The Gospel & Salvation: Do Not be Conformed to This World

CTW – Matthew 7:13-14

Do Not Be Conformed to This World

Romans 12:2

 Read Romans 12:1-3.

For the last few weeks we have been looking at what the genuine work of salvation produces in the life of the true believer. The work of salvation makes us new creatures in Christ. The Scriptures teach us that old things pass away and new things come. This is because the work of salvation involves the removal of a heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh. The work of salvation makes us to become worshipers of God, who worship in spirit and truth. It makes us to become those who delight to do the will of God. We will become obedient to our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.

Under the umbrella of obedience we have seen that we will obey our Lord’s command to be baptized. We will become obedient as slaves of our Lord. We will be obedient as a willing sacrifice. This was our message from Romans 12:1 last week. After eleven chapters on the doctrines of salvation, Paul turns his instruction to the practical implications of the work of salvation. He urges us, as his brethren in Christ, to present our bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God. He tells us that this is our logical service of worship.

Our study of the obedience salvation produces has gotten increasingly demanding. It is one thing to be obedient to follow the Lord in baptism. That is a one time event. It is important because we make a public proclamation that we will walk in newness of life. Then, we find that the New Testament calls us to the obedience as a slave of our Lord. We learn that we exist to do His will, to live for His glory. We are not our own. We belong to Him. We have been bought with the precious blood of Christ. Last week, the demands of obedience were even harder because we learned what it means to present our bodies a living and holy sacrifice, pleasing to God.

I wish it was as easy as waking up each morning and putting on my obedience shirt and that would give me everything I need to live as obediently as I should throughout the whole day. I do something like that. I get up and get my Bible and I read God’s word and I pray. I pray for wisdom to walk each day in a manner worthy of my calling. I start each day with good intentions, but far too often, I find that presenting my body as living and holy sacrifice requires me to die to self. Sometimes I struggle with that.

I am sure that Paul understood this challenge. Presenting our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God – this is a tall order. We said last week that this was one of those things that “says easy, does hard.” Paul knew that those who would read this letter would look at the idea of presenting themselves as a living and holy sacrifice as a difficult aspect of the Christian life. The thought of dying to self and living as a slave and a sacrificial offering to God is too much of a demand for most people. Most people will look at that and decide that there must be a less demanding way to walk with God. This is why there are so many people on the broad path that leads to destruction. The broad path does not have a sign on it that says, “This way to hell.” It is taken by the majority because they believe it is an alternative way to the narrow difficult path. Most people are hoping that there is an easier way.

The reality is that there is no other way. God’s work of salvation will make us those who are willingly walk the narrow path, the path of the life of a slave of Christ and a living and holy sacrifice. This does not mean that there are not things that will get in the way. This does not mean, that even as true converts to Christianity, we will not be tempted to shrink back from such demands. What would be some of the obstacles that stand in the way of life as an obedient slave and a living sacrifice? The two biggest obstacles are found in the world and within.

Paul follows the instruction of verse 1 in which he tells us what we are to do, with the instructions of verses 2 and 3 where he tells us of two things we are not to do. We are not to be conformed to this world, and we are not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. The two greatest obstacles to a Christian life as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, are the influence of the world, and the influence from within. The influence within is pride. Today we are going to understand the threat of the influence of the world, and how to counter that influence, because this is what Paul gives us in verse 2. Next time we will begin to look at how to counter the influence from within, which is nothing more than our pride.

I love and appreciate the way the Holy Spirit inspired the logical and practical layout of the Scriptures. When I read of something that is quite challenging to obey, I appreciate the follow-up insight and instructions that tell me how to do it. I appreciate the warnings. I don’t know about you, but I need all the help I can get, and the Holy Spirit, through Paul, gives us everything we need pertaining to life and godliness.

Paul begins here by warning us against the outside influence that would prevent us from presenting our bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God. It is the influence of the world. We encounter this concept of the world often in the study of Scriptures.

