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).

 

The word "conformed" is translated from the Greek word "suschematizo" which means to fashion oneself according to another's pattern.  Notice the root "schemat" or "schema" is contained in this word and is the same root that we find in our English words “scheme” and "schematic."  So, literally, Paul is saying that we must not mold or fashion ourselves after another's worldly scheme or pattern.  And just whose worldly pattern is it that the Apostle Paul is warning us against?  It's none other than Satan, the god of this world, as he is referred to in 2 Corinthians 4:4.  Not only do we, as Christians, need to set aside everything that pertains to our fleshly nature, but we must also set aside everything of this worldly system that Satan has engineered to deceive mankind.  John tells us in his first letter that, "the whole world lies in wickedness" or as some have translated this verse, “in the wicked one” (1John 5:19).  This is why he also warns us to, "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). 

 

The Bible provides a beautiful illustration of this concept in the book of Exodus.  There we read about the Israelites in Egypt and the cruel bondage that Pharaoh had placed them in.  Pharaoh feared the Hebrews because he thought that they would someday have the power to rise up and usurp his rule.  This is why he kept making their lives more and more difficult, and why, ultimately, he instructed the midwives to kill all of the male babies.  This is the same fear that motivated Herod to kill all of the children in Bethlehem. He sought to slay the Messiah before this "King of the Jews" could grow up and take the throne away from him.  We see the spirit of Satan working in both these cases to destroy not only Christ, but Christ's people, because it is we through Christ who will ultimately wrest the dominion of this world away from Satan's wicked hands.  "Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5).  "Thou hast made him [man] to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet." (Psalms 8:6).

 

The Israelites cried out to God in their grief, and God heard them.  He raised and sent a savior (Moses) to stand before Pharaoh and demand that he let God's people go.  Through the shedding of the blood of an innocent lamb, God delivered His people from the judgment that destroyed Egypt's firstborn.  Later, He divided the Red Sea so that His people could be once and for all separated from Egypt.

 

Pharaoh represents Satan and his hatred of God and God's elect.  Egypt represents the world, which is under Pharaoh's domain for the time being.  He has engineered a mighty empire fashioned after the imagination of his wicked heart.  Nothing about it brings glory to the God of heaven; it only brings glory to what man can do aside from God.  This is Satan's whole scheme: to deceive man into thinking that he can achieve all things by himself and be as God and thereby causing him to follow Satan's own rebellion against God.  Moses himself made a clear-cut decision to abandon the treasures and pleasures of Egypt, and chose rather the heavenly reward that his Father God promised him.  God's remedy for a people in bondage to the world was to deliver them completely out of that world and lead them to a land of promise that He had prepared for them.  It wasn't just the bondage that was bad for Israel, but also the "good" things of Egypt were a snare for them.  This is why God didn't wait a few more years for Pharaoh to die, let Moses step into leadership as the son of Pharaoh's daughter, and guide Egypt into a righteous kingdom.  No, Moses had to lose the idea that he could do anything aside from God's leading!

 

Folks had the same expectation of Christ.  They thought that when Messiah came, He would set Himself up as a worldly king and set all things right for Israel.  Instead, Jesus rejected the worldly system, knowing who was really pulling the strings behind the scenes; and He instead spoke of a heavenly Kingdom and set His sights on Calvary.  It was this sacrifice that would deliver His people from the bondage of sin, the flesh, the world, and the devil. 

 

Instead of being conformed to this world, Paul tells us that we must be transformed.  This word transformed is also very interesting.  It is translated from the Greek word "metamorphoo" which means to change into another form, or transfigure.  The English words "metamorphosis" and "morph" come from this Greek word.  Metamorphosis is used to describe the miracle of a worm spinning itself inside a cocoon and later emerging as a different creature altogether - a moth or a butterfly.  This is the type of change that Paul is describing - not our own efforts in the flesh to fashion ourselves after some pattern, whether good or bad.  Even trying to mold ourselves after the laws of God is conforming to the world.  After all, it was the serpent in the garden that wanted man to choose the knowledge of good and evil instead of life.  This seemed right and good to man, but only led to man taking the reins of his life away from God, thinking that he was capable of ruling himself.  Religion itself can be a counterfeit for true godliness when it is reduced to a system of works and rituals.  Satan himself often transforms himself into an angel of light.  The law was not sufficient to make man holy because man was weak, sold under sin.  As the scripture says, “…if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.” (Galatians 3:21).  Therefore man needs a Savior to deliver him from sin and the world, and he needs the Holy Spirit indwelling him to empower him to be holy and righteous.

 

Nothing we try to do solely from the outside is going to permanently change us.  The work must first take place from within.  The miracle takes place within the cocoon where no man can see.  It's there that the worm is changed and set free.  We must be born again into another creature altogether!  This work can only be accomplished by two things.  First, we must be willing to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God and deny ourselves.  We must be willing to choose God's way instead of that which only pleases our flesh and our pride.  Second, we must be renewed in our mind by the Word of God and by the Holy Spirit's direction in our life.  There is a real battle going on for the hearts and souls of men, but God has given us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.  He has filled us with His Spirit so that He can be a guide to help us navigate the treacherous waters that swirl around us.  We must open the eyes of our hearts and the ears of our spirit, and allow God to speak His truth to us.  As we do, we will find ourselves being transformed into something glorious.

 

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18).