His Perfect Love

Guest (Male): A life fully surrendered to God may sound to some like an unreasonable demand. But when you consider the countless mercies our God has lavished upon us, it's the only worthy response. And we'll focus on those mercies and our response to them today on His Perfect Love.

We're making our way through the book of Romans and we've come to a new section with a new emphasis. From chapter 12 to the end of the book, we find an in-depth teaching on the practical response of the believer to the previous 11 chapters. Here is Pastor Matt VanderVen.

Matt VanderVen: Please open your Bibles to Romans chapter 12. The third and final section of the book of Romans. Romans chapter 12. I love this book. I say that with every book and every verse and every line, but I love this book. As we have been making our way, has God not just done such a work in my heart just going through this book again? Just seeing all of the promises.

Settling the foundation of the first eight chapters as Paul, through direct revelation of Jesus Christ, speaks to your heart and my heart about all that we need to understand, the promises. I laugh how Paul starts. He just levels us all in the beginning. He's like, "Hey, you're all wretched, we all fall short of the glory of God, get over it." That's kind of Paul's words, but Jesus loves you and he has a plan. It's like, "Oh, thank you, Lord." It just settles you right in.

I don't care what you're going through in those moments and that worship this morning. Those songs that we were singing, "I will follow you, everything is all about you, Jesus." That just draws you into the right mind, the helmet of salvation. We begin thinking correctly. It just sets everything right for us. Then we read the next three chapters, 9, 10, and 11. The second section of Romans. Paul turns around and he says, "Hey Israel, it's not over for you either. God is a promise keeper." And I'm like, "Yeah!"

You just get really excited because if he keeps his promises for Israel, he keeps his promises for you and me. That just wrecks me. Even when I blow it, even when I don't deserve it, it doesn't matter. God's promises are everlasting. I read that and I come away and I just want to lift up Israel and lift up the believers and unbelievers in this area. I'm just excited for what God is doing because even though I don't always see everything, God is moving today in a world that even declares that they would rather follow themselves instead of God. God is still drawing, still touching, and still saving. Amen?

Now we make our way to the last section of the book of Romans as we look really at the practicality here. The practical living, knowing the will of God specifically in the first few verses here that we're going to look at. I guess the question is, has anybody ever wanted to know the perfect will of God for their lives? Let me ask it the other way. Has anybody not wanted to know the perfect will of God for their lives? The answer is no. We all want to know, "God, what do you have?"

Remember Paul, verses 34 through 36 kind of left off there in just really praising God and recalling the promises and the praises as he went back. He says, "For of him and through him and to him. Who's it about? Jesus, him, him, him. Are all things to who be the glory forever and ever." So be it. So we start off with this very interesting phrase or this sentence here. It says, "I beseech you." *Parakaleō* in the Greek. "I beseech you." Not just a common word.

What does that mean? He says, "I call because therefore." He's had a series of "therefores." If you've been counting, some seven or eight as we began the book of Romans. Every time he does a "therefore," it's a pretty strong significance that he's drawing our attention to something that he's bringing us to sort of a culmination point. I think of "therefore, no life outside of Christ Jesus," "therefore," he's been doing this. Here we're going to see this "therefore." "I beseech you, I call for you therefore, or I call you to, brethren, by the mercies of God."

Not by man, not by striving, but by mercy. That's what it all comes from, the mercies of God. "That you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." What is this idea of a living sacrifice? You're alive, we're all breathing here. What's this idea of a sacrifice? Begin to think about that. He defines it for us. He says holy and acceptable to God. What is your life, your body? Your body is a temple to worship the living God.

Is our body to go out and hang out in the bars? Is that where our body wants to go and hang out? Some, maybe in the flesh. But is that acceptable to God? Is that holy? You get the point. There's places that we ought to as Christians go and places we ought not to go. When you look at this, why is he saying this? Because even our bodies are to be holy and our lives are to be sacrifices unto God. I believe again that goes back to a lot of what we read in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 2, which is we're living epistles known and read by men and women.

I think he's drawing us back to this. And then he says something which is your reasonable service. Think about that. That word reasonable there is the word we get logical from or similar to *logios* or *logos*, similar to "the word," but it carries a connotation of logical. It's your logical service. What's he saying? He's saying therefore, when you think about your life in Christ, remember it's been building up to this whole point, chapter 12. Everything we learned about our foundation of the faith, everything we learned about how Christ has a work and a plan in our lives.

