Have you ever wondered why so many Christians remain spiritually stuck despite spending years attending church and listening to inspirational messages? Today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl confronts an uncomfortable truth. Maturity in Christ requires that we move beyond shallow inspirational thinking. in order to make concrete changes. In our study of Romans chapter 12, Chuck points to Paul's uncompromising challenge.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we're called to reflect the magnitude of God's mercy through our radical commitment to His Word. Are you ready to be challenged? Chuck titled today's message, A Compelling Commitment. We're reading from God's inspired word. He breathed it out and has miraculously Inspired the truth so that what we have is God's mind in print.
Romans twelve, one therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God. To present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice. Acceptable to God. Which is your spiritual service of worship. 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.
The Net Bible renders the same passage. 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. Do not be conformed to this present world.
But be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what the will of God is. It is good. and well pleasing. and perfect. J.B.
Phillips, in a paraphrase of the New Testament, writes: With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you. my brothers and sisters, as an act of intelligent worship, To give him your bodies as a living sacrifice. Consecrated to him. And acceptable by Him. Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold.
But let God remold your minds from within.
So that you may prove in practice. That the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands. and moves toward the goal of truth. True. Maturity.
You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into the book of Romans on your own, be sure to purchase our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook by going to insight.org/slash offer. Chuck titled today's message, A Compelling Commitment. Some statements and some scenes in the Scriptures are absolutely epical. They're not just interesting.
They're not just eloquent. They're far more than significant. They are. momentous.
So much so that as a result of the appearance of those words in the scriptures. Our lives are changed. Not simply because we read them, but because we put them to practice. We carry them out. I was thinking this past week of some scenes I would call epical.
As I worked my way through a number of those familiar scenes in the Bible. The first one takes me back to Genesis 22, where an old man, over 100 years of age, has a sharp knife in his hand and is about to plunge it into the chest of his son, who is on an altar. They're both at Mount Moriah. And out of the woods comes the name of the man who has the knife in his hand, Abraham, Abraham. Do not slay your son.
And the Lord provides a ram caught in the thicket. As he says to Abraham, Now I know that you fear me more than any other. That's an epical moment. Abraham went to his grave remembering the day God stopped him. from sacrificing his own son, I can hardly imagine.
carrying obedience to that point. A number of years later, there's an 80-year-old shepherd who's keeping his father-in-law's sheep in the backside of the Median desert. It's perhaps been a cold night and a warm morning. As he's caught up with the realization that the bush in front of him is not only burning, but it isn't going out. Burning bushes are not unusual in a desert.
bushes that don't stop burning. are miraculous. Realizing this, he hears a voice from the bush. telling him to take his shoes off, that he's on holy ground. And then in a moment, Moses hears an epical statement.
I'm sending you to Pharaoh.
So that you will lead my people into freedom. out of Egypt. That epical statement changed Moses. entire 40 years that followed. He never forgot.
God's voice. Centuries later, there was another young teenager keeping his father's sheep. Before he knows, his dad is calling him from the house. And he goes in, not expecting what he would find. There's an old man he's never met with a flask of oil.
His seven brothers are surrounding him, and his father is standing with his mouth open. And he hears the words, anoint him, for this is he. Coming from God and Samuel. Pours the oil on David's head, and as the oil runs down the back of his neck, David tries to figure out what it's all about and would live to hear the, to see the day when he would remember that was when he was. Appointed to be the successor.
to King Saul. Oh, years would pass, over a dozen. before he would become the actual king of Israel, but that epical moment was life-changing. For David. We slip quickly into the New Testament era and we stand waist deep in the cold waters of the Jordan.
The current is strong and one of the men is dripping wet and the other is dry. And the baptizer hears the words from heaven as the dove descended: This is my beloved Son. In him I am well pleased. The baptizer would never forget the moment that was God's authentication. This is, in fact, the one whom I have sent.
To pay for the sins of the whole world. One more comes to mind as the Apostle Paul's life is changed somewhere in Macedonia. While writing the second letter to the Corinthians, He is now covered with pain from this thorn in the flesh. He prays three times that it would be removed from him. The Lord says no to each one of the requests, and then finally says to the Apostle, My grace is sufficient for you.
Power is perfected in weakness. Paul never forgot it. It was an epical statement. From then on, he ministered in weakness. rather than his own strength.
We come to one of those epical statements in God's word as we turn to Romans chapter 12. Verses one and two. One of the men I admire made the statement, this is a benchmark. in my spiritual life. It may be that for some of you, others of you have never read it before.
I understand we have. that kind of variance in our congregation. For some of you, you've never heard the words of Romans 12. For others of you, you memorized them when you were a lad in school. or a little girl.
as your mother or father encouraged you to memorize the scriptures. Interestingly, it is a turning point. It's like the hinge on the door. Up until now, everything has seemed to be vertical. It's been all about God, God's work in salvation.
