Live in such a way ... Romans 14:13-23.

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

Paul opens Romans 14 by talking about those who don't believe what you believe and, therefore, can't eat what you eat. In some translations, Paul is said to call this a weaker faith. In other translations, like the Message, it tells you, “don't jump all over them every time they do or say something you don't agree with.” These disagreements happen frequently, and have, in my opinion, everything to do with tradition and lousy teaching.

The subject continues to the point where Paul feels he has to admonish the reader:

Who are you to criticize someone else's servant? The Lord will determine whether his servant has been successful. The servant will be successful because the Lord makes him successful. (Romans 14:4 GW)

The servant, in this sentence, belongs to the Lord; and, as far as I can tell, means everybody, whether they are living up to a Christian standard, or not.
Need proof?

If we live, we honor the Lord, and if we die, we honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. (Romans 14:8 GW)

If we are having disagreements over what we believe, let's get on the same page.

The basis of our belief is Christ crucified and risen from the dead. You can't make a statement like that without an understanding of the effect of Christ's actions.
Perhaps this is oversimplified, but here goes.
By our acceptance of Christ's death and resurrection, we have, in the spiritual realm, followed in Christ's footsteps; we call that being buried with Him into baptism. God, because of Christ's actions, caused us to be raised together with Him. When Christ rose to new life, so did we. Christ is our redemption, which means that by His blood, we have been purchased back from the enemy and made righteous in the Father's eyes. That same blood covered ALL of our sins, and we are forgiven. This forgiveness was offered to the entirety of humanity, from the beginning of time, and includes this very moment. The requirement is little more than faith in Jesus Christ.
(To those who must complicate things, I offer you the thief on the cross. If we are looking for actions that go well beyond some simple faith, what did this man do? When you figure it out, you will see nothing more than simple faith.)

As we proceed into Romans 14, Paul refers to our status, when he calls the believers servants.

Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master, he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:4 NASB)

Does that seem right that believers would be judging believers?
We know Paul is writing to believers because he addresses this letter to the church in Rome. The word “church” is not meant to describe a building but the biological entity formed through our relationship with Christ.

With that in mind, doesn't this statement, “to his own master,” strike you as odd?
It almost gives the sense that there are other masters out there, but you know that is not the case, as Paul is merely painting a word picture to get your attention. You wouldn't dare walk into another person's house and try to correct what the servants are doing, especially when what they are doing may be precisely what the master has asked them to do. Since we all belong to the Lord, then we are all servants. Setting aside the negative ramifications of that term, let's come to grips with the idea that we belong to Him; there is no way around this, that is unless you purposefully choose to follow another master, Satan.

Assuming that we are judging each other over doctrinal differences, we need to stop, and that is why Paul carries that discussion a little farther, as he begins to look at this judging from another angle.

Romans 14:13 NASB Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this--not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way.

• “but rather determine this--not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way.”

Judging, or being judged because you see things differently, should not be a stumbling block, so there is more to this statement than meets the eye, and we need to find out what that is. Many of the commentaries indicate that Romans 14:13 is referring to a weaker brother in Christ. If they were young in the Lord, then what, they would not have the knowledge base with which to stand their ground or retaliate. In my own experience, a brother in Christ tried to show off his prowess in the Old Testament stories, by asking, how big was David when he slew Goliath? Since no one chose to answer him (typically, when a person asks a question like this, they already have an answer in mind, and are typically prepared to humiliate whoever responds,) I did. His response back to me was what I expected, angry, with the obligatory attempt at humiliating me. It did not work as I stood my ground as I responded with scriptures that backed my argument. How many stumbling blocks did this brother create in his attempt to destroy me? Hopefully, we may never know, but one thing is for sure, he did not care how I would receive such an attack, nor was he concerned about how others might perceive what he was doing.

Who was it that was shown the blanket being let down, filled with ceremoniously unclean animals?
Peter.

Where then did Paul come to this understanding?
Is it possible that Paul had heard Peter's words related to him in his journeys, or perhaps he had heard Jesus' words?

"Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. (Matthew 15:17-18 NASB)

We honestly don't know the answer to my question above, but there was that day on the road to Damascus.

