Transformation is the cornerstone of our discussion today, as we delve into Romans 12 and explore what it truly means to live a renewed life in Christ. We tackle the critical idea that genuine transformation starts in the mind, challenging the notion that it’s merely a passive experience or a struggle of sheer willpower. Instead, we emphasize that it’s about actively renewing our thoughts to align with God's truth. Through clever insights and relatable anecdotes, we address the world's lies that can shape our behaviors and beliefs, and we introduce the “put off, put on” principle that encourages us to replace harmful thoughts with life-giving truths. Join us as we navigate the complexities of spiritual growth and how to resist the pressures of conformity in a world full of countercultural scripts, all while keeping our focus on embodying the characteristics that truly reflect the heart of God.

Takeaways:

• Transformation in Christ is a proactive journey involving both mind renewal and heart alignment with God's truth.
• Identifying and confronting the lies we believe is crucial for genuine behavioral change and spiritual growth.
• We must resist the cultural pressures that seek to mold our beliefs and values away from the teachings of Scripture.
• Living a countercultural life means prioritizing genuine relationships and community over appearances and institutional performance.
• The 'put off, put on' principle guides us to replace sinful patterns with behaviors that reflect our renewed identity in Christ.
• Understanding the roots of our behaviors, rather than merely addressing the symptoms, is essential for lasting change.

And good day to you again.

Welcome to our study.

We are in Romans 12 still, and there's a series of lessons that I'm trying to get before you with regard to the new life that we live in Christ.

We've been identifying for several years actually the people of God and who they are.

And we've just asked the question, what does that look like?

In other words, if you were to describe God's people today, what would it look like?

How could you identify someone who is a disciple of Christ?

Would it be some affiliation with some certain church?

Would it be just how would it look like?

What would it look like?

Does it come with some name on a church building that assigns a certain doctrine to your beliefs?

Just how does that look?

Well, we have chosen to describe that from the Scriptures, starting with Romans chapter 12.

Now, last week we talked about presenting our bodies as living sacrifices.

That's an angle of this renewed, resurrected life.

But there's another, and it starts actually with it.

And that's the renewing of the mind.

That's the engine, the driving force of transformation.

Immediately after calling us to present our bodies, Paul turns to this point.

But he adds, he starts off with, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

So transformation is not something that just happens to us.

You know, it's not something that we're just sitting there drinking our tea, being very passive about life and just kind of a spectator taking it all in until, you know, bang, here comes the Holy Spirit and just overpowers us and now we're saved.

But neither is it mere willpower either.

It's not some white knuckled religion where we try to behave differently without ever thinking differently.

So true transformation is a work.

It's something that we have to work at doing.

It's something that we have to determine to do.

It's word shaped.

A change that takes place in the way we think.

So that's where the battlefield starts.

The battlefield for transformation is in the mind.

And when I say mind, you could easily call it your spirit.

We have two spirits at work.

Divine Spirit, which is the Holy Spirit, and our Spirit.

There is fellowship and there can be testimony that is testifying to what's in the Spirit.

As the Holy Spirit knows what I'm thinking and I should know, as I spend time with the Spirit in the mind of Christ, I should come to know the Spirit as well.

And as I do and conform my thinking according to his will.

There is union, there is fellowship, and the Spirit can bear Witness with my spirit that I'm his child.

That's kind of how that works.

So what you dwell on, what you believe, and the scripts that run into the background of your thinking, your thoughts, these are all shaping your desires and eventually your behavior.

And that's why we need a deliberate renewal of the mind.

We want to look at, first of all, this thought of put off, put on principle that replaces bad habits and bad thoughts.

Every sin has a lie that's underneath it.

We do not typically disobey God simply because we know what we should do.

And we say, I don't care what you say, I'm going to do it my way anyway.

Those who are trying or at least making some effort don't usually go through that.

We're not preferring that rebellious attitude.

But what we do often do, and this is so prevalent, is we believe something that is not right, that is not true, typically about ourselves or something that we're doing that is wrong.

And we begin to make the sin in our lives seem to be reasonable.

As I said last week, we make it safe and sometimes even necessary.

So, for example, we'll say lust, for example.

It believes a lie that this will make me happy.

And we bought into the idea that God wants me to be happy.

Surely this will satisfy me more than obedience.

We believe the lie and proceed.

Or greed.

Greed believes my life consists in the abundance of the things that I possess, which is, as Jesus calls it, covetousness.

