TRANSFORMERS
THE DECISIVE DENIAL

That Christians are to be transformed is clear, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” That’s what the Bible commands in Romans 12:2. But how to do it, may not be as understandable.

The first component is what I call, THE DECISIVE DENIAL. Paul writes, “do not be conformed to this world.” That requires a decisive act and it results in a denial of self.

Yet, we must underscore that sheer willpower alone is insufficient. We can commit all we want and all we have and that commitment will falter almost immediately due to our own frailty. The Christian life demands the very life of Christ and His grace and power to enable us to live obediently. Our human resolve isn’t enough. We need heavenly resources. Thank God, we have them in His indwelling Spirit!

Still, the flip-side to this is that God will not transform us apart from our willingness to yield to Him. His transforming touch is available, but must be appropriated by our surrender. You dare not isolate this verse from the context of Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

Yesterday, we introduced this concept of transformers by talking about Transformers—the robots of the old cartoon series and recent movie sequels. The fact is: we are not robots! God doesn’t program us, push a button and, suddenly, we are transformed. There must be a decision and that is to stand tall against the world, by leaning all upon the Lord. If you do not make a decisive denial of the world’s standards, you will be conformed to the world.

This is due to THE PERIL TO CONFORM WE WILL FACE. It is vital to know what we mean by “the world.” Literally, it means the “age” and refers to this present evil age of rebellion against God, where Satan is called, “The god of this world (age)” (2 Cor.4:4). John MacArthur says that the world is “the sum of the demonic-human philosophy of life.” The Apostle John helps define the world in 1 John 2:15-18:

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

The world is marked by hedonism: the love of pleasure, “the lust of the flesh”; by materialism: the love of possessions, “the lust of the eyes”; by egotism: the love of position, “the pride of life”—an unholy trinity of money, sex and power. Many have surrendered to this foe.

So, there will be THE PRESSURE TO CONFORM WE MUST FIGHT. The Greek term suggests an external pressure like squeezing something into a mold. That’s what the world is constantly seeking to do—to twist your mind into accepting its warped values, to bend your heart to pursuing its wicked vices, to shape your life into a mangled moral mess of no use to God. The world is pressuring you to spend your time on carnal pleasure, to spend your treasure on material possessions, and to spend your talent on egotistical promotion of self. You must say, “No!” in the power of the Holy Spirit.