The Text
Introduction
The Epistle to the Romans is the most important theological treatment of the gospel of Jesus Christ ever written. In chapters 1 through 8, Paul instructs the Roman Christians that Jews and Gentiles need forgiveness of sins and the righteousness of God, which comes by faith alone in Christ alone. He instructs them in vital themes such as the gospel revelation of God's righteousness, man's sin and depravity, God's wrath against sinners, judgment, justification by faith, imputation, propitiation, original sin, union with Christ, sanctification, adoption, the witness of the Spirit, predestination, election, and God's eternal love in Christ. In chapters 9 through 11, he further instructs the believers about God's promise to Israel, God's sovereignty, and His purpose of Jews and Gentiles united in Christ.
Paul then bursts into doxology: Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! And then: For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. Building on this stunning array of God's mercies, Paul makes an earnest appeal. He wants the believers in Rome to live a holy life with a transformed mind — self-sacrificing lives arising from a gospel-informed worldview in the context of a pagan culture. This is our text's great theme, and the subject of our message: Preparing for Our Culture's Worldview.
I. The Reason Paul Appealed for a Gospel-Informed Worldview
These two verses serve as a crucial pivot between chapters 1–11 and chapters 12–15. The entire book of Romans works its way up to these two pivotal verses, and then the rest of the epistle unfolds from here. In them, Paul pleads — he beseeches, he earnestly exhorts — for two things.
First, believers must present themselves as living sacrifices. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. This appeal looks back to all the mercies revealed in the first eleven chapters. He is not speaking in a general sense — he is pointing to the entire weight of what God has done in Christ. Because of what God has done for believers in Christ, and because of who believers are in Christ, they are to present their bodies to God as living sacrifices. This stands in stark contrast to Old Testament sacrifices which were dead. Jesus, the sacrifice, died — so that we, his people, will offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God. This is reasonable service. This is what we conclude from what God has done for us in Christ.
Second, believers must be transformed by the renewing of their mind. Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. A believer can only become a living sacrifice to God by a radical transformation — a renewing of the mind. Before God saves sinful human beings by grace, they are fallen, depraved sinners whose minds are pressed into the mold that arises from the worldview of the culture around them. Their thoughts, attitudes, words, and deeds all arise from a darkened mind influenced by that culture. And culture is never neutral. Conformity to the world because of a carnal mind is the ultimate slavery — and it leads to eternal death, even though our world calls it freedom. Transformation by a renewed mind is God's will for his people and the result of a miracle.
Paul was clearly concerned that the pagan culture and worldview would once again shape the Romans' lives, swallow them up, draw them back to where they were. Peter had the same concern: as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance. You used to live a particular way — but something has changed. God has given you life in Christ. Now think according to the truths that transformed you, not according to the world that is still calling you back.
II. The Necessity of a Gospel-Informed Worldview
What is a worldview? Glenn Sunshine defines it as the framework you use to interpret the world and your place in it — a set of fundamental beliefs through which we evaluate and interpret every experience. Every moment of every day we see, hear, smell, taste, and feel things, and using our minds we evaluate those experiences through the filter of our worldview. It is either arising from God's truth, or it is not. This shapes our intellectual life, physical life, social life, and most importantly our spiritual life.
Francis Schaeffer put it plainly: There is a flow to history and culture. This flow is rooted in the thoughts of people… What they are in their thought world determines how they act. This is true of their value systems and their creativity… The results of their thought world flow through their fingers or from their tongues into the external world. This is true of Michelangelo's chisel, and it is true of the dictator's sword. Culture is religion externalized. Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.
Before Adam ate the forbidden fruit, one culture existed arising from one worldview: communion with and worship of the one true God. The moment Adam disobeyed, he opened the floodgates to every false religion and therefore every false worldview. Adam believed Satan's lie — ye shall be as gods — and a God-centred world became a serpent-think world with man at the centre instead of God. So it doesn't matter what variety of philosophy or worldview arises: if it does not arise from God and his Word, it will move in the direction of serpent-think.
A gospel-informed worldview means interpreting our world and our place in it according to Jesus Christ and the gospel. Our thinking must begin with Christ, continue with Christ, and finish with Christ. This is God-think, and in the power of the Holy Spirit it radically transforms us.
