Transformation is at the heart of today’s discussion as we delve into what it truly means to be part of God’s people. We unpack the essential process of renewing the mind, emphasizing that this transformation is not just a one-time event but an ongoing journey that requires commitment and sacrifice. As we explore how to identify genuine saints, we highlight the critical attributes that define them, such as love without hypocrisy, a genuine disdain for evil, and a fervent zeal for doing good. It's not merely about personal perfection; rather, it's about progress and the daily choice to embody the virtues that reflect a heart transformed by Christ. Join us as we navigate the complexities of this transformative process, encouraging one another to embrace the new life that comes with being renewed in mind and spirit.

A deep dive into the transformative journey of faith takes center stage as we explore how individuals can shed their old selves and embrace a new identity in Christ. Our discussion kicks off with the realization that transformation is not a mere change; it's a profound renewal of the mind that requires intentional surrender to God's will. We emphasize that this journey begins with the heart, where one must be willing to relinquish the old ways, effectively 'killing' the former self to make way for a renewed existence. What does this transformation entail? We break down the process of mind renewal as outlined in Romans 12, which serves as a blueprint for identifying genuine love—love that is active and devoid of hypocrisy. It's not just about warm sentiments but about tangible actions that reflect true goodwill towards others. This leads us into a discussion on the characteristics that define God's people, such as a commitment to love, a disdain for evil, and the pursuit of good. Each attribute is a reflection of a heart that has been transformed by Christ, showcasing that our actions and attitudes must align with our newfound identity as children of God.

Takeaways:

• Transformation begins with the renewing of the mind, which is crucial for spiritual growth and genuine change in our lives.
• To truly identify as part of the people of God, we must reflect the characteristics of Christ, including love without hypocrisy and a commitment to good.
• The process of transformation is not about achieving perfection, but rather about making consistent progress and returning to truth when we fall.
• As Christians, we are called to embody a lifestyle of servitude, humility, and love, actively seeking to help others fulfill their obligations to God.

Good day to you and again, thanks for joining us in the study.

We have begun a new series of thought with regard to the people of God and just what that looks like.

As far as how we identify individual saints.

What do they look like?

How would we identify them?

How would we know indeed whether they are the called out or not?

And we begun by emphasizing the importance of transformation.

And it takes place by the renewing of the mind.

And that the soil must be prepared, the heart must be prepared.

One must have surrendered his will to the will of Christ.

When all of that is in place and the commitment is made, the sacrifice has been made and we've killed the old man, slaughtered him and put him to rest, as in burying the hatchet, you bury the old man and and you resurrect a new man.

The intent is together or fully to committed to being a Christian, a child of the king.

And we then commit our lives to his keeping.

We put our faith in him and we trust him and we follow.

And we are truly disciples of Jesus Christ.

Well, that is a description of this transformation process.

Were not yet made perfect.

Paul would say of himself, I'm not yet arrived, I'm not resurrected, I haven't achieved it.

But I press on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

And so we must understand that there are marks or identifying characteristics that describe God's people.

And this renewing of the mind, that is the hinge of transformation.

It starts with renewed thinking.

Without that, nothing changes.

So Paul gives a very condensed description of it in Romans 12.

This is where we left off last time, and it begins in verse nine.

And here's the list.

Love without hypocrisy.

It's genuine.

There's no pretension.

It's true love.

It's not loving with words.

If you ever need anything, let me know, I'm here for you kind of love.

It's not saying be thou warmed and filled, James 2 and not giving them the things needful for the body.

It's actually initiating and doing for others.

That's what love is.

It's active goodwill, it's contributing to others needs, it's getting out and accomplishing, fulfilling the role as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Brotherly love is a reflection of that heart transformation.

So love without hypocrisy, the hatred for evil, we abhor evil, we, we have the same attitude toward it that God does.

We are committed to doing good.

Brotherly affection, honoring others.

And certainly there's a great value in that.

Now we don't sit there and make a judgment on whether we think they're honorable or whether they've lived in such a way as to deserve our respect.

If you want to do that and really examine with a microscope the lives of every individual, including yourself, you'll find out, if you want to be real, scrutinizing and very detailed in your judgment, that there's not one of us that's honorable.

We've all done dishonorable things.

That's the reason.

There's not one of us that deserves any special recognition from God.

For the same reason we've all fallen short of his glory.

All have sinned and are in that condition.

We understand then that this is not based on flawless perfection, but that's the intent of the heart, and that's where we're progressing.

That's where we want.

That's what we're dwelling on.

That's what we're focusing on.

That's where the battle is.

It's what's going on in the mind.

And so as I honor others, put them before myself, prefer them and their interests and their hopes, I'm preferring them.

I'm looking to their best interest, not my own.

And that's what love is.