Beware of it, he says.

But we think that's what life's about.

It's the American dream.

It's about getting more and more things and growing in wealth, right?

Bitterness believes the lie that if I'll hold this grudge, it'll protect me from being hurt again.

I have to stand up for myself.

These are the kinds of things that feeds the greed in our hearts.

Pride believes certain lies.

It believes lies about our value.

I'm more important than others and I deserve recognition because of it.

Because I have a degree or because I've got this or I've got that or whatever it might be.

Pride is oftentimes full of lies.

So renewing the mind means learning to identify these lies and confront them head on with the truth.

God's word tells us what they are.

And we're not just trying to stop bad behavior here, you see, we're trying to expose and reject the false beliefs that fuel it.

And we have them.

I called them last week.

Little scripts in our mind that we keep telling ourselves.

So in doing this, we began to replace the sinful patterns with renewed thinking, the world or this age constantly hands us ready made lies.

Thought patterns that says look out for number one, right?

Or follow your heart, that's all you need to do.

And all of these teach a certain lesson.

They drive home a certain reference point with a lot of them, most of them, in fact, they are self driven.

Self is the final authority and so I am the reference point.

So as we said, I look out for myself.

Don't let anyone tell you what to do.

I got to do what's best for me, right?

These kinds of statements just be true to yourself.

But the Bible teaches the kingdom attitude, the mind of Christ, the one that's seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness says I need to seek the kingdom first.

I'm not my own, I am bought with a price.

It's very different.

You see, there are sometimes the moral compass is based on feelings rather than truth.

It's not a matter of what's right or what's wrong, it's how I feel about it.

And so people talk about following your heart or following your conscience or do what makes you happy or if it feels so right, it can't be wrong, live your truth.

We're told, and some would say my body, my choice, my rules, right.

For those who are claiming and fighting for their right for abortion, it's the same process.

It's my body and I can do with it what I want to.

But the kingdom counterscript in the mind says, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

Or as the psalmist says, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

And then there's the some other truths, they're lies, we call them truths, but they're very much lies that we develop certain scripts to support.

That's full of relativism.

It's personal truth.

Truth is whatever it is that works for you.

Some people will say things like, well, I'll just do whatever you want to do as long as it doesn't hurt anyone or only God can judge me.

And that's used to evade accountability or live your truth.

They talk about my truth.

Well, there's the only one kind of truth that I know of and it's the same, it's not relative.

The kingdom counter scripts say Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and I live his truth right, not mine.

Or just simply, we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things done in the body, whether good or Whether bad, there's a value system there.

It's good or it's bad.

And it's not relative, it's fixed.

Who fixed it?

God did.

And so the Count, the Kingdom says something different.

It gives us a different script.

So are we going to be conformed by the counterculture, by what the culture tells us and we begin to believe those lies?

Or are we going to go to the truth, the scriptures, other lessons that are taught, other lies that are promoted by the world, is that life is all about achievement and money and how much money we have, that's our goal.

It establishes our status and who we are as compared to other people.

So success is money.

It's about hustle and work and hard work and making more money.

And the world scripts that support it is something like you only live once, grind now and shine later.

Secure the bag.

These are all expressions and there are many more.

Fake it till you make it.

All these are counterintuitive and teach a different lesson.

They're lies that we have accepted that the world begins to press upon us.

The Kingdom counterscript says, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Or as Paul would teach it, godliness with contentment is great gain.

And then there are relationships and we treat them as somewhat consumables.

People exist for my benefit, for my pleasure, to either affirm me and support me or to be discarded because they've gone against me.

And so when conflict is going on, we might say, as many young people are heard saying, whatever, oh, that just cuts to the quick, doesn't it?

Or you cut those toxic people out of your life because they, they don't help you.

If they don't celebrate you, you just leave them.

Or someone will say, well, you deserve better.

Protect yourself, protect your peace, right?

And the Kingdom counterculture says, and their script says, bear with one another in love, or as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive.

Note, there's a legitimate, there's legitimate boundaries, and I don't deny that.

But the spirit here is self centered, not Christ centered.

And we begin believing those lies, those little slogans that we've heard the world tell us all of our lives, we've heard all of our lives.

It's self focused.

People talk about their dreams.

Follow your dreams, right?

Don't ever settle.

And the Kingdom, the scripts that it tells us, is not my will, but yours be done.

Or we make our plans as the Lord wills.

I will go into Such and such a city.

You see the difference.

