Not Conformed But Transformed - Part 2

Romans 12:1-2

INTRO:

Good morning.   Today we are going to continue to look at Romans 12:1-2.  Just as a reminder if you hear me say anything that you do not think is according to scripture please let me know and we can look at it together.   In general I will be using the New King James or the King James Version for reference.   Specifically we will be looking at where Paul says we should not be conformed to this world and that we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds.   Last week we looked at the word conformed and wondered what that looked like, what it meant for us.

 

Do you like “new things”?    What about a new person?   Mark Hull or Ray Mihalacki can tell you about their new grandchildren.   New babies are so small, innocent and clean.   All of that changes as individuals mature.   Today we will talk about the power of change and the beauty of newness.  If it were not for the ability for us to change we could never be what God intended us to be.   We must become new again.   The restoration plea.

 

1. A New Creation: A New Creation is what Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”   The idea of “newness” is an important element of the gospel message.   In fact, that is the practical “good news” that God brings, as described in scripture.   We can be redone and we can start anew.   We are not shackled forever with the past or with what we have done before.   God can make things new again. 
   1. The idea of being redone, reborn and being a new person implies something about us that we must deal with and understand.
      1. If implies that we have a need to be “fixed” or “recreated“. We are not what God would have us to be, we are not as he created us.   We have to be transformed because we have created within ourselves with our own disobedience, a situation where we are not acceptable to God.   That’s important for us to recognize.
      2. We have to believe that there is a necessity for everyone to be transformed and be made new again. Sometimes we are tempted to believe that we’re good enough for ourselves, we’re good enough for the church, the kingdom, and we’re “good enough” for what we have to do. 
      3. We also often believe that our neighbors or our family are good enough. We believe that they’re going to be ok and the end is going to be alright.   After all we’re not all that bad, are we?  The very idea of the need for renewal in scriptures implies that we are all that bad.   If not for the blood of Christ we would be eternally lost.  If it were not for the ability that God gives us to make the right choices, to be sorry for what we have done, to study, learn and develop our character, we could never be what God would have us to be.
   2. What we find described in all this, is a complete makeover. That’s what the scripture describes, it is what God does for us and what the transformation involves.  The nature of the change that God makes in us is described in the most comprehensive terms in scripture.
      1. It is described as a new birth in John chapter three. Jesus spoke privately to a well-educated religious leader and focused on the necessity of a complete change.  He said that change must be so drastic; it must be so comprehensive that it is like being born again.   Becoming like Mark or Ray’s grandchild, a new birth.   “Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  John 3:3
      2. In Ephesians 2:1 Paul focused on the comprehensive nature of change when he said: And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. The change he talks about here, took place in Ephesus in conversions of sinners.   Described as a resurrection from the dead.   They weren’t just sick.   They weren’t just feeling bad.   They were dead in their trespasses and sins but God made them alive again.   In Romans 6:4, he uses that very same analogy again.  “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” 
      3. Then in 2 Corinthians 3:18 – “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” It is a transformation.
      4. It is a complete change that a Christian undergoes, and here is an important note,… continues to undergo. Do we see any evidence of this transformation in our lives or the lives of other Christians today?   Can we see this drastic change the Bible talks about when we look at Christians?   How about when we look at those of the world?   When we stand them side by side is there really a great contrast between the lives of Christians and the lives of others who are not Christians?  
      5. Or do we miss the mark? Christian marriages fail as well as marriages in the world.   Christians fail in the lives of their children.   They fail to teach their children about the love of God.   Many times Christians speak like the world or aspire to the goals of the world.    In the end they live the life that the world lives around them.   How can we say that Jesus can make a difference in the lives of others if He makes no difference in ours?
   3. Be Transformed: The transformation in our own individual, personal lives becomes the greatest evidence of what we’re teaching about Jesus Christ from the scriptures. It teaches that it is actually true and is practical for everyone. If the Gospel does not change our life we cannot expect to teach others and have it change their lives.   That may be one reason that sometimes both hypocrisy and mediocrity in service to Christ, transcends generations.   When parents are not very faithful to the Lord many times the children will not be.   The transformed life is the agent through which the power of the gospel takes hold.   If the transformation is not there, the words simply fall on ears that will never put them into practice.
      1. Paul’s admonition to us in Romans 12:2: 2 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. We read this last week as we looked closely at the first part of Paul’s admonition, do not be conformed.   Now let us continue by looking at the 2nd
         1. The positive command here is to “be transformed”. The two are absolutely connected and this part helps us to understand the negative prohibition, “be not conformed”.
         2. In fact, we cannot hope to escape being conformed unless we are inwardly transformed in our thinking. If we are not changed in the likeness of Jesus Christ we will be molded into the likeness of the world.   There’s no middle ground here you can wander around in.
         3. When we think about our own lives, the old man and the new man: What does the before and after picture of our mind look like? I believe to a great extent that is what Paul addresses here—that there is to be a contrast in the way we think from the way we thought when we were in the world.
      2. Has the Spirit of God transformed our thinking? The Greek verb for be transformed is (metamorphoo) and is very insightful.   It describes a change of place or condition… To transform, transfigure, change one’s form. (Word Study Dictionary).   It’s the same word that is used to describe, in Matthew chapter 17, the transfiguration of Jesus.   Jesus was inherently divine yet in the flesh, but in that particular moment He was transformed so that His outward appearance gave indication of His inherent nature within.   He was shown to be the deity that He is by the transforming of His outward character or form.
         1. It is the term from which we get the English metamorphosis. You may see that word in the Greek word itself.  What do you think of when you hear metamorphosis?   I think of science class and the Monarch butterfly.   That was the first lesson I had illustrating what the word metamorphosis meant.  The butterfly doesn’t start out as a butterfly so it becomes a very good illustration from the natural world as to what change is.  It doesn’t start out the same as what it becomes.   It was morphed over a period of time.   God’s natural world about us illustrates His word to us.
            1. There are four stages in the metamorphosis of the butterfly. First there is the egg laid on the milkweed plant.  It’s a very tiny ball.  
            2. From the egg comes the caterpillar. It still doesn’t look like a butterfly, does it?   It’s kind of cute, but it’s not a butterfly.   It doesn’t in any way resemble a butterfly.

