Peter Barnes | Romans 12:2
SERMON NOTES
TRANSFORMED BY THE WORD
(Romans 12:2)
Verses 1-2 actually constitute one sentence – read Rom.12:1-2. Martyn Lloyd-Jones cites someone who wrote that ‘Jesus demanded not a reformation of behaviour, but a transformation of character.’
1. We are not to be conformed to this age.
– We are not to offend this age needlessly (12:18). And there is a biblical flexibility on some issues (1 Cor.9:19, 22). But we are not to conform to this age (Gal.1:3-4; 1 John 2:17; 5:19).
– A Christian swims against the current; it is the dead fish which are swept along by it.
2. Be transformed by a renewed mind.
– Our behaviour is only changed in an intelligent and substantial way if our thinking is changed first. Paul says that the Christian life is a constant renewal of the mind: ‘Let yourselves be transformed.’
– 2 Corinthians 3:18; John 6:63. The renewal of the mind comes as we soak ourselves in God’s Word.
3. Prove God’s good, pleasing and perfect will.
– for giving, see 2 Cor.8:5; for sexual morality, see 1 Thess.4:3; for a thankful life, see 1 Thess.5:18.
– Indeed, the whole of life is to be pleasing to God (2 Cor.5:9).