Romans 12:1–2
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” Romans 3:23 tells us that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. Just a glance at a daily newspaper will confirm these truths.
Yet Christians in the early Church were called saints. In most of Paul’s letters to the Churches in the New Testament, he greeted the believers as saints and holy ones.
It’s amazing when you think about it, but the Bible uses the word saint for the rank-and-file believer. New Testament saints were called the holy ones. It does seem rather strange that this title is used for believers who were struggling with all sorts of sin. Read the letters of Paul, and you’ll soon see the irony as he addresses the people as saints and then goes on to rebuke them for their foolish and sinful behaviour.
The saints of Scripture were called saints not because they were already pure but because they were people who were set apart and called to purity.
When the word holy is used to describe God, it not only reminds us of how different or apart from us He is, but it also calls attention to His absolute purity. But we are not God. We are not transcendent, and we most certainly are not pure. How then can the Bible possibly call us “holy ones?”
The key is Jesus Christ, and in Romans 12 Paul gives us an insight into how, by the power of the Spirit, our lives can be so radically changed.
The problem we have is the sinful attitudes and practices that have become a part of our lives for so long, so it is difficult to put into practice what Paul calls us to in Romans 12:2. In fact, we cannot do it alone.
We need the grace and mercy of God to enable us to make the necessary transformation in our lives.
He sent Jesus to pay the price for our redemption. Through Scripture he has given us a revelation of His will, so we may know what we need and know what God has done to supply that need. Paul writes in Ephesians 1:3 that God “has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” If you are a born-again believer, then God has fully equipped you for holiness. You already have all you need.
This includes the spiritual strength necessary to make the transformation of life from that of an alien sinner to that of a saint.
God’s desire is that through our faith and obedience, we must see and believe what God has done for us through Christ. Through our union with Jesus Christ, which takes place when our faith leads us to repentance, and through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, who leads us through His revelation, God changes us.
2 Corinthians 5:17 could not make it any clearer: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
Paul, in Romans 12:2 writes, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”
There are two instructions in that sentence – one negative, and the other positive.
If we are going to make this transformation to holiness, we need to understand where we are beginning from.
The problem we have as sinners is that we do conform to the patterns of this world, and that needs to change.
The admonition to not conform to our old lifestyles is a powerful warning for Christians. Those who have accepted the Saviour must recognise that the standards, values, and lifestyles of the world are the wrong ones, and that they are the exact opposite of what Jesus taught and showed to us.
We need to decide whether we’re going to follow Jesus, or the desires of our own hearts, but we can’t have it both ways.
Yes, we will continue to sin. Our sinful nature remains, and will be at war with the Spirit of God within us until we draw our last breath and finally enter into glory, but until that moment comes, there needs to be a strong desire within us to resist going back to our old way of living.
Look to Christ – not your own efforts at being a better person. He is the one who clothes us in righteousness and makes us holy.
We must have some understanding of the negative, the evil patterns of this world, if we are to appreciate the positive – the transformed life that God brings through Christ.
The second part of Romans 12:2 is the call to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
The word transform is derived from the Greek word metamorpho, from where the English word metamorphosis is derived.
Transformation of life begins when one is converted to Christ. Repentance and conversion is a change of mind, attitude, and allegiance, which ultimately brings a change of behaviour. When we are united to Christ, we live our lives for Him – not for ourselves, and this is how we pursue holiness.
This is what true conversion is all about. It is a turning. One who is headed in the direction of hell by a life of sin and rebellion, hears the Gospel, is convicted of their sin, believes the good news that Jesus died for that sin, then turns in the other direction by obedience to the truth.
Of course, we soon learn that this is a process, rather than an event. We are justified in God’s eyes at the moment of our salvation, but the process of sanctification, being transformed into the image of Jesus, is an ongoing process which will only reach perfection when we are in glory.
But we cannot and must not give up.
Paul said that the transformation of our lives comes by the renewing of our minds. Renewing – not renewal. It is a process.
When we read and reread the life of Jesus, meditate on His teachings, consider His priorities, see His purpose in the world, marvel at His sinless life and spotless character, our desire is to become like Him, and to be transformed into His image. This has always been God’s desire for us.
Hearing and believing the Gospel reverses the curse of sin and takes us back to God’s original plan for us.