• After the caterpillar, then comes a cocoon, or a chrysalis. The caterpillar builds an outer shell around itself.  

1. Within the chrysalis there is a transformation. The green caterpillar is disappearing and the butterfly is emerging.   It’s interesting that God lets us see all that.   Finally the transformation (metamorphosis) is complete, and the full grown butterfly emerges.
2. The butterfly flies away after having gone through this process of change. There has been a transformation.  What kind of change is this?  I think we all realize that this is a complete   What the thing started out as is not what it ends up as.   It’s completely different.   This change, this metamorphosis, took place over a period of time.   It didn’t happen in a moment.  I think it’s about two weeks from the time the caterpillar goes into the cocoon until it comes as a butterfly.

2. Spiritually we go through a metamorphosis, a transformation. We don’t end up anything like we started as.  It doesn’t happen in a moment.   It happens over a period of time.  
3. The verb “be transformed” is like the preceding verb, “be not conformed”. In the original language we get the sense this is also a passive imperative.   It literally means we are not to allow ourselves to be conformed, but rather we are to allow ourselves to be transformed.   This indicates that the power to transform is like the power to conform.   Allowing it is something we have control over.  We have a say over whether we’re conformed to the world.   We have a responsibility to allow the power of God to work a transformation in our mind.
4. In 2 Corinthians 3:18 you see: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” An important aspect of this particular passage is not only the dimension that we are being transformed as children of God, but that the transformation takes place “by the Spirit of the Lord”.   Although we are to aspire to this outward change, it can be accomplished only by the Holy Spirit working in us. 

