Ready!*
“Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” -Romans 12:2
We need the Gospel.
Few of us would dispute this claim. We would go further and say that everyone needs the Gospel, for everything, at all times.
But where do we need the Gospel? Romans 12:2 says that, first, we need our minds to be transformed, made-new, by the Gospel. Paul uses chapters 1-6 to lay new mental-footings and notice new info, using Scripture. Then, in Romans 6:11, Paul shifts; he gives the first of the conclusions from which we then live new lives. Here is the first description of what new-minds mind: “You must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
It is very, very important that our mental starting place is the Gospel.
We’ve talked about what it means to consider ourselves “in Christ Jesus,” and what it means to consider ourselves “dead to sin.” But what does it mean to consider ourselves “alive to God”?
It’s important to clarify that Paul does not envision this life-death situation in a binary, physical, way: that is, you’re either alive or dead. That is true, in Christ, which is Paul’s foundational idea: we have died with Christ so we may live in Christ. (Rom 6:8) But the point Paul is making here is based off of a relational understanding of death and life. Like we described previously, being alive to sin is like being alive to the calls of an old-flame you’re trying to avoid. It means to be alert to, mentally present to, someone’s voice and influence.
So Paul explains what “alive to God” means in the following verses: “present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” (v. 13)
Consider this: you have been brought from death to life. This is what is most true about you. “You must consider yourself…alive.” Do you? Or do you consider yourself primarily, foremostly, a sinning stinker? A weak fool, slipping continually into sin? Same-old same-old?
Imagine you’re at home in your SpongeBob pajamas, with old ice-cream dripped down the front, sitting on the couch next to a pile of dirty plates and used tissues, weeping openly because you just watched Ian get sent home from The Great British Baking Show. There’s a weird smell in the air, the windows are shut and the blinds are closed. And then the doorbell rings. Are you home? To anyone? You peek out and see your boss, dressed for work, calling your name and wondering whether you’re ready for the meeting. Are you home? To the boss? Absolutely not!
Why not? Because you do not feel that you are presentable. You do not feel yourself adequate. You do not feel yourself available to the calling. You do not have what you need. You are not who you should be. So you are not alive to your boss.
When we consider ourselves primarily as dead-sinners, with our shames writ large in our minds, it’s hard to get up and answer the door when God rings.
But what if we were alive in Christ Jesus? What if God, who is rich in mercy, and loves us with a great, great love, had made us alive together with Christ—saved us by grace!—and even raised us with Christ up to His very seat in heaven? What if God has a plan in this for us, to show us off for eternity—trophies of the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness which He poured out in Christ Jesus—we’re saved by grace!—which is all displayed in His workman-like care in our lives as we transform from disobedient kids ruled by the passions of our flesh into Christ-like workers of good in this world? (Ephesians 2:1f)
What if that were the most true thing about you?
“Awake, O sleeper; arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Eph 5:14)
Are you presentable? Are you available? Are you ready? Do you have what you need? Are you who you should be? Are you alive to the call and will of God?
Yes, you are. You are. Come on. You must consider yourself alive to God in Christ Jesus. You must. Because you are.
Let not sin reign and have dominion over you. Consider yourself dead to sin. Silence sin’s intoxicating voice.
And live. You are alive. Live. What if you answered the door? “Here I am, Lord! Speak, for your servant is all-ears!” (1 Samuel 3)
Would you present yourself to God, alive and ready, today? Say, “I’m Yours, Lord.” Say, “What’s mine is Yours, Lord.” Say, “What I have—such as it is—I want You to use to see that what’s right starts getting done more and more in my world.”
Say, “Dear Heavenly-Father of us all. Please work so that Your Name gets known as glorious; and please work so that the Kingdom of Your Son grows; and please work so that Your Will gets done, by Your Spirit. And please use me.”
Amen.
You are alive to God in Christ. Be alive to God today.
Photo by Fred Kearney on Unsplash