The world says trust.

And there's different views, of course.

And there's the New Age movement that is not so new anymore.

But it teaches a different.

Gives different scripts too.

It says, trust the universe, good vibes only.

You know, it's the idea that there's this vague spirituality out there with no Lord in it.

It's the universe that's at one, that's our God.

And the kingdom says, trust in the Lord, not the universe.

Right.

Every good and perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning.

Every good and perfect gift is from God the Father.

Renewed thinking is when the Gospel gives us a new default.

Instead of thinking, I've got to protect myself, or I can't let them talk to me like that, we think, I am secure in Christ, I am free to serve.

I'm not going to be influenced by their words of deprecation and discouragement and condemning.

I'm not.

Instead, I need.

Instead of saying, I need approval, we think I'm accepted already.

I'm accepted in the beloved Ephesians chapter one.

Or I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me, and I can walk in humility.

Instead of saying, I must control the outcomes, we should think, my Father is sovereign, he owns a cattle on a thousand hills, and I can't obey and leave results to him.

Vengeance is his, he'll repay, he'll wrong all the right all the wrongs and justice will be in his hands.

And so the put off, put on principle makes this very concrete.

As you look at Ephesians chapter four, it's simply put off lying and practice telling the truth.

It's a matter of practicing it.

Anything that you become good at is done because you've practiced it.

You've put it into practice, you've made it a way of life.

And so you put off stealing, you start working and sharing work with your hands that which is good that you may have to give to him that has need.

Instead of corrupt speech coming out of your mouth, it's edifying speech.

Instead of bitterness and wrath, it's putting on kindness and forgiveness.

These are principles that are practiced.

It's not simply a list of behaviors here.

It's a renewed way of thinking, a different way of thinking about God, about ourselves, about others, that naturally expresses itself in different behavior.

And then, of course, another angle of this renewed mind has to do with the fruits versus the roots.

And some people don't like to do this.

You're really at a disadvantage for not going through these self assessments.

But many people spend their whole lives trimming rotten fruit off the tree of their life while ignoring the root problem.

And I think the Romans 12 passage is calling us to get to the root.

Because if we can change the way we think, then we can create a different mindset and thus a different way of living.

For example, if envy is the fruit, the root might be insecurities.

We have to discover what they are or unbelief in God's fatherly care, his provisions.

If outbursts of anger are the fruit, then what is the root?

Might it be the idea of entitlement?

Might it be the sense of control that I must control the situation?

Or maybe it's deep rooted fear that causes them.

If isolation is the fruit, perhaps the root might be shame.

And therefore you're isolated because you feel ashamed.

Perhaps it's just the opposite.

Maybe it's pride and other people just don't deserve your presence.

You're above them and you have to be isolated from the world because you're different from them.

You're special.

See, maybe that's the real root of the problem, maybe its self pity.

But the renewed mind begins to ask questions like that.

It begins to ask things like what am I believing about God right now?

And what am I believing about myself and others that's feeding this sin in my life?

Or what would I be thinking if I were walking in faith right now and loving God right now at this moment?

What would it look like?

What would I do?

And so, as roots are exposed and replaced with truth, the fruit's gonna change.

You see that?

But you gotta find the underlying culprit.

You gotta find out what it is that's making you think the way you're thinking.

Some people say it doesn't matter, just change it.

Well, you got to identify how to change it and where the root is to begin to address it.

The renewed mind says, I, I am no longer under sin's dominion.

I don't have to obey its desires.

I'm united with Christ.

I'm united in his death and his resurrection.

And I have the capacity by grace to walk in newness of life.

That I can do.

In fact, I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me.

And instead of living as though spiritual growth is an impossible thing, we think as children of God who have been given everything that's needed for life and godliness.

And so how then shall we live?

We live as people who aggressively intentionally renew our minds, exposing the Lies embracing the truth and practicing the put off, put on patterns until they become our new normal.

That's what we do.

Now we have some more time to enter our third point.

And that is not only once we renew our minds and present our bodies a living sacrifice.

But the non conformity to this age is so critical.

Countercultural people, we live in a religious world and, and the culture is pressing down upon us.

There are things that are politically correct and things that are not so politically correct.

There are things that the world is trying to coerce us to fit their mold.

And so Paul says, don't be conformed to this age.

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Paul is not just warning against obvious worldliness like immorality and drunkenness or greed.

I used to think that's that used to think that very thing years ago when I was a kid.

