Gospel Prism

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

What do you think about when there is nothing to think about? That’s a question that I heard Sinclair Ferguson ask us at a Ligonier Conference. His point was that such times exemplified where our hearts stood with ourselves and with God. What we think about and dwell upon throughout the day is a strong determinant for whether a person either being conformed to the world or being transformed by the Spirit of God through the renewal of our minds. One thing is for certain, there is a battle for your mind every day, a struggle that perhaps you have never realized and one that has influenced your view of God, your understanding of the Gospel, your relationships with others, and your satisfaction and joy that is found in Him. The battle for your mind is to be conformed or transformed.

To be conformed to the world is to believe that the world has been created so that you might be pleased, happy, and amused. And so our minds are continually filled with anything that keeps us busy and distracted. For example, I have kids and it is far too easy to turn on a video for our kids to keep them busy so that I can do my own thing. Well, we are continually battling the ‘turn on the video’ mentality every day, anything to take our minds off of the terrible things, such as loneliness, boredom, anger, hurt, depression, identity crisis, etc.

This is where Paul steps in with Romans 12:2. He tells us quite plainly that in our world today either we will be conformed to the world or transformed by the renewal of our minds, and there really is nothing in between. Our default mode is to ‘turn on the video,’ that is to be conformed to the patterns of the world. But I know one thing about turning on the video for my kids, 1) they eventually get tired of the video and want something different, or worse 2) their mind becomes numb to life, to thoughts, and to joy and they’re understanding of joy becomes so small, wrapped up in a mere video. Paul is telling us that there is so much more satisfaction for us than what the world tries to tempt us with, but we must see what transformation looks like, especially relative to the conformity of the world. So let’s take a look at the text by answering three questions:

How are we conformed to this world?

The first question is this, “How are we conformed to this world?” Let’s look at the first part of verse 2: “Do not be conformed to this world.” Just from looking at this verse, we know that the passive voice of the verb tells us that conformity to the world is something that happens to people without them even realizing it. Paul warns us not against conforming to the world, but rather ‘being conformed to this world.’ This is not a new theme created by Paul, but rather something that the Lord had warned Israel about many years ago when they were about to enter the Promised Land.

In Deuteronomy 7:3, God tells Moses to give Israel this warning: “You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.” And wouldn’t you know, only 2 chapters away in Deut. 9:12, it says: “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made themselves a metal image.’” That golden calf was a symbol of neighboring Canaanite gods. The Israelites had been in Canaan in just a short while and they were already copying the worship of bulls.

Conformity to the world began not in the desert, but in the Garden. When Eve told God, she’d rather depend on her own ability to DISCERN what was good or evil, she was conforming to what she deemed to be right and best for herself. And from that day forward, all humans have by nature had a desire to conform to what he or she believes best for himself or herself, which is essentially what everyone else thinks is good, acceptable, and perfect.

As well in Matthew 6:1, Jesus tells the crowd listening to Him: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” In other words, don’t conform to the ways in which other people dictate whether you are right or wrong or good or acceptable. And this is exactly what the Pharisees were doing in this text. They did all things so that they would conform to others and so that others would conform to them. And so Jesus tells the crowd in Matthew 6:8: “Do not be like them.” He could have easily said, “Do not be conformed to this world.”

How are you being conformed to the world? How does the world influence your views on your own happiness and satisfaction? Are you governed by people’s acceptance of you or their rejection of you? Do you do anything to make yourself to be more popular, to help you fit in, to help you to win favor with others so that you can feel good about yourself? Do you show favoritism to those who can do something for you, and reject those who give you what you deem to be nothing in return? Do you find yourself attractive, acceptable, pleasing, unattractive, unfit, ugly because of your perusing of magazines, TV, commercials, infomercials, etc.? These are just a sampling of questions that you can ask yourself to see if you are being conformed to the world. You probably don’t realize how much of your thought life, your purchases, your goals, your aspirations, your view of your body, your view of others is drastically affected by your being conformed to the world.

Notice also in the first part of this verse that Paul tells us that we are not to ‘be conformed,’ that is, present ongoing tense. This is a conformity that continues ad infinitum. Again, conformity to the world is our default mode. Paul says the same thing in Eph 4:22: “Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.” Our former life was a life filled with “deceitful desires.” Think about that phrase for a moment. Desires are those things in life we want because we think it will make us happy. But ‘deceitful’ tells us that these desires lie to us because they will never make us truly happy. David had a deceitful desire lusting after beautiful Bathsheba. Achan in Joshua 7 saw a really nice ‘jacket’ and some cash and it became his deceitful desire. Judas longed for the opportunity to make a little side money that could set him up for a little while. All of the aforementioned would be tragically disappointed by their deceitful desire. Their desire was not so pleasing after the initial pleasure. The world tells us, “Don’t worry, be happy. Do whatever you think is best for you and yourself.” And apart from a radical transformation of our minds, we’ll take the world up on its offer and in the end we will be sorely (and perhaps devastatingly) disappointed.

