I appeal to you therefore, brothers,by the mercies of God, to present
your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which
is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world,but be
transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern
what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The aim of Romans 12:1-2 is that all of life would become “spiritual
worship.” Verse 1: “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy
and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” The aim of
all human life in God’s eyes is that Christ would be made to look as
valuable as he is. Worship means using our minds and hearts and bodies
to express the worth of God and all he is for us in Jesus. There is
a way to live—a way to love—that does that. There is a way to do your
job that expresses the true value of God. If you can’t find it, that
may mean you should change jobs. Or it might mean that verse 2 is not
happening to the degree it should.

Verse 2 is Paul’s answer to how we turn all of life into worship.
We must be transformed. We must be transformed. Not just our
external behavior, but the way we feel and think—our minds. Verse 2:
“Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

Become What You Are

Those who believe in Christ Jesus are already blood-bought new creatures
in Christ. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians
5:17). But now we must become what we are. “Cleanse
out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened”
(1 Corinthians 5:7).

“You have put on the new self, which is being renewed in
knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:10). You have
been made new in Christ; and now you are being renewed day
by day. That’s what we focused on last week.

Now we focus on the last part of verse 2, namely, the aim of the
renewed mind: “Do not be conformed to this world,but be transformed
by the renewal of your mind, [now here comes the aim] that by testing
you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable
and perfect.” So our focus today is on the meaning of the term
“will of God,” and how we discern it.

The Two Wills of God

There are two clear and very different meanings for the term “will
of God” in the Bible. We need to know them and decide which one is being
used here in Romans 12:2. In fact, knowing the difference between these
two meanings of “the will of God” is crucial to understanding one of
the biggest and most perplexing things in all the Bible, namely, that
God is sovereign over all things and yet disapproves of many things.
Which means that God disapproves of some of what he ordains to happen.
That is, he forbids some of the things he brings about. And he commands
some of the things he hinders. Or to put it most paradoxically: God
wills some events in one sense that he does not will in another sense.

1. God’s Will of Decree, or Sovereign Will

Let’s see the passages of Scripture that make us think this way.
First consider passages that describe “the will of God” as his sovereign
control of all that comes to pass. One of the clearest is the way Jesus
spoke of the will of God in Gethsemane when he was praying. He said,
in Matthew 26:39, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from
me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” What does
the will of God refer to in this verse? It refers to the sovereign plan
of God that will happen in the coming hours. You recall how Acts 4:27-28
says this: “Truly in this city there were gathered together against
your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your
hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” So the “will of God”
was that Jesus die. This was his plan, his decree. There was not changing
it, and Jesus bowed and said, “Here’s my request, but you do what is
best to do.” That’s the sovereign will of God.

And don’t miss the very crucial point here that it includes the sins
of man. Herod, Pilate, the soldiers, the Jewish leaders—they all sinned
in fulfilling God’s will that his Son be crucified (Isaiah 53:10). So
be very clear on this: God wills to come to pass some things that he
hates.

Here’s an example from 1 Peter. In 1 Peter 3:17 Peter writes, “It
is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than
for doing evil.” In other words, it may be God’s will that Christians
suffer for doing good. He has in mind persecution. But persecution of
Christians who do not deserve it, is sin. So again, God sometimes wills
that events come about that include sin. “It is better to suffer for
doing good, if that should be God’s will.”

Paul gives a sweeping summary statement of this truth in Ephesians
1:11, “In him [Christ] we have obtained an inheritance, having been
predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things
according to the counsel of his will.” The will of God is God’s
sovereign governance of all that comes to pass. And there are many other
passages in the Bible that teach that God’s providence over the universe
extends to the smallest details of nature and human decisions. Not one
sparrow falls to the ground apart from our Father in heaven (Matthew
10:29). “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from
the
Lord” (Proverbs 16:33). “The plans of the heart belong to man, but
the answer of the tongue is from the Lord” (Proverbs 16:1). “The king’s
heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever
he will” (Proverbs 21:1).

That’s the first meaning of the will of God: it is God’s sovereign
control of all things. We will call this his “sovereign will” or his
“will of decree.” It cannot be broken. It always comes to pass. “He
does according to his will among the host of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him,
‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:35).

2. God’s Will of Command

Now the other meaning for “the will of God” in the Bible is what
we can call his “will of command.” His will is what he commands us to
do. This is the will of God we can disobey and fail to do. The will
of decree we do whether we believe in it or not. The will of command
we can fail to do. For example, Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to
me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Not all
do the will of his father. He says so. “Not everyone will enter the
kingdom of heaven.” Why? Because not all do the will of God.

Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, “This is the will of God, your
sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality.” Here we have
a very specific instance of what God commands of us: holiness, sanctification,
sexual purity. This is his will of command. But, oh, so many do not
obey.

Then Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” There again is
a specific aspect of his will of command: give thanks in all circumstances.
But many do not do this will of God.

One more example: “And the world is passing away along with its desires,
but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17). Not
all abide forever. Some do. Some don’t. The difference? Some do the
will of God. Some don’t. The will of God, in this sense, does not always
happen.

So I conclude from these and many other passages of the Bible that
there are two ways of talking about the will of God. Both are true,
and both are important to understand and believe in. One we can call
God’s will of decree (or his sovereign will) and the other
we can call God’s will of command. His will of decree always
comes to pass whether we believe in it or not. His will of command can
be broken, and is every day.

The Preciousness of These Truths

Before I relate this to Romans 12:2 let me comment on how precious
these two truths are. Both correspond to a deep need that we all have
when we are deeply hurt or experience great loss. On the one hand, we
need the assurance that God is in control and therefore is able to work
all of my pain and loss together for my good and the good of all who
love him. On the other hand, we need to know that God empathizes with
us and does not delight in sin or pain in and of themselves. These two
needs correspond to God’s will of decree and his will of command.