It sacrifices self, puts it on the altar of sacrifice and says, how can I serve you?

What can I do today to be an instrument of.

Of a blessing to you?

How can I make life easier for you?

How can I help you fulfill your obligations to God?

And that's a very critical thing for husbands and wives.

Rather than trying to place blame on each other, it's rather, how can we live in such a way to make it easier for them to be loving or to be submissive or to be, you know, I'm saying, so this is all part of the renewing of the mind.

I've got to start there.

I've got to honor others.

He talks about zeal as being another byproduct of this renewing of the mind.

Spiritual fervor, being zealous, patience and suffering to endure.

And that's what he means by patience.

He's not talking about sort of passive waiting for something to occur so I can go about my business.

But he's talking about to endure such difficulty, suffering, pain.

And that is a byproduct of the renewing of the mind.

Hospitality is mentioned.

Blessing persecutors also mentioned.

Rather than being bitter and vengeful and retaliatory and hoping that they get their deserves, that's what they deserve.

And we're not going to lift A finger to be of any assistance for them in any respect, because they're not deserving of my attention.

That's not the mind of Christ, don't you see?

And so in order to get there, you have to renew your mind.

You've got to change the way you think about your persecutors.

Peacemaking.

What a wonderful characteristic of God's people.

Rather than being those who sow discord among brethren, rather than being that person who wants to come around and gossip about you and try to destroy you and tear you down.

They're looking at every, every suggestion to put the best construction on your behaviors, to expect the best, to think the best, to put the best construction on every action that is presented before them.

They believe all things, they hope all, they endure all things.

And they expect the very best out of us.

They're peacemakers, they're commending others, brethren.

They're not judging them, they're not criticizing them, they're not tearing them down, but instead they're presenting them or making a presentation of honor toward them.

This is a characteristic of God's people.

How do you get there?

You've got to change the way you think.

You've got to have the mind of Christ.

You see, this humility is mentioned.

Overcoming evil with good.

These are just some of the things listed here.

There's quite a few lists, actually.

It's quite lengthy.

But it isn't by any means intended to be exhaustive.

But it gives us a sample, just a flavor, a sense of just what it means to see the fruit borne by this transformed thinking, this transformation.

Now this is transformation, though in action.

When you ask the question, how then shall we live?

As we've emphasized, it begins with the renewing of the mind.

But the outflow of a changed mind and a renewed heart is what Paul describes in verses nine through 21.

And when you see that, you expect to see the fruit, the byproduct, you see, of this mind that is set on the Spirit, this mind that has.

It's the mind of the spirit.

In Ephesians 4:24, he's producing spiritual, valuable fruit as opposed to the carnal things of the world.

And so transformation, as we look at Ephesians 4, it has to do with the replacement of the old.

You put to death the old, but you don't just squelch him.

It's not just a matter of trying to suppress the bad that you once exhibited in life, but it's a matter of replacing those negative things that once described you that you have put to death, replacing it with positive, the opposites.

And so for every sin that you're trying to do away with and put off, you replace with the positive.

This is such valuable information.

But now, again, you can't do that apart from the transformation, the renewing of the mind, that has to happen first.

It's just like Romans 6.

And I've said this before, and you've heard me say it more than once.

It's not a good thing to bury a dead, alive man.

And what happens, according to the language of Romans 6, is a lot of people are think they can be baptized as some sort of a miracle, that once we do that, we're a new man.

Well, my friends, if you don't kill the old man and bury him in baptism, you've not done anything but bury a live man, the same old man that you once had.

So you have to kill.

It's a very radical transformation.

You have to put to death the old man, and then it's replaced by a new resurrected life.

So that's kind of the thought that's presented there in Ephesians 4.

So he begins to, in a very methodical way, gives us some examples of what that means, principles of life.

It's very essential, very practical, and absolutely biblical.

Because for every sin that belongs to the old man that describes that old way of life, there is a corresponding virtue that belongs to the new man.

We need to identify them, we need to understand them, and we need to practice them, put them into practice.

You've already built a powerful list before, but here's some of the list of replacements.

For lust, there must be purity.

For pride and unlawful ego, there must be humility, envy is goodwill, Wanting the very best for people and being commendable when that good job is done.

And being praise, praising them, commending them for anger, that is the wrath of man.

I'm not talking about all anger.

And we'll look at some of these examples because so many people just don't understand anger, for instance, or lying, even that.

And we began to cast fingers and accuse God's people for things that they're not guilty of.

And the reason that it's brought up is because the enemy wants to put down the people of God.

We want to show some discrepancy, something that says this is all a hoax and not to be believed.

And it's all a lot of lies.

And.

And so it can create a sense of satisfaction that as we've resolved not to have anything to do with the Lord or any spiritual application in our lives.