Everything we saw that God's a promise keeper and he keeps his vows, everything that we saw that we're dead to sin, we're alive to Christ, we live through him, the old man's been crucified, we're to walk in the spirit to not fulfill the lust of the flesh. All of that. Everything that we have just read has now culminated to this point and he says, "Now understanding all of that, and understanding what the Spirit of God has done in you and your spirit bearing witness in agreement, understanding all of that now, what you ought to do about it."

That's why he says it's practical living. That's why chapter 12 and on becomes more practical living. What do you do about these things? Do you now turn around and go back and run to the gin mill? Do you turn around and begin to live your life that way? He says, "No." Why would you do that? Why would you go back to the latter things? Why would you go back to the drugs, to the cocaine, to all that stuff? He says you're a living sacrifice. You're blood bought.

Don't eat yourself into oblivion. God has a plan for you. Don't go to the places you shouldn't be going. Be an example for Christ. And he says it's logical because it's illogical not to do that. It's logical that God has saved you and he's done a work in you, sanctification, and he's going to finish that work in you, and you should be about your father's business. He's saying that is logical. That would be common sensical. Anything contrary to that is really illogical because it's not really reasonable.

Makes sense, right? He's kind of drawn out the point. It's just simply logical. Why wouldn't you do it? Then he begins to say, "And do not be conformed to this world." He's going to give us ingredients about how we're to live and what God is looking for, but also how we may know the perfect will of God. We're going to see a couple of things here, but he's telling us there's three steps in this in really verse 2. It's going to end with us being good and acceptable to God.

Because after all, he began with that in verse 1. He says that your bodies will be living sacrifices holy and what, acceptable to God. Now he's going to say now here's how that works. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is good and acceptable and the perfect will of God. So the first thing he says is don't be conformed. What's he talking about? Do you realize that your mind, first of all, your mind is not the mush, the brain, the meat?

You're more than just your brain. We all understand that. This corruption will put on incorruption, it says, and I will go to be with Christ. You all will put on incorruption and go to be with Christ that way. But you are more than your mind and your brain. So it simply can't be just talking about cerebrally or our mental processes. What's it talking about here? He's saying conform to this world. He's saying there's a belief system out there, whether we acknowledge it that way or not.

There is a belief system. You're going to believe in something. Jesus put it like this: "You're going to serve a master." If you try to serve two of them, you'll hate one and you'll love the other. He said they're mutually exclusive. That's how Jesus described it. He describes the belief system in the world the same way. There's a belief system of the world and then there's a biblical worldview. How does he describe that? He says, "Well, don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

How do you get transformed? We've read it in the Bible before. How do we know what God's will is? How do we transform our minds? How does that happen? By the reading of the Word. It's the Word that does the transformation. How is it doing the transforming? Because when we don't acknowledge or believe in the things of this world, the world system, but we acknowledge the biblical worldview or perspective, we begin to have our minds washed and our hearts transformed. Have you ever experienced that where things can get pretty fast going at work or wherever and you just really start to kind of go on autopilot?

You've got a lot to do, you've got a lot of projects, and next thing you know you're going pretty fast. And then you've got the family, you've got the kids, you've got everything going on and it just seems to all be hitting you at once and you're going really, really fast and you're trying to get everything done. All of a sudden, little steps, instead of the hour in the morning every morning you spend devotionally in the Word, it gets cut down to 15 minutes because you're really trying to get to work on time for the project.

And then after work, you figure well I'll do it then, but then I've got to run little Johnny to soccer or what have you. It just starts to hit you from both ends. Next thing you know, you're finding yourself, boy, it's eight o'clock at night, nine o'clock at night and I'm just sitting down for the first time. Your whole day just went before you and you're like, "What just happened?" Sometimes you sit in bed and you literally just hit the rewind and you begin to play back your day.

When you start to do that, sometimes during those experiences, often for me when I get so moving like that, I'm not taking every thought captive, I'm not intentional biblically, I start to realize, "Oh, you know, boy, I wasn't as patient or long suffering with someone." I remember that person came up to me and they said, "Oh, you know, I just found out this." And I was like, "Oh, I'm really sorry," and I tried to comfort them but then I should have called them.

