A New Person: Transformed by Grace

Following Jesus is not something you can do with half of your heart. If we truly believe in all that Christ has done for us, there is no other response but to give ourselves over to Him completely. This is the kind of response we find modeled for us in Romans 12:1-2 and the verses that follow. In today’s reflection, we will consider what it means to be a person transformed by His grace!

The Book of Romans: God’s Mercy Defined

Romans 12:1-2 are well known, well beloved verses. In them, Paul states: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform 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” (NIV).

Often, we forget about the rich background that precedes these verses. We must look backwards at the rest of the book before we look forward to the verses ahead in order to keep “God’s mercies” at the forefront of our mind. The entire book of Romans is a thorough explanation of what the Gospel is, why it is necessary, and how amazing the grace of God is to Gentiles and Jews alike.

The ESV Study Bible breaks up the book into a few sections with an outline. Below is the outline up until chapter 15 (ESV Study Bible).

The Gospel as the Revelation of the Righteousness of God (1:1-17)
God’s Righteousness in His wrath against sinners (1:18-3:20)
The saving righteousness of God (3:21-4:25)
Hope as a result of righteousness by faith (5:1-8:39)
God’s righteousness to Israel and to the gentiles (9:1-11:36)
God’s righteousness in everyday life (12:1-15:13)

This outline helps us visualize the arguments that Paul has been making before he gets to the “therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters” in verse 1 of chapter 12. Paul wants his plea that we be transformed people and living sacrifices to be founded upon a rich understanding of God’s grace as he has explained in the previous 11 chapters. Why do we give ourselves over to God? What is the foundation of our worship and service to God? It is the very mercy of God - which Paul has unpacked in the entire book up until now.

Jesus is the Foundation of Our Transformation

If you have tried to change before, if you’ve made every effort to be a new person and you keep on slipping into the same sin, same selfishness, same self-absorption, same pattern - you need to stop trying to be a new person and start reminding yourself of the amazing mercies of God.

You can’t change yourself by sheer willpower. It is only in view of the mercy of God that we begin to be transformed into His image. All of the teachings of the New Testament on what it means to be a faithful Christian are all directions on how to model our lives after the pattern that Christ models for us and less on the pattern that the world models for us. Our transformation is motivated by, informed by, and formed to reflect the mercy of God through Christ. Look to the mercies of God. He is the one who can make you into a new person. He is the foundation of our transformation.

The Way We Live Proves Who We Worship

In Romans 12:1-2, we are told that in light of God’s mercy we are to “offer [our] bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” and that “this is [our] true and proper worship.” Paul is using the analogy of a living sacrifice. A sacrifice was a means of worship to God in the Old Testament that required that something would die. An animal would die and be put up on the altar as worship or as a form of atonement. We no longer have to practice these sacrifices because Christ died on the cross to finally and ultimately be our sacrifice.

However, our act of worship is now much more costly than sacrificing an animal. It is sacrificing our very self - our very desires and the natural pattern with which we go about life, pursuing our own interests and pride. That is what we sacrifice. Paul informs us that it is this action - putting ourselves on the altar - that is truly what it means to worship God. How we live proves who we worship.

We will sacrifice everything for something. Maybe it’s our career. Our marriage. Our families. Our public image. Wealth. Sexuality. Whatever it may be - you’re going to be willing to put everything on the line for something. That is what you worship. Paul suggests that you ought worship God and worship Him truly by becoming a living sacrifice - giving yourself over to Him.

Transformation is a Choice

This kind of transformation doesn’t just happen. You must choose daily to allow God to produce it within you. Transformation is first and foremost a choice. It is a mental decision to look at what Christ has done for you, determine that He is worthy of your worship, and every single day decide to put your thoughts, emotions, and desires in line with the pattern of Christ - not the pattern of the world.

The Holy Spirit then empowers you to live this out - but it starts a decision on your part. Paul says that this transformation starts with “the renewing of your mind.” That requires your mind to be filled with the things of the Lord so that you can choose the pattern of Christ, not the pattern of the world.

Are you so numb and bogged down by endless scrolling, mindless entertainment, sports, video games, politics, podcasts, news, or education that you don’t even have room for the renewing of your mind? Christ wants to change the way you think. That means you need to fill your mind with new things. Godly things. Start pointing it towards the mercies of God. If your mind is filled with a constant barrage of the “patterns of the world” instead of the mercies of God,” you cannot expect transformation to happen.

A Life Transformed

Before you can experience transformation in your life, you must do these three things.

Receive God’s mercy through Christ
Give yourself completely to Christ
Fill your mind with Christ

Only after meeting those three prerequisites can you move onto a life of transformation as described in the rest of chapter 12. In this chapter, Paul gives us an idea of what it means to live as a person transformed by grace. I have summarized these points into this chart below.

Conclusion: Take A Step Toward Christ Today

Everyone is at different places in their walk with the Lord. My takeaway for you today is to choose one of these action steps and commit to doing it. If you are repulsed by the idea of living transformed - choose the first. If you want to live for Christ but have been dealing with sin - choose the second. If you are a seasoned Christian ready for the next step in your walk with the Lord - choose the third. Whatever you do, do it unto the Lord and with the help of the Holy Spirit!

Read the Gospels. Soak in the mercy of God through Christ.
Leave it behind & get on the altar.
Fill your mind with Christ through Scripture memory or meditation on Scripture.

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March 9th, 2025. Preached and edited by Julia Castro