1. Ephesians 5:18 – “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,” In the context of that verse Paul is describing the changed individual.  If you go back to chapter four he talks about the old man and the new man and putting off certain characteristics and putting on others.   He talks about the possibility of redemption that is made possible through Jesus Christ.  He says we are not to grieve the Holy Spirit.  We are to make this change.  In the context he tells us how this takes place.   He says it takes place when the individual is filled with the Spirit of God.  That’s not mystical thing or a mystery.   It is the ability of the individual to allow the Spirit of God to influence their lives.  And not just a little bit, but totally influence their lives so that they are filled with the influence of the Spirit of God working in them.
2. To get a better picture of this transformation, let’s consider the Greek noun, morph, from which this verb comes. The word morph refers to a unique form or nature of something.   It describes the inherent quality of a person or thing. 
   1. This word is used by the apostle Paul in Philippians 2:6-7 - Talking about Christ Paul says: “6. who, being in the form (morph) of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,    but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form (morph) of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men.”  We’re all familiar with that passage to describe the incarnation of Jesus Christ. 
      1. Jesus’ inherent “form” was divine, but he took on the “form” of a man in becoming flesh, and living as an obedient servant. He was God before He came into this world.  He has always been God yet He took on a form.
      2. Jesus “morphed” from one form to another. (He did this without giving up His divinity, but Jesus’ previous “form” was completely different from His “form” while on the earth.  
   2. We are called upon to change completely back to what we were intended to be. We must empty ourselves of the world in order to be transformed into the image of Christ.  
      1. When I go to work on a car I have what are called coveralls. I used them a lot in the Air Force as well.   We put them on over the top of our clothes.   Very, very useful things.   Sometimes I need to work on something and just do not have any clothes I want to take a chance on wrecking.   We know what can happen to clothes when you work on a car.   However, when you put on coveralls and work on your car you don’t worry about it because your good clothes are underneath.  
      2. Coveralls are just that, a cover. God does not provide coveralls though.   If you are going to put on good clothes, you’ve got to take off the old.   That’s the process for us.  
   3. There’s a clear distinction between what’s old and new in scripture, what’s old and new in the life of the Christian, between the life previously in the world and what God expects of us. Sometimes that comes in the form of direct commandments, the application of principles.   A complete change, from old to new, a transformation, is exactly what God requires.   Let’s go back to Romans chapter 12.  He says there we are transformed by the renewing of our mind.

• By the Renewing of Your Mind: Paul indicates this necessity of putting off the old as a part of our transformation in Ephesians 4:22 -24 – “22.  that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,    and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,  24.  and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness.” 
  1. A couple things I notice here. Lusts are mentioned a number of times in scripture for example 1 John 2:16 – “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.”   John points out these are part of the world.    They are deceitful in that the world likes to present them as normal or acceptable.   The second thing I notice is that the “new man” we are told to put on is the one “created according to God”.
  2. Notice here in Ephesians 4, as in Romans 12, that the part of us that God is interested in transforming is our minds. I believe in both passages he talks about the renewing, transformation, of the mind as the way, the avenue, where the outer conduct is changed and the form of a person becomes—different
     1. There’s a change in the intellectual capacity of an individual to understand God’s word, and his willingness to apply what he knows.
     2. Earlier in Ephesians 4 Paul described those who were alienated from God as being darkened in their understanding. They were ignorant, he says.   They were blind in their hearts, but now they’ve been enlightened and renewed in the spirit of their minds.   This lack of knowledge and faith led them to practice those things that are not right in the sight of God.  
     3. You don’t accidently do what God wants you to do. You can’t accidently follow a culture and be what God wants you to be.  There has to be revelation.   There has to be understanding of the truth.   The way in which we decide to become a Christian starts there.   We say that a person must hear the word of God.   Faith comes by hearing what God says.   That hearing is designed to change the mind of the individual and ultimately in changing their mind they change their conduct.
  3. How is the mind renewed? We’ve already mentioned part of that.   It’s renewed by revelation, by the power of the Holy Spirit.   It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that the mind of the individual is brought to newness.   That’s not mystical or mysterious. 
     1. Certainly we need to recognize that God is the true change agent. Without His power we could not change ourselves to be what God would have us to be.  The Spirit’s means of transforming our minds is the Word of God.
     2. This is a concept or idea that’s always reinforced throughout the scriptures. The apostle Paul, when he talks about transformation by the Spirit of God mentions it within the context of the word of God that brings the transformation about.   David testified, “Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee” (Psalms 119:11).    It’s the word of God within the heart of the individual that guides an individual to do what’s right and keeps him from doing the things that are wrong. 
     3. 2 Timothy 3:15-17 – “15. and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16.  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17.  that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”    The transformation of our mind can only be accomplished through our constant association with the word of God.   Paul told the Ephesians if they read what he wrote them they could understand his knowledge in the mystery of God.
     4. Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:13-16 – “13. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 14.  Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery (that is elders).  Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. 16.  Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.”    The word of God is at the heart of the transformation of the character, not only in the one that was being taught, but in the teacher as well.   The mind must be changed by the revelation of the word of God.
  4. What does a renewed or transformed mind look like? You’ve probably seen one.  You’ve seen transformation take place in the lives of individuals when they came out of the world and became Christians.   Their character changes before your eyes.   They become new people.   What does a transformed mind look like?   Let me suggest a couple of things.
     1. One is that the transformed mind is saturated with and controlled by the word of God. We read:   “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” – Colossians 3:16.
     2. The transformed mind is the mind that spends less time with the things of the world and more time with the things of God. Paul’s admonition is: “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:2).    That’s a practical admonition having to do with the change of the mind of an individual by opening the Bible and meditating on the things that are there.   We need to check ourselves.
        1. How many times a day do we read the Bible?
        2. How many times a week do we meditate on what the scriptures say?

