Romans 12, with all its exhortations, is the Holy Spirit speaking to Paul straight from the heart of Jesus, and gives a true picture of what took place in Jesus’ life. By the mercies of God, we are exhorted to present our bodies as a living, holy sacrifice, acceptable to God. Rom. 12:1. This is precisely what Jesus did when He came into the world: “A body You have prepared for Me. . . . Behold, I have come . . . to do Your will, O God.” Heb. 10:5,7. That was His covenant with His Father—the New Covenant. Jesus attended to the altar, Heb. 7:13. If the exhortations in Romans 12 are to become life in us, we must also bear this altar in the depths of our hearts— because the sacrifices are found within our bodies. Then the body of Christ comes forth, since we are “individually members of one another.” Rom. 12:5. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” V. 2. The will of God is not an outward, mechanical execution of certain works, but deeds and actions that spring from a life that is rooted in Him who is love, the source of wisdom. The will of God in Jesus Christ is to give thanks for everything. This can only become true from a humble posture in our hearts before God. The common tendency is for thoughts to be shaped from without, from this world, which is visible and earthly. It is a world governed by the ruler of this world, and everything traces back to the body of sin. “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” 1 John 2:16. Human reasoning does not align with obedience to God’s word, and all these opinions that are contrary to God’s will easily shape us. God’s intention is that we, as vessels of mercy, should be shaped from within, as a result of the fire that consumes the body of sin and thereby opens the way into the life of God and His way of thinking—the Jerusalem above, the heavenly. This world has come into being as a result of the tireless efforts made by of the ruler of this world. Everything has its root in the Fall, caused by the one who said in his heart: “I will ascend into heaven . . .” Isa. 14:13–14. It says “I will” five times here. The body of sin is filled with this drive to ascend that lies within the will of the flesh. If I unite my free-will with the will of my flesh, then I am on the way of self-will, and the old man is, or becomes, active. Behind this stand powerful spiritual forces, which also clothe themselves in elegant and flowery language. These forces are in direct contact with the ruler of this world. The honor of man is absolutely central to this “I will.” Our thoughts then turn outward and are shaped by this world. On the other hand, if I unite my free will with God’s will, I will find the new and living way and the footsteps of Jesus. He never did anything other than the Father’s will. Then there will be a transformation by the renewing of our minds. Therefore a new birth is needed. “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3. What an emphatic statement! Through this new birth, the kingdom of God dwells within us—a new creation having eyes and ears, created in the image of God in true righteousness and holiness. Then it is not the world with its false glitter that shapes me, but God’s will and thoughts that work like leaven in the innermost heart where the fire of the altar is at work. One of the exhortations in the chapter reads as follows: “Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.” Rom. 12:16. It is here that the brotherhood of Jesus and divine unity arise. Here we see the footsteps of Jesus and the direction of the new and living way—it leads downward through the judgment that passes over self-life. There, in the span of time between the manger and the cross of Calvary, the narrow way to life was consecrated. Jesus was the complete opposite of being wise in His own opinion when He said: “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” John 5:30. If we receive grace and mercy to follow the Master in this, we will become the very opposite of this world, which strives after what is lofty—great, greater, greatest—like a soap bubble, far from God, who does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit. Job 37:24. (NRSV) They become all the more interesting prey for the ruler of this world, who has come only to steal, to kill, and to destroy. They go astray in the thoughts of their heart because the word—the exhortation—does not penetrate and judge the thoughts and intents of their hearts. This desire to be something is the very substance of the body of sin. An unquenchable fire burned on Jesus’ altar that consumed this substance so that He could say: “For the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.” John 14:30. The will and resistance of the flesh were defeated and annihilated, and with this, also, everything that is considered to be self-will. If this transformation does not take place by the renewing of our minds, we can still conform and fit in to the external framework of the church. What others think of us matters greatly. Our thought life becomes horizontal. We hear the preaching, but we do not see the glory of the Lord. Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus. He saw and heard. His traveling companions heard, but saw nothing. Acts 9:7. In John’s time, there were many who had not taken an interest in what took place in Jesus during the days of His flesh. There was no altar where the fire burned, no living interest in working out their own salvation. They had gone astray in their thoughts. But even in that, there was also a development. John wrote: “They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.” 1 John 4:5. They developed the art of deceitful plotting to the point that even the word of God was falsified. But regarding himself and the other members of the body, he said: “We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” 1 John 4:6. If we allow the Spirit of truth to lead us into the riches of the many exhortations in this chapter, we will find our life and our sinful inclinations and lay them upon the altar. Then we have fellowship with Him who was manifested in the flesh, and the spirit of error finds no entrance. We become a stone in the building of which He is the chief cornerstone. He Himself says about these stones: “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” John 17:16. They don’t fit in with the ways of this world. He Himself was rejected by the builders of His time. To seek honor from men, to avenge yourself “in a subtle way” at opportune moments, to harbor envy—is to be conformed to this world. Then you are living under a delusion. Paul’s exhortation not to be conformed to this world has to do with our thought life, not with outward rules in a striving after the approval of men. On the contrary, it is the prescription for a happy life in God’s sight, now and for all eternity. “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:17. They are being transformed into the likeness of the Father and the Son, and are truly members of the body of Christ, unto blessing and edification. For such people, a glorified body has been prepared in the resurrection.Gunnar Gangsø