Transforming Word

INTRODUCTION

For the last few weeks we’ve been working through our core values are Broadview Baptist Church.

Each week we’ve been tackling a different core value. We have five in all.

We make Jesus known wherever we go.

We foster tangible encounters with the living God.

We teach biblical truth that transforms lives.

We build communities that serve like Jesus.

We welcome people as they are.

This week we’re going to focus on the third core value. It’s at the center of our core values because it’s core to everything we do at Broadview.

We teach biblical truth that transforms lives.

The central ministry of any local church is a ministry of teaching and preaching the Bible.

But we don’t just teach the Bible so that it’s contents will be more broadly “known.” We teach the Bible so that Jesus might be more deeply “loved.”

In other words, the goal isn’t knowledge. It’s transformation.

In our passage this morning we’re going to get some insight on why “transformation” matters so deeply to the Lord. And HOW transformation is related to our teaching ministry at Broadview.

Never Read a Bible Verse

It’s important to remember that we should never read “a” Bible verse. Every text has it’s context and the context of Romans 12:2 is important.

In Romans 1-11 Paul builds a theological argument that salvation is God’s free gift to unworthy sinners received by grace through faith in Christ alone.

Romans 12 to the end of the book describes what salvation accomplishes in a person’s life once it is truly received.

Last week the emphasis was on giving our “bodies” to the Lord. This week is about doing so with our “minds.”

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 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.

From verse 3 onward Paul begins to unpack what this kind of life looks like when seen through the lens of sincere love.

Because this text is so rich I want to spend most of our time just showing you how to interpret the meaning of this passage.

Once we have the meaning in place we will apply to our teaching ministry at Broadview.

EXPLANATION:

I love those verses of the Bible that leave no real question as to what they’re trying to get at.

As Mark Twain said: It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, its the part that I do understand.

This verse answers what God wants, where it happens, how it works and why it matters.

It’s not every day that you come across a single verse that answers ALL of those questions! It’s a preachers dream!

What God wants? Transformation

Where it happens? The Mind

How it works? Holy Living

Why it matters? It’s How You Discern God’s Will

God wants us to reject worldliness, experience transformation through renewing our minds so we might know his will.

This is one of those verses that is just jam packed with theological and practical insight for living the Christian life so I want to slowly unpack each of these parts before we revisit the whole in application to our core value.

Rejecting Worldliness

First Paul says “don’t be conformed to the pattern of this world.”

Question 1: What is “being conformed?”

When somebody “conforms,” what are they doing? They’re changing their behavior from what it was before.

Have you ever found yourself talking different or acting different when you’re around somebody you really respect or enjoy?

Every human has an inclination towards imitation. We can’t help it. If we’re constantly around someone or when we begin to really love/enjoy something we take on its features and behaviorisms. (drinking coffee, British accent)

Paul is saying here “don’t change your behavior such that you begin imitating the world.”

Question 2: What is the world?

This sounds like an easy question to answer but it’s actually more nuanced than you think. The Bible uses the word “world” in various ways. (cf. John 3:16 vs 1 John 2:15)

When Paul talks about the world in Romans 12:2 he’s not talking about physical or merely political. He’s talking about something spiritual.

To me, the best way to understand the world is in juxtaposition to it’s opposite: the Kingdom.

God’s kingdom is the domain in which Jesus Christ rules as king.

The World is the domain in which Jesus’ kingly authority is rejected.

The question of “worldliness” isn’t a question of physical space or social interactions. It’s a question of spiritual authority.

When you apply that filter to our experiences Paul is saying, “don’t conform your behavior to systems, standards or people that reject the authority of Jesus.”

Doesn’t meant you can’t be political. Just don’t engage in ways that reject the authority of Jesus.

Doesn’t mean you can’t run a business. Just don’t run it in ways that reject the authority of Jesus.

Doesn’t mean you can’t be rich. Just don’t manage money in a way that rejects Jesus’ authority.

It doesn’t mean you can’t have unbelieving friends. It just means don’t take on their unbelieving ways.

To appeal to our study in Genesis: you might live in Sodom but don’t let Sodom live in you.”

To put Romans 12:1-2 together we are to be surrendered to God and separate from the world.

Excuses We Give

There are many Christians for whom this is an issue. I’ve been a Christian a long time and I’ve both used and heard several excuses for why some degree of worldliness is okay.

Some might even accuse me of being legalistic or culturally irrelevant.

In fact there’s an entire philosophy of ministry devoted to helping the church become as worldly as they can possibly be without crossing the line.

The thinking is, I can conform to the world in certain ways but it not have a big impact on my walk with Jesus.