Saving those of us who are so undeserving. Who are Depraved sinners. And God comes to our rescue at the cross. And we turn our lives over to Him, and the first therefore appears. Therefore, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Then we learned a little in chapters 6, 7, and 8 about the Christian life. And we learned about our security in Christ, another, therefore. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. He ends the eighth chapter with that great crescendo: nothing will separate us from the love of Christ.
Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword, nothing will separate us. Following an interlude where he describes the work of the Jews in God's hand in the lives of his chosen people, there's a third, therefore, in this great letter. And this, therefore, is, as I say, the hinge on the door. This turns from the vertical to the horizontal. From here to the end of the letter, chapter 16, at the very end of it, all the way from here on, it's about service.
Up until this point, it's been about salvation.
Now it's horizontal. but to prepare us for service as God's people. We are given this compelling statement of commitment, and I want you to look at it. I would request that you look at it as if for the first time. The first verse is about consecration.
I'll define it in a moment. The second verse is about Transformation. The first verse is about our bodies. The second verse is about our mind. The first verse looks around, looks around and about us.
The second verse looks within us. And I will say to you that if this is a time in which you are willing to give yourself to these two verses. In a way like you've never done, your life will never be the same. If Paul were composing music, this would be a grand overture. A passionate prelude leading him into the movements of chapters 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16.
But this is the starting point. This is the passionate commitment. That's why we find Paul on his knees. I urge you. I plead.
with you. Please observe that it is a pleading directed toward believers. Brethren. will include men and women. You who know the Savior.
This is not truth for the lost person. If you're here and you're without Christ, don't try to present your body as a living sacrifice. You'll keep crawling off the altar. If you're here without Christ, don't think that you can somehow do a mind renewal number on yourself. This is for believers.
This is truth for the Christian. Is it ever? And it begins. With consecration. Let me define that word.
Consecration is a radical A radical separation. From a secular worldview, to a godly purpose. And mindset. It's a radical separation from the secular worldview. to a godly purpose.
and mindset. By the way, that doesn't automatically happen just because you become a believer in Christ. Coming to the cross does not in any way perform Romans 12, 1 and 2 for you. This is a command directed to us. These are what I would call cooperative commands.
God gives the command, and we follow up with a cooperation. Please observe the urgency of the appeal. I urge you by the mercies. of God. We've already thought about mercy a lot, having looked at chapters 9, 10, and 11.
Where we learn that mercy is the ready inclination of God to relieve the misery of fallen humanity. It's God's ministry to the miserable. And you, who and I, who were without Christ in our miserable, lost condition, found God's mercy like a soothing balm on an open wound.
Now, in light of the mercies that God has shown to us and given to us, I plead with you in return, says the apostle. to present your bodies. of living and holy sacrifice. Study for a moment the word present. Present.
It's the idea of offering something. as one would offer an animal on an altar. except in this case the animal is alive. The animal isn't a four-footed creature, it is a It is a two legged human being. It's you.
It's me. If it will help Crawl up on the altar. Dorothy? Bob, Ed? Susie?
Chuck. Frank? Alice? Cynthia? Paul?
Get up on the altar. Present your bodies. Please observe it is the body that's being presented. This is not some Some ethereal internal uh series of thoughts. This is literally the parts Of the body that would be drawn to the secular lifestyle.
The secular world appeals to the body. The eye gate takes in all kinds of sensual. Portraits and pictures, images. The ear hears all kinds of coarse and profane words. suggestive words, dirty words.
Um gossipy, slanderous words. I appeal to you, says the Apostle. That you, based on the mercies of God, that you make a sacrifice of your body. Observe it is a holy. Sacrifice, not only living, but it is holy.
That word means to be set apart. unto God. And also observe it is your It is acceptable to God and it is the reasonable act of worship. I think that's a better ending than a spiritual service. It's a reasonable act.
Now I need to warn you that I'm going to stop preaching and start meddling a little. I find that you may not have The imagination I have. And so I've been living with the conviction of this passage all week, and I've taken it long enough. My study is bloody enough. I'm going to now let you share in it.
I'm going to go down some of the points that God has visited me on. Let's start with our eyes and our ears. If we're going to crawl up on an altar and give God our lives as living sacrifices, let's take a look at what we look at. Let's examine what we listen to. What movies do you choose to attend?
And when is the last time you blushed? or walked out. What video games do you permit to be played in your home? Is it a part of the living sacrifice of your life? What do you listen to?
And how do you respond when you hear it, knowing that it's coming from the system of the world? That has no moral standards. They're absent from the world, the secular world. Right and wrong is now fuzzy and foggy. Whereas years ago it was clearly marked, and you learned of it at school as well as the home and the church.
Now you must determine. That based on what?
Well, based on the scriptures. which are timeless as well as timely. ever relevant. Let's go to our tongues and our vocal cords. There's nothing evil about either.