Romans 14:14 NASB I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

Paul, writing to Timothy says,

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:4-5 NASB)

And to Titus, Paul writes:

To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. (Titus 1:15 NASB)

Here, in the NASB translation, we see Paul talking about something that has the potential to be unclean. Now, we have evidence to prove that Paul is talking to a mixed congregation and that the majority of this congregation is Jewish. With that in mind, most of us understand the Jews have dietary restrictions that prevent them from eating a pulled-pork sandwich. But to most Gentiles, this is not an issue, and many would say, bring it on.

What does Romans 14:14 say,

“I, (Paul) am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself.” However, to those who think that thing you are eating is unclean, it is unclean.

Why does this thought process, about the Jewish side of the household, have any impact on the Gentile believers, who have come to the potluck lunch that the church is having?

I can't see it having any impact at all, but apparently, it should, because, as Paul tells us, “but rather determine this--not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way.”

This statement then, doesn't just apply to the Gentiles, (as some would try to convince you,) who may be joining in with a Jewish oriented congregation; it applies to the Jews as well, but why?

You might think that we Gentiles don't have rituals we practice, but having come out of the world with its numerous gods and behaviors, I can say, we have plenty.

An example: About a year ago, I went to a men's retreat. The speaker was from a Vineyard church in Colorado, that goes by the name, “The Sanctuary.”
The speaker had an earned Doctorate in sexual therapy and spoke very candidly about the damage we men have sustained in our lives. In his introduction, he talked about policies of the “Sanctuary” church, and He said, we allow anyone to come to our church, and he spoke of allowing some who were openly gay to be involved in leadership. (Now, to be fair, he did not define what he meant by leadership, and because of that, I chose to give the man some grace. You should also give some consideration to things like recovery and how people who go through the program can still say, "Hi, my name is, and I am a recovering ___." If God has moved in their life, then it is not unusual to have such a person in leadership. Mike Waddel, CEO of My Pillow fame just recently addressed the nation, at the President's request, and said this is a nation that needs to turn back to God. He is a person who went through recovery.) Someone in the audience, there at camp, attempted to refute the speaker, he responded by saying, yes, we do allow them, but they cannot be practicing sin and serve in our church. Later that day, a brother from my church sat with me at lunch and asked me what I thought of what the speaker had said. Having learned to hesitate for a moment before answering such questions, I stopped and listened to the Holy Spirit, who told me, this brother is looking for a fight. As the speaker had also talked about how people, even those who are trapped in sin, need a hug, I answered in this manner; I think hugging people is a good idea (of course there was no Covid 19 at this point.)
The brother who asked the question then showed his true colors as he did precisely what Paul was talking about, judging another master's servant; he started getting loud and angry, saying that sin is sin, and we need to be preaching about sin and how it will send you to hell. I could not agree with his attitude, nor his doctrine, as I tend to see glutenous over-eaters as sinners, and we would not think of sending them to hell.

How would you know someone is practicing sin while serving in your church?
There are only a few ways; evidence or their big mouths.
If it is their big mouths, then they are bragging about their sins.
Paul speaks of such a person in 1Corinthians.

It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife. (1 Corinthians 5:1 NASB)

Although, someone being openly gay seems like an unforgivable sin to many, how is it any different from the pastor that secretly pursues pornography at home; at least the openly gay person is being honest about their sin? It is still sinning, and, if we hold to a standard for one, then don't we have to maintain the same standard for all, and we don’t do that.

So, here we are back at Romans 14:13 again.

So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall. (Romans 14:13 NLT)

We are not talking about the world; this is directed at believers within the church.
Having been excoriated, in a “bible study” setting, on several occasions, I can tell you that it is not comfortable; and, I found myself having to choose not to get into an embroiled battle with these Christian brothers. They, on the other hand, apparently ripped this page out of their bibles because it obviously intruded into their beliefs, and they did not want anything to impeded their ability to peddle their false doctrines and unbelief.

Most people see words, like those that Paul delivers, as law, and maybe they are, but since God has seen fit to write those laws upon every heart within the believer, then you should consider the reality that God's law continues to be our guide.

Continue to think like a Jew might as we progress.

Romans 14:14 NASB I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

Peter may be our grandest example in this conversation about something unclean. The Holy Spirit showed Peter, in a vision or dream, the blanket coming down, filled with unclean animals. The voice associated with that blanket told Peter to eat.
Peter's response was this:

But Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean." (Acts 10:14 NASB)

There is such an air of audacity on the part of Peter.
What if the response back to Peter went like this, I am not asking your opinion, I am telling you to eat! Fortunately, for all of us, God is long-suffering and patient.

