I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. [2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:1-2 KJV
The new man is a spirit; He has a soul and lives in a body. Because He is a spirit – Spirituality is possible. He is able to transcend the world. Since he has a soul, by his mentality, he is able to run/process life in the world. Also because he lives in a body, physicality is possible, this gives him the ability to live in this physical world. Even though a believer has potentials to transcend the confines of the resources, wisdom, and powers of this world by living from God’s realm, if the resources, wisdom and powers of God’s realm is not lodged in his soul, his day to day activities will be marked by the wisdom, resources and powers of this world. He will be one who is not of this world but acts as though he was born of the world. He will be like a person who has trillions of dollars but lives and dies like a pauper due to ignorance.
Transformation happens when the wealth of God’s realm is lodged in the soul of man. In essence, to the extent this wealth is lodged is the extent to which man is transformed. The extent of a man’s mind renewal is the degree to which his transformation will appear! We’d put on a scholars lens for a moment to understand Paul’s instruction from Romans 12:2. The word used as ‘conformed’ in this verse is Suschematizo which means To fashion alike, to conform to the same pattern, to shape one thing like another. The word ‘world’ is ‘Aion‘ meaning a Span of time, or an age with its moral and spiritual characteristics. ‘Transformed’ is gotten from the word Metamorphoo which means to Transfigure, transform, or change. Jesus showed a picture of this metamorphosis on the mount of transfiguration when his countenance and visage changed to a glorious one, Matthew 17:2, Mark 9:2. It is safe to say a transformed person is a transfigured person.
‘Renewing’ is gotten from the Word ‘Anakainosis‘ which means Renewing or Renovation. Louw and Nida defines it as “To cause something to become new and different with the implication of being superior”. Titus 3:5 uses this word again, indicating that this renovation is a work of the Holy Spirit. He dismantles systems of thought, beliefs and patterns of thinking that determine the quality of the life we live. The mind is Noo’s which is our faculty of understanding, reasoning, thinking and deciding. Finally, the word ‘prove’ is ‘Dokimazo which is To test and approve and by implication, to discern.
We can therefore rephrase Romans 12:2 to say “Do not be fashioned like or take on the spiritual and moral mould of this world. Be transformed, just like Jesus was on the mount of transfiguration, by submitting to the renovation work of the Holy Spirit — letting him change your ordinary life by changing your inferior thinking to a supernatural one, so that you can test and approve rightly, what God’s will is.”
Why do we need to test and approve? Because there’s counterfeit! The goal of testing is to permit or to allow right of access. The mind stands as a gateway – As the ‘customs service’. It detects the spiritual goods seeking entry into a man’s world or experience. It determines what is permitted and what is contraband. We will explore this in more details in subsequent meditations, however know this, that the quality of life you live is largely dependent on what goes on in your mind. Each time we choose to live based on the resources of heaven, as God in Jesus lived – being a peculiar person while rejecting conformity, you bring more hope to the world around you and more of the life and peace of the Kingdom of God to your world.
Prayer for today: Father, I thank you because in Christ, I have access to all the fullness and riches of God. Father, teach me your ways and help me to submit to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, that I may show the world what is acceptable to you, by living as you did on earth. My world needs to see you, Lord Jesus. I choose not to deny them this by conforming to this world. Reveal your truth to me, that I may bring heaven to my world.
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