• How much time do we spend trying to understand what is said?

3. The transformed mind is the mind that responds to the events of life (reflexively) with the words of God.
   1. We interpret the events of our life in the context of scripture.
   2. We respond to temptation with the context of scripture.

• This is our living sacrifice; our spiritual service.

1. Jesus responded to Satan’s temptations by hurling Scripture back into His adversary’s face (Matthew 4:4,7,10). Satan came in with temptation.  Jesus hurled scripture right back at him because He was a spiritual Man and a spiritual man will always use scripture.   What Paul says, is that in the living sacrifice, the spiritual service to which we are called—we will use the word of God.  

4. The transformed mind is seeking to transform others through the word of God. It recognizes that the power of the word of God is not just for our benefit only.   It is to renew the minds of other individuals who do not yet have the spiritual perspective.
5. 2 Corinthians 10:5 – Paul says: “cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” That’s an enormous challenge.   God calls us to cast down what exalts its self against the knowledge of God, be they arguments or things, and then to bring every thought into the obedience of Christ.
6. When you look at the world today and all the different thinking and anti-God philosophies that exist in our culture, all the people who do not know about God, and all the people who do not care about God, you recognize the enormity of this task and the desperate need for it.
7. We are to be renewed in our minds and we want everyone to think like the mind of Christ. Indeed I think that the renewed mind looks like the mind of Christ.   We look like the image we’re transformed to.   The goal of the renewed minds is to be like Christ Himself.
8. Paul says in Colossians 3:9-10 – “9. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10.  and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,”      Earlier in Colossians 1:28 Paul says: “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”  
   1. Romans 8:29 – “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” God has plans for us in spiritual transformation.   What is the goal?   Paul says that before He knew us “that He also predestined us to be conformed to the image of His son.”
   2. Another verse where the Greek word “morph” is used is Galatians 4:19 – “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you,”   That is why Paul labored.  That’s why he gave his life over to do what he was doing.  It was so he could go to a city where individuals knew nothing about Christ and Christ could be formed in them by the preaching of the gospel.

• It seems that in our society, we simply do not believe that this happens any more. Do we believe that you can take the word of God and nothing but the word of God, preach it and teach it, and by that action show to an unregenerate heart Jesus Christ?   Do we believe that a person can be truly transformed?

9. Sometimes the more practical question is: Has Christ formed in us?   Do others see the mind of Christ in our decisions and attitudes?   Do they hear the words of Christ in our speech and how we relate to other individuals?   Do they see us reacting to situations in life as Christ would react in His own life?