Did Peter think that it was unclean?
He certainly did, and yet God was able to open Peter's eyes to understand that He was talking about Cornelius, and taking the message to the Gentiles.

So, a brother in Christ, is having a meltdown about something you are eating; are you serious?
Paul continues.

Romans 14:15 CEV  If you are hurting others by the foods you eat, you are not guided by love. Don't let your appetite destroy someone Christ died for.

• “If you are hurting others by the foods you eat,” I can be offended by the manner in which you eat, especially if you are making slurping noises with every spoonful.

We all know that slurping noise is not what Paul is talking about; he is talking about things that may border on ritual. Look, we have all come from somewhere. Most people that found the church body they are currently attending came there because of some hurt or disagreement. I know I did. In our coming from some other assembly, there may have been incense and smoke; some dip bread pieces that the church members have ripped from a loaf and have dipped in grape juice, while others pass communion trays. Some believe that the cracker and juice become Jesus' body, in our bodies, while others see it as symbolic. Do we have the potential for clashes in these procedures? Without a doubt.

The Greek word for hurt is lupeō and means distressed.
Earlier in this post, I talked about a brother in Christ who got distressed, because he refused to hear what the speaker was saying.
When Paul speaks of foods, he uses the Greek word brōma. This word takes on a whole new meaning when you look up the Strong's concordance definition. It speaks primarily to (ceremonial) articles allowed or forbidden by the Jewish law – meat.
So now we can understand that Paul is talking to the person that brings their own sandwich, and it's pulled pork.
If that is what you are doing, bringing a pulled-pork sandwich, simply to prove some twisted point, then you fall under the second half of this verse.

• “If you are hurting others by the foods you eat, you are not guided by love.”

A lawyer asked Jesus what the greatest commandment is?
His answer,

"... 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' "This is the great and foremost commandment. "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' (Matthew 22:36-39 NASB)

I can understand this in one of several ways. Since I do not want to be hurt, then I should not hurt, nor cause hurt, and the person, in our scenario of Romans 14:15 is doing just that, when shoves things in his mouth with the intention of causing angst in the onlookers.

But what if I don't love myself?
Then there is definitely something in me that needs to be fixed, and that can only be done through a relationship with Jesus Christ. (That, of course, means that you can be painfully honest about yourself and submit to sound people speaking into your life.) Lacking a loving example to teach you how to love others, then follow some good examples and be willing to take advice. Submit to others in a recovery situation. This submission thing may be more comfortable to swallow along as you understand that you are a slave to Christ.

The last part of this verse in the ESV reads like this:

• “Don't destroy anyone's faith by eating something they think is wrong. Christ died for them.”

Didn't we recently study something comparable? Absolutely.

Welcome all the Lord's followers, even those whose faith is weak. Don't criticize them for having beliefs that are different from yours. Some think it is all right to eat anything, while those whose faith is weak will eat only vegetables. But you should not criticize others for eating or for not eating. After all, God welcomes everyone. What right do you have to criticize someone else's servants? Only their Lord can decide if they are doing right, and the Lord will make sure that they do right. (Romans 14:1-4 CEV)

I will repeat something I recently stated; there are those who will say, I am not under the law! We say things like this because of improper teaching, for the law, that you are trying to avoid; the one that seems to constrain you when you want to drink wildly, is written upon your hearts, all ten of them – including, love your neighbor, as yourself. So, sorry, you don't get to use that as an excuse for your bad behavior.

And that takes us to the next verse.

Romans 14:16 NASB Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil;

A couple of things stand out for me. Initially, I used a different translation, which I want you to see.

Don't let your right to eat bring shame to Christ. (Romans 14:16 CEV)

If Christ is God, and He is, then do you seriously think that you can bring shame to God? God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are so far beyond all that. The Muslims tend to think this way, and therefore are willing to kill you for bringing shame to Allah. How pathetically silly.
We can, however, by our brash stupidity, cause others to want nothing to do with us, nor the God we serve. (On that note, Franklin Graham, in early March of 2020 was wanting to do large evangelistic meetings in Britain, but was banned by church leaders, because, as they said, he no longer reflects the morals and political correctness of the current day. In other words, they knew he would speak out against sin.)