And generally, this way of thinking starts out well intentioned.

Some people will use the excuse cultural relevance.

They’ll say, “we can embrace worldliness just enough so that we’re more culturally relevant than those other Christians or churches who aren’t willing to push the line. If we compromise it’ll improve our effectiveness in evangelism and outreach.”

But that way of thinking misunderstands evangelism/outreach and the cancerous affect of worldliness in a church.

Some will use the excuse of personal indifference.

They’ll say, “Well I know most Christians wouldn’t approve of this and there are some clear warnings against this by Jesus but personally I don’t see an issue with it.”

The problem is your personal “opinion” doesn’t trump God’s revelation. Scripturally the order is, “What does GOD think?” Then “what does my neighbor think?” THEN “What do I think?”

Finally some will use the excuse of being “anti-legalistic.”

The thinking here is “When you care too much about behavior you’re undermining God’s grace in salvation. You shouldn’t be emphasizing holy living and lifestyle choices because we’re saved by grace and not our moral effort.”

But legalism and holiness are two separate things. Legalism says “worldliness diminishes God’s love for us.” Holiness says, “worldliness diminishes our love for God.”

The Warning God Gives

This isn’t new to us. This way of thinking has been around forever. But there are warnings against this in Scripture.

Galatians 6:7 “Don’t be deceived. God isn’t mocked. Whatever a person sows is what he reaps.”

1 John 2:15 says you can’t love the Father and love the world at the same time. They are mutually exclusive. One displaces the other.

James 4:4 says “friendship with the world is hostility towards God.”

Doesn’t sound like there’s a safe middle ground there in my opinion.

That doesn’t mean that our church doesn’t try and reach PEOPLE who reject the authority Jesus. That’s the whole point of the Great Commission.

It just means we don’t do so in a WAY that rejects Jesus’ authority in the process.

We have to liberate ourselves from the idea that “success” in ministry is determined solely by numerical increase.

You can grow a church numerically by embracing worldliness. If you’ll reject the authority of Jesus where culture most strongly disagrees with the authority of Jesus then you’ll be well liked by the world’s system. People will flock to your church because they have itching ears and a confirmation bias.

But why would we promote what Jesus rejects when the whole point of discipleship is submission to Jesus’ authority?

A Final Word

So I want to push back STRONGLY against the idea that some degree of worldliness is justified and okay. It’s not.

But I also want to push back against mistaken notions of what worldliness IS.

Worldliness is the rejection of Jesus’ authority.

That means not all trendiness is worldliness.

Churches should always be evaluating how to contextualize the Gospel and taking cultural trends into consideration isn’t wrong in and of itself.

The key is to distinguish between sin and the trend.

Not too long ago it became trendy to start using guitars and drums in corporate worship. Many people equated that trend with sin when there was no biblical basis to do so.

The same could be said with certain types of fashion and dress codes that are rooted more in tradition than they are God’s design.

Legalism may not be as big a problem as some think it is but self-righteousness and human tradition often undermine the important work of reaching a new generation with the Gospel.

We’ve got to reject both extremes. Don’t conform to the pattern of this world.

Embracing Transformation

We need to reject worldliness and embrace transformation.

When we are surrendered to God and separate from the world we put ourselves in a position to experience transformation.

The Greek word used is where we get our English word metamorphosis.

It’s different from the idea of conformity because being transformed entails becoming something different. You become something else.

What are we transformed into?

Paul leaves that unsaid here but elsewhere he defines it as “the image of Christ.” We are being transformed into Christ-likeness.

Paul isn’t saying that we will physically become like Jesus. It’s not external change (yet) it’s internal.

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV

18 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.

Paul uses the analogy of a mirror.

When you think transformation think of looking at yourself in a mirror and seeing changes in the way you are. Not in the way you look but in the way you think.

Not Physical: Mental

To use the language of Romans 12:2, you’re experiencing transformation through the renewing of your mind.

This Greek word for mind doesn’t just include your intellect or intelligence. It’s your will, your loves, your hopes and deepest desires.

When you surrender your body to God and you separate yourself from the world, a transformation begins to take place so that your thinking and feeling and loving and hoping becomes more and more like the thinking, feeling and loving of Jesus Christ.

You’re being “transformed” from glory to glory into the image of Christ.

There will come a day that our physical bodies will be transformed through our resurrection and glorification. But for now, the transformation happens at the level of a renewed mind.

Also - notice that this transformation doesn’t come by our effort alone. It’s the work of the Holy Spirit. It’s a work the Holy Spirit accomplishes through our surrendering to God.

