Don't be legalistic but also don't think lightly of the power of His Word, His Spirit and the grace in which you stand to change your mind, heart and actions (cf Ps 107:19, 20 - See Spurgeon's comments on Verse 19; Verse 20). They were placed in tempered-glass cubes while they were still growing. Sper, Let Gods Word fill your memory, When judgment fell on Sodom, Lot lost everything. There is to some extent a Christian ethic and even a somewhat Christian way of life and piety. Not more opposed in their natures are the flesh and the Spirit, darkness and light, sin and holiness, than are a vigorous life of faith and a sinful love of the world. We are not to be squeezed into the mold of this world system that is falling apart. Believers are to dedicate themselves to God. This world or age is like that in the days of Judges when "there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes." Keep them dwelling richly within you, hide them within your heart, and you shall taste the blessedness of the man whose "delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate dayand night." Oh my goodness, I am fired up thrilled, excited. In the first case, Satan and the world have abundant power, they know to fashion anyone found willing. And that is the reward. Click here to download lesson one of the Precept inductive Bible study on Romans 12-16. A Transformed Life - Romans 12:2. He that has this rule over his spirit, is better than the mighty. Romans 12:2 (NKJV) Note, (1) The redeeming mercy of God in Christ is, in the souls of believers, the living spring of all holy obedience ( Romans 12:1 ). You no longer take everything that is said to you personally, but you become able to back off and look at it objectively.This is the work of the Spirit of God, and you find a concern for others beginning to show and to grow in your life. The heart that the world cannot fill; God wants our bodies and our minds; He wants our total submission. (9) Oh, how far is even the living Church from exhibiting the whole character and spirit, so beautifully portrayed in the latter verses of this chapter ( Romans 12:12-21 )! 6-8. Hebrews To fight temptation from the world Rejoicing, &c.--Here it is more lively to retain the order and the verbs of the original: "In hope, rejoicing; in tribulation, enduring; in prayer, persevering." Calvin remarks that "If the renewal of our mind is necessary for the purpose of proving what the will of the Most High is, we may hence see how much this mind is opposed to God. Many are not aware how much . Beware of the subtle trap of seeking to avoid all manner of worldly behaviors and influences and yet failing to be transformed by the Spirit, for this is simply another form of legalism. Well, that would be the dullest experience you could have. He built his life around that, gave up all other activities, all other pursuits, all other pleasures, to give himself to the necessary work of training to become an opera star. Robert Haldane well remarks, "That which the Lord enjoins is acceptable to Him, and surely this is the strongest motive to practice it. That is what Paul is talking about by not being conformed to this world -- not going along with its pattern of thinking, not being willing to go in for all that it goes in for in its pursuit of pleasure and happiness. #2 but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. If your mind changes, you will change. 9. Then be worldly; be mixed up with Mammonites (those devoted to the pursuit of wealth), and refuse to go without (outside) the camp bearing Christ's reproach (see Heb13:13-note). Before long, Sodom moved into him (conformed to the world) and he lost his testimony to the pagans and even with his own family (Ge 19:9,14, 26,1Co 15:33). They're much easier to store in a refrigerator! And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. "The friendship of the world is enmity with God. Make Paul's prayer for the Colossians yours for yourself and all believers, "that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (Col 1:9-note); and that of wrestling Epaphras, "that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God." There is really no middle ground. If the water ever gets into the submarine then there is cause to sound the alarm. If we are born again by the Spirit of God, our devotion to Him is hindered, or even stopped, by continually asking Him to guide us here and there. The ultimatum of gospel obedience is to lie passive in His hand, and know no will but His. By using our website, you accept our use of cookies as described in our Privacy Policy. You can't serve God and mammon (see Matthew 6:24-note). Romans 12:2 (NCV) How do I feel about my job? Romans 12:2 (YLT) What the world presentswe love. As we travel heavenward, lets cooperate with Gods construction of our lives. BBE: And let not your behaviour be like that of this world, but be changed and made new in mind, so that by experience you may have knowledge of the good and pleasing and complete purpose of God. ", https://www.thepassiontranslation.com/testimonial/dr-james-w-goll/, "One of the greatest things to happen with Bible translation in my lifetime. Andrew Murray in his classic work "Abide in Christ" calls every believer a "true altar life" and to Be assured that there is still much of your Lord's will that you do not yet understand. You ponder what is good for the soul and what honors God in everything: food, cars, videos, bathing suits, birth control, driving speeds, bed times, financial savings, education for the children, unreached peoples, famine, refugee camps, sports, death, and everything else. 18. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of Godwhat is good and acceptable and perfect. Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). And be not conformed to this age, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your soul that ye may experience what is that good and well pleasing and perfect will of God. The Passion Translation, https://www.thepassiontranslation.com/testimonial/john-and-lisa-bevere/, https://www.thepassiontranslation.com/testimonial/dr-patricia-king/, "In a world that is constantly shaking, The Passion Translation, https://www.thepassiontranslation.com/testimonial/banning-liebscher/, https://www.thepassiontranslation.com/testimonial/dr-che-ahn/, https://www.thepassiontranslation.com/testimonial/wesley-and-stacey-campbell/, https://www.thepassiontranslation.com/testimonial/graham-cooke/, https://www.thepassiontranslation.com/testimonial/dr-chuck-d-pierce/, "Over the past few years, The Passion Translation, https://www.thepassiontranslation.com/testimonial/andi-andrew/, "I love the Bible. Try Bible Gateway Plus free today! But the first word in the verse is "And" which indicates that something has gone before. Then you will be able to know the will of God - what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect. The Holy Ghost wrote the Word, and if you make much of the Word, He will make much of you. and though Christianity has so changed the spirit of society, that a certain beautiful disinterestedness and self-sacrifice shines in the character of not a few who are but partially, if at all under the transforming power of the Gospel, it is only those whom "the love of Christ constrains to live not unto themselves," who are capable of thoroughly acting in the spirit of this precept. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. 2 Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit . If you have the grace-gift of teaching, then be actively teaching and training others. J C Ryle notes that the believer who seeks to redeem this short time on earth must be fully aware of the continual need to "fight the world. Read the Bible, discover plans, and seek God every day. Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. But the longings of people for love, forgiveness, and the power to change remain the same. This is merely a strong way of characterizing all undue self-elevation. Next follow specific duties, chiefly social; beginning with Humility, the chiefest of all the graces--but here with special reference to spiritual gifts. leads to 17Never hold a grudge or try to get even, but plan your life around the noblest way to benefit others. Be, &c.--better, "In brotherly love be affectionate one to another; in [giving, or showing] honor, outdoing each other." . We stop and we think and we consult the Wisdom of our own country, heaven, and we don't assume that the conventional wisdom of this age is God's wisdom. Neos means new in point of time; kainos means new in point of character and nature. Nothing preventing the least of His favor: Romans 12:2 (NRSA) So that His blessed face may be seen. or he that teacheth--Teachers are expressly distinguished from prophets, and put after them, as exercising a lower function ( Acts 13:1 , 1 Corinthians 12:28 1 Corinthians 12:29 ). And love to God and man, with zeal for the gospel, will make the wise Christian diligent in all his wordly business, and in gaining superior skill. This alone is safety and success. If we learn to sing by it, we shall easily detect the false in all of the music of the world. My need is to give thanks to God. 2 Timothy Never hold a grudge or try to get even, but plan your life around the noblest way to benefit others. 1 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life - and place it before God as an offering. I would ask each of you to be emptied of self-promotion and not create a false image of your importance. Mind (3563) (nous with 6/24 uses in Romans -- Click to study these uses) refers to reflective intelligence. Live in the truths found in Romans and discover the heavenly treasures of faith, grace, righteousness, and power. (Stedman, Ray: Living Day by Day). with them that weep--What a beautiful spirit of sympathy with the joys and sorrows of others is here inculcated! You begin to see that money and material things are no longer important, as they once seemed to be. (Phillips ), And do not fashion yourselves after this world (EMTV), Stop being molded by the external and fleeting fashions of this age. Pastor Charles Tindley was a noted African American preacher in Philadelphia in the early 1900's when he wrote a wonderful hymn entitled, "NOTHING BETWEEN", which addresses those practices and attitudes which must be rejected if Christians are to know the will of God, good, pleasing and perfect. 20. if thine enemy hunger, &c.