God is holy, and He is infinite in His holiness, and He calls us to be holy just as He is.
Are you a believer in Jesus Christ? Then you are a saint, called to a life of holiness.
In the early days of the Church, people like the Corinthians and the Romans who had lived such sinful lives were radically transformed with God’s help when they heard the Gospel and obeyed it. Their stories should encourage us and spur us on to remain faithful to God.
When Paul preached to the Corinthians and they turned to Christ, it took a long time for them to be changed. It is not easy for a sinner to be transformed into a saint, because our sinful desire is to conform to the pattern of the world, but nothing is impossible for God.
The question is, are moving forward in our pursuit of righteousness? How can we know if we are making real progress in our call to be holy? The Bible answers these questions for us. Righteous people are known by their fruit. They become holy by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit working in them.
In Galatians 5 Paul shows us the stark contrast between the fruit the Spirit and the fruit of our sinful nature. “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21)
Look at the contrast we see in the next two verses: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
It is not easy to live the holy life, but the Bible does make it easy for us to know what holiness is supposed to look like.
John MacArthur writes, “We cannot be as holy as God is, but we can be holy because God is. We cannot be holy to the extent that God is, but we can have the same kind of purity that God has. Not like Him in extent but certainly like Him in kind. After all, He’s the one who called you. The very God who called you to salvation, who called you to be His child of obedience, who called you to be holy, you’re to be like. You’re to be like Him.”
The truth is that the Church is made up of sinners who have been saved by the grace and mercy of God. We are people who formerly served sin and Satan, and as we all know, we often fall back into our former way of life. But when we do, and we turn to God in repentance for our failures, we don’t find wrath and anger anymore. Instead we find grace.
The wrath and anger at our sin was borne by Jesus on the Cross of Calvary.
If you are a Christian, you are now at peace with the God who created you in love and sent His Son to die for your sins. This is why you have nothing to fear. By the power of the Spirit of God within you, you are now able to no longer conform to the pattern of this world. By God’s grace He will transform you by the renewing of your mind.
Incredible as it may sound, you can pursue holiness. You can be holy because God is holy, and He has called you to this transformed life.
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” Romans 3:23 tells us that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. Just a glance at a daily newspaper will confirm these truths.
Yet Christians in the early Church were called saints. In most of Paul’s letters to the Churches in the New Testament, he greeted the believers as saints and holy ones.
It’s amazing when you think about it, but the Bible uses the word saint for the rank-and-file believer. New Testament saints were called the holy ones. It does seem rather strange that this title is used for believers who were struggling with all sorts of sin. Read the letters of Paul, and you’ll soon see the irony as he addresses the people as saints and then goes on to rebuke them for their foolish and sinful behaviour.
The saints of Scripture were called saints not because they were already pure but because they were people who were set apart and called to purity.
When the word holy is used to describe God, it not only reminds us of how different or apart from us He is, but it also calls attention to His absolute purity. But we are not God. We are not transcendent, and we most certainly are not pure. How then can the Bible possibly call us “holy ones?”
The key is Jesus Christ, and in Romans 12 Paul gives us an insight into how, by the power of the Spirit, our lives can be so radically changed.
The problem we have is the sinful attitudes and practices that have become a part of our lives for so long, so it is difficult to put into practice what Paul calls us to in Romans 12:2. In fact, we cannot do it alone.
We need the grace and mercy of God to enable us to make the necessary transformation in our lives.
He sent Jesus to pay the price for our redemption. Through Scripture he has given us a revelation of His will, so we may know what we need and know what God has done to supply that need. Paul writes in Ephesians 1:3 that God “has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” If you are a born-again believer, then God has fully equipped you for holiness. You already have all you need.
This includes the spiritual strength necessary to make the transformation of life from that of an alien sinner to that of a saint.
God’s desire is that through our faith and obedience, we must see and believe what God has done for us through Christ. Through our union with Jesus Christ, which takes place when our faith leads us to repentance, and through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, who leads us through His revelation, God changes us.
2 Corinthians 5:17 could not make it any clearer: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
Paul, in Romans 12:2 writes, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”
There are two instructions in that sentence – one negative, and the other positive.
If we are going to make this transformation to holiness, we need to understand where we are beginning from.
