BE NOT CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD
"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. 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).
St. Paul issues a solemn exhortation to the church in Rome in this
twelfth chapter of his letter to the Romans.
He warns them not to be conformed to this world, but instead, to be
transformed by the renewing of their minds.
The Greek word that is translated "conformed" in this passage
means to conform oneself – one’s mind and character – to someone else’s pattern. I have always thought that these verses were
warning us not copy the evil practices of the world. The lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye,
and the pride of life are clearly "of
the world" and to be avoided. There
is something much more insidious however, that Christians must avoid conforming
to.
The “world” in these
verses is not referring to the planet we live on, but the whole system of
interdependent and interwoven institutions that make up life as we know it on
earth. All commerce, politics,
governments, values, culture, and even religion, can all be comprehended as
parts that make up “the world.” Although God made this planet upon which
we live, along with the rest of the universe, it was man who devised the system
that God refers to as the world. This
system was developed after man’s fall, however, and not before. Earth would be a much different place if Adam
and Eve had remained faithful to God.
Satan exploited their weakness to convince them that they could be as
gods, understanding right and wrong, and exercising their free will - but also
their self will. The system that Satan
engineered was based on human works, and human will. It exalted man above his Maker, and works
above faith. Satan became the “god of
this world,” pulling all the strings in the background unbeknownst to man. The Apostle Paul writes, “In whom the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them
which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, Who is the
image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Corinthians 4:4). It
is no wonder that John also warns us saying, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the
Father is not in him. For all that is in
the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust
thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” (1 John
2:15-17).
It is also important to note that
the original Greek word that was translated “world”
in the English KJV Bible is “aion.” This
word means “a period of time, or an age.” This
indicates that right now, in this season and dispensation, the current system
seems to be dominant, but it won’t be forever.
This world and what it has become is marked for judgment. There is coming a day when all that we see
will burn up with a fervent heat that will even melt the very elements down to
their core. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the
which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up.” (2 Peter 3:10). Out of this devastation, God will create new
heavens and a new earth where righteousness, peace, and joy will prevail.
What we see around us, including much of religion, is based on
man’s works and not the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are those folks who are very careful to
maintain an outward display of holiness, but are cruel and unmerciful toward
others who they don't think measure up to their standards of
righteousness. They slice and dice
others with their malicious gossip and merciless judgments, never trying to see
into the hearts of those they slander.
They have become blind to their own spiritual need, and have grown
cold-hearted to the very ones who need their love and compassion the most. They have begun to lose the ability to hear
the Holy Spirit as He tries to reveal the nature of Jesus to them so that they
might be changed. For a believer to be
in such a state is, in one sense, even worse than if he were fallen away from
the Lord altogether and living in blatant sin.
If he has fallen away, at least then he knows that he is in need of a
Savior; and God can deal with him. However, if he is satisfied with just the illusion of righteousness, and doesn't
realize his own need, then it is impossible for God to deal with him until his
eyes are opened. The Pharisees and
Sadducees of Jesus' day were good examples of this. To them Jesus said, "For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not
might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some
of the Pharisees which were with Him heard these words, and said unto Him, Are
we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If
ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your
sin remaineth." (John 9:39-41).
They would not acknowledge the truth even when it was standing right
before them in the form of the Son of God.
It is the way of the world to try to improve oneself from the
outside in - conforming to an exterior image or pattern. There are those who have not experienced the
new birth and yet try to follow Biblical principles because they feel they are
good and right. What Paul said of his
unbelieving countrymen is also true of many Christians today. He said, “For they being ignorant of God’s
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not
submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” (Romans 10:3).
The Greek word that is translated "transformed" in the
KJV is “metamorphoo,” and it means to
change into another form, to transfigure. From this Greek word comes the English word
metamorphosis, which is used to describe the process by which a worm changes
into a moth or butterfly. The worm
willingly spins itself inside its cocoon and dies to what it was before so that
it can be changed into something better. There could not be a more fitting
illustration than that for what happens to an individual as he becomes transformed
into the image of Christ by the regenerative power of the Word of God and the
blood of Jesus Christ. It starts when
man's spirit is reawakened and reborn, and the channel of communication with
God is opened which had been shut his whole life. He is immediately changed from one thing to
something altogether different and wonderful.
His outward man begins to change because his innermost man is renewed as
he beholds the image of the Savior. In
this way the believer's life begins
to "prove what is that good, and acceptable, and
perfect, will of God," and not just his words.
When our goodness is only a matter of conformity, then it becomes
not so good when the fire of difficulty or temptation tries it. When we allow this transformation process to
take place in our life, however, it doesn't matter what adversities we
encounter: they cannot affect us because we are no longer what we were - we are
new creatures! Our inner man is
strengthened every day by the Word, but our outer man becomes a living
sacrifice as we learn to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow the
Lord. We renounce the things long hidden
away in our carnal nature as the glorious light of the gospel breaks into the
darkness of our soul. As the Word
reveals Jesus to us in all His goodness and holiness, we see a true image of ourselves, and not
just one we have made ourselves up to appear like. When this happens our response must always be
to believe in what Christ has already done, and not in what we need to do. The moment that we believe that we can be righteous because He is righteous, we are
transformed. Beloved, we have been
delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the Kingdom of God’s
dear Son! We must learn to live as
citizens of that Kingdom, and not be shackled to the rudiments of this world. Conformity will always lead to failure and
dissatisfaction. Transformation will
always lead to joy - it will truly give your soul wings!
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