1. That you might prove: Paul says in the end of the verse: “That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” We are renewed in our minds so that we might “prove”.  The word for “prove” here was often used to mean “ascertain or investigate” (as the precious metals were investigated with a testing of fire to “prove” their worth.)  A precious metal is put under fire and tested.  It is proved to be what it says that it is.   What does this passage mean?   That our transformed minds prove what is the will of God.  
   1. Those with a transformed mind are able to properly investigate the will of God in their life. A person’s mind that has changed, having now a disposition to obey Him, will be prepared to understand His precepts because the mind is renewed toward Him.
      1. It’s not struggling whether or not God has a prerogative to tell him what to do. That person has taken the mind of the servant, the one who will obey, and their mind has been renewed not to seek their own, but to seek the things of God.   Whatever God says, wherever God’s word leads them, they will go because their mind has the ability to prove the will of God.
      2. There is a difference between knowledge and will. I may know something, but have no will to do it.  I have to recognize that God intends in every way to mold and transform my will by the gaining of knowledge.
      3. The Greek construction makes “that you may prove” in the original text a purpose / result phrase. It means that this is the purpose and that will be the result.   As a believer’s mind is transformed he is able to properly assess everything, and to accept only what conforms to the will of God.   To judge their life by the will of God in so much that their will becomes the same as God’s will.   Our lives can prove what the will of God is, by doing those things that are good and acceptable and perfect to Him.
   2. There you have it. That’s the transformation of the life of a Christian.   Thus, as the mind is transformed, the will is changed.  The Christians’ will becomes conformed to the will of God.   God’s people want what God wants; they want to do what God wants them to do.  Does that seem like an enormous challenge?
      1. Paul said that his purpose in preaching the gospel, was that he might be well pleasing to God in all things.
      2. Paul tells us that as we are transformed in mind we come to realize three things—that God’s will is good, acceptable and perfect. Let’s think about that.
      3. Good – That which promotes what is best for man and God. Do you think monogamous marriage for a lifetime is good?  What about; Honesty, humility, compassion for others, love for all mankind?   By obeying God I will be able to apply these principles to the events of my own life.
      4. Acceptable – That which is approved of God, that which has His blessing and will bring His blessings. Do we know, in our own mind, what will please Him?   If we develop the mind of Christ we will know what pleases Him.
      5. Perfect – That which has all its parts – complete. God’s will is consistent and complete.   See how it all fits together?
   3. Maybe you remember that when you first became a Christian and God began to impart knowledge from His word, you began to read the scriptures and began to meditate on them and you began to understand what God was saying to you.
      1. In your mind you came to understand, put together the plan of salvation. You put together the Old Testament and the New Testament.   You saw how things fit together and then you saw what God was telling you to do in your own life.
      2. You saw how by being humble you could be a better parent. By being compassionate how you would be perceived by others and could become more effective in teaching them.   You saw how by doing what God tells you to do in your actions, attitudes and character you were exactly what you needed to be in this life and the life to come.
      3. What you were doing, you were proving the will of God to be perfect and acceptable in your transformed mind. That is a Spiritual Metamorphosis.
   4. The 19th century commentator Albert Barnes, said: “A transformed mind produces a transformed will, by which we become eager and able, with the Spirit’s help, to lay aside our own plans and to trustingly accept God’s, no matter what the cost.  This continued yielding involves the strong desire to know God better and to comprehend and follow His purpose for our lives.”
      1. That’s a challenge. Let me suggest something.  If we don’t come through our own desire and our own will, to study God’s word in the assembly of the saints, we’re not going to get this.  
      2. Christians who willing stay away from the study of God’s word, don’t open their Bibles at home, don’t pray, and don’t seek after a better relationship with God will never be changed. They were nice people before and they’re nice people now, but the Spirit of God has not renewed and transformed their minds therefore their wills will never be acceptable to God.
   5. Spiritual Metamorphosis: God changes us, but not in an instant.  It is the continuing work of the Holy Spirit.  The Spiritual Metamorphosis described in the Bible has a beginning followed by growth to maturity.
      3. There is a birth - John three says you must be born again.   John 3:3-7- “3.  Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'' 4.  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?'' 5.  Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6.  "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7.  "Do not marvel that I said to you, `You must be born again.'” 
         1. In Romans chapter six Paul identifies that beginning point. Romans 6:3-4 – “3.  Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4.  Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” 
         2. That’s the beginning of this new life..
      4. There is growth - There is a process of spiritual growth to maturity and it is God that transforms us if we allow Him. Philippians 1:6 – “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”   When we come out of the waters of baptism we are not all God wants us to be, but we have been changed from a sinner to a saint.   Our sins have been forgiven.   There is still a transformation that God requires of us.   We have responsibility to grow spiritually and mature.   This is by definition a change that is noticeable and advantageous.   God’s still working on us.   If we fail we will fall.   In some sense it’s like riding a bicycle.  Once you take your feet off the ground you better start pedaling.  If you are not moving you are going to fall.   If you get baptized and think you can sit still then you’re going to fall.  You’ve got to keep pedaling to stay upright and reach the destination.
      5. Colossians 2:6-7 – “6. As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,    rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.”

 

CONCLUSION:

Have you been transformed by the renewing of your mind?   Have you been born again?   Have you been buried with Christ in baptism?  Has the word of God so influenced you that you recognize that Jesus died for you?   Have all the things God did for you brought you to a point of repentance?   If you’ve been born again and you’ve gone back into the world, then you’ve fallen away, but God’s purposes have not been completely thwarted.   The blood of Jesus Christ has the same power today as it did the day when you first became a child of God.  It can forgive each and every sin.   If you come back to Him in repentance and a change in your heart now, you’ll strive to do the things that are right and pray to Him for forgiveness.  In either case the blood of Jesus Christ can make you new.  Will you come and be a new person?

 

Invitation song: ???

 

Reference sermon:  David Schmidt