Because I now look intently at scripture through Jewish eyes, I can almost hear Paul's voice as he says,

Romans 14:17 CEV  God's kingdom isn't about eating and drinking. It is about pleasing God, about living in peace, and about true happiness. All this comes from the Holy Spirit.

Frequently, there are words that I want to drape across the roof of my house, like a billboard, and verse 17 is one of them. Note those words, living in peace; wouldn't that be wonderful?

God's kingdom isn't about eating and drinking. It is about pleasing God, about living in peace, and about true happiness.

I read these words, and think if only I/we could attain this peace and true happiness. It can be attained.

Romans 14:18 NLT  If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.

Backing up to verse 17 once again but from the Amplified Bible.

[After all] the kingdom of God is not a matter of [getting the] food and drink [one likes], but instead it is righteousness (that state which makes a person acceptable to God) and [heart] peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

So, the kingdom of God has little to do with our rituals, but with righteousness. Since we have no righteousness of our own, then that righteousness has to come expressly from God.
When did that happen?
At the cross, as Christ became our righteousness. We, of course, have to accept that righteousness from God by believing in the Son.
Can you see the simplicity, for us, in this situation? 
Christ's bloody sacrifice brought about our permanent righteousness. I know, many shriek at such a thought, because it wreaks of eternal salvation. For me, I have seen the world, and want no part of it. I long for the day when I get to look into His eyes that emit nothing but love.

How do I attain this righteousness?
Well, we just talked about that, but Paul adds this.

Romans 14:19 NASB So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.

What is another way to say this? Love your neighbor as yourself.

Romans 14:20 CEV  Don't let your appetite destroy what God has done. All foods are fit to eat, but it is wrong to cause problems for others by what you eat.

That word appetite, by definition, covers many items. For some, who talk about their appetite for women, it can mean debauchery and lust. For many, it covers your passions and desires. Even here, with a bent toward eating something like barbecued pork, you know that eating a sandwich in innocence, is NOT what is being expressed. We covered this subject earlier, and it has everything to do with shoving your freedoms down someone else's throat. Simply put, it is wrong to cause problems for others by your objectionable actions.

Romans 14:21 CEV  It is best not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else that causes problems for other followers of the Lord.

An obvious point here is this, is what I do in the sanctity of my home, offending people?
Certainly not, but if you stand around the crowd at your gathering, and legalistically put people down (judge them), and then they run into you buying a case of beer and a ham. You are nothing more than a hypocrite and an embarrassment to the church as a whole. Your alcoholic acquaintances may now think that they have the freedom, under your definition of grace, to go back to being a drunkard.

Romans 14:22-23 CEV  What you believe about these things should be kept between you and God. You are fortunate if your actions don't make you have doubts.  (23)  But if you do have doubts about what you eat, you are going against your beliefs. And you know that is wrong because anything you do against your beliefs is sin.

Words to live by:

• What you believe about these things should be kept between you and God.
• You are fortunate if your actions don't make you have doubts.
• But if you do have doubts about what you eat, you are going against your beliefs. And you know that is wrong because anything you do against your beliefs is sin.

This last line applies to both sides of the fence. Having angrily put people in their place because you feel strongly about SIN and Hell's fires, only to later be CAUGHT doing the very thing you preached against, demonstrates that you are going against your own beliefs, and therefore sinning.
Jeez, if you are an advocate of people going to hell over the simplest of sins, then you should be there as well.

Perhaps we need to calm down and demonstrate grace to people, by giving them a hug (once it is safe to do so again.)

A living sacrifice. It's not what you think. Romans 12:1,2.

The NASB entitles Romans 12:1,2 as a living sacrifice.

As you pursue the depths within chapter 12, you come to understand that WE are that living sacrifice. Finding the treasures buried within those depths may require a focused examination into what Paul is saying by looking at the Greek background of those simple words. Typically, we skim over words like sacrifice, possibly because we do not want to understand the impact that a word like this can have on us. 

Let's see what we can find.

First, pay attention to context. When Paul opens with the word “therefore,” it immediately tells us that what we see in chapter twelve is a continuation of a thought process. The origins of this current conversation, between Paul and the church, begins in chapter 11 verses 33-36.

