Romans 12:2 says, "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."
A small verse, that holds such power. The first part is a command, "DO NOT" so do not be conformed to this world. What is this world like?
In my studying 1st John I recognized in chapter 2:15 it says "Do not love the world or the things of the world" and I asked myself, "What does the world love?" and then I found my answer in the next verse which is, "the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life- [this] is not from the Father but is from the world."
Alright, so there you have it. Fleshly desires, basically.
We are to be completely set apart.
The bible is full of descriptions of those who are of the world, those who live in the world, how they act, talk, etc.
The world says to treat others like they treat you. Don't let them talk to you wrong or do you any wrong, and if they do then you can just do it right back to them but God says not to repay evil with evil but to overcome evil with good. [1st Peter 3:9]
The world says to take from people. It's about getting- but God says it is more blessed to give than to receive [Acts 20:35]
The world says that you are your own, you do what you want to do when you want to do it.. God says it is no longer WE who live but Christ in us, our bodies, our lives, they are His!! [Galatians 2:19-21]
There's so many more examples of the contrast between the world and God's word.
So often I see "Christians" who are trying to simultaneously live a life in the world and a life in Christ, however.. It doesn't work that way. 1st Corinthians 10:21 says, "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?" I think this applies really great to Romans 12:2 because if we try to live a godly and worldly life, that means that whatever we want to live in the world for, we are idolizing over God. I think we all know that God strongly dislikes idols, and we should only worship God. Honestly, Christ died to deliver us from this world and came to give us freedom from it. If we're conforming to it in any way- we're essentially saying that we don't need Christ's sacrifice.
The second part of the verse is to be transformed by the renewing of your mind.... Honestly, the pull of the world is SO STRONG. We are told everyday what to wear, look like, act like, listen to, read, and what kind of an attitude to have. When you think about a day to day life, as a believer you are usually surrounded by those in the world who have fleshly desires. This presents a problem, because it is so tempting to give in and conform under this pressure, yet we are commanded not to.
So be transformed by the renewing of your mind, by letting HIS mind transform you! God has given us His word so that we can know His standards, His love, His mercy, and His desires for our lives. If you are reading the Word, put it into action. Ask the Holy Spirit for the Word's in the Bible to come to life and transform you through His power, that you may have strength to stand against this world and boldly proclaim Christ in what you listen to, look like, act like, listen to, read, and your attitude.
And now we close with a song...
Excellent post!
ReplyDeleteOne of the cool things I love about this verse is the meaning of the word "conformed"
Back in the day they used to make pagan idols out of wax. they would pour hot wax into molds with the shape of the idol and the wax would CONFORM to the image that was in the mold. The same word is used there in Romans is the word used in the idol crafting trade for this process of making idols.
So don't take the shape of the world, but be transformed!