Anthony Delgado has a wonderful wife and three children. Anthony directs Youth Ministry at 
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Basic Hermeneutics for Youth Workers, written by Anthony Delgado, provides the basic Bible study tools necessary for most youth workers, in a single compact, easy to understand volume. This book will aid busy youth workers in their orthodox understanding of God's word. You have heard it said that there is a battle going on between heaven and hell. When Satan defied God, there was a division created in heaven. The Angels would have to choose whether to stay with God and do His work, or to side with Satan and be cast out of heaven. One third of the Angels made the very poor decision to side with Satan and were cast out of heaven and will suffer for eternity. This same division has been carried into this world, which is where Satan has been banished to. We can decide to side with Satan and with the evils in this world or we can choose to side with God. Like in heaven, there was no middle ground or alternative which the angels could have chose. We are either following God or we are following the world. We call this division godliness and worldliness. In order to define worldliness more, we will look at Romans 12.1-2.
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritualact of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
LIVING SACRIFICE
Blood sacrifice is the method of atonement for sin. Before Christ, the Israelites offered sacrifice to God as symbolic acknowledgment that the Christ (the Messiah) would come, providing the necessary payment. The sacrifice itself was not the payment; it was the sacrament required in order to acknowledge the mercy of God which would come through Jesus Christ.
Similarly, our sacrifices today—worship—do not actually provide atonement for sins; it is Christ’s death on the cross that provided the atonement. “…we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb 10.10 NAS). Once and for all means all past, all current and all future sins, including the sins of the faithful in Israel as well as the faithful today and in the future.
IN VIEW
Therefore, it is in view of God’s mercy, the sacrifice that did atone for sins, that we offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God. This means that since Jesus died for our sins, we will submit to His will as the acknowledgment that our sins have been paid for. If we are not willing to demonstrate our faith by offering our lives as living sacrifices to God, then we have to ask ourselves if we have indeed surrendered our lives to Him; do we really believe that Christ died for our sins?
THE PATTERN
Worldliness is conformity to the patterns of this world. Conformity to the pattern of this world is a difficult concept. On one hand we have the example of Christ; He came as man in order to relate to man. He didn’t come as a 20th century man, He didn’t come as a 20th century BC man, He came as a 1st century man. He also did not come to the Jews as an African, an Asian or an American. Jesus came as a Jew and adapted to the culture of the Jews in order to relate to the Jews.
Conformity isn’t about the culture! It is not saying that we are not to be a part of the culture; so much as the culture does not cause us to sin. This means that the cloths we wear, the shows we watch, the music we listen to are not explicitly worldly. They can be, however.
The pattern of the world is sin. When you are born, you do not have the Spirit of God within you. This means that the only thing you know is your own flesh. Because of this, every thought and every action is rooted in fulfillment of pleasures of the flesh. As a baby, you demand sustenance for yourself, with no concern for the sustenance of others. This pattern does not change as you grow. It is the habit of all men to please the flesh, selfishness.
When you accept Christ and commit yourself to following Him, to doing His work, you receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will lead you to act as Jesus Christ does. The Holy Spirit will tell you how to offer your body as a living sacrifice. One problem though: your habit is to please the flesh not God. So even if the Holy Spirit challenges you to do something, your tendency will be to suppress that challenge and to act in accordance with the flesh. Your pattern is conformity to the pattern of the world.
I see it this way. We are born into habitual sin. Everything we do as a child is self-centered. We spend years forming selfish habits. Then one day, we recognize our depravity and come to Christ. He commands us to be different, but the habit of our flesh, which we have spent X years developing is drawing us to the world. We are already conformed to the world when we come to Christ. The command is to abandon conformity to the world in exchange for conformity to the Spirit. It means changing our selfish habits and forming spiritual habits.
This change from selfish or fleshly habits to spiritual habits is referred to as “the renewing of your mind.” It is as simple as this. When you are confronted with a situation, that instead of acting in accordance with your natural desire, which is to please the flesh, you act in accordance with the Spirit. It is training your mind to say, “WWJD—What would Jesus do?”
WHO CARES—GOD’S WILL?
Non-conformity to the world will result in the ability to test and approve what God’s will is. Everyone wants to know God’s will for their own lives. The interesting thing is that is a worldly desire because it is self-centered. It is “What is God going to do for me?” That’s often what we want to know when we seek God’s will. Instead we should ask, “What am I suppose to do for God?” We should desire to know the will of God so that we can make the conscious choice to be a part of His work here on earth.
We want to act in accordance with God’s will because it is good and pleasing and perfect. These are simple terms. God’s will is good. It is good for us. It is pleasing to do God’s work. This doesn’t mean it isn’t hard, but serving our merciful creator brings joy. Finally, God’s will is perfect. There is no reason to do anything else if we have knowledge of the perfect plan of God. Only a foolish man would choose to follow his own broken understanding, when we are offered the perfect wisdom of God.
My challenge is that all of you will search yourselves. Do you really believe that Jesus died for your sins and that the penalty of your sins is paid for? If so, have you really made a commitment to abandon the sinful habits of the world and embraced the work of the Spirit of God in your life? Maybe you have never considered these things. If so, talk to me about it. Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ alone and by no other method. Satan believes these things and will perish because he refused to submit to God. We should not do the same.
DISCUSSION
In what ways do you find yourself conforming to the culture?
In what ways do you find yourself conforming to the world?
Do you have sin which needs to be confessed?
Have you considered what God wants you to do with your life?
Have you considered what God wants you to do today?
Have you made a commitment to following Christ? If so, are you acting by faith in keeping that commitment?
(Don’t forget to download the Worldliness Lesson 1 Worksheet.)