The Complete Jewish Bible version of verse 33 says,

“O the depth of the riches and the wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments! How unsearchable are his ways!”

For me, this puts God at a distance, with little hope of understanding who he is; fortunately, that is not the case.

The CEV version of verse 33 tells us,

“Who can measure the wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God? Who can understand his decisions or explain what he does?”

It should be easy to understand that God, and His mercy and grace, is beyond our understanding; once again, this puts almost anything we think we know about the Father into the category of being a mere glimpse of who He is.

With that in mind, we begin our exploration of chapter 12.

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice -- alive, holy, and pleasing to God -- which is your reasonable service.
(Romans 12:1 NET.)

1. “Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters,”

Here, Paul is not talking in generalized terms, to the world; this is directed at followers of Christ. In his conversation (as the NET version states), I exhort you. Exhort, according to Webster’s dictionary, means to: “encourage, to embolden, to cheer, to advise. The primary sense seems to be to excite or to give strength, spirit, or courage.” I can take this many ways, such as Paul is advising the followers of Christ, or he is trying to excite them into following the words he is about to give them.

2. “by the mercies of God,”

Most definitions of mercy lean toward pity; however, that seems wholly inadequate here, especially when we look at passages like Ephesian 1:3,4.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love." (NASB)

Dr. J Vernon McGee, in his simplistic manner, says this of the phrase “By the mercies of God.” “The plural is a Hebraism, denoting an abundance of mercy. God is rich in mercy; God has plenty of it, my friend. He has had to use a lot of it for me, but He still has plenty of it for you.”

The Word Study Dictionary adds, “It is used in reference to God as the Father of mercies showing His character and that upon which believers can depend as they make their bodies a living offering to Him.”

2 Corinthians 1:3 NET. “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,”

3. “to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God -”

Again I draw from J Vernon McGee, who tells us, “the body is the instrument through which we express ourselves. The mind, the affections, the will, and the Holy Spirit can use the body.”

But does that fully explain what God is asking us to do here? Sure, the Holy Spirit wants to use our bodies, but certainly, we are being asked to lay ourselves down. The commentary by Albert Barnes states that “The word used here commonly denotes the action of bringing and presenting an animal or other sacrifices before an altar. It implies that the action was a free and voluntary offering. Religion is free, and the act of devoting ourselves to God is one of the most freeing acts that we ever perform.”

Consider these words from Psalms.

Psalms 50:22-23 NASB "Now consider this, you who forget God, Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver. (23) "He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God."

This first part got my attention, as it declares, “Now consider this, you who forget God, Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.” Now that God has your attention take note, “ He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright, I shall show the salvation of God.” What can I take away this? That God is deadly serious about this, that and the fact that God's salvation is deeply integrated into this idea of sacrifice.

What is He asking me to sacrifice?

My body and my will.

Is He specifying how to go about this?

Absolutely and we see that when He uses terminology like “ alive, holy, and pleasing to God.”

An immediate observation is that sacrifices get killed. Well, that should be easy for us to associate with, seeing as we died with Christ and were buried with Him in baptism. However, the word used was alive, so He has to be talking about us, filled with vibrancy.

If you chose to ponder the term holy, how would you apply it to yourselves?

Most of us can't imagine anyone seeing us as holy, and yet God does, and this happens when we give ourselves to Christ.

Webster's dictionary defines sanctification as made holy; consecrated; set apart for sacred services.

Ephesians 1:4 tells us that He chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy before Him. Paul, in his letter to the church in Ephesus chapter 1:13, says, “having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit.”

In defining the person filled with the Holy Spirit, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews calls it sanctification.

Hebrews 10:9-10 NASB, then He said, "BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL." He takes away the first in order to establish the second. (10) By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

The point here is that having given ourselves over to Christ, we have been made Holy, whether we feel like it or not.

4. “which is your reasonable service.”

It seems that most of us perceive this idea of service as being God's will for our lives. The problem with that is that few can define what God's will is for us. Most will tell you that God's will is His word, and that would be true; however, the Word rarely speaks directly to the various aspects of our lives. One pathetic example would come from those who say, “what is the will of God for my marriage.” The simple answer is to love your wife; this theme is spread generously across the New Testament.