Sequence of Transformation

Notice the sequence:

First, seeing God’s mercy in Christ you surrender your body to God. (aka you begin to live in a righteous way)

Second, as you pursue holiness in your behavior and reject conformity to the world something begins to change in the way you think, feel, hope and love such that it looks more and more like Jesus.

That’s the logic here.

It’s not that you THINK differently so you can BEHAVE differently. It’s actually the opposite.

You BEHAVE differently so that you can begin to THINK different.

To change the way you think, you need to change the way you LIVE!

Paul has actually been using this logic all along in the book of Romans. Except he’s applied it to the way sinful behavior warps our minds to reject the Lord.

Romans 1 is an escalating ladder of increasing levels of sinful behavior resulting in greater and greater levels of mental debasement. The sinful behaviors have a cumulative effect of warping the mind and hardening the heart.

Rom 1:18: by their unrighteousness they suppress the truth.

Romans 1:28 “because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right.”

Here’s the principle: When we yield our bodies to sin it takes our minds along with it.

The longer you persist in sin the more warped your mind becomes and the harder your heart will be.

But the reverse is also true!

When you yield your body to righteousness then your mind will also begin to change as well.

In Christianity what you DO can change the way you THINK.

This is so counter intuitive but it’s actually what Paul is saying here.

Romans 12:1a - See and receive God’s great mercy in Christ Jesus.

Romans 12:1b - Surrender your body as living sacrifice (live a holy life of love/obedience)

Romans 12:2a - Reject conforming your behavior to the world.

Romans 12:2b - God’s Spirit will begin to change the way you think.

Summary & Application

What does God want? Transformation

Where does it happen? Our Mind

How does it happen? Pursue holiness not worldliness

This means the way you live your life REALLY MATTERS to God.

This idea that you can pray a prayer when your six years old to get your fire insurance from hell but then live like the world for the rest of your life is totally foreign to Biblical spirituality!

There was a time that I WISHED that was true but it’s not. The Christian life is so much better than that!

The Christian life is that God’s grace in Salvation actually liberates you from sinful desire. It can change the way you live and through through changing the way you live transforms the way you think.

When your thinking is right literally everything else begins to fall into place.

Why else did Jesus say in the Great Commission “teach them to OBSERVE all things I have commanded you.”

It’s not just knowing the truth. It’s living the truth. That’s where the rubber meets the road.

You might think of submission to Jesus’ authority as one of those keystone habits like working out. When that ONE thing is in place it has an outsized impact on every other arena of your life.

Without that one thing - even if you improve certain other areas, the overall impact will be diminished.

Proving God Will

The last question this passage answers is WHY transformation really matters. It’s at the tail end of our verse. Rom 12:2

Romans 12:2 ESV

2 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.

Those two words “so that” are always a clue in interpreting Scripture that what follows is the result of a certain thing or the why behind a certain command.

The way behind God’s command to be transformed is that doing enables us to discern God’s will.

The Greek word is “dokimazo.” Translations render it differently.

CSB/ESV: discern

NIV/NET: Test & approve

KJV/NASB: prove

The reason there’s so much disagreement is because this word is so dense in the original Greek.

In my word study some explanations I came across were:

recognizing something for what it is;

proving something by putting it to the test;

approving something by accepting as trustworthy;

demonstrating that something is worthy or commendable.

Unfortunately we don’t have a word in English that communicates all of that so I want to boil it down to three basic ideas.

recognize something for what it is.

demonstrate the truthfulness of it.

affirm/commend it to others.

So in place of the word “discern” I want you to think of those three words: recognize, demonstrate and affirm.

I personally like the word “prove” the best so I’m sticking with that in your notes.

The Will of God

What are we recognizing, demonstrating and affirming? The Will of God.

God’s good, pleasing and perfect will.

Each of these descriptions carry a different nuance but the overall idea is the same.

It’s morally or philosophically good.

It’s enjoyable or personally beneficial.

It’s useful in bringing things where they’re meant to be.

I think that’s what everybody wants in life. To know, enjoy and be perfected by God’s will for our life.

Christian Maturity = ability to prove the Truth. Goodness and Beauty of a thing as being / not being from God.

What’s interesting about God’s will is that he’s more concerned about who we ARE than what we DO.

Discerning the will of God is not ultimately do I go left or right at the red light?

It’s not do a marry a Tom or Ted; Martha or Mary.

It’s not even what kind of career you choose or where you serve in the church.

God’s will is your sanctification. (1 Thess 4:3)

God’s will is that you become more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ through the renewing of your mind.

Which is really crazy when put up against Paul’s larger argument.

