Transformed Thinking

Daily Bread

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Note this text from Romans,

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2 – NASB)

I am of the belief that the key word here is “mind.” The dictionary defines “mind” as, “the element, part, or process in a human . . . that reasons, thinks, feels, wills, perceives, judges, etc.” Within the “mind” takes place conscious decision making, processes that determine a path to take, choices as to what to say, what to do, what not to do.

God would have us to “not” have our minds “conformed to this world.” The Greek word for “world” here is aion. Greek scholar Archbishop Chenevix Trench expounded upon the meaning of this word in this way,

Aion (English – “age”) – “that floating mass of thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, notes, impulses, aims, (and) aspirations, at any time current in the world.”

“Age” speaks of the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era.

The apostle Paul writes to us, “do not be conformed” to this!

Rather, he writes, let your “mind” be “transformed,” let it be “renewed.” You used to think one way but now God is calling you to think differently, listening to the beat of a different drum.

Dr. John MacArthur writes as to how our thinking is “transformed,”

“renewing of your mind . . . A Christian renovates his mind by knowing the Word of God and applying it to his life (note: Psalm 119:11; Colossians 1:28; 3:10, 16;) . The renewed mind is a mind saturated and controlled by the Word.”

The goal is transformed thinking! God does not desire that we mortify our minds, become irrational, commit intellectual suicide, but He does desire that we change our minds, that we become biblical in our thinking. He desires those He has saved to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Paul and other New Testament writers emphasize this transformation throughout their writings. In Ephesians Paul writes,

“. . . and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Ephesians 4:23 – NASB)

Brethren, God has made it clear that His will is for us to strive after transformed thinking, a different thinking that is opposed to that of the world. And we know that He has provided for us the “mechanism for change,” . . . His Word, the Bible, the Holy Scriptures.

Through those who are “renewed in the spirit of (their) mind” God impacts a fallen world, an “age,” with His “will,” His thoughts, His messages to mankind. He uses believers who are transformed in their thinking to do this.

Have a good day . . . and as you walk be taking in the Word of God, allowing God to transform your mind that you might “prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)

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