Very often when the Bible speaks of the world it uses the word “kosmos.” “Kosmos” has several shades of meaning and includes the created physical world, the mass of humanity (John 3:16), the sphere of control of the evil one (1 John 5:19), and even this present world order of things that is opposed to the kingdom of Christ (1 John 2:15). 

In Romans 12:2 Paul uses a different word which is translated “world.” It is the Greek word “aion.” (ay-on) This word describes this present world with its cares, temptations, and desires. The Germans have a name for it. It is zeitgeist, or the spirit of the age. One writer defines it as, “all that floating mass of thought, opinions, maxims, speculations, hopes, impulses, aims, aspirations of the current world, which constitutes a most real and effective power, which is the subtle informing influence…it is the spirit of the world of men who are living alienated and apart from God.”

It is not hard to see that the spirit of the age and the dominating philosophies of our time are contrary to the life we are called to as followers of Christ. There isn’t a single thought process, philosophy, or idea that comes from the world that is going to encourage us to lay down our lives as living and holy sacrifices to God. The spirit of the age encourages just the opposite. The philosophy of this world is that everyone deserves to be free, happy, and every individual as the right to decide for themselves what will produce this freedom and happiness. The spirit of the age promotes, not the denial of self, but the exaltation of self. This is because the dominate philosophy of the world is humanism. This is the belief that man, not God, is at the ultimate authority in life.

If we evaluate the “world” and it’s dominate ideas by the truth of God’s holy word we expose them for what they are. They are marked by darkness, lawlessness, deceit, idolatry, the denial of God, the elevation of man, rejection of truth, love of sin, rejection of Christ. The world is blinded by Satan. They are atheists who practice sexual perversions of every imaginable variety. They are anti-marriage, anti-family, anti-Bible, and anti-justice, anti-morality, and anti-authority. They do not accept the idea that truth is objective. It is subjective. The only truth that matters is my truth. If it is true to me, it is true. If I don’t agree with it, it is not true. This is the dominate spirit of the age. This is the zeitgeist of our world.

This is why James warns us that the wisdom of this world is demonic. (James 3:15) It is no wonder that James writes in James 4:4 that friendship with the world is hostility toward God. He says that whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James tells us in 1:17 to keep ourselves unstained by the world.

Sometimes, if we are not very careful, and if we are not intentional and purposefully strategic, we are sucked into the influences of the world. This has happened to the modern church to the extent that it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish the modern day Christian of our culture from the unbeliever who lives according to the spirit of the age. The world has shaped the thinking of the modern church more than the Bible. When this happens we are being conformed to this world. The distinctive identity of “Christian” means little in this modern world. As a result, we are ineffective at reaching the lost.

One writer says this, “This masquerade costume which saints sometime put on, hides the Lord Jesus living in the heart of the Christian, and is an opaque covering through which the Holy Spirit cannot radiate the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. The world says to that kind of Christian, ‘The modernism of your appearance nullifies the fundamentalism of your doctrine.’”

This is why Paul writes to the Romans, and to us, “do not be conformed to this world.” The word translated “conformed” is “suschematizo” (sue-scheme-a-tidzo). It is the word from which we get our English word “schematic.” It is a compound word which adds the preposition “sun” (soon) meaning “together with” to the verb “schematizo” which means “to fashion.” The word means “to fashion alike, to conform to the same pattern outwardly.

This is a call to all Christians to not allow themselves to be squeezed into the world’s mold. Stop assuming an outward expression which is patterned after this world, an expression that does not come from, nor is an expression of who you are as a child of God. Stop masquerading in the manner of the world with its speech, expressions, styles and habits. Stop being molded by the external, fleeting, and empty fashions and philosophies of the age.

The spirit of the age and the Spirit of God are on opposite sides of every critical issue of life. The world’s position on God, the Bible, salvation, marriage, family, and child rearing are diametrically opposed to the positions of Scripture. Unfortunately, the position of the world and the influences of the spirit of the age are adopted by those who call themselves Christians.

