Romans 12:2 - And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Message: We are transformed by the renewing of our minds.
Time: Written in AD 57 from Greece, to the Christians, both Gentile and Jewish in Rome.
What the Lord is Saying:
In light of the salvation that we have received, by the mercy of God and the grace of God, through faith, we are to daily present ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice, in ways that are acceptable to God. This is our spiritual service of worship to God. We surrender to God and submit to His will and live out His commandments with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Do not be conformed
This is the hallmark of the Christian's life and really what God expects of every person, that they are not to be conformed to anything beyond Christ and His word and His commandments.
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have the world
But Give me Jesus
This should be our daily heart cry. This should be what our heart sings every day.
Exodus 23:2 - You shall not follow a multitude in doing evil.
Deuteronomy 18:9 - When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations.
2 Corinthians 6:14 - Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?
To this world
More specifically, we are not to be conformed to this world. When Jesus was tempted, it was the devil that brought him to a mountain top to show him the kingdoms of the world. Matthew 4:8, "Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;" The devil offered to Jesus the authority of the world as a gift from him (Luke 4:6). And in 2 Corinthians 4:4 it says, "in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
It is clear that the devil is the god of this world. I am just not sure this is apparent enough in our thinking. I am not sure we really realize the significance of this in our everyday life. I think Satan is so good at making the Christian think that a couple of visits to the church weekly are enough for us. And he is so good at making us think that a quick prayer of repentance, one time, is all we need to be secure in God's kingdom. And then this allows us to continue to roam around in the world as we desire, continually sampling from the things of this world. And that's just with Christians. But, it almost seems like Christians are who he is luring the most. I don't believe Satan can possess a Christian. But, I definitely think the Christan can be lured away. I only say this because of what I see in my own life.
I think of stalwarts of the faith like Martin Luther, George Whitefield, and Charles Spurgeon and think about the volumes that wrote or the volumes they did and then These men did so much for the faith. They wrote so much and preached so much and yet, they lacked all of the creature comforts we have of this day. They didn't have computers, but very primitive communication. Everything took more time and yet how did they do so much? It is just amazing. Whitefield died at age 55. Spurgeon died at 57. Luther was 62. Those aren't long lives. And yet they were so productive. I just marvel at the distractions we have in this world.
I am reading the book Gospel right now by JD Greear and it really speaks of the importance of the Gospel message in our everyday life. It is not natural for us to live a life of faith-righteousness, but rather works-righteousness is natural. And so it is so important that daily we go to the Gospel and find our security in the gospel.
I understand this message; this sentiment; this belief, but, I don't live it consistently because I am so trained in the things of the world continually that I just don't know how to really separate myself from its ways. Technology in the form of electronics has really created a distraction in our lives. This really started with the visual box--television--that came upon us in the fifties. I think the moment our eyes had something to look at, we would be hard pressed to get ourselves trained away from anything else. The TV replaced the radio which replaced the book. The book and TV remain supplemented by the radio. Then the computer came to really augment the TV as well as now the mobile phone. And if that wasn't enough, we had to make the computer more portable with the tablet (iPad). TV and Radio started out being nightly sources of entertainment, but then moved to all day. In the 80s cable TV came on board and suddenly we had multiple channels and 24 hour news and sports. Shows were originally on broadcast TV only, then it moved to another channel and now it is on pay only channels as well as streaming services like Amazon. And if TV watching wasn't enough, we brought video games through the TV, the computer, the tablet, the phone. We have so many different ways and forms of entertainment seeping through out life. And we brand it all as okay and good.
It is just such a huge part of our life and it seems to be getting larger and larger. Recently, as a household we dropped our cable bill, to help save $50 per month, and went with the antennae. I think there were some adjustments to our viewing habits, but I have noticed something interesting. For the most part, we are just changing what we are looking at, which means we are changing what is acceptable. Yes, we have less choices, but we are still viewing at the same level as we were before. In fact, I am actually viewing more because recently an old movie channel was added to the antennae lineup and I have access to old movies in ways I haven't in the past. However, I continue to be concerned about what my children are accessing as we do have Netflix and Netflix streaming is available and the content on there is actually not that great, as far as clean entertainment.
