Romans 12:2
Change is part of our culture…
But the question is, are we ourselves changing?
Our vision is that in our church the Lord Jesus is changing our lives — one by one. He is changing:
- our relationships,
- our priorities,
- our actions,
- our homes,
- our future.
But it all begins with the changing of the mind.
The Danger of Spiritual Betrayal
The mind is the battlefield for our souls — for the question of whom we will belong to: God or the devil.
Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:3-4):
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
We, however, through the power of the Holy Spirit, take their thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5):
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
The battle, however, is not finished there, because even after we have been born again Satan does not stop trying to lure us back under his authority (2 Corinthians 11:1-3):
1 I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! 2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:1-3)
When our minds are led astray, we begin to give our minds to “earthly things,” and so we become “enemies of the cross of Christ” (Philippians 3:18-20).
18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, (Philippians 3:18-20)
We are citizens of heaven, and therefore we must think about the things above (Colossians 3:1-3).
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3)
This is why we must never stop changing and renewing our minds. To stop changing means stagnation and death (Romans 12:2).
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)
This verse tells us what we must do if we want to know from experience how wonderful the life lived according to God’s will really is.
There are two things we must do. First, stop conforming to this world.
And second, begin to be transformed according to the image of Christ. “Stop conforming and start being transformed” — present tense — which means continually.
Non-Conformity
This world tries to grind us down. It tries to assimilate us — to make us think like it, to bow down to its gods, to commit its sins. But we must resist it.
In 1 John 5:19 the apostle says:
19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. (1 John 5:19)
Because of this fact, in 1 John 2:15-17 the apostle exhorts us:
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17)
Transformation
Transformation means a change of form — a transformation or metamorphosis — it is a process of change from the inside out, which turns us into something qualitatively new. It is the change that happens to the caterpillar, which becomes a butterfly.
That into which we are being transformed is the image of God, which was lost in us through sin.
18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
This means to think like Christ, to feel like Christ, to act like Christ — to resemble our Heavenly Father!
How can this change take place in us? Through the renewing of the mind.
Renewal
The renewing of the mind is more than knowledge; it is change. And this change involves two things — the removal of the old way of thinking and its replacement with the new. It is like changing a baby’s diaper. You cannot put the new one on before you take off the old…
Many Christians think they can carry on from the state they are in simply by learning new things, but what we need is not “information” but “transformation”!!!
Ephesians 4:22-23:
21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:21-24)
These verses still apply to us. God wants us to change and be transformed right now. To stop conforming to contemporary culture and to begin to change — to be transformed from the inside out. To stop conforming to this world.
And here it is important to ask ourselves the question: “Are there marks that we are changing?” Objective marks? — God expects them!
The “Converted” Cowboy
A cowboy walked into a bar in Texas, ordered three bottles of beer, settled himself comfortably at one of the tables in the place, and began to take a sip from each of the bottles. When he had finished all three, he went back to the bar and ordered three more. The bartender came over and said to the cowboy: “You know that once I open a bottle, it starts to go flat. It would taste better if you drank your beers one at a time, rather than three at once.”
The cowboy answered: “Look, I have two brothers. One lives in Australia, the other in Dublin, and I live in Texas. When we left our childhood home, we promised each other that we would drink this way in order to remember the days when we drank together. So I drink one for each of my brothers and one for myself.”
The bartender admitted that this was a very fine custom and went back to his place. The cowboy became a regular at the bar and always drank the same way. He would order three beers and drink them at the same time — a sip from each of the three.
But one day he came in and ordered only two beers. All the regular customers noticed this, and a deathly silence fell over the bar. When the cowboy came back to the bar for his second round of beer, the bartender said to him: “I don’t want to intrude on your grief, but I would like to offer my most sincere condolences for your loss.”
The cowboy looked puzzled for a moment, but then it dawned on him and he laughed. “Oh, no, both of my brothers are alive and well,” he explained. “It’s just that my wife and I joined the church in Longview, and I had to stop drinking… That, however, does not apply to my brothers…”
If we have been redeemed, we should not look like those who have not been redeemed.
In Philippians 2:12-16 the apostle Paul says:
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. 14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. (Philippians 2:12-16)
You see, our faith must be visible in our deeds. Otherwise, it is dead.
In Romans 8:29 it says that God has chosen us with the purpose that we be conformed to the image of his Son.
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Romans 8:29)
There is a legend about Alexander the Great, according to which Alexander of Macedon had a soldier who lived an exceptionally bad life. So one day he said to him — either change your behavior, or I will change your name.
Begin to search the Word and make a decision.
We cannot change unless we first begin to change our minds. The renewing of the mind is at the foundation of everything.
Two decisions we must make:
First, a decision about content — what we will remove and what we will put into our minds.
If we want to lose weight, we must change our diet. We can exercise a great deal, but if we also eat a great deal — we will not lose weight. In the same way, we may work hard at our change as Christians, but if we do not control what we put into our minds, all our efforts will be useless.
If the music we listen to is worldly, if the television we watch is worldly, if the internet we use is worldly, if the company we keep is worldly — if everything is worldly — we will have worldly thinking.
We become what we eat — mentally.
We must radically change our mental diet. We cannot change unless we deal with this.
We all meditate every day: the question is, on what do we meditate?
Philippians 4:8:
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)
Perhaps the greatest change you will have to make is in the people with whom you spend your time. In 1 Corinthians 15:33 the apostle Paul says:
33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” (1 Corinthians 15:33)
If you and I go and live among people who are not part of Jesus Christ — we will absorb their values and begin to think like them. And then, we will begin to look and act like traitors to the kingdom to which we belong.
Second, a decision never to give up and never to stop. The renewing of the mind is a process — we must persevere in it.
The renewing of the mind is a way of life, not an experience. It must never stop.
Let us rededicate ourselves to God — let us decide that we will live as the redeemed, and not as the lost or as traitors!