Paul helped to define this idea of sacrificial service in the letter that he wrote to the church in Rome.

Romans 1:9 NASB "For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,"

Service, for Paul, was to serve in delivering the gospel of Christ. Yes, I noticed that the NASB uses the descriptive language, “preaching of the.” Still, the NASB writers define for us, in the front of their bibles that those italicized words are only meant to help aid the sentence structure and our understanding. For me, and it has taken years to realize this, that my reasonable service is to teach, but I have sensed this in my heart for years. The peculiarity is that Jesus appeared to me in a dream when I was about 24, and laid my life out before me. I thought I would never forget a word He said and did not write any of it down. When I awoke, I could only remember Him being there and the immense joy I felt. I cannot recall Him telling me how I would severely damage my own life, and how it could seriously impact my acceptance as a teacher, but I have tried the standard church venues, with no luck; and have only “found” myself in teaching small home groups and in taco stands.

Since we understand that Paul's admonition is that we offer ourselves as living sacrifices, what is next?

And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2 NASB

How many of you have read Romans 12:2 and thought, what does that mean?

It is not that difficult. Webster's dictionary defines conformed rather simply as “made to resemble; reduced to a likeness of; made agreeable to.”

So then, the next question is, made to resemble or agreeable to what?

Look around you, you don't have to look far; what does the world do? Some of these, I am calling the world, sit by you in church. Franklin Graham, who preaches a message much like his father's, has been banned in Europe from several stadium venues he had tried to secure, to do massive salvation crusades. And why? Because he calls sin sin. And who do you think holds the significant responsibility for obstructing his access to these stadiums? Church leaders who do not feel that Franklin Graham reflects today's norms. So, everywhere you turn, bastions of religion have given way to squeaky wheels, and blatant sinners have been given pulpits. In doing so churches have become agreeable to the politically correct norm; we have become agreeable.

Is that all there is, as though that is not enough?
Ideals and sensibility are being stripped away on a  daily basis. Alright, I get it, I am not supposed to act like the world, but the obvious thing is going to happen; you will not have many friends outside of the church body, and even then many of them are busily conforming to the same world you may find yourselves fighting against.

Let me point out that our President Trump, in his 2020 state of the Union address said; this will not be a nation where you get punished for praying in school, along with other things that clash against the NEW normal.

Simply resisting is not the answer, you have to change the way you think. 

Paul tells us, “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Assuming that I am a believer and the world is beginning to affect me, then I certainly don't need to be bolstered and supported in the world's ways. Something I find myself saying, I don't need to have some preacher rant about sin; I already know how to do that.. I say all this because the word transformed implies that you are being moved back to some non-changed state, and I have come to the realization that I need to move away from the world's way of thinking.

Transformed - “Changed in form or external appearance; metamorphosed; transmuted; renewed.

Ah, so there is the implication of being renewed, but it still carries the definition of being changed in form. We can't do that; only God can. Fortunately for us, Jesus did and does change us. The cross removed the penalty of sin, something we all carry; however, it is the necessary move toward belief in Jesus and the price He paid for us, that makes us His own. That action on His part metamorphosed us into Sons of God. In case you don't remember, this is what butterflies do; they change from an often ugly caterpillar into beautiful butterflies.

Alright then, who is this person who is conforming to the world?

Those who choose not to renew their minds. I suppose this could be analogous to maintaining a vehicle. If you allow it to run out of oil, what happens? A multitude of horrendous and expensive events. Can the car be renewed? Sure, if you have the time, money, and patience; and, you see “renewals” frequently when people with money, find people with the skills and pay them to rebuild some “classic” car.

The Greek word for renewing is also renovation, and that is what entrepreneurs do to neglected homes – many call it flipping a house (hopefully for a profit.)

This idea of seeing our bodies as a house is not so foreign, and Paul speaks of it in 2 Corinthians 5:1.

For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (NASB)

So what is the advantage of renewing my mind?

Paul gives us the answer to that when he says “so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” The word prove has a variety of definitions, but they all run along the same vein. One goes like this: “To evince truth by argument, induction or reasoning; to deduce certain conclusions from propositions that are true or admitted.”

