Conforming and transforming (Romans 12:2)
The gospel is far more than information that we understand, it has all kinds of practical implications. Paul explores this in Romans 12, which teaches that it is logical and reasonable to devote our whole lives as sacrifices to God. He then goes on to explain what this looks like in practice in v2:
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom. 12:2 ESV)
The start of this verse has a memorable rhyme in English that makes it easy to remember. Do not be conformed, but be transformed. That is one thing not to do, and one thing to do. Let’s step through this together.
Do not be conformed to this world, Paul tells us. To ‘conform’ means to look like everyone else. JB Phillips, in his paraphrase of this verse, says that we should not be pressed into the mould of this world, as in to take the same shape of life as everyone else. It is so easy to live like those around you!
Think about the people in your street or your apartment building. They tend to live the same way, live for the same things, have the same standard of living and many of the same viewpoints. People in your class or your workplace likely share similar dreams of financial success, family structures and career advancement. If you don’t think about it and just live, you will look like everyone else. You will, probably without ever making an actual decision to live a certain way, end up living like most people in your culture live. It takes an effort to stand out, to be holy. It takes intention. We are helped by the Holy Spirit, of course, but this verse tells us to do something, this takes effort that the Holy Spirit helps us with.
Do not be conformed, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Saying no to something is never enough. If you want to stop smoking, you need to replace that bad habit with something else or you will go back into it. If you want to stop eating junk food, you need to replace that with good food else the easy option will come back again. Saying “do not conform” is only half the picture.
‘Transformed’ is a big word. It is the word used when Jesus transformed at the transfiguration, when he was physically changed in front of the disciples. It means to make something completely different from before. Christians are not to be nice people with a little Jesus in their lives; we are to be very different in every way from those who are not Christians. Our becoming different, our not conforming to the world, starts with our minds. What does renewal of our minds mean? I think, in context, it is about understanding God’s word and the gospel and the implications of this. Remember that this section flows from chapters 1-11 which were all about the grace of God shown to us in the gospel. Paul makes logical arguments throughout this book. If we are exposed to God’s word and the gospel, it will change our thinking, and that will change our behaviour. Think about money as an example. If we start to understand that money is a gift from God, not ours, then that will, over time, change how we use it. It starts with our understanding and ends with our actions.
Conform and transform are actually continuous verbs in Greek. This means these are ongoing actions, not one-off actions. It is not like when you become a Christian, you manage to be completely different from the world and transformed in every way. No, this is a life-long process. Every time we are exposed to God’s word, the Spirit changes something in us. We are shown where we conform too much; we are directed to what transformation looks like in this aspect of our lives. It takes thoughtful reflection and the Spirit’s work over a long time to change us to be truly holy, different, devoted completely to God. As God’s people, we are called to be different to everyone else and fully devoted to our gracious God.