I should have gone back over and visited. You know what I mean? You have those moments where you play them back and you go, "I didn't mean to be so quick in my response. Maybe I could have been a little more sensitive." Maybe, Lord, today as I'm looking through these things, boy, I probably said five words to you today. Maybe I didn't spend enough time talking with you, Lord. Relationship, in relationship with you, Lord. And you know it's wrong. You know what I mean?

You know it's wrong, you know it wasn't your heart's desire, you know it wasn't intentional that you find yourself in that place. But I don't know about you, on those days when that happens, I sit back and I'm like, "What am I doing? I know better." I get in the Bible the next morning, I open up or even that night, and all of a sudden it begins to wash. Then I go out and if I have a day again can be just as busy but I'm taking time to be in the Word and my heart's being transformed and I'm behaving and taking each situation in stride with a biblical worldview.

When I get back to the bedroom at that night, 9, 10 o'clock, and I sit down for the first time and I rewind the VHS tape and I hit play, many times I just go into praise and worship of God because I realize the day ended differently. It was just as busy and just as chaotic. But what I start to understand is that, Lord, I took every thought captive. Lord, I was able to do the things you desired. And God, I begin to worship you because I know I didn't do any of it.

It was all by your leading, by your direction, and I see more of God and I see less of me. Then there's a humility and a meekness that comes upon me because I really realize how insignificant, inadequate I really am and how powerful God is. Because as busy as I am, and all as busy as you are, God is still able to accomplish everything he has planned for us, in us, through us, if we're only willing to be those living sacrifices, acceptable to God.

And see, once I start to realize, I start to go, "Okay, Lord." And then I play the tape back and again I just begin to worship. Do you know what I mean? Have you ever had those experiences? If you don't have those experiences, I encourage you before you go to bed at night, take time to reflect on your day and bring it before your Father in heaven. Bring your day before your Father. Is it well-pleasing to him? Paul's telling us, look, don't be conformed to this world.

Because if you do this for a pattern of days and days and weeks and weeks become months and months become years, he says you'll be so far backslidden. You'll be doing things that you don't desire to do. The lust of your flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life will get beyond you. You'll be looking back and going, "Wow, Lord, I thought I wasn't that far away but I haven't read the Bible in like a year. I didn't realize how far from you I was, Jesus."

And you compromised. I promise you, you'll compromise. Because when you begin to start to fall into the world and not be renewed or transformed by the reading of the Word, it's subtle, but it happens. You start to take those things and you think, "Well, this isn't really a big deal, it's just a little..." it's like when people talk about lies and they say, "Oh, it's just a little white lie." What does that mean? A half-truth is a full on lie. It's exactly what the devil did when he was trying to tempt Jesus Christ.

He used half-truths, used half of a passage of a verse of scripture, but he left the other half out. We can't live our lives that way. But it happens. If you're here this morning and this has been happening to you, Paul's telling you, hey, one, there's nothing wrong with you in the way of me saying that, like there's nothing mentally unstable with you, if I can say it that way. He's telling you this will happen to anyone when they're not in the Word of God, when they're not being transformed, when they're not renewing their mind in scripture, that they will be conformed to the world around them.

And that's not the plan. We're supposed to be not in the world but not of the world. We're not supposed to be thinking and acting... we're supposed to be holy and acceptable to God, a living sacrifice. And he says by the transform by the renewing of your mind that you may prove. Well, how can you prove something? Isn't everybody looking for truth today? Real truth? We want real truth. This idea of proving here only comes through total surrender.

This idea of proving is that you know that the formula solves. Two plus two is four, you can back into it, one, two, three, four. Four, okay. Check sum. I know what it adds up to. *r*-squared if you're familiar with calculus or algebra, *r*-squared formula. I can check sum and I can go back and I can prove out my formula. When it says you can prove, I like that. I want to be able to prove something out. I want that clear truth.

It says which is that what is that is good and acceptable in the perfect will of God. There's a promise in that, that you can know the perfect will of God. Well, how? He's telling us when you're in the world, you won't. You're kind of tossed to and fro that way. But when you're in the Word of God, you can expect to know the perfect will of God that way for your life because he'll reveal it to you in scripture. That's what he's saying here.

