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| The Transfiguration, Carl Bloch, 1865 |
“Be transformed by making your mind over, so that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”—ROM. 12:2.
They write:
'HOW often do you clean your home? Perhaps before you first moved in, you scoured it thoroughly. But what if you neglected it afterward? As you know, dust and dirt can accumulate quickly. To keep your home presentable, you need to clean it regularly.
'A similar ongoing effort is required when it comes to our thinking and our personality. Of course, before getting baptized we worked hard to make necessary changes in our life in order to “cleanse ourselves of every defilement of flesh and spirit.” (2 Cor. 7:1) Now, though, we need to follow the apostle Paul’s counsel to “continue to be made new.” (Eph. 4:23) Why is continual effort needed? Because the dust and dirt of this world can quickly accumulate in us. To avoid that outcome and to remain presentable to Jehovah, we must regularly examine our thinking, our personality, and our desires.'
Are sinners called upon to 'worked hard to make necessary changes in our life in order to “cleanse ourselves of every defilement of flesh and spirit,' in order to qualify for baptism? Is the Christian life one long struggle to come up to Jehovah's exacting standards, and show ourselves worthy? What essential element of Christian conversion and the Christian life is missing from this narrative?
Sanctification
Any Bible student will know that Christians are called to increasingly walk in the light of God’s love. This involves reading and understanding God’s word, examining ourselves to see if we are in the faith (2 Cor.13:5). However, for the Christian Bible student, this is not something we do in order to qualify but something we do because, in Christ, God has qualified us, as this Romans 12 text, taken in context, demonstrates.
‘Be transformed by making your mind over, so that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.’ NWT
‘Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God…’ ESV
‘Making your mind over’ makes no sense. The literal translation in the Kingdom Interlinear reads, ‘but be you transformed to the renewing of the mind.’ Their ‘translation turns the work of God into a work of man. These two translations don’t say the same thing. Theirs says we are to be transformed by an act of will, you ‘making your mind over.’ The commentary says as much, ‘before getting baptized we worked hard to make necessary changes in our life in order to “cleanse ourselves of every defilement of flesh and spirit.” (2 Cor. 7:1) We are told, 'A similar ongoing effort is required when it comes to our thinking and our personality.’
‘Transformed’ here translates metamorphoó, which is rendered ‘transfigured’ in Matthew 17:1,2 and Mark 9:2. The only other place we find it is in Paul:
‘And we all, with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.’ (2 Corinthians 3:18)
The second (ESV) translation brings the true meaning of what Paul is saying. ‘We are being transformed…’ It is a work of God in the life of the believer. This is a classic description of salvation leading to sanctification.
Therefore…
Paul
begins Romans 12 with a ‘therefore.’ A
‘therefore should always take our eyes back to what has gone
before.
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.’
In other words, ‘in light of all that has already been said…’ What has already been said? Eleven chapters have explained the amazing mercies of God to which Paul now appeals as giving us every reason to trust that, ‘He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.’ (Philip.1:6)
Let’s walk the Roman Road.
Everyone has sinned (Ro.3:23)
No-one is righteous - not even one (Ro.3:10)
The wages of sin is death (Ro.6:23)
God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us even when we were still sinners (Ro.5:8)
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Ro.10.11-13)
In this way we have peace with God (Ro.51)
‘There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus (Ro:8:1)
This is why Paul is able confidently write:
'For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.' (Romans 8:38-39)
The transformation (metamorphosis) of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration was fundamental, happening in the moment, before the eyes of the disciples his true nature revealed.
The inner transformation of the believer, the transformation of the mind, of the outlook is likewise fundamental, happening in the moment of conversion. What Paul is urging is that the believer learn to walk in the outworking of that inner transformation in daily life, confident, ‘that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.’ (Philip.1:6)
This is what is meant by grace (Gk charis). In his commentary on Romans John Stott writes, ‘It is well said by Thomas Erskine of Linlathen that ‘in the New Testament religion is grace, and ethics is gratitude.’’ He goes on to quote the 1st century Stoic philosopher Epictetus:
‘If I were a nightingale, I would do what is proper to a nightingale, and if I were a swan, what is proper to a swan. In fact I am logikos (a rational being), so I must praise God.’
God has begun a good work in a true believer, a work that makes them see the world differently, out of a changed mind. Paul is urging his readers to work that out in daily life ‘that by testing you may discern what is the will of God…’ In fact, you are a Christian, so you must obey God, as a nightingale sings, or a swan glides.
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