Last night, sitting down, not feeling very well, and just wanting to rest, I wanted to watch a movie. One of the services we have now is FeelN, a streaming service backed by Hallmark providing family friendly content. They don't have a huge catalog, but I have noticed I am never disappointed with anything I watch. And yet because I have the option of Amazon Prime and Netflix, I sometimes revert to searching for entertainment through those sources. My concern is whether or not I end up choosing media that really is filled with content that would never be viewed in a church setting. Just like cable TV, once we have availability, does it possibly open us up to content that we justify in our viewing by saying, it is not that bad? Should that be the calling card for determining if we watch something? Whether it is not that bad?
To not be conformed to the world, I think, should mean that even our viewing habits are not likened to the world's viewing habits.
Now, back to the message, which is "Do not be conformed to the world." Those words are almost hard to read and think about and mediate on. Why? Because I love the things of the world. It is what I've known and where I've been trained. And it is becoming more and more a dominant force in our life. And to think, Paul saw this temptation back in his day. It is so hard to imagine the extent of what Paul saw in the 1st century. And yet, I believe, that this calls to evidence more that God did inspire the writing of his text because God stood outside of time and saw the importance of this message throughout time. Maybe it seems more applicable today, twenty centuries later, but there have always been distractions. The gospel message and sharing that with others was needed and prominent even in Paul's day. The first chapter of Romans speaks of the encouragement Paul gained from the church at Rome because they were sharing the faith.
But be transformed
I know I am taking this passage slow and probably spending way too much time on it, but it is actually an amazing passage of contrast from my normal life. Its message is really foundational and revolutionary to our lives. Here with this word, "but be" means that when one is not conformed to this world, there is an alternative. There is another way. There is another way we are to be training ourselves daily (I Timothy 4:7-8).
The word transformed is in the passive voice. Active voice would mean that I am needing to do something in order to accomplish the transformation. But, here the word is passive, so an outside force is making its mark on me, transforming me. "Do not be conformed" is active, "but be transformed" is passive. The Spirit will transform us.
This is in the imperative mood which means I have responsibility. What I need to do is turn from sin and then make myself available or able to be molded. I do have a responsibility and that is to avail myself to the work of the Spirit in me. I think this is a very important step and part of the process. We have a responsibility daily in our lives. We can't just live our lives the way we see fit because as we do we will be conformed to this world. We must stop and present ourselves as a sacrifice to Him. "Lord, Here I am." "Lord, I come to You." "Lord, I surrender to You." "Lord, I present myself to You." "Lord, I want You in me."
In addition, transformed in in the present tense, so it is not a past event, but an ongoing event in our lives. Each day, I am to present myself to the Lord and each day He will make a change in me.
By the renewing of your mind
This is the result of surrendering to the Lord and being transformed, my mind is renewed. I become something different than what I was in the past.
This newness and this difference is not simply a condition that is then on par with what I was in the past, before being in Christ. It is superior.
My mind is what determines my action, my decisions, my choices, my living life. The mind needs to be renewed. The mind can be molded. That is incredible. We often are baffled by the evil that is present in people's lives, in the world. We are baffled as to how people think. That someone could work in adult films or be a stripper day in and day out. That someone could have a business of sex trafficking. That someone could be in the business of selling drugs. That someone could be in the business of gambling. And this verse throws a bright light on us and reminds us that our mind is to be renewed, so if it isn't renewed, it is trained by the one that is over this world. We are not to be conformed to this world and yet for those not in Christ, conforming to the world is natural and encouraged.
I read yesterday from JD Greear's book, Gospel, "The tragedy is that if you are spiritually blind you have no idea that you are missing anything at all." What a compelling and truthful statement. When the mind is not renewed and we are blind at seeing the things of the Gospel, Truth, God, we are living a life that we think is right. I dare to say that the majority of the people in the world seem to be living in this blind darkness.
so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect
So, here is the sequence. The Christian does not conform to the world but is transformed, by surrendering to the Lord, and the Spirit transforms us. This renews our mind. For what purpose? Because this is the will of God. We are daily transformed. God is transforming us to prove God's will. His will is good and acceptable and perfect. And our lives are to be a perfect reflection of who He is.
This is the crowning verse of the Christian. We are God's representation on this earth and our lives are meant to reflect who He is. Our lives should resemble Him.
Recently, I have been encouraged by something. I've always wanted to stand out and several people lately have actually told me that my walk with God is something that they admire. I don't believe they are elevating me, but I do think that they see God in me. My life does reflect Him. And He gets the praise for that, not me.
Promise: Trust in the Lord and He will make your paths straight.
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