Page 42 Sharpening Your Spiritual Instincts There are three passages in the New Testament that shed light on the discovery of God’s moral will. When I walk through these texts, I find very practical instruction on the matter. The first one is Romans 12:1-2: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 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. (NKJV) Paul writes to the church in Rome and exhorts the believers to offer their bodies to God as a living sacrifice. Herein lies an important spiritual principle. The Lord does not reveal His will to those who are unwilling to follow it. Jesus said, ,If any man will *is willing to+ do His will, He shall know . . . (John 7:17). ,If your eye is single [you have single devotion to the Lord], your whole body will be full of light (Matt. 6:22). Paul goes on to discuss the renewing of the mind. The net effect of offering our bodies as a living sacrifice and renewing our minds is that we will be able to ,prove or demonstrate the perfect will of God. This is a reference to His moral will as the context shows.
I ask the children of religious parents to mark well what I am saying. It is the highest privilege to be the child of a godly father and mother, and to be brought up in the midst of many prayers. It is a blessed thing indeed to be taught the gospel from our earliest infancy, and to hear of sin, and Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and holiness, and heaven, from the first moment we can remember anything. But, oh, take heed that you do not remain barren and unfruitful in the sunshine of all these privileges: beware lest your heart remains hard, impenitent, and worldly, notwithstanding the many advantages you enjoy. You cannot enter the kingdom of God on the credit of your parents’ religion. You must eat the bread of life for yourself, and have the witness of the Spirit in your own heart. You must have repentance of your own, faith of your own, and sanctification of your own.
J.C. Ryle