We feel justified now because we can put blame on them as being really, it's all a hoax.

There's no truth to it.

And so that's what the world is trying to do.

We're going to be looking at some of those things and identifying just what is wrong with anger and when is it sinful.

Deception is replaced with integrity.

Laziness is replaced with diligence.

Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him work with his hands that which is good that he may have to give to him that has need.

Greed is replaced with generosity.

Willingness to sacrifice.

Fear is replaced with faith, confidence.

This is the heart of transformation.

It's not willpower, it's replacement.

It's recognizing what needs to be replaced and what it needs to be replaced with.

Once that information is there and the heart has already been prepared for it, it's inevitable.

And so you don't just white knuckle your way into holiness.

You replace sinful roots and thoughts and attitudes and practices with their opposite expressions of righteousness and holiness.

Now, every Christian walking the path of renewed life will face some accusations, as I've already mentioned, some internal, some external, some spiritual, and some from others.

In Revelation 12 calls Satan the accuser of our brethren.

He misuses guilt, he distorts memory, he weaponizes our past failures.

And he will return where we failed before.

He'll return if we haven't completely done away with the past, broken down those walls, those fortresses that have been left behind, if we don't totally get rid of them and make no provision for the flesh, he'll return with the same effort to disrupt your life and to tempt you to do the same thing that you've once done in the past.

And so while we need to cling to the truth that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ, and that thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So then, with the mind I serve the law of God, and with the flesh the law of sin.

Romans 7, Romans 6:11 says, Reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin.

2nd Corinthians 5:17 says, Old things are passed away.

Behold, all things are become new.

Transformation, friends, is directional.

It's not perfection, it's progress.

It's the renewing of the mind.

It's a process of it's not a completed process, it's ongoing.

It's progress, not arrival.

Paul says, I'm not yet made perfect, but I press on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Even Paul said, I've not yet arrived.

I'm not yet made perfect.

But I keep pressing on.

That's the life of the Child of God.

It's also faithfulness.

It's commitment.

It's not flawlessness.

Transformation is all of that.

And the evidence of it is not in never falling.

It's not in never sinning again.

But it's in always returning to truth, whatever that is.

Always rising when we fall, always continuing, never giving up, even in the face of accusations and ridicule of others who would want to throw us down and cast us down and make us look as if we're a failure and we've denied the Lord or whatever lies Satan wants to throw at us.

It's always being renewed, always renewing the mind.

Setting our affections on things above, walking after the spirit, setting our mind on the things of the spirit.

That's the mindset.

That's what we continue to reach for despite our imperfections, you see.

How then shall we live?

We live in an age of confusion of every kind.

I mean to tell you, there are so many lies out there.

Well, that's no doubt evidence of Satan's work.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of people whose hearts have not been prepared for transformation.

They're believing lies.

It's the easy way.

It's the easy course.

It's much easier to blame the other.

Those on the other side of the aisle, so to speak.

It's easier to blame them and castigate others as the reason for our failures and the reason for the mess that we're in, whatever that is.

It's just much easier to do that than it is to take responsibility and say, I am what I am by God's grace and confess it, make amends, kill that old man and be transformed by the renewing of the mind.

It's much easier just to start blaming others.

And so there's so much confusion.

There's sexual distortions of every kind, moral chaos and religious, I would call it shallowness.

Modern culture offers no vision of holiness, no moral compass, no foundation for mercy and justice or righteous living.

And so I say to you, my friends, the Romans 12 passage is our answer.

And we will be going back to it over and again.

We'll be looking at Ephesians 4 as our method.

Romans 12 is the answer, but Ephesians 4 is our method.

And Romans 6:8 is our identity.

It describes who we are.

We are the people of God, if we are truly his, the true Ecclesia, called to be distinct from the world and its systems to embody the life of Christ in our relationships and our ethics, in our attitudes, our mind and our deeds.

Transformation is not some mystical experience.

It's intentional and it's truth driven.

Let me say a word or two about that.

I hear so many people talk about truth as being relative.

And I understand that, you know, to be.

To be, I guess, less offensive and gentle with others.

I have admitted on many occasions in my studies with you that it is my opinion, my humble opinion, or my understanding of Scripture that this is so.

I've heard even my enemies say, well, he's preaching his opinions.

They would rather me say, this is what God says, and then cram it down your throats, whether they like it or not.

I'm not going to do that.

That's not the general behavior that I read about God's people.

But I do realize and I do accept the fact that there is truth and that it's not relative, that God has revealed his will to man and it's very clear as to what he wants.

Now, the problem is that human beings muddy the waters.

They make it difficult for us to understand truth because of so much prejudice and because of so much erroneous teaching that we've accepted at some point in our lives.

