Not Ashamed-Part 41- Conformed or Transformed?

Introduction-Romans 12:2

Last week we shared Paul’s plea to the believers at Rome that they would yield themselves to God in personal consecration.

This was an earnest plea because it is this singular decision which will enable us to live the Christian life successfully without which we have not the power or the ability to do so.

Mercy should motivate us to present our bodies a living sacrifice to God for this is the only reasonable thing that one who has believed on Jesus Christ can do!

Tonight we move from the what to the how of consecration as we learn how God works in us to bring us to the knowledge and the performance of His will.

There is a stark contrast presented here between those believers who allow themselves to be conformed and those who voluntarily yield themselves to be transformed.

This verse also give us some valuable insights into how we may know and do the will of God.

As believers we must first...

Refuse to be Conformed

In this verse Paul writes under the inspiration of the Spirit of God that we are not to be conformed to this world.

In order to properly understand exactly what is being said here we need to clearly define a couple of words.

Conformed- to be shaped by- (Webster) Made to resemble; reduced to a likeness of; made agreeable to

World-age-world system- culture

This presents the idea that we are not to allow the pressures of this world to influence us to the point that we are conformed to the culture.

This is true in an outward sense- we should not look like the world and there should be a noticeable distinction between our outward appearance and behavior and that of the world.

Yet what is displayed outwardly is generally only the product of the inward.

The primary focus of this verse is not the outward appearance but rather the mind and the thoughts.

This is evidenced by the fact that Paul speaks of the renewing of the mind.

What we must avoid is allowing our thoughts to be shaped by the influence of the culture around us.

It is here where the process of conforming to the world begins not in the outward but the inward.

There are many examples where this can be clearly seen such as abortion, sexuality (homosexuality/Premarital sex), marriage, entertainment and many others.

The great issue in these areas is that sadly many believers have allowed their perspective on these issues to be shaped by the culture rather than by God and His Word.

We must refuse to allow the culture to influence our thinking thus ultimately influencing our behavior.

Often the influence of the culture is subtle and difficult to recognize but we must be on guard against it at all times lest we find ourselves becoming conformed to this world.

Instead we must...

Choose to Let God Transform

As we do what is prescribed in verse 1 yielding ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, we must be willing to allow God to transform us.

This transformation begins from the inside and works its way outward.

God does not intend only to transform our appearance and our behavior but He begins by transforming our minds and our thinking.

This is not a once for all transformation but is a day by day process wherein God through His Spirit and His Word reshapes our thinking in order that our thoughts would align with His.

2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV 1900

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

God’s design is that we would allow Him to speak to us through His Word and by His Spirit and that through this our mind will be renewed.

If you are a believer, there should be a recognizable change in your thinking from the time when you were first saved until now.

Maybe you once thought that church attendance was not important and that preaching was a boring waste of time but through the renewing of your mind now your thinking has changed.

Now you believe that church attendance is vital and now you think that preaching is valuable and you recognize this is how God often speaks to you and produces change in your life.

Maybe once you thought that it didn’t really matter what you watched on television but now through the renewing of your mind you have come to see that it does matter and now you no longer watch some of the things you once watched because your thinking has changed.

Maybe you once thought that it didn’t really matter how you dressed, but now through the renewing of your mind you recognize that it does matter and you no longer wear some of the things you once wore.

The point here is that God is continually transforming us and He does this through the renewing of our mind as we read and study His Word and yield to the Spirit’s application of it to our individual lives.

God combats the influence of the world through exerting His own influence in our lives to change our thinking so that we can know what we ought to do that He may be pleased.

God changes our thinking first and this will in turn produce a change in behavior that causes us to be less like the world and more like Christ.

This transformation in our thinking is what ultimately enables us to...

Know and Do the Will of God

The last phrase in this verse provides us with some insight into how we shall know the will of God.

The word prove is an important word here which means to test and to approve meaning that as we allow God to transform our thinking we will then be able to discern what His will is for our lives.

If we yield to the influence of the culture around us and allow our thinking to be shaped by it, it will be impossible for us to know the will of God.

Yet if we yield ourselves to the influence of the Word of God and the Spirit of God and allow them to shape our thinking we will quite naturally arrive at the knowledge of the will of God.

So many believers struggle to know the will of God because they have been conformed to this world rather than transformed by God.

The will of God is not some mystery that God intends to keep hidden from us but is something that He desires to reveal to us over time as He shapes our thinking and transforms our lives.

The will of God is good and it is only by yielding to God’s will and surrendering our will that we can do what is truly good.

God’s will is acceptable- the only way that you and I can please God is by doing His will.

God’s will is perfect in the sense that it will ultimately produce spiritual maturity in those who follow it.

Those who are willing to refuse conformity to the world and who are willing to yield themselves to be transformed by God will know the will of God and by continuing to yield to Him they will also be able to do the will of God!

Conclusion

The truth is tonight that every single one of us are either being conformed or transformed.

We are either allowing ourselves to fall prey to the influences of the culture around us or we are yielding ourselves to the influence of the God that now dwells within us.

Your thinking will be constantly changing but the question is how is it changing?

Is our thinking today more in line with the Word of God or does it more closely resemble that of the world?

Your thinking will determine your behavior and your direction and ultimately the influences you allow to shape your thinking will either keep you from the will of God or keep you in the will of God!