The transformation of a man

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In my time in the church I’ve found that there are few things that people will resist more than change. Change of any kind. Why is that? Well, most of us feel that we’ve already arrived at a place in our lives that feels right to us, our comfort zone, and we’re really unwilling to step outside that zone. Now if we were simply discussing, in the church, things of convenience matters like times we meet or exactly what we do in our services and Bible studies that would be one thing. But what if it was more than that? What if it was something of far greater spiritual importance, like how are you living your life? For instance, what are the things that you say and do? Have you fully become the man or woman that God wants you to be?

People resist change, but most often they do so without knowing all the facts as to why they need to change, or who is requesting the change, and even what they can become. One of the common messages of the Bible, apart from salvation itself, is the message of personal transformation. Look at Romans 12:1-2. “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. 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.”

We’re told here in this verse that we are to transform our very minds, our way of thinking. From what? Well from the manner of thinking that entrapped us before we became Christians and continues to entrap many Christians years later. What are we to transform our minds into? Well, into that form of thinking that is reserved for those who follow God.

Effectively what verses 1-2 of Romans 12 says is that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we no longer think like our former, pre-Christian selves, so that we no longer act like our former selves, in fact so that we no longer are our former selves at all. Because now we’ve been born anew, literally a new creature. We’ve been transformed by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ so that we are now someone quite different than we were before. And the longer you are with Christ the greater the expectation that maturity is strong in your minds, that you no longer have to be taught the elementary principles but can cope with greater spiritual matters.

Maybe we haven’t even begun to fathom yet who we really are now but that doesn’t change the truth that a transformation has taken place. 2 Corinthians 3:16 says that when we turned to the Lord the veil, which represented our separation between God and us, was removed from our eyes and our hearts. Even as the people who were released from captivity in Egypt were transformed from slaves to free men we too have been set free by the transformation of our state of slavery to sin into sons and daughters of the Most High God.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says this, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” If the old man has been done away with and the new man is on the scene we have been assuredly transformed. And if you claim Christianity then you are stating clearly to the world that you are a new creature and that we can all expect to see a transformation in you.

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