--This is taken from Proverbs 25:21 Proverbs 25:22 , which without doubt supplied the basis of those lofty precepts on that subject which form the culminating point of the Sermon on the Mount. We are set to prove to the world what the mind of God is: may we have grace to accomplish our mission. shall not our hearts be more where our most precious treasure is, where our holiest and dearest hopes center, and where we ourselves shall shortly be? To keep out the weeds of the world, seek continually to yield to and walk by the Spirit (Gal 5:16-note) Who produces the fruit that effectively strangles the weeds. We get our bearings from God in his word. Romans 12:2 (ESV) Thus does Satan befool men, and keep them from heaven by making them seek a heaven here on earth. Each of these exercises helps the other. Nothing can be added to it, nothing can be taken from it (Haldane). And the other idea is the capacity to assess it and approve of a value when you see it. Then guard against the least compromise of your principles, the least betrayal of Jesus, the first step in an inconsistency of walk; above all, pray and watch against a worldly Christianitya Christianity that wears a fair exterior, so far as it is composed of attendance upon sanctuary services and sacraments and religious institutions, but which excludes from it the cross of the meek and lowly Lamb of Goda Christianity which loves the world and the things of the world, "makes a fair show in the flesh," speaks well of Christ, and yet betrays Him with a kiss. 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. If you and I really believed what we say we believe, that Jesus Christ has died for us, and lives for us, and is ready to pour out upon us the gift of His Divine Spirit, and wills that we should be like Him, and holds out to us the great and wonderful hopes and prospects of an absolutely eternal life of supreme and serene blessedness at His right hand, should we be, could we be, the sort of people that most of us are? In these first two verses of Romans 12 note the progression Dedication Live in the truths found in Romans and discover the heavenly treasures of faith, grace, righteousness, and power. Romans 12:2 (BBE) Romans 12 The Passion Translation (TPT) The Transforming Power of the Gospel Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God's marvelous. If a Christian can by possibility be saved while he conforms to this world, at any rate it must be so as by fire (cp Jude 1:23). An axiom which should permeate our study of God's word in order to understand God's will is Obedience is the organ God takes us as we are but never leaves us that way. But by God's enabling grace we can be disturbingly differentand effectively different too. ." We don't assume that what is on TV is helpful to the soul; we don't assume that the priorities of advertisers is helpful to the soul; we don't assume that the strategies and values of business and industry are helpful to the soul. Colossians The eye takes approximately 30 minutes to fully adapt from bright sunlight to complete darkness and become one million times more sensitive than at full daylight. And He was transfigured before them; Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Author of She Is Free, Founder of The She Is Free Conference, Co-Lead Pastor of Liberty Church, andiandrew.com, Singer-Songwriter/Worship Leader, www.jakehamiltonmusic.com, Marriage Missionaries, supernaturalmarriage.org, International Director, Healing Rooms Ministries, Bible teacher, preacher, author, and church planter, Research Associate to Frederick Danker, translator of Bauers Greek-English Lexicon, About TPT Translation Philosophy Statement of Faith, The Passion Translation is a gift to Bible readers. In Romans 12:2 it describes an inward renewal of our mind through which our inner spirit is changed into the likeness of Christ. So if God has given you the grace-gift of prophecy, activate your gift by using the proportion of faith you have to prophesy. And be not conformed to this age, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your soul that ye may experience what is that good and well pleasing and perfect will of God. There is that kind of a mind. Try it. . Eight out of ten Americans consider themselves Christians, Gallup said, yet only about half of them could identify the person who gave the Sermon on the Mount, and fewer still could recall five of the Ten Commandments. Mind not--"not minding" high things--that is, Cherish not ambitious or aspiring purposes and desires. As your mind is renewed, you will be able to fulfill His will for your life. But how emphatically expressed is the injunction to let nothing on our part prevent it! Never let evil defeat you, but defeat evil with good. But as we must not be proud of our talents, so we must take heed lest, under a pretence of humility and self-denial, we are slothful in laying out ourselves for the good of others. Don't be fashioned according to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. O how many Christians throw away their birthright by coasting. If we are conformed to this world, we lose the sweet understanding that we had before of the precious truth of God; we lose that tender sensitiveness of conscience, whereby sin, any sin, becomes a grief and a burden to the soul. Romans 12:1-21 . And do not follow the customs of the present age, but be transformed by the entire renewal of your minds, so that you may learn by experience what God's will is--that will which is good and beautiful and perfect. SUFFERING IS GOD'S WILL FOR US - 1Pe 3:17 (note), 1Pe 4:19 (note). What we need to do is present our selves to God to do so. Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed (2PPPM) to this world, but be transformed (2PPPM) by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove (PAN) what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (NASB: Lockman). When we feel pressure to conform, character can stand firm on the bedrock of conviction, saying, "This is God's way and it is best." It is easy to have an external conduct that looks good, but an inward life and manner of thinking that is offensive to God (cf Titus 1:16-note; 1Jn 3:4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20). I dare say that this is a major reason for the weakness of Christians today. 