For example, if you were badly abused as a child, and someone asks
you, “Do you think that was the will of God?” you now have a way to
make some biblical sense out of this, and give an answer that doesn’t
contradict the Bible. You may say, “No it was not God’s will; because
he commands that humans not be abusive, but love each other. The abuse
broke his commandment and therefore moved his heart with anger and grief
(Mark 3:5). But, in another sense, yes, it was God’s will (his sovereign
will), because there are a hundred ways he could have stopped it. But
for reasons I don’t yet fully understand, he didn’t.”

And corresponding to these two wills are the two things you need
in this situation: one is a God who is strong and sovereign enough to
turn it for good; and the other is a God who is able to empathize with
you. On the one hand, Christ is a sovereign High King, and nothing happens
apart from his will (Matthew 28:18). On the other hand, Christ is a
merciful High Priest and sympathizes with our weaknesses and pain (Hebrews
4:15). The Holy Spirit conquers us and our sins when he wills (John
1:13; Romans 9:15-16), and allows himself to be quenched and grieved
and angered when he wills (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19). His
sovereign will is invincible, and his will of command can be grievously
broken.

We need both these truths—both these understandings of the will of
God—not only to make sense out of the Bible, but to hold fast to God
in suffering.

Which Will Is Referred to in Romans 12:2?

Now, which of these is meant in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed
to this world,but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by
testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good
and acceptable and perfect.” The answer surely is that Paul is referring
to God’s will of command. I say this for at least two reasons. One is
that God does not intend for us to know most of his sovereign will ahead
of time. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things
that are revealed belong to us” (Deuteronomy 29:29). If you want to
know the future details of God’s will of decree, you don’t want a renewed
mind, you want a crystal ball. This is not called transformation and
obedience; it’s called divination, soothsaying.

The other reason I say that the will of God in Romans 12:2 is God’s
will
of command and not his will of decree is that the phrase “by testing
you may discern” implies that we should approve of the will of God and
then obediently do it. But in fact we should not approve of sin or do
it, even though it is part of God’s sovereign will. Paul’s meaning in
Romans 12:2 is paraphrased almost exactly in Hebrews 5:14, which says,
“Solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment
trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” (See another
paraphrase in Philippians 1:9-11.) That’s the goal of this verse: not
ferreting out the secret will of God that he plans to
do, but discerning the revealed will of God that we ought to
do.

Three Stages of Knowing and Doing the Revealed Will of God

There are three stages of knowing and doing the revealed will of
God, that is, his will of command; and all of them require the renewed
mind with its Holy-Spirit-given discernment that we talked about last
time.

Stage One

First, God’s will of command is revealed with final, decisive authority
only in the Bible. And we need the renewed mind to understand and embrace
what God commands in the Scripture. Without the renewed mind, we will
distort the Scriptures to avoid their radical commands for self-denial,
and love, and purity, and supreme satisfaction in Christ alone. God’s
authoritative will of command is found only in the Bible. Paul says
that the Scriptures are inspired and make the Christian “competent,
equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16). Not just some good works.
“Every good work.” Oh, what energy and time and devotion Christians
should spend meditating on the written Word of God.

Stage Two

The second stage of God’s will of command is our application of the
biblical truth to new situations that may or may not be explicitly addressed
in the Bible. The Bible does not tell you which person to marry, or
which car to drive, or whether to own a home, where you take your vacation,
what cell-phone plan to buy, or which brand of orange juice to drink.
Or a thousand other choices you must make.

What is necessary is that we have a renewed mind, that is so shaped
and so governed by the revealed will of God in the Bible, that we see
and assess all relevant factors with the mind of Christ, and discern
what God is calling us to do. This is very different from constantly
trying to hear God’s voice saying do this and do that. People who try
to lead their lives by hearing voices are not in sync with Romans 12:2.

There is a world of difference between praying and laboring for a
renewed mind that discerns how to apply God’s Word, on the one hand,
and the habit of asking God to give you new revelation of what to do,
on the other hand. Divination does not require transformation. God’s
aim is a new mind, a new way of thinking and judging, not just new information.
His aim is that we be transformed, sanctified, freed by the truth of
his revealed Word (John 8:32; 17:17). So the second stage of God’s will
of command is the discerning application of the Scriptures to new situations
in life by means of a renewed mind.

Stage Three

Finally, the third stage of God’s will of command is the vast majority
of living where there is no conscious reflection before we act. I venture
to say that a good 95% of your behavior you do not premeditate. That
is, most of your thoughts, attitudes, and actions are spontaneous. They
are just spillover from what’s inside. Jesus said, “Out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure
brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings
forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account
for every careless word they speak” (Matthew 12:34-36).

Why do I call this part of God’s will of command? For one reason.
Because God commands things like: Don’t be angry. Don’t be prideful.
Don’t covet. Don’t be anxious. Don’t be jealous. Don’t envy. And none
of those actions are premeditated. Anger, pride, covetousness, anxiety,
jealousy, envy—they all just rise up out of the heart with no conscious
reflection or intention. And we are guilty because of them. They break
the commandment of God.

Is it not plain therefore that there is one great task of the Christian
life: Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We need new hearts
and new minds. Make the tree good and the fruit will be good (Matthew
12:33). That’s the great challenge. That is what God calls you to. You
can’t do it on your own. You need Christ, who died for your sins. And
you need the Holy Spirit to lead you into Christ-exalting truth and
work in you truth-embracing humility.

Give yourself to this. Immerse yourself in the written Word of
God; saturate your mind with it. And pray that the Spirit of Christ
would make you so new that the spillover would be good, acceptable,
and perfect—the will of God.