It becomes very difficult for us sometimes to understand what that truth is.

I understand that that is a very big obstacle.

It's a hurdle to overcome.

But the fact of the matter is there's still truth.

It may escape us on occasion because of such prejudices, but it still doesn't.

It still doesn't say that there's no absoluteness, that there's no truth.

God and his will, his revelation to man is true.

And my condition, my need for a savior, my need for Christ is the truth.

And all the lies that I tried to, that human beings attempt to use, to try to make it easy on refusing and casting away any sense of guilt and responsibility.

These all play a part in what I want to believe is true.

But all of that still doesn't change the fact that there is truth and it's absolute.

There's nothing relative about it.

Again, my understanding of it may need to be corrected, but again, it's still.

It's the truth.

And it's shaped through God's revelation, His Word.

It is also the daily choosing of the new over the old.

That is, this transforming of the mind is an ongoing process.

That means that each day I choose, I have to remind myself who and what I am and that I choose the.

The new over the Old, it's a choice.

And then last of all, it is the lifestyle of the resurrected.

When you think about the resurrection of Christ, the glorious accomplishment that's accomplished in that, and his ascension, his glorification as he returns to the Father to sit on his right hand, all of this becomes a pattern for us.

In fact, the whole life of Christ is a pattern for us to follow.

Even as he begins his walk among men, he goes before John the immerser.

And John says, what are you doing coming to me?

I have need to come to you, and do you come to me?

And he says, you just need to allow it, suffer it now to be so.

King James says, for thus it behooveth me to fulfill all righteousness.

Christ never asks us to do anything that he himself hasn't patterned.

He becomes the captain of our salvation, the one who's paved the way, who's gone on before us to leave us an example.

He who did no sin.

Neither was guile found in his mouth.

And when he was reviled, he reviled not again.

He returned not to threaten, but committed himself to him that judges righteously.

In a very similar way, we do not retaliate.

Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

And so I accept that and follow in the same path of my Lord.

But as soon as I come out of the resurrected life, I'm expected to face the onslaughts of the enemy.

Immediately after Jesus was resurrected from his baptism, of course, the Spirit of the Lord fell upon him.

And God says, this is my Son, in whom I'm well pleased, hear him.

And then immediately the Spirit takes him into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

That's very same thing.

Immediately that's going to happen to us as we make this new progression, this new commitment, this new life.

Immediately it's going to be tested.

And we're tested and tested over and again, just like the Lord was.

How did he whip it?

How did he overcome the temptations?

Well, you know how he did it.

He said, each time it is written, and it's only by our understanding of that Word, the power that is in the Word, and our use of the Word is what's going to get us through the temptations.

Being aware of the avenues of Satan, being aware of his devices, understanding that he's the source of it, and then responding each time with truth.

So I'm interested in what is the truth?

What is it that defines the people of God?

And so this will take us into a long journey together.

How then, how shall we live?

Who are We.

And so this is the life that God intended for his people from the very beginning.

We live as the transformed people of God, renewed in mind, patterned after Christ, and committed to embodying the good, the acceptable, the perfect will of God in our own generation.

Romans, chapter 12 again.

And in verse 2, I leave with you a passage of Scripture that we have alluded to from time to time regarding God's people.

I want to take you to first Peter, chapter two.

Peter is really talking a great deal about suffering.

And as we've already identified suffering as being one of the marks of God's people.

But in chapter one he gives us a very brief summary of what we've just went over.

And I want to again hope that you see this as you read scriptures like this, that you put those thoughts together.

Let's start with verse 18.

Forasmuch, then, as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers.

See, that's the past.

You put that out, put that away, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times.

For you, who by him do believe in God that raised him from the dead and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God, seeing that you have purified your souls and in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart, fervently being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God that lives and abides forever.

Now, I'm not quite through yet, but I want you to see that the emphasis here is on the word of God.

It's eternal.

It abides forever.

It's the seed.

And a seed will produce after its kind.

And if we've been born again not of corruptible seed, but by the incorruptible word of God that abides forever, then what's that say about us?

A seed will produce after its kind.

So what does that say about us?

Well, listen to him as he makes this very point.

For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.

The grass withers, and the flower thereof falleth away.

You see?

It is appointed.

A man wants to die, right?

Then comes the judgment.

We are that flower of the field that one day is here and tomorrow is gone.

Fades away.

But now notice what he says.

But the word of the Lord endures forever.

And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached to you.

The implication, friends, is we're going to live eternally too.

But it's going to depend on two things.

What seed are we planting in our hearts?

And two, are we receptive to it?

Are we accepting of it?

Or will we believe our lies continually?

Well, that's the start of what we want to be emphasizing in the next several weeks.

Thanks again.

Have a good day and a pleasant week.