Paul is saying, “You might not even know what sanctification is supposed to LOOK LIKE in your life until you surrender your body to God and separate yourself from the world.”

When you ARE surrendered and separate then something amazing will happen as a result.

You’ll begin to recognize what God wants in terms of your spiritual development.

You’ll begin to prove to others that such a thing IS INDEED the will of God.

And you/others will begin to affirm that thing as having come from the Lord.

Real Maturity

That’s what REAL spiritual maturity looks like. It’s being able to live in this world and have the ability to evaluate a thing and say “nah. That’s not from God.” or “Yes. This is from the Lord.”

And there is no better skill for you to possess - especially in 2024 AMERICA!

Real maturity is “proving” the truth, goodness and beauty of God’s will.

The immature Christian will often look at the will of God and see it as restrictive and life-robbing, something to resist instead of enjoy.

The mature Christian, on the other hand, will love and pursue God’s design because they know the abundant life is found in that place.

When you’re surrendered to God and separate from the world you’ll have a sensitive spiritual sniffer that can snuff out sinful things for the ugliness that they are and the pleasing things for the beneficial things that they are.

We need this more than anything if we’re to live Christian lives of any significance.

Wisdom can answer questions of what school to go to and who to marry.

But personal transformation will empower us to walk in the straight path that God is making for us.

Like the Lord Jesus we will begin to be able to say, “My food is to do the will of he who sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:34)

APPLICATION

Now that we’ve got a basic understanding of what our passage means. I want to close with an application of this truth to our core value.

We teach biblical truth that transforms lives.

We chose that language intentionally. Bible Teaching = Transformed Living.

Here’s another way to say it. At Broadview we believe that the Word does the Work.

Bible teaching is how people

come to know about God’s mercies in Christ,

get inspired to surrender their life to Jesus and

form convictions around God’s design for their thinking and doing.

Paul actually articulates this dynamic right after he talks about being transformed into the image of Christ in 2 Corinthians 3:18.

Word Does the Work

Let’s pick it up in the very next verse.

2 Corinthians 4:1–6 ESV

1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

There’s so much here I don’t have time to unpack so let me try and simplify Paul’s argument.

Paul is justifying his preaching philosophy.

He’s saying I refuse to “distort the Scripture” and instead preach Christ crucified.

Unlike the sophists of that day and age Paul wasn’t preaching himself or using his rhetorical skills to impress his audience. It was simple, Biblical, and Christ-centered.

Why? Because the people he’s preaching to people are spiritually blind.

You could be witnessing the most glorious West Texas sunset but if you’re unable to see you’re not going to be amazed by it. Similarly, unbelievers are not able to see the glory of Christ in the Gospel. They’re spiritually dead in their sin. Somebody has to turn on the light.

God turns on the light through the proper preaching of the Word.

When you distort the word or dilute the Word you rob Bible preaching of it’s power. The Word of God is inspired by God AS IS.

Revelation Funnel

This is why I’m such a big proponent of Expository Preaching/Teaching. All that means is that the main point of a sermon is the main point of a text.

The power is in the Word. The Word does the Work.

The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to sanctify the people of God into the image of Christ.

The best thing I can do as a preacher is get out of the way so you can see Christ in his Word!

CHART: Let me show you think in the text with a chart.

Christ shows us the Father (the image of the invisible God) and God’s Word shows us Christ.

Satan does everything in his power to blind people to the preached word because the preached Word is what God uses to turn on the lights so people can see Christ!

The Scriptures reveal Christ and Christ reveals the Father so the BEST thing a preacher can do is simply reveal what God has already spoken.

I’m not up here to preach myself or some human wisdom. I’m not up here to wow you with academic knowledge or the latest “life hacks” from our culture or socially sourced wisdom.

I’m here to speak the Words of God so you can see the person of Christ and understand the God who created everything.

God creates his people through his Word. THIS is why we’re a church committed to God’s word.

When we allow God’s Work to speak for it’s self, the Spirit of God uses that Word to speak to your heart in ways that I simply never could. (Double Edge Sword)

God’s word can go places in your heart I simply cannot go. He can see things I simply cannot see. If you feel like I’m reading your mail some Sundays it’s not me that reading it’s the WORD that reading YOU. It’s powerful!

That’s not to say the preacher doesn’t have a job or that the preacher doesn’t have to suffer. He does. I feel like my job in creating the message every week is to die to myself, die to my longing for approval and affirmation and hide myself behind the cross so people can see Jesus in the text I’m trying to preach.

Preaching the Word really is an exercise in Gospel dynamics. The preacher dies so that others can live. That life is brought about through the proper proclamation of the Word.