III. How Do We Prepare for a Gospel-Informed Worldview?
First, we must be born again. A believer can only offer himself as a living sacrifice and renew his mind by the power of God's Spirit. Before God converts you, you are conformed to this evil world — there is no other option. Without the new birth, we will think, speak, and act in the vanity of our minds. You can be religious, you can be busy at your church, but a life born again begins to issue forth in a self-sacrificing life with a renewed mind. If you are not reading the Scriptures, your mind is not renewed. You must be born again if you would be prepared to do battle with our culture's worldview.
Consider this account: a Romanian painter living in England received the Puritan Hard Drive as a birthday gift from his wife. Not knowing where to start, he began with a series of sermons on 1 John — and listened for ten hours a day while he worked. One evening he came home downcast and said: If what these sermons are saying is true, I am lost. I do not know Jesus. His wife was astonished. He prayed. He wrestled. The Lord converted him gloriously. One of the first things he said was: I have not been taking care of my responsibilities as a husband. We are going to have family worship. He sat down nightly and began to read the Bible to his wife and children. It transformed the entire house. He began to live in a way that showed he was sanely, rationally worshipping God — as a living sacrifice, with a renewed mind. Unless you have had that transformation, you are not ready to take on the culture.
Second, we must know who God is. Our culture teaches religious relativism: we all believe in the same God, we just have different ways of getting to him. This sounds loving and inclusive — but it is a satanic lie. It does not arise from a renewed mind or from the Scriptures. The God of the Bible is the only true God. There is no God else beside me, a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me (Isaiah 45:21). When Paul went to Athens, he did not assume the Athenians shared his understanding of God. He said plainly: God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. He began with God as creator, God as sovereign. You must know who God is, or you are not ready to take on this culture.
Third, we must believe that the one true God is the creator of all things. Almost every worldview in our culture is rooted in evolution. The first five words of the infallible Word of God — In the beginning God created — are among the most hotly debated in modern history, and tragically even among those who profess to be Christians. Virtually all of our educational institutions dogmatically promote the doctrine of evolution. If you are going to take on this culture, you must know who God is, and that he is the sovereign creator of all things.
Fourth, we must understand and believe the inspiration, authority, and sufficiency of Scripture, and be familiar with its big picture. Liberals attack the supernatural inspiration of Scripture. Humanists deny its authority. Many Christians do not understand or apply its sufficiency. Yet the Bible declares: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. And it tells a story. The entire Bible reveals that history is the unfolding of God's eternal purpose in Jesus Christ. It unfolds with three basic themes: creation, fall, and redemption. Every soul here can remember that — and our children can learn it tonight.
Fifth, we must believe that ideas have consequences. Christians will either think like the pagan culture around them, or they will be transformed by renewing their minds in God's truth. Your worldview matters. It affects every aspect of your life. It is either world-informed or gospel-informed, and there are consequences to what we think. The greatest problems in our churches and families arise because we are not thinking through the filter of Scripture.
Sixth, we must believe that there is only one God and one way of salvation. Our country has proven there is no political Saviour on the horizon, none. No scientific Saviour, no educational Saviour, no psychological Saviour, no financial Saviour, no technological Saviour. The kingdoms of the world offer no ruling Saviour. The cults offer no true Saviour. The false religions offer no living, resurrected Saviour. There is but one: Jesus Christ, who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Seventh, we must believe that it will cost to follow Christ. Our culture worships self — self-reliance, self-righteousness, self-indulgence. Here and now, my experiences are all that matter. Yet the Lord Jesus said: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. We must cultivate loving Jesus above all things. When we see his great love for us — read the first eleven chapters of Romans and see the glorious gospel unfolded — the cross becomes lighter. It is never light, but we can get it up off the ground and follow him.
Finally, we must believe that Jesus is Lord of all. In Paul's day, the common saying was Caesar is Lord. To say Jesus is Lord was not only a religious declaration, it was a political one. Our culture is moving toward the view that the state is Lord. We must learn to say with the Psalmist: Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Conclusion
Brethren, we must live self-sacrificing lives arising from a gospel-transformed worldview in the context of a pagan culture. We must be born again. We must have God's Spirit so that we will cleave to Christ in repentance and faith. We must know who God is. We must believe that the one true God is the creator of all things. We must understand and believe the inspiration, authority, and sufficiency of Scripture. We must believe that ideas have consequences. We must believe that there is only one God and only one way of salvation. We must believe that it will cost to follow Christ. And above all, we must believe that Jesus is Lord of all.
This is our right-minded response to the grace of God in Christ. This is true worship. Let us look to Christ and live. Amen.