I saw an example of this recently. You have seen it also, especially those of you who have been involved in the home education process with your children rather than sending them to public schools. I had a conversation with a Christian man and we were talking about how often children raised in conservative, evangelical homes go away to college and abandon the faith. He didn’t know much about me and he seemed to indicate that the biggest reason for the problem was these home schooled kids who are “overprotected” and never exposed to anything. 

I thought about our conversation later and it occurred to me that I couldn’t think of a single warning in the Bible about “overprotecting” our children. God knows much about successful parenting. He ordered the utter destruction of the pagans in the Promised Land because He didn’t want His children exposed to their pagan ideas. The children of Israel did a lousy job of honoring God. It wasn’t because God was overprotective. They failed because they didn’t follow God’s instructions and eliminate the threats of contamination from the world. This is just an example of how easy it is for the philosophies of the age, the spirit of the age, to reach into the lives of God’s people and impact the way we think and act.

The influence of the spirit of the age is not new. If you remember from Matthew 16 the story of Jesus asking His disciples who the people thought He was. “Who do the people say the Son of Man is?” The answers varied from John the Baptist, to Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Jesus then said, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter got it right. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus commended Peter. God had revealed this truth to him. At that moment Peter was thinking with a kingdom of Christ mindset. My friends, not being squeezed into the world’s mold means we keep a kingdom of Christ mindset.

But how long was it before Peter’s thinking was corrupted by the spirit of the age? From the time of Peter’s insightful declaration Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer and be killed and raised on the third day. Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked Him saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan!” What was Peter’s problem? He was allowing the thinking and philosophy of the spirit of the age shape his own thinking. He was squeezed into the world’s mold. Peter was convinced that there was a better way than the way outlined by Jesus. Peter believed in a path to glory that avoided the suffering of the Savior.

This is interesting because Peter had fallen victim to the temptation Jesus had successfully withstood in the wilderness early in His earthly ministry. If you study the temptation of Jesus by Satan, this was the temptation to take a path of glory that avoided the agony of the Cross. Satan is the ruler of the spirit of the age. He tempted Jesus. Jesus stood firm. Satan tempted Peter and Peter took the bait. We are still being tempted by the spirit of the age and the temptation is to believe that there is a path to glory that avoids the necessity to take up our cross and follow Jesus.

The threat of the church being influenced by the world is seen in the New Testament church. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 6 for a moment. Look at verses 14-18. Paul begins with this imperative. “Do not be bound together with unbelievers.” The KJV says, “Be not yoked together with unbelievers.” This is Old Testament language. Deuteronomy 22 forbade the yoking together of different burden bearing animals. Don’t yoke together an ox and a donkey, for example, to pull the plow. Oxen and donkeys have different temperaments, different natures, different capabilities. To put them together is to unequally yoke two different beasts. It should be very obvious to Christians that we are of a different nature, different temperament, different spirit than the world, but I guess we are sometimes not as attentive as we should be.

There was no other church in the New Testament more influenced by the world than the Corinthian church. They allowed the spirit of the age to influence most every aspect of their Christian walk. So Paul asked several pointed questions and he anticipated they would be able to get the answer right. He asked, “what partnership have righteousness with lawlessness?” The answer is “none.” What fellowship has light with darkness? What harmony has Christ with Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? The answer is always the same. It is “none.” Read the rest of that passage through verse 18.

If the church at Corinth needed this admonition, how much more does the modern church of America? The modern church has modeled the world’s music, the world’s messaging, the world’s corporate promotion strategies, all in an attempt to make the church attractive and appealing to the world’s sinners. The result is that the church has become hard to distinguish from the world. As the church goes, so goes the individual members of those churches. Paul wrote to the Colossian church to tell them in Colossians 2:8, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the traditions of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”

Jesus prayed a very important prayer for His disciples in John 17. Turn there for a moment. Read verses 14-19. Jesus knew the threat of His disciples living in the world controlled by the evil one. He did not ask for the disciples to be taken out of the world, but to be kept from the evil one. This is a prayer that Christ’s followers would not be pulled into Satan’s snares. It is a prayer that we not be conformed to this world.