But rather he's warning against being pressed into the mold of their thinking.

This age has thinking patterns, it has a set of values, therefore some assumptions and priorities.

And so does churchianity as I call it, which is the man made religious systems that often mirror the world more than the kingdom.

In Romans 12 it calls the people of God to be countercultural in at least three different ways.

And I want to look at them with you.

Churchianity or people that are part of a movement, often like the Jewish movement of the first century in which the Lord lived.

They are attempting to look a certain way, they're wanting to look spiritual.

And so they attend the right events, go to the right churches, use the right religious language, protect the institution, keep people happy.

These are kinds of things that are part of the institutional mindset.

But the people of God as described in Romans 12, they lived very differently.

They're not primarily concerned with looking spiritual, but with genuinely being transformed.

They're not driven by denominational identity, but by their union with Jesus Christ and their love for his people.

They're not satisfied with surface level activity.

They hunger for renewed minds and real obedience.

Nonconformity means that we resist the pressure to measure our health by outward religious busyness.

Instead we simply ask, are we actually becoming more like Christ in how we think, in how we relate to others, in how we serve others, and maybe even in how we suffer, as Paul puts it in Romans 8, that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.

If so, be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified.

And so we want that renewed mind.

And while people are more concerned about appearances, God's people are looking about what's true on the inside.

And so they want that interchange.

Performance is more according to the world's pattern, even in religious dress.

I mean, you look at people that get up on Sunday morning and go to church, you know where they're going.

Just look at how they're dressing.

I'm not saying that that's a sin necessarily, but it tells us that they're concerned about appearances on the Lord's day that call it going to church.

So there's a religious dress.

It's performance related is what I'm wanting you to see.

Leaders are tempted to cultivate a platform, some sort of Persona and a polished image.

And when they even preach, there's a certain platform and Persona that they're wanting people to see.

And so people learn how to look moved, how to look spiritual, how to look touched, maybe even how to cry, if that need be, how to say the right phrases, how to imitate spiritual language without really any inner change within.

That can all be done.

So Romans 12 describes something very different.

It describes genuine love, not performance love.

It describes honoring others, not competing with them.

It describes patient endurance and tribulation, not bailing out when things get hard.

It describes blessing persecutors, not attacking them, and associating with the lowly, not trying to chase one's status.

This is the texture of kingdom life.

If we are conformed to this age, then we're going to value the same things the world does.

Platforms, multiple numbers and growth, the right image and influence, just.

And we do it all with religious labels.

If we see that's the world, it's what it looks like, that's what they're impressed with.

Oh, we go to that big church over there, you know, There were like 200 people there this morning, and we're impressed with that.

But if we're being transformed, that's not going to shape our thinking or.

Or where we should be or what we should do.

We're gonna value what Christ values.

Humility, truth, faithfulness, and genuine love.

So how then shall we live?

We refuse to take our cues from religious theater.

We measure our lives not by external performance, but by whether or not we are embodying the very qualities of Romans 12 and the characteristics that it describes there to us.

That will be our focus.

So as we look at that focus, we can see that there is a difference in what this present age loves and what the Lord loves and what he approves the world loves.

Systems, hierarchies, and branding.

None of those are inherently evil, but they certainly do become substitutes for genuine fellowship.

Romans 12's vision of the body is intensely relational and it's organic.

Members belonging to one another, it says, and the gifts that are used are used for one another.

Love is sincere, needs are met, hospitality is practiced.

And I get the impression from Romans 16 that that the sphere of that influence and that love meeting needs is in the home.

Now, man made institutions, they often elevate programs over people.

They elevate events over relationships and survival of the organization, over authentic humility and service.

The non conformed people of God, they go a different direction.

They're going to risk institutional comfort for the sake of truth.

They're going to prioritize people.

You know, God's people are over the machinery of the institution.

They're going to choose the simple genuine community over polished performances and institutional service models whereby one can do a good job and have a pat on the back and be praised for it, or get promotions or whatever the case might be.

These are very models of the industrial world.

To refuse conformity to this age is not to withdraw into isolation.

However, it is to build a different kind of community, one that's shaped by Romans 12 instead of by political models and corporate models.

And so, as we think about this text and the teaching of Romans 12, we will leave for the day and come back the following week to talk about the assessment of sober living that is to find in our hearts or to develop a humility of mind and heart.

And that will be our topic for next time.

Thank you again for joining us.

I hope you have a good day and a pleasant week.