Lips, tongue, and vocal cords are the reason many a life is blessed. Every great song you've heard sung, you're grateful for the vocal cords and tongue and the lips and the training of the one who's presenting that. as an offering to you and to God. But lips and tongue and vocal cords can become the avenue or the instruments of gossip and slander and exaggeration and lies and coarse words. Angry and bitter words.
said in uncontrolled moments that can never be taken back. Crawl up on the altar and Bring your tongue and vocal cords with you. Your habit of regularly saying the negative thing. When you are with a group that's listening to your opinion. Bring your habit up on the altar and sacrifice it.
While you are alive. How about our hands and feet? What we touch Where we drive. What we click onto on our computer. What sites on the internet.
Think of it like this. God wants your everyday moments. The moments you spend at your office, your home, The place where you work, the shop, the factory, the sales meetings, the planning sessions. The hours you spend in your car or relaxing with friends or even all alone. offer all of that as individual acts of worship.
This so gripped Francis Havergal Way back in 1874, that she had to put it into writing. Take my life. And let it be Lord. Consecrated To thee, take my hands and let them move at the impulse. of your love.
Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee. Take my voice and let me sing, always only. for my king. She had sung with the Philharmonic, And chose from this day on she would sing only to the glory of God. Take my gifts.
that I carry out with my bodies and Guard me, Lord, from ever doing it for myself. Remember, I called it a radical separation. From our secular worldview. Remember the song we love to sing at the close of every Lord's Table? Isaac Watts ended it with Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul.
My life. My Yeah. My all. Eugene Peterson in the message renders this Take your everyday ordinary life. You're sleeping, eating, going to work.
and walking around life and place it before God as an offering. I suggest you do that. I suggest you form a habit this next week of saying, Lord, this is yours. Lord, this drive between my work and between my home and my drive, this is your drive. Control my eyes.
As you get out of your car, lock it up, and walk into the place where you work, Lord, today my eyes are your eyes. My lips are yours. My motives are your motive. My responses, my attitude, those are all yours. Take it all.
I bring it before you. as an offering. Just like those ancient saints. place their animals before you. on their altar and the blood was poured out there.
They were consumed. with a flame. From prayer that asked that I may be sheltered from winds that beat on thee, from fearing when I should aspire, from faltering when I should climb higher, from silken self, O captain free, thy soldier who would follow thee, from the subtle love of softening things, and easy choices, weakenings. Not thus are spirits fortified, not this way went the crucified. From all that damns thy Calvary, Lamb of God, deliver me.
Give me the love that leads the way, the faith that nothing can dismay. The hope no disappointments tire, The passion that will burn like fire. Let me not sink to be a clod. I love that line. Let me not sink to be a clod.
Make me thy fuel flame of God. That's got Romans 12.1 written all over it. Thanks to Amy Carmichael's insightful comments. You want to get serious about your Christian life? You don't have to go much further than Romans.
Chapter 12, verse 1. Because the world is not only against in disagreement to spiritual things, it is hostile and diametrically opposed to them. You will never hear talk like this in the marketplace. Ever. You'll hear it from the scriptures.
You began to live like this. You're going to run the very real risk of being seen. as weird. Weird. and you'll live with it.
Now it's not just the body, which was a jolt to those in the first century who were taken by the teaching of Socrates that the body is nothing, it's really all about the spirit. Oh, Paul is answering that saying, the body is the eye gate, the ear gate. The voice. It's the use of the hands and the and the muscles and the and the movement. of life.
But it all begins in the mind, doesn't it? No decision is made by the hands. begins in the mind. In this passage from Romans chapter 12, Paul calls believers to radical consecration. Presenting our bodies as living sacrifices by deliberately separating from the world's value system in what we watch, say, touch, and pursue.
There's a lot more that Chuck Swindahl wants to show us. He titled today's message, A Compelling Commitment. And this is Insight for Living. Paul's letter to the Romans contains deep theological truths that inspire us to take action. And if you're ready to learn more, Chuck and his creative team have assembled a collection of helpful study tools for this comprehensive series.
we encourage you to take advantage of this special bundle. First, Insight for Living would like to send you the Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook. Because of the depth of Paul's letter, this spiral-bound resource for Romans comes in two volumes, and both volumes are available now.
Next, our special bundle includes Chuck's commentary on Romans from the popular Living Insights Commentary Collection. And third, the bundle includes audio messages from Chuck's teaching series on Romans.
So check out this special bundle of resources by going to insight.org/slash offer. Insight for Living is made possible on your station because of grateful listeners who give voluntary donations. and today our team would like to say thanks to our monthly companions. You can become part of this growing family of friends right now by going online and following the simple instructions. By doing so, you'll ensure that Chuck's teaching continues on your station.
But here's the best part. You'll play a significant role in extending God's love to those who have never experienced His grace before. Plus, when you become a monthly companion right now, we're pleased to extend a special gift offer. It's a free downloadable PDF of chapter 5 of Chuck's book, Abraham, One Nomad's Amazing Journey of Faith. This passage is about Abraham's friendship with God.
To become a monthly companion right now, visit us at insight.org slash monthly companion. I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindahl continues his message titled, A Compelling Commitment. Tuesday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, A Compelling Commitment, was copyrighted in 2007, 2010, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R.
Swindahl, Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
