I want to talk about a very familiar verse today. Many of us memorize Romans 12:1 and 2 together. And I would recommend that if you haven’t committed these verses to memory, that you make the effort to do so. These are excellent verses to help live godly lives. But, I have to confess that I’ve never really contemplated these verses very deeply. That’s what I’d like to do with verse two today.
Romans 12:2 is our text for today’s discussion. And, I really want this to be a discussion today; not just me up here speaking. But, before we read several different versions of this verse, let’s take a moment to bow in prayer once again.
Turn to Romans 12:2. Here is the NASB: “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.” Will others read their versions?
Reading and hearing these, what do you pick up or what understanding do you gain from this verse? Most people respond that the verse teaches that we are to be changed. And that’s exactly what the verse is telling us. But how?
You know I like to break Bible passages down into pieces in the hopes of gaining deeper understanding. That’s what we’re going to do with this verse. But, ultimately, I want to answer one question before we leave today. I want to answer the question, “What is renewing your mind?” So, I hope with our discussion we can make some practical application to “renewing our minds.”
Let’s break down the verse now. Let’s examine the phrase “conformed to this world”. Conform here is from a Greek compound word ‘summorphose,’ which is made from two other Greek words that mean to form or fashion together similarly. It has as its context a craftsman, who makes two identical objects at the same time. So the idea in verse two leads us to believe that humans fashion themselves after something. We see a choice presented in this verse. We can either be identical to things in the world around us or identical to something else. But, the Bible teaches us in may places and in Romans 8:29, that Christians are to be identical to the image of Christ.
If we read 1 Peter 1:14, we may gain some additional insight into what the former image of ourselves was. “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lust which were yours in your ignorance.” And again, in 1 John 2:15, “do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Many of us remember Silly Putty. I think it’s one of the greatest toys ever invited. It bounces and smushes. But, its most famous characteristic was its ability to be flattened against an image on paper and lift the image off onto itself. Humans are like Silly Putty. We take on whatever image we choose. Whatever image we put ourselves next to. Often, that image is of the world.
The next word we want to examine is the word “transformed” which is translated from a very similar Greek word ‘metamorphoo’ which is a compound word meaning to change or transfigure.
One of the most famous transformations was shown in recent cinema with the character Sméagol in Lord of the Rings. Didn’t he undergo an amazing transformation due to what he desired and what he wanted to be near? This is a perfect illustration of what we end up doing.
In the Bible, probably the most famous examples of this happening was the transfiguration of Christ. Mark 9:2 records it for us. “Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them.”
The word used for transformed in Romans 12:2 is the same Greek word used here for transfigured. If you think about what that transfiguration looked like, we might get a glimpse of what we’re to become.
Finally, let’s look at the word renewing. I believe this is the key word of the verse, because without understanding of what this means, we will have difficulty in our Christian walk. The word renewing is from the Greek word ’anakoinosis,’ which when translated into English, means to renovate.
If you renovate a house, you have to demolish the parts you no longer want. You tear it out, often with some effort. This is similar to renovating your mind. We must tear out and demolish the old part of our minds and memories.
We see in Ephesians that Paul encourages us to take on the likeness of God—-be Silly Putty and smush ourselves against God to pick up His likeness. “And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth” (Eph 4:23-24).
To ensure that you understand the progression of Paul’s thought in Romans 12:2, it’s important to see that he follows a progressive logic. We might find it easier to understand if we reverse the order of the words. Read it this way: renew in order to be transformed in order to not be conformed to the world. When read this way, it’s easier to see that renewing our minds is the key point to this passage.
One of the Bible commentaries I use was written by Matthew Henry. It’s a pretty popular commentary and can really provide useful insights when you study scriptures. Here’s partly what he had to say about this idea of renewing our minds from Romans 12:2. “The great enemy to this renewal is conformity to this world. Take heed of forming plans for happiness, as though it lay in the things of this world, which soon pass away. Do not fall into the customs of those who walk in the lusts of the flesh, and mind earthly things.”
But, the question still remains. How do we renew our minds so that we can be transformed? To answer that question, we must go yet again to Scripture for the answer. Turn in your Bibles to Philippians 4. This is a very popular chapter. And, it’s in verse 8 that I think we get a glimpse as to how simple it really is to renew our minds.
“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things” (Phil 4:8).
So, it seems that if we’re not to occupy ourselves with the things of this world, but conform to Godly things, we need to occupy our minds with Godly things.
That’s exactly what Philippians 4:8 instructs to do. It gives us practical advice on how we are to renew our minds. Paul tells us that we are to dwell or meditate on a variety of things.
As practical as this list in Philippians 4:8 is, some of these ideas are still pretty big concepts. So, everyone should take a moment to think of several examples of each of the eight items in Paul’s list upon which we are to dwell. After we have torn out all the bad, it’s this list of the good things that will stand in their place. We have many things upon which we can dwell to help renew our minds so we don’t become worldly. But, don’t think you’re on your own in this.
We need to help each other and hold each other accountable to stay on track. As Christian brothers and sisters, we need to regularly ask each other if we’re renewing our minds through transforming ourselves into the image of God.
But, we also have God’s help. Here’s a list of three verses that demonstrate how God is with us to help us be more conformed to Him.
“For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases Him” (Phil 2:13).
“No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15).
“But we have the mind of Christ” (1Cor 2:16b).
The mind of Christ. How can we have the mind of Christ if we have worldly things occupying our hearts? This little phrase is powerful if we really think about it. As Christians, we have the mind of Christ—so why don’t we always use this mind?
If you had the mind of Einstein, you’d probably know a lot about physics. If you had the mind of Mozart, you’d probably know more about music than any human alive. If you had the mind of a 4-year-old, life would be much more simple for you.
Renewing our minds is to dwell on the things we learn from Philippians 4:8, in the way that Christ would. Thinking with Christ’s mind will transform our mental process. To be like Christ is to think as He would in every situation.
The short summary of this message, and a colloquial version of Romans 12:2 is this: After we refuse to copy the customs and behaviors of this world and transform ourselves into a new person by changing the way we think, we will know what God wants us to do, and know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is.