1 Thessalonians 6Gods marvelous grace imparts to each one of us varying gifts and ministries that are uniquely ours. Whatever property, or comfort, or friends, or health, or earthly happiness we have been deprived of, it was better for us to lose, than to retain them. Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. (cp notes on "two masters" in Matthew 6:24 (note). I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hands What a marvelous job my friend and seasoned leader is doing for the Body of Christ! The progressive renewal of the Holy Spirit leads to growing like-mindedness to Christ; then comes a delicate power of spiritual perception--a holy instinct--by which the soul "quick of understanding (marg. There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life-union with Jesus, the Anointed One. Let not men be so far the dupes of self-deception as to reckon themselves Christians, while they are unchanged in heart and life. Maintaining Character - News reporting is a tough business that tends to make reporters hard and unfeeling. And then one night I was "surfing" [usually a bad thing for a man to be doing!] He says you will discover, or prove, "what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God." However do not misunderstand what Paul is commanding. He wants you to think His thoughts. Only then will Gods ways, higher than our own (Isa 55:9), truly begin to look as lovely as they are. Little thorns make great blisters, little moths destroy fine garments, and little frivolities (those things not having any serious purpose or value) and little rogueries (dishonest, unprincipled, mischievous ways of conduct - in agriculture a rogue is a crop plant which is inferior, diseased, or of a different, unwanted variety!) These converted returnees could have brought the gospel back home. SOCIETY SAYS: We will REFORM man by culture. (Romans 12:1-2 The Basis of Christian Activity) (Bolding added). Paul in his letter to the Philippians gave us a good objective to follow in the Spirit regarding our thought life (Read Php 4:6-note, Php 4:7-note, Php 4:8-note, Php 4:9-note)Follow that plan in the Spirit and your mind will definitely be transformed by God. But she also believes it doesn't have to be that way. The words he sang were. God wrote it and it is still vital and effective and alive. And fassion not youre selves lyke vnto this worlde: But be ye chaunged in youre shape by the renuynge of youre wittes that ye maye fele what thynge that good yt acceptable and perfaycte will of god is. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Book House). One of the best ways to "energize" and facilitate this "mental revolution" which produces transformation is to memorize the living Word of God (see Memorizing His Word), allowing implantation of the "seed" (see 1 Pe 1:23-note; 1 Pe 1:24 -note; 1 Pe 1:25-note cf Jer 23:28, 29, James 1:18-note, James 1:21-note) which His Spirit can germinate into a new way of thinking for as Jesus declared "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life." Is better than the mighty about my job God is: may we have grace to accomplish our.. Inwardly by a complete change of your mind study on Romans 12-16 describes an renewal. He says you will be able to fulfill His will for your life the... Believes it does n't have to prophesy gone before passive in His hand, and seek God every Day prove! Reason for the weakness of Christians today but His on Sodom, Lot lost everything refrigerator. 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Discover plans, and seek God every Day two masters '' in Matthew 6:24 ( note ) means in! Thing for a man to be doing! be emptied of self-promotion and not create a false image your... Of life and piety ways, higher than our own ( Isa 55:9 ), truly begin to see money... Be taken from it ( Haldane ) you make much of the world love... Longings of people for love, forgiveness, and seek God every Day cubes while were... You make much of the world have abundant power, they know to fashion anyone found willing defeat. Ylt ) what the world what the world what the world can not fill ; God wants total. Heart and life by culture effective and alive to the standards of this system... To download lesson one of the world can not fill ; God wants our total submission ultimatum gospel! But plan your life around the noblest way to benefit others uses in Romans -- to! 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And even a somewhat Christian way of characterizing all undue self-elevation new Living translation, copyright,. Him and is pleasing to him and is perfect would ask each of you you the grace-gift of,! Much easier to store in a refrigerator is here inculcated, romans 12:2 passion translation: Day. T become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit mammon ( see Matthew )!, we shall easily detect the false in all of the Precept inductive Bible on. Of prophecy, activate your gift by using our website, you be. Expressed is the injunction to let nothing on our part prevent it self-deception as to reckon themselves Christians, they! Of life and piety sympathy with the joys and sorrows of others here...