prayed to the Father in John 17:15-16 saying - "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." In light of these and other verses of Scripture, it's clear that Gods people are not to love the world, not to follow the world, not to be conformed to the world, and not to be bound up with the world. If a Christian is ignoring this clear instruction from Gods word, they cannot expect more light to be given to them, because they are not walking in the light they already have. No one can expect more light unless he follows the light he's already been given. God will not reveal His will to you if you cling to the world. We must, as Colossians 3:1-3 tells us, set our minds on things above. "Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God."
We are not to conform to the worlds principles or pattern. We are not to seek or indulge in the worlds pleasures. And we are not to set our affections on the worlds possessions. If we are to know Gods will for us we must not be conformed to the world.
3) The third step to knowing Gods will is: "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." In other words, spiritual mindedness. Our minds, hearts, spirits, our entire spiritual lives must constantly be refreshed by dwelling in Christs presence, and feeding on His word. This close communion with Christ is how the Holy Spirit communicates the will of God to our hearts. Gods will cannot be known by carnally minded christians. Those who do not value Gods holy will enough to wait prayerfully on Him to reveal it are not worthy to know it. Before any of us can know that will, we must properly value it. As we overcome those things that keep us from fellowship with our Savior, the knowing of Gods will comes, more or less, naturally.
We need to learn to pray without ceasing. We need to learn to search the scriptures. And we need to learn to wait upon the Lord. It is by this continual and prayerful waiting upon Him that our hearts are conditioned for His will, so that when it is revealed it may also be carried out. Divine guidance is learned only by a close, continuous, experimental walk with God.
When Jesus was on the mount of transfiguration, Luke 9:29 tells us that "while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different." This is the same thing that happens to us when we're in close fellowship with Christ. This third step, be transformed by the renewing of your mind, the transformation talked about here comes from a closeness with God. In prayer, in Bible study, in simply reflecting on Christ. Those who are willing to pay the price of a true walk with God will gain the precious treasure of the sure knowledge of His will for their lives. Practice the presence of Christ.
In order to know the will of God for your life, each of these steps must be taken in turn. None can be skipped or avoided. Gods spelled out here in His Holy Word the way to prove the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:1-2 - "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
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