The problem we have as sinners is that we do conform to the patterns of this world, and that needs to change.
The admonition to not conform to our old lifestyles is a powerful warning for Christians. Those who have accepted the Saviour must recognise that the standards, values, and lifestyles of the world are the wrong ones, and that they are the exact opposite of what Jesus taught and showed to us.
We need to decide whether we’re going to follow Jesus, or the desires of our own hearts, but we can’t have it both ways.
Yes, we will continue to sin. Our sinful nature remains, and will be at war with the Spirit of God within us until we draw our last breath and finally enter into glory, but until that moment comes, there needs to be a strong desire within us to resist going back to our old way of living.
Look to Christ – not your own efforts at being a better person. He is the one who clothes us in righteousness and makes us holy.
We must have some understanding of the negative, the evil patterns of this world, if we are to appreciate the positive – the transformed life that God brings through Christ.
The second part of Romans 12:2 is the call to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
The word transform is derived from the Greek word metamorpho, from where the English word metamorphosis is derived.
Transformation of life begins when one is converted to Christ. Repentance and conversion is a change of mind, attitude, and allegiance, which ultimately brings a change of behaviour. When we are united to Christ, we live our lives for Him – not for ourselves, and this is how we pursue holiness.
This is what true conversion is all about. It is a turning. One who is headed in the direction of hell by a life of sin and rebellion, hears the Gospel, is convicted of their sin, believes the good news that Jesus died for that sin, then turns in the other direction by obedience to the truth.
Of course, we soon learn that this is a process, rather than an event. We are justified in God’s eyes at the moment of our salvation, but the process of sanctification, being transformed into the image of Jesus, is an ongoing process which will only reach perfection when we are in glory.
But we cannot and must not give up.
Paul said that the transformation of our lives comes by the renewing of our minds. Renewing – not renewal. It is a process.
When we read and reread the life of Jesus, meditate on His teachings, consider His priorities, see His purpose in the world, marvel at His sinless life and spotless character, our desire is to become like Him, and to be transformed into His image. This has always been God’s desire for us.
Hearing and believing the Gospel reverses the curse of sin and takes us back to God’s original plan for us.
God is holy, and He is infinite in His holiness, and He calls us to be holy just as He is.
Are you a believer in Jesus Christ? Then you are a saint, called to a life of holiness.
In the early days of the Church, people like the Corinthians and the Romans who had lived such sinful lives were radically transformed with God’s help when they heard the Gospel and obeyed it. Their stories should encourage us and spur us on to remain faithful to God.
When Paul preached to the Corinthians and they turned to Christ, it took a long time for them to be changed. It is not easy for a sinner to be transformed into a saint, because our sinful desire is to conform to the pattern of the world, but nothing is impossible for God.
The question is, are moving forward in our pursuit of righteousness? How can we know if we are making real progress in our call to be holy? The Bible answers these questions for us. Righteous people are known by their fruit. They become holy by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit working in them.
In Galatians 5 Paul shows us the stark contrast between the fruit the Spirit and the fruit of our sinful nature. “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21)
Look at the contrast we see in the next two verses: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
It is not easy to live the holy life, but the Bible does make it easy for us to know what holiness is supposed to look like.
John MacArthur writes, “We cannot be as holy as God is, but we can be holy because God is. We cannot be holy to the extent that God is, but we can have the same kind of purity that God has. Not like Him in extent but certainly like Him in kind. After all, He’s the one who called you. The very God who called you to salvation, who called you to be His child of obedience, who called you to be holy, you’re to be like. You’re to be like Him.”
The truth is that the Church is made up of sinners who have been saved by the grace and mercy of God. We are people who formerly served sin and Satan, and as we all know, we often fall back into our former way of life. But when we do, and we turn to God in repentance for our failures, we don’t find wrath and anger anymore. Instead we find grace.
The wrath and anger at our sin was borne by Jesus on the Cross of Calvary.
If you are a Christian, you are now at peace with the God who created you in love and sent His Son to die for your sins. This is why you have nothing to fear. By the power of the Spirit of God within you, you are now able to no longer conform to the pattern of this world. By God’s grace He will transform you by the renewing of your mind.
Incredible as it may sound, you can pursue holiness. You can be holy because God is holy, and He has called you to this transformed life.