Paul does not simply give us the negative imperative to not be conformed to this world, but he gives the “how to” instructions necessary to obey the imperative. We defend against being squeezed into the world’s mold by being transformed by the renewing of our minds. The Greek word translated “transformed” is “metamorphoo.” (meta-morph-aw-oh) It is from “meta” which denotes change and “morphoo” which means “to form.” The word means to transform, transfigure, or change one’s form. It was used to describe the change of form when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain in Matthew 17:2. Jesus’ earthly form was transformed and His supernatural form was revealed. This was evidence by the radiant glory of His garments and His countenance.

Our transformation is the result of the “renewing of our mind.” Renewing is “anakainosis.” (ana-kane-ow-sis) This word describes a renewing or renovation that makes us different than we were in the past. Before we are born again, we have been programmed to think like the world. Our thinking is understandably fashioned by the influential sources that feed the mind.  What we watch, read, or listen to shapes our thinking. Our thinking leads to our decisions and our decisions lead to our actions.

Paul is calling us to change our thinking to a way of thinking that will lead to an outward expression different from an outward expression consistent with the spirit of the age. Our outward expressions must reflect and accurately represent the new creation of salvation and the obedience of a living and holy sacrifice. Prior to the saving work of Christ our outward expressions expressed our sinfulness and our depravity. Our new, or renewed way of thinking will produce outward expressions representative of our regenerated inner being.

Titus describes this in Titus 3:5. “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which have been done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” This is the same word for “renewing” in our verse in Romans 12:2. It describes a qualitative renewing. The work of salvation produces regeneration, or new birth, and a renewing by the Holy Spirit. This is consistent with what we recently learned about the results of salvation and the new birth. We are made to become new creations in Christ. Old things pass away and new things come.

The work of salvation, by the renewing of the Holy Spirit, is producing a renewing of the mind. The Holy Spirit guides us into all the truth, Jesus tells us in John’s gospel. He convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment. He teaches us the truth of God’s word and our thinking is renewed. With renewed thinking our decisions will be based on a new way of thinking and our actions will reflect the transformation of salvation. One writer puts it like this, “This renewing is a change of outward expression which is dependent upon the renovation, the complete change for the better, of the believer’s mental process. This is accomplished through the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit, who when definitely and habitually and intelligently yielded to, puts sin out of the believer’s life and produces His own fruit.”

It is when this is happening that we will come to this blessed result. We may “prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. This is an infinitive in the Greek that expresses purpose or result. “Dokimazo” (dock-i-maud-zo) means to try, prove, distinguish, and approve. It has the notion of proving a thing whether it is worthy or not. What is it we are “proving?” We are proving God’s will.

God’s good and acceptable and perfect will of God is prescribed in the Scriptures. We prove, or approve the will of God when we live by His specifications for life. We test our attitudes, actions and words against the standard of God’s specifications to see if they meet those specifications laid out in His holy word. 

If this is a challenge to do anything, it is a challenge to carefully examine those things that are informing and influencing our thinking. If we are exposing ourselves to the things of the world, our thinking will be conformed to the philosophies of this world. Maybe we just need to do an honest assessment of our attitudes, actions, and words. Our attitudes, actions, and words are the outward expressions of our way of thinking. If those are not according to, or consistent with the will of God as revealed in the word of God, maybe we just need to be honest about how much we are being conformed to this world.

The world, or the spirit of this age, will be a roadblock to prevent us from presenting our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God. But if we are transformed by the renewing of our minds, we will begin to think like Jesus. Jesus was the perfect example for us of a living and holy sacrifice. His sacrifice we will remember as we turn our attention to the elements of the Lord’s Table this morning.

I would encourage you to carefully examine yourself. Are you a true follower of Christ? Are you living in obedience to Him? Are you presenting your body a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God? The point of the ordinance of the Lord’s Table is to take us back to the Cross where we examine carefully, and consider deeply, the sacrifice of our Lord. He has saved us. He has purchased us with His blood. He wants to manifest His life through us. In order for this to happen we must present our bodies a living and holy sacrifice. A transformed mind is a mind centered on Christ.

Let’s pray.