God calls us to not conform to this world. Instead, we are to be transformed to posses His character. This daily devotional looks at what that means to disciples of Christ.
Nuggets
God calls us to be different from worldview people.
Transformation is an opening of the mind so that we develop of it to change us to possess the character of God.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
Devotions in the Transformed to Perfection series
When we accept God’s gift of salvation, there are some changes that needs to take place. Disciples need to stop following the world and become more like God.
Paul talked about how to do this in Romans 12: 2. Let’s dig in.
Let's Put It into Context #1
Here is a running list of what we’ve discussed previously.
Let's Put It into Context #2
We’ve looked at Romans 12: 1-2 before — pretty extensively. We broke apart the phrases in the verses when we developed the first job duty for our Disciples’ Job Description.
The Disciple’s Job Description
We looked then at what we were supposed to do. Let’s look now more at the end result — perfection means being.
Don’t Conform to This World
“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed …” (Rom. 12: 2 CSB)
God calls us to be different from worldview people.
What does conformity mean? It means that, for mankind, we are imitating the world instead of God. We follow the worldview principles and practices.
To read a related devotion, click on the appropriate button below.
What is the world? Chaplin had an interesting take. Where we may think of the physical world, he felt that it described the spirit world. It is “… everywhere around us and within …” Rutherford said that it was anything opposite of God.
But it is more than that. Hodge said that it is made up of people who have not been through regeneration. Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal requickening in us that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit to give us new character.
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The worldview tries to insinuate that something they believe is right is because many people believe that. That is not true. God gives us laws and commandments to show us what is right and what is wrong. They stress that, instead of following God, we should not do anything that would offend someone else.
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Disciples are called to not look like worldview people because they are following Satan. Jesus told us we were to be in the world but not of the world (Jn. 17: 16).
Unfortunately, some disciples try to look like the world. They may think they will have more influence on the world when they have more in common with non-believers. They won’t.
Binney argued that there was a greater separation between church and world in Paul’s day than there is in this. He acknowledged that there are things that the church and world must do together as well as the difficulty determining underlying feelings that motivate our actions.
Instead of being regenerated, those who are conformed to the world are described by the Homilist as being selfish and following carnal policy.
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God had instructed the Israelites to limit contact with the surrounding heathen nations when they took over the Promised Land. He knew they would be tempted to disobey Him with extended contact with non-believers.
Now, things are a little different. We cannot witness to the world if we don’t interact with it.
So, we have to be in the world but not of it.
If we lower God’s standards to be more like the world, we are doing a disservice to non-believers. God will judge them on His standards, not the world’s or some combination thereof.
Look at what Irwin said. He wrote, “The world’s idea of religion is that it is a thing of gloom, an irksome restraint, a weary bondage, something that it would be desirable to have when death is approaching, but which it would be well to live without as long as possible. Too often Christians give encouragement to this idea, Their religion has too little relation to their daily life, or a relation of routine form rather than of living and pleasant association.”
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Ouch! But isn’t that a good representation? Worldview people focus on the negative — the submission, the don’ts.
The sad part is where non-believers feel like a relationship with God has no application for everyday life. It does because it is talking character. It is talking who we are.
Maurice made an interesting comment. He felt that a worldview person does not understand the world best. Because worldview people focus on the physical world, they cannot adjust to circumstances. They are too entrenched in the worldview because they have been molded by it. That makes them unwilling to oppose its customs rather than determine if something is right or wrong.
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Living as a worldview person quenches the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is breaking the command to “… quench not the Spirit” (I Thess. 5: 19 KJV).
Conform to God’s World
“… but be transformed …” (Rom. 12: 2 CSB)
Transformation is an opening of the mind so that we develop it to change us to possess the character of God.
Being transformed is more than just not sinning. When we are tempted by a sinful situation while interacting with the world, we are called to not commit the sin. But transformation is more than that.
Binney reminded us that we are not called to abstinence alone. He wrote, “… there is to be a positive opening and development of the mind and affections towards that brighter world of Divine truth and goodness, to which it becomes us to be conformed.” The Homilist said that we are supposed to like it.
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Wow! That would be a great definition for transformed.
Well, think about it. What good — really — is it going to do us to abstain from something but still thinking about it constantly. That really isn’t abstaining.
The inward has to be in step with the outward when we are transforming into what God wants us. It isn’t that we don’t do something. It is that we don’t want to do it because we now hate it.
In fact, we are going to get to this in a couple of devotions. “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Rom. 12: 9 ESV).
Abhor = hate.
What did Irwin say are we supposed to do/not do?
Chapin reminded us that a major component of our salvation is the Holy Spirit prompting us – persuading us – to believe. This solidifies that it is an inward process.
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Remember we said that Maurice felt that a worldview person does not understand the world best. Transformation, according to him, allows mankind to fully appreciate the world that God has made.
We are to transform into God’s image. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (II Cor. 3: 18 ESV).
Glossary
Stanley argued that the transformation in this verse referred to the transformation from worldly morals to spiritual graces. I can see that.
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Making the Connections
Binney made an interesting statement. He wrote, “THE RESULT OF THIS [TRANSFORMATION] IS THAT YOU MAY KNOW BY A POSITIVE, SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE THE WILL OF GOD, how beautiful, how perfect, how good it is; how it is just the thing for which man was evidently made.”
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Binney stressed that the transformation must be genuine. Head knowledge is not enough. It must transform our hearts. When we present ourselves daily as a living sacrifice, God will reveal Himself to us as we grow and can understand more.
How Do We Apply This?
- Focus on eternal things, not temporary things.
- Pray and study God’s Word — I would say do all the things to seek God.
- Avoid anything that would cause us to sin.
- Evaluate our spiritual condition instead of judging others.
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Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
We’ve talked previously about salvation not being a one-and-done event. We have to be transformed into disciples who have God’s character. That transformation occurs on the Sanctification Road and will take our lifetimes.
Father God. We want to be like You. We choose to imitate You, not worldview people. Help us to renew our minds so that it is submitted to You. Amen.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
What do you think?
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