As I have read through the Old Testament and observed how people like Gideon, Joshua, and Abigail (our examples are vast in number and varied in their reactions), all came to the conclusion that God was good and acceptable because they argued, reasoned and saw that God was true. It is not that different for us, and the book of Hebrews talks about this process of faith when the author speaks of a great cloud of witnesses. In my childhood, growing up in the church community, there was the sister Dixon's of my life, each one different, and yet all made an impact that showed me that God was true.

Evince, according to Webster's, is “to show in a clear manner; to prove beyond any reasonable doubt; to make evident.”

This is the type of terminology that we hear in a courtroom, but how do I apply this information to myself?

I have sat on one jury in my sixty-six years. The judge instructed us that all the evidence comes out of the interactions between the attorneys and the person sitting in the witness stand and that you must acquit the defendant IF there is any reasonable doubt. One of those “witnesses” came in the form of an outlaw biker type. He had seen his friend standing at the curb looking a bit battered. A police officer was nearby, but that officer had already told us that this intersection was not his jurisdiction; so, the officer’s only concern was to assess whether anyone needed medical assistance. Since that was not necessary, he merely stood by until the Highway Patrol showed up – that took almost 20 minutes once the call was made. Back to the biker. Seeing his friend in “need,” he and his buddy pulled over, poured some whiskey they had under the seat into the tall soda cup that they had already flicked some ashes into; and, took it over to the friend in need. Drinking an unspecified amount of Whiskey, for 10 to 15 minutes, can get me drunk; it probably worked that way for the friend standing at the curb. But the jury foreman, a school teacher, said, “that is NOT reasonable, no one would do that!” He had obviously lived a very sheltered life. This short version was a demonstration of the prosecution's inability to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty, and it speaks to me of the shortsightedness of the world, which became extremely evident in the most recent presidential impeachment hearings.

God has always, in talking with us broken people, made it clear that He would uphold His end of the commitment, even if we did it not. We see conversations like this, between God and people, throughout the Old Testament. Two of those interactions that jump to mind are with Abram and Gideon. God, in those circumstances, spoke in this manner, “as for me.” This manner of speech was not the demonstration of a bad attitude, but unquestionably took into consideration the frailty of the human in question; and, it demonstrated God’s determination to follow this agreement through to the end.

In proving what the will of God is, isn't this solely speaking to the individual?

It is, so this instruction is meant for us to establish ourselves in the nature and character of God. Some may feel that there is a demand to prove to the world that God is faithful, the problem there is that many will not accept truth or evidence because their minds are locked into some twisted logic. 

If you think about it, wouldn't a purposeful attempt at understanding God be comparable to knowing His will? Of course, it would, for understanding the nature and character of someone, would give you the reasons why they make the decisions they make, and God is not so different. He longs for us to know Him.

What is good?

The current convention is that we must be politically correct. Is that good? I don't think so, as the moral standard has inverted and changes from day to day. (An example of current, so-called regular practice, is the wanton murder of babies in a brutal manner while disguising this murder under the title women's health.)

Isaiah 5:20 NASB Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

If you look up the Greek word for good you get agathos. One of the meanings and there are only two, is, does it have any benefit.

How much effort does it take to ask, does this have any benefit?

Well, I suppose the answer to that question is subjective, as an alcoholic, when handed a bottle, would probably say, there is unquestionably a benefit, the difficulty comes in accepting the honest answer. So realistically this conversation is pushing toward a moral evaluation of what is good, however, that moral evaluation has to be based upon a standard, but whose standard? There is only one valid, true, and unchangeable standard – God's. (I am not talking about religious legalism as the standard, but the consistent pattern, which God demonstrated to humanity throughout the Old Testament; an example of this can be seen in the entire process that led up to the “escape” from Egypt, by God's people.)

Let's ponder the term acceptable for a moment. Acceptable is defined by Strong's as fully agreeable and, well-pleasing. While the world, in their quest for pleasure, would think this is exactly what they want to hear. The reality is, this is talking about what God wants to hear and see, and He would love to commune with you and I.

Perfect is the Greek word teleios and means complete (in various applications of labor, growth, mental and moral character, etc.); neuter (as noun, with G3588) completeness: - of full age, man, perfect. So when we talk about being perfect, we are talking maturity and growth in our relationship with God.

Where does this maturity show up?

In how we act; how we talk; the decisions we make; and, how we perceive and communicate with the Father.