Thankfully, Paul tells us in the rest of Romans 12:2 that God does teach us otherwise, and what he teaches us is that to be transformed by His Spirit to discern His will is the most soul-satisfying experience we will ever have.

How are we transformed to the will of God?

So the second question regarding the text is this then, “How are we transformed to the will of God?” Once again, just as the verb ‘conform’ was in the passive voice, so too the verb ‘transform’ is in the passive voice as well. Again, this means that we do not do the transformation ourselves. Rather, something or someone external from us does the work of transformation for us. 2 Cor 3:18 sheds some light for us on exactly who is this agent of transformation for us: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” None other than the Spirit of God is actively engaged in shaping our hearts so that we will actually love God for who He is. And you probably do not realize just how radical of a work this is.

Paul tells us that we are transformed by the “renewal of your mind.” One commentator describes this as a “re-programming” (Douglas Moo, The Epistle to the Romans NICNT, 756) of our minds which had been conformed to the world. Some people consider religion to be a brainwashing of one’s mind to believe the unbelievable. Well, what Paul is telling us here is that our minds and hearts which were created for God, have been brainwashed by the lies of the world and its promises of happiness. So it takes the Spirit of God to de-brainwash people or else we could and would never want to worship God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds. And this transformation is so drastic that our view of the world, ourselves, and our understanding of meaning, purpose, identity, happiness, peace, hopes, fears, joy, are changed by this transformation. Remember the story Matt 17:2 about Jesus on the Mount of transfiguration? Matthew records: “And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.” The word ‘transfigured’ is the same Greek word here in Rom 12:2 and there are only three instances of this word in the Bible. So when the Bible uses this word, it means total transformation, as we saw what happened to Jesus on the mountain. We are no longer programmed to conform to the world. Instead, we begin to love God and love His ways.

So how does the Spirit transform us? The Bible teaches us that the primary way in which the Spirit transforms our minds to know God’s will is through His Word. 2 Peter 1:21 states: “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The Spirit carries God’s Word, through the apostles, to the lives of believers so that we might know how to actually love God and be transformed.

That is, the transformed person is so fixated on honoring God with all that he is, that he longs to live a life that honors God before anything else. And the only way this can happen is through a continual intake of God’s Word. Paul tells us in 2 Tim 3:17 that Scripture is what allows us to be thoroughly equipped for EVERY good work. Anything that is good, good for me, good for our church, good for our world, can be done through the equipping of God’s Word. Psalm 1 tells us, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” And Paul reminds the church that it is the Word of God which the Spirit uses as a sword to cut away the lies of the Enemy and the world.

I can’t tell you how critical the Bible is to being transformed. It is the Spirit’s sword and without out, we will be conformed to the world. Jerry Bridges writes: “One thing we can be sure of: If we do not actively seek to come under the influence of God’s Word, we will come under the influence of sinful society around us. The impact of our culture with its heavy emphasis on materialism, living for one’s self, and instant gratification is simply too strong and pervasive for us to not be influenced by it.” (Jerry Bridges, Growing Your Faith, 75) But the Bible keeps us focused on God’s will, what honors God that gives us joy.

For example, if you are overly worried, you probably are busy in your mind coming up with schemes to help you. If you have financial problems, you’re thinking about investments, about finding sources of income. But turning to the Bible teaches us not that praying to God will give us money, but rather, that praying to God will give us His peace according to Phil 4:6-7, even if we lose all the money we have. Or if you are overly afraid of what others think of you, remembering just who it is that you worship by turning to a text like Job 38-40 and seeing this great and awesome God that loves you, will remind you that you need not live for the opinion and approval of others. Without a regular reading of Scripture, a regular intake of Scripture, and then an actual application of God’s Word in our lives, we will be conformed to the world. We will not be transformed. We will live for ourselves out of our own resources and in the end that will only bring us a lack of joy.

So, the Spirit uses His Word to transform us to discern what the will of God is, which tells us what is good, acceptable, and perfect for us. Now let’s examine this last part because this is why this transformation in our lives is so practical for us in our day to day lives. It answers this third question for us, “Why is transformation by the renewal of our minds by the Spirit better than conforming to the world?”

Why Is Transformation Better?