So what did we see? There was three I mentioned. I hope you guys are taking notes and you caught some. First thing we saw is he says a life totally surrendered. That's the first thing we see here. You're not conformed to this world. It's a life totally surrendered. The second thing is don't be conformed to what? To the world belief system. Why is a life fully surrendered? Because you were a living sacrifice. Then he tells you don't be conformed to this world system, which is really a belief system.

He's saying don't be conformed to the belief system of the world. And then third, he says be transformed by the scripture. What's that word? That word transformed is the same word we saw in Matthew when Jesus was up and Peter was up there and John and there was a transfiguration. Do you remember that? The Transfiguration on the Mount. That word transformed is the same word in the Greek. It means a transfiguring, a change. He's saying be transfigured, be transformed.

And that's the third thing, by the scripture. And you will be good and acceptable and know the perfect will of God. That's the promise here. For I say through the grace given to me to everyone who is among you. Now he makes sure that he points it back to grace. He makes sure that he points it back to everyone in that it's not about Paul. It's not about him. He realizes that the man's reaction is to find yourself prideful in some ways when you begin to look and go, "Hey man, look at me. Hey, I'm not doing so shabby or so bad here. How about that?"

And he's saying no. He's saying remember it's grace. Who gave us that grace? It's the system of grace by God. And he says it's available to everyone. He makes sure that he knows that everyone's invited to receive this grace. Remember we'd already read that, the Gentile and then 9, 10, 11 also explains that the Jew when they'll be saved when they cry out to Messiah, it was because of grace as well. It's a system of grace.

He says not to think of what? Himself more highly. Isn't that interesting? Than he ought to think but to think soberly as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Every single person alive, all of God's creation, has been given a measure of faith. That means that little babies, as they're born and you put them in the sandbox, and we've heard that analogy many times, as they're sitting there they don't know division, they're not turning around and fighting about, "Well, I believe there's five points in Calvinism, I believe there's Arminianism, how do you play out?" No.

What are they doing? They have childlike faith. There's a measure of faith to them. When we introduce our children to God, they're not like, "Wait a minute, hold on here, hang on, this sounds made believe." No. They readily receive it and they begin to believe and they begin to have faith and then they immediately want to live it out. "Well, I shouldn't," I love watching our little children as they're going, "I shouldn't do that. God wouldn't like that."

Yeah, that's right. What happens? It's adults we have to worry about. Where's that little voice go in the adult? Where I shouldn't have been so harsh with so-and-so. Where's that little voice go? That childlike faith that Jesus Christ talked about? We begin to trust our own intellect, don't we? That's what happens. We begin to trust the intellect more than we do sometimes, not us, maybe not all of us, but some do. The Word of God. They begin to doubt. They begin to waver.

Guest (Male): Well, thanks for joining us today for His Perfect Love. You can hear this study from Pastor Matt VanderVen again when you visit hisperfectlove.org. Catch up on what you may have missed in Romans at hisperfectlove.org. Look for us on oneplace.com and most of the major podcast platforms. The Calvary Chapel Harrisburg mobile app is another great way to listen to Pastor Matt's messages shortly after they're delivered. We can help you get started when you visit hisperfectlove.org.

His Perfect Love is made possible through the support of listeners just like you. Together we can bring the truths of God's Word to the radio every day. You can make a donation at hisperfectlove.org. And Pastor Matt would like to hear from you. Tell us the station you listen to and what you're getting out of this study in Romans. He would be so encouraged. Email us there at the website hisperfectlove.org.

What happens when men come together with one purpose: to grow in Christ and strengthen one another in faith? You're invited to the Men of Calvary Conference 2026 at Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore, Saturday, September 19. This year's theme is "Unity in Faith," inspired by Ephesians chapter 4 verses 12 through 13. "Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God."

Join men from across the region for a day filled with worship, biblical teaching, testimony, prayer, fellowship, and spiritual encouragement. The conference takes place at 28 North Locust Place Road in Mechanicsburg, PA. Registration is only $20 and includes breakfast and lunch. Don't miss this opportunity to be challenged, encouraged, and equipped alongside other men who desire to follow Christ faithfully.

Register today at ccharrisburg.org. That's ccharrisburg.org. Men of Calvary Conference 2026, united in faith, brothers in Christ, built for his kingdom. And then we'll come back to our study of Romans next time on His Perfect Love with Pastor Matt. See you then, and God bless.