When a person comes to the place where he or she begins to have a good working understanding of God’s Word, they will come to a turning point where a serious decision must be made. This is a decision that will determine whether or not that person will be someone who will do “what the Master does” as a disciple of our Lord.  What does the Master do? He made disciples…

The decision point is reached when a person comes to understand that they have been looking at things in a way that places their own priorities ahead of those of Christ.  It can be called a self-centered point of view, but not in the petty, selfish and negative way that we normally think about, for the person may be a really wonderful person.  The world around us would say that this person has a very healthy outlook, and they may well be right, but this person does not have the outlook of Christ quite yet. Instead, this person needs to be transformed by the renewing of his or her mind.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2

The overall context of this verse is a context of selfless service and spiritual gifts that are used solely for the building up of the Body of Christ (Rom. 12:1 ff.). Sadly, most people think that this is something that can only happen after we die, that one day in the sweet by and by we will become different, but now we just struggle on with hope for some day… While it is certainly true that when we are no longer subjected to the corruption of this world we will achieve a level of understanding and godliness we had not known here on earth, it is hardly the case that we cannot be transformed by the renewing of our minds in this life.  If this transformation were not possible, then do you suppose that the Apostle Paul would have commanded it? Read the verse again!

Any time we are commanded to do something in Scripture, we must assume that it is possible to do the thing we have been commanded to do.  Just because the ultimate attainment may occur after this life does not mean that significant progress cannot be made here.  Having said that, I will point out that this doesn’t mean that we can just flip a switch and be a different person overnight, nor are we likely to be transformed all on our own, but let’s not forget that we have the Holy