Transformation by the Spirit is far far better than conformity to the world because it is the truest and only way a person can live with full joy and freedom. All people are looking to find what is good, acceptable and perfect for them in their lives. Think about the different avenues people will turn to to find such things. Many turn to money. We might think we need a certain amount of money to live a care-free life, a good, acceptable, and perfect life. Some will turn to family and friends, to be surrounded by those you love makes life good, pleasing, and perfect. Some think it’s in a legacy. Shua and I know someone who lost her daughter very tragically to cancer. Her death was very sudden. Her parents set up a scholarship fund at her alma mater with her name on it so that her life would ‘mean something.’ Some turn to quick fixes that numb the mind against loneliness, depression, and life, such as alcohol, drugs, gambling. Some turn to sex. The allure that having multiple partners can give a person true love seems to be so good. Some turn to security. If a person is physically safe, taken, care of and comfortable, then everything becomes so good. People are also looking for the right job. Only when the right job comes along, then can you be truly happy. Or perhaps its simply the joy to do whatever pleases you for the moment. If you love money or love spending money, what is good to you is shopping. Shopping makes you feel happy and satisfied. Or because you’ve been hurt in the past by others (or you feel you have been hurt by others), you’ve decided that no one truly understands you and so you feel good about being a loner, wallowing in self-pity.

There are so many ways we are looking what is good, pleasing, and perfect for me. And the lie is this, the best way to be happy to pursue the good, pleasing, and perfect for me is either in me, or in something out there that I can achieve. But the fruit of such a pursuit is devastating to the soul. It is no freedom at all, but slavery. Conformity to the world leads to anxiety. We become anxious because we are now captains of our own soul. When things don’t go the way we had planned, we become anxious, worried.

Conformity leads to fear of man. Because we want to fit in with everyone else, we are always trying to please everyone else. What people think of us drive our actions and our inactions. Ed Welch, in his excellent book When People Are Big and God Is Small, observes in Scripture three reasons why we fear other people: “We fear people because they can expose and humiliate us. We fear people because they can reject, ridicule, or despise us. And we fear people because they can attack, oppress, or threaten us.” (Ed Welch, When People Are Big and God Is Small, 23) For example, some of us have a very difficult time saying ‘no.’ We will run ourselves ragged, have our schedules cluttered, disappoint people all the time because we have dropped the ball, simply because we don’t say ‘no.’ And we do not say ‘no’ to someone because we don’t want that person to think bad of us. We are afraid of his/her opinion of us.

Conformity leads to gracelessness. We expect people to adjust to our sense of right and wrong, what is good, and perfect for me. And so when someone fails to meet our ’perfect’ standard, then we become huffy and unforgiving. If you have ever heard of the word double-standard, you need to know that conformity to your ways, which in actuality is the teaching of the world (that you are the master and you are entitled to everything), is really hypocrisy. When you tell a person about their failures, or you refuse to extend mercy to another, and yet when you fail, you are quick to ask for mercy, you are conforming to the world. This is gracelessness.

There are so many other ways in which our conformity to the world directly impacts our lack of joy in life. It can lead to anger, competiveness, arrogance, putting down of others, violence, bitterness, envy, etc. When our lives are all about trying to fit in, trying to be different, trying to mean something based on our effort, we will never be fully satisfied and enslaved by what Paul calls our ‘deceitful desires.’

But to be transformed is to gain what is good, acceptable, and perfect. The word ‘perfect’ has in mind finishing. Much like a marathon runner who trains hard and runs a long race who is about to finish that race, this word means that those who are transformed have the end goal in sight. There is no question or doubt that what is good and acceptable is absolutely what brings such a person eternal, never ending, soul-quenching joy and freedom. And there is no question that through the transformation by the Spirit, to gain what is truly good, acceptable, and perfect for us is to be in God’s will.

Will you live to gain the whole world but forfeit your soul as Jesus tells us in Matthew 16:26? It’s the same thing Paul is saying here, “Be conformed to the world and lose your soul or be transformed by the renewal of your mind and gain Christ and eternal joy.” Jeremiah Burroughs in commenting on Matthew 16:26 says: “If ever a soul is saved, God must set such a price upon it that He must give more than a thousand worlds are worth to save it. He must give no less than the blood of His own Son. And can you think that the infinite God should prize your soul at such a high rate, when you yourself should prize your soul at such a low rate?” (Jeremiah Burroughs, Gospel Revelation, 357) God prizes you so much that He has paid such a high cost for you. And yet, how can you give your soul to the world at the low cost of conformity for such a fleeting joy. Love God’s Word. Obey it. Savor it. And you will find that you will find a delight in your life that will be eternally unmatchable. This prayer in Valley of Vision the heart, mind, and passion of the transformed person, one who knows where there is true joy:

O Christ,
All your ways of mercy tend to and end in my delight.
You did weep, sorrow, suffer that I might rejoice.
For my joy you have sent the Comforter,
Multiplied your promises,
Shown me my future happiness,
Given me a living fountain.
You are preparing joy for me and me for joy;
I pray for joy, wait for joy, long for joy; give me more than I can hold, desire, or think of. (Bennet, Valley of Vision, 92)