Romans 12:2

Complete Transformation From The World

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
–Romans 12:2

I have heard many people give the same response when we talk about God and how the world is these days. Boy, I sure am glad the world has changed, many people will say, God used to be a lot more strict back in the olden days. People can look around this world and compare themselves to what they see and think, Man, I am not so bad, but the truth is, God has not changed and He never will change.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
–Hebrews 13:8

The world is going to constantly change, that is just a fact. As more and more opinions are easily heard through technology, there will be more and more voices repeating the opinions that fit their lifestyle. Morals are going to shift one way or the other as people are swayed by their emotional responses to what they see, hear and experience. As fiction is becoming more and more acceptable, truth is becoming more and more personal as well, but, what does God say about all that?

Paul wrote, “Do not be conformed to this world.” The Greek word here for conformed is sysxēmatízō and it means “Do not be identified with this world.” Our Identity is in Christ, not in this world.

Jesus said, “I am not of this world.“ –John 17:16 and His prayer for all Believers is found in John 17:20-26, where Jesus said, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am….” Jesus wants all Believers in Heaven with Him, but the more you identify with the world, the greater your chance of conforming to the world instead of conforming to Jesus.

To conform to this world also means you follow the same patterns the world follows, you go with the flow, whatever happens, happens. Though you may try to sway people away from certain patterns you see as harmful, without the constant attempt on your part to bring your mind into conformity with the mind of Christ, your human nature can very easily shape you into the mold of this world, which misses God’s mark and causes sin.

Basically, a person is going to conform to self, the world or God. A person is going to follow his or her own will, environmental influence, or the will of God. When you focus on your own will, your focus tends to lean toward sin, and your life will reflect your sin nature. No one is perfect, but the easiest way to tell if you are a sinner or a saint is if you practice sin, you are a sinner. If you practice not sinning, you are a saint.

When Paul wrote, “Do not be conformed to this world,” he was not talking about the planet earth or even the world’s system. The word translated here as world is the Greek word aiōn and it means an age, an era or a time-span that is characterized by a specific quality or type of existence; a culture.

aiōn is the same word Jesus used in Matthew 28:20 when He gave us The Great Commission and He said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Christians are living in the newer age of God’s Covenant, The New Testament, this is the age we need to be conformed to, not whatever age the world currently is experiencing, where it is “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.” Ephesians 4:14

But us, we Christians live in the time when Christ has baptized all Believers in the Holy Spirit, this is our age, our time to shine like a light in the darkness. Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.“ We Christians need to embrace the power Jesus gives us and overcome this world, not conform to it.

This age will end when Jesus returns to earth in Revelation 19:11 and sets up His 1000 Year Reign on earth. This is when Jesus will take over all the governments of the world. It won’t matter then who is going to be the next president of the United States or who is going to be the next dictator somewhere because Jesus will be the King of the earth for 1000 years in what is known as the Messianic age.

This 1000 years where Jesus reigns will be a time of peace on earth. Satan will be bound in prison for the entire time and the planet will be rest as it heals by the power of the Holy Spirit. This 1000 years is our goal as Believers and it is the ultimate reason Yahweh gave the Sabbath to the Jews.

To make it to the 1000 year reign of Christ, we must “be transformed by the renewing of our minds.” The Greek word here for transformed is metamorphóō and Jesus gave us an image of what this means at the transfiguration on the mount in Matthew 17.

It happened after 6 days for a reason. This Greek word for transformed actually means transfigured. Moses and Elijah appeared to Peter, James and John as a shadow of the Millennial Reign, where the dead in Christ will have been resurrected and will rule and reign with Jesus for 1000 years.

We are transformed by Jesus as we walk with Him in faith throughout our life. Our transformation is not a one time thing when we are born again. Our life on earth is a cocoon that either molds us into the image of Christ so at our true transfiguration we rule and reign with Him, or our life is a cocoon that molds into the shape of this world so we perish with it.

Our minds must be renewed daily. We need to spend time alone with God, this is good. We need to seek God and find out what He says in His Word. Every time we learn a little bit more about God, we get closer to understanding His will. What you thought about God yesterday might not be what you know about God today.

James wrote in James 4 to not boast about tomorrow because our life is but a vapor. Such boasting is evil he wrote. He also wrote if a person knows what is good and does not do it, to the person it is a sin. Constantly learning what is good, which is what renewing our mind means, brings us closer every day into the knowledge of the will of God.

Jesus said, “No one is good but One, that is, God.” Mark 10:18 and good as far as a Believer goes is defined in the Greek as everything that comes from God. We have to work to get what is good from God, it is not some magic impartation. We have to put in the time we spend with God to get to the good things in our life.

When we get the good things in our life, that is gratifying to God, it pleases God. Pleasing God should be our #1 goal as Believers. Getting the good things in life is not getting stuff. You may get stuff, but getting the good things in our life is what makes us perfectly whole, a mature Christian. What are the good things in our life? That question can only be answered by you as you spend time with God and He shows you the good things in your life.