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 WEAKNESS ACKNOWLEDGED

The ancient Roman empire did not count weakness a virtue. It didn't count meekness, humility, kindness, mercy or compassion as virtues either. They worshipped power, might, ruthlessness, greed, lust of all sorts, gluttony, selfishness, and tyranny.

St. Paul writing to the church at Rome wanted them to know clearly that Rome's "virtues" were to be given no place to reside in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ.

Romans 12:1-2 "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

Following Jesus Christ as Lord entails the surrender of all we are to follow Him in His Way. It's not just ideas and concepts, but with our "historical selves". Our bodies, our minds, our wills, our emotions, our hearts, every aspect of who we are is to be surrendered to the Lordship and Life of Jesus working in us.

It is a ground-level reality that we must accept that in following Jesus Christ, we are not now, never have been nor will we ever be able to affect our own salvation even to the slightest degree. We are weak in ourselves to cause anything eternal to take root and grow in us. 

Our weakness is not circumstantial but ontological (a matter of our true being), the real condition of our lives in all aspects. Think about it; we were dead in our sins, and I know of no one more ineffective in accomplishing anything than a dead person. Their capacity to change by any human means has ceased to exist. We were dead, and now, God alone is our strength for Life because He IS Life within us.

His strength makes it possible for us to rely on Him, to follow Him, and to be faithful to Him. We live in a perpetual state of utter dependency on the Lord God for salvation, wholeness, security, peace, and hope. All of it depends upon Him from start to finish. Salvation IS of the Lord and no one else.

So, Paul states, "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."  

Rome's "virtues" and the values of any and all cultures are not to be the things that shape our thoughts or our actions. Every cultural system on the planet has been perverted by sin. Nothing remains untouched by the rebellion of our ancient ancestors in the Garden of Eden.

The Holy Spirit begins and continues to renew our minds when we believe and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He changes the way we think about ourselves, others and life itself. We come to understand that God's will for us and His ways are the true GOOD. There is nothing amiss in His purposes for us. His will is pleasing. It is exactly what we would ask for if we knew what God knows. And then, His will is perfect, it fits us like a glove made just for us. 

Our weakness and dependency are a true sign that our humanity is in need of One greater, eternally greater than we are if we are to become fully human once more. Rome's values are counterfeits that never come through with what they promise. 

You see, all sin can do is dig a deeper hole in our souls, a pit in which we can never find the means of escape. Only Jesus Christ could ever rescue us, and He has done all that will ever be needed for our lives to be transformed.

So...""Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think."

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