C. S. Lewis said, “Our Lord . .
. warned people to ‘count the cost’ before becoming
Christians. Make no mistake,’ He
says, ‘if you let me, I will make you perfect.
The moment you put yourself in My hands, that
is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other than
that. You have free will, and if
you choose, you may push Me away.
But if you do not push Me away, understand that I am
going to see this job through… I will never rest,
nor let you rest, until you are literally
perfect—until My Father can say without reservation
that He is well pleased with Me’” (Mere
Christianity, pp. 157-58).
The apostle Paul wrote, "For I
am confident of this very thing, that He who began a
good work in you will perfect it until the day of
Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).
What is the good and acceptable
and perfect will of God? What is that “good work”?
Again the apostle wrote, "Therefore I urge you,
brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your
bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to
God, which is your [rational] spiritual service of
worship" (Romans 12:1). How do
you prove that is the will of God?
The apostle Paul tells us in 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." In verse one the
apostle states the goal positively when he wrote,
“present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice
acceptable to God which is your [rational] spiritual
service of worship.” That is our
responsibility as Christians. It
is a “once and for all” decision of commitment of
our lives to God and a daily renewal of that
life-long determination to live for God.
Paul also states the goal
negatively in verse two. “Be not conformed to this
world.” We no longer want to use
our bodies to fulfill sinful pleasures.
We now belong to God who purchased us in the
death of His Son Jesus Christ.
Christ has ransomed us. The
Christian’s body is God’s temple (I Cor. 6:19-20).
We can now glorify God with our bodies.
How do we experience such a
daily transformation? “Be
transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
It is interesting that Paul uses the same
word here that is translated “transfigured” in
Matthew 17:2. Jesus was
“transfigured” on the mountainside. The word means
to “change into another form.” It
is an inner change, a radical renovation. The
transformation is invisible to the physical eye;
however, we do see the outward effects of that
inward spiritual birth.
Robert Haldane observed, “There
are degrees in this transformation, although all
Christians are transformed when they are born again,
yet they ought to be urged, as here, to a further
degree of this transformation.”
This inner transformation is
the work of the Holy Spirit. C.
E. B. Canfield brings out the force of the tense.
“Stop allowing yourselves to be conformed…
continue to let yourselves be transformed …”
The renewing of the mind of the
Christian is not something that takes place in an
instant, but is something that must be continually
repeated. It is a process which
has to go on all the rest of the Christian’s life.
The Holy Spirit helps us look
at life from a new perspective.
The renewal is an adjustment of the moral and
spiritual vision and thinking to the mind of God.
It stresses the continual operation of the
indwelling Spirit and the willing response on the
part of the believer.
The world system of beliefs
seeks to control our minds so we will conform to its
way of thinking about moral values, behavior,
philosophy of life, etc. It
constantly seeks to squeeze us into its mold.
We are transformed in the
renewing of our minds as the Holy Spirit applies the
Word of God over a lifetime. We have spent years
under the influence of a constant bombardment of a
way of looking at life that is opposed to the
Christian way of life. The Holy
Spirit takes God’s Word and reprograms our way of
thinking. His goal is that we
will live to please God, and do His will which is
always “good and acceptable and perfect.”
I like the freshness of the NET
Bible. "Do not be conformed to this present world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so
that you may test and approve what is the will of
God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.
Conduct in Humility" (Romans 12:2).
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB."
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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