Let God transform you
The world out there fights hard for your attention. Do you listen to the voice of the world, or to the voice of the Spirit who wants to renew you? You are not called to remain a worm, but to be changed forever into what God has planned for you.
The focus of this lesson is to get you past a surface reading of the Word and to dig deeper. A cellgroup member always explains how she reads shorter passages word by word, rather than long passages in overview. We are going to use a well-known text for this.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. – Romans 12:2
Read in context: begin with verse 1
Here is our first mistake already. We cannot read Romans 12:2 without first reading the preceding text as well:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. – Romans 12:1
The first verse has an active verb, something you have to do yourself: present. So in the first place you must “present” your body as something living, holy, and acceptable. It is “reasonable” that you do this. It is not extraordinary or extraordinarily difficult. It is the first thing you must do. Now comes verse 2.
Verse 2 begins with a linking word, “and.” It brings verses 1 and 2 together and is the reason the two verses must be read together. Why so? Because you eat bacon and eggs as one dish, and ice cream and custard as one dessert. You do not eat the bacon now and perhaps the eggs later. That is not how it works. Paul writes verses one and two as one thought. Remember that he never did verse divisions. That happened only many years later.
Verse 2: do not be conformed to the world
The first verb in verse 2 is a compound verb: “be (not) conformed.” This is also a command – be not (KJV) and “Do not” (NIV). How are you conformed? It is to do what others do. In this case it is to act like the world – to think and do as the world does. It is very easy to become like the world. It is often also a “slow fade.” Watch the film Fireproof and you will see what I mean by “slow fade.” One does not become conformed to the world overnight. It is a gradual process. The evil one does not want you to notice that you are becoming like the world. Slowly but surely, like the proverbial frog in the pot, you die spiritually without noticing that anything is wrong.
The world out there shouts for your attention and the voices are overwhelming. But just because many people bring a message to the world does not make the message credible. However loudly the message of the world and its desires resounds, do not listen to it.
Verse 2: be transformed by the renewing of your mind
The second verb in this verse is the important one: but be transformed. Note that this is not an active but a passive verb. It simply means that you cannot change yourself, but must be changed by something else. This something else is the renewing of your mind (but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind). This is something you yourself can and must do. The renewing of your mind is that you think differently about yourself. It enables you to be changed. Without thinking differently about yourself, there can be no change in your life.
What the original Greek shows us
Let us look at how the original Greek describes it. The first part, not to be conformed, is the following: συσχηματίζεσθε (syschēmatizesthe). Without needing to understand Greek, you should be able to read two features in this word: system (syschēm) and systematic (syschēmatiz). A system is a structure. Systematic means that it is done in a calculated way, over time, and in phases. The devil does it in a calculated way – he plans your fall in advance. He also does it over a period of time so that you do not notice it. Finally he tackles parts of your life, and each part is aimed at making you conformed to the world and its standards.
The next word is the important one: μεταμορφοῦσθε (metamorphousthe). The word “metamorphoo” means a change that cannot be reversed. When you begin to think anew, the Holy Spirit begins a work of change in you that you cannot do yourself, and that also cannot be reversed. You cannot go back to what you were.
So far we see that verses 1 and 2 have two verbs or actions: “present” in verse one – active, and “be transformed” in verse two – passive. One you do yourself (active) and the other the Holy Spirit does in you (passive). Together your thinking is changed (mind) – how you think about sin and a worldly attitude.
Why are these two actions needed together? “That” (verse 2b) you and I may “prove”... Here comes the third Greek word: δοκιμάζειν (dokimazein). The word prove means to analyse the nature of something. In context it means that you establish, analyse, and prove what the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God is for your life.
What do we learn from this?
God wants us to live according to His will for our lives, not the will of the world. The first eleven chapters of Romans deal with doctrine – how we should live from the vantage point of grace. In chapter 12 he sums it all up. The word “beseech” means to ask earnestly, or to request or beg. He makes a request of us to live as this God, of whom we have read in the first eleven chapters, asks of us.
Think again of the word “metamorphoo.” Are you still the larva that hopes to fly with the body of a worm, or have you allowed yourself to be changed from a larva into a pupa, and then into a butterfly for whom flight is normal?
You were never meant to be a worm. The devil, however, wants you to think that way and to stay that way. Change this way of thinking today and prove what God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will for your life is.