"Your Spiritual Worship”

 “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 (Romans 12:1-2 ESV)

How does one know they are truly a Christian? Christians worship God. This worship is not just corporate worship; it is an everyday worship, it is many times in the day worship. This happens as a result of the human transformation found in salvation, faith, and repentance.

Transformation does not occur because you became emotional once when talking about Jesus. It does not come from some non-biblical “sinner's prayer.” This transformation comes when one is called by God, hears His calling, and comes to Him with faith in Christ. The transformation of the heart can only come from God, by grace through faith.

When it happens, you will see the depth of your sin, fall down before God, ask for forgiveness, and believe He has forgiven you. The opposite of this is spiritual blindness. If you have answered God’s calling, the spiritual blindness has been lifted from you. We clearly see this in John 9:38, where the man born blind was given his sight by Jesus. As a result, the man had been cast out of the temple because he believed in Jesus. Jesus, hearing that he had been cast out of the temple, sought him out and asked whether he believed in the Son of Man. When Jesus told the man that He had healed him and that He was the Son of Man, the man fell down and worshiped.

We can compare this to the Pharisees, who, when confronted with the Son of Man, tried to stone Him despite His teachings and miracles.

The blind man was blind in two ways. He was spiritually blind, not believing in Christ, and physically blind. In John 9, this man was healed of both. Jesus contrasts this with the statement overheard by the Pharisees:  “Jesus said, 'For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”(9:39-41)

The Pharisees were spiritually blind. The Pharisees' works-righteousness reveals their guilt in failing to obey God despite their self-professed righteousness. We see this spiritual blindness in many today. It is painful knowing there are those who will never come to God. It is painful because we know the joy of knowing Christ as our Savior, having a full heart in salvation, and knowing that many will never experience this satisfaction and love is heartbreaking.

In our salvation, we cannot help but model Paul’s direction to the Romans - worship. While the desire to sin runs through us, we fight a war against our sin. Even when we take a step backwards, we repent and take two steps forward. We try to be the living sacrifice Paul spoke of, which is true worship. It is the overflowing of the heart that is true worship and we see this clearly in Luke 7:36-50 where, “a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.” (v37-38). When questioned by the outraged Pharisees on this, Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”(v.47)

When we are forgiven and receive the love of Christ, we too “Love Much.” As we fall deeper and deeper in love with Christ, we recognize the true treasure He is to us. In this, we become wholly satisfied in all things because we recognize God's transformative power. In our great satisfaction, God is truly worshiped. This satisfaction and desire to worship are visible to those around us.

Do you worship God, or worship who you are because of what you say you do for God? Have you fallen on your knees in worship when you see the monster you were, and now the child of God, revealed in the mirror? Has God called to you and did you go to Him, or did someone make you emotional and pray a single so-called sinner’s prayer with you, never mind the idea of repentance or true faith? How often is God worshiped in your mind and heart every single day?  

Only you can truthfully answer these questions for yourself. As Paul reminded us, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Do not be like the spiritually blind; seek Christ, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Grace and Peace.