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“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, ESV)

Pastor Abel’s sermon on this passage is titled, “Conformed or Transformed?”

Transformation is a common buzzword in today’s self-help obsessed world. Upon reading the above verse, most people would agree that they don’t want conformity. People don’t want to be just like everyone else. Of course we want to be transformed!

How does this transformation occur according to Paul? By the renewal of the mind. This, again, would make sense to a lot of people today. You have to change the way you think to change your life. As an experiment, you can copy-paste that last sentence into google and see how many self-help, popular psychology books show up on your results page.

What is different about Paul’s statement is the next clause, the purpose of our transformation. He says, “be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God.”

In other words, when your mind is focused on the will of God, not on your will, that is true Christian transformation. When you are contemplating a key life decision, like which job to take, where to live, who to marry, what is at the center of your thought process? Is it trying to discern the will of God, what would honor and please him, or is it trying to do what seems/feels right for yourself?

This brings up the question, how should we renew our minds to think in this way? Here are two points to dwell on this week:

  1. We are renewed by the Holy Spirit, not through our own strength. Titus 3:5 says, “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”
  2. The word of God is able to renew us because that is where God’s will is communicated: Psalm 19:7 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul.” Psalm 119:97-99 says, “Oh, how I love your law!  I meditate on it all day long. Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies.”

 

Further Study

 

Questions

  • What was a key takeaway for you from the Easter sermon this week?
  • From the sermon, what is one of the most important implications of Christ’s resurrection for our lives today?
  • What is the difference between being conformed to the world and being transformed?
  • How can we practically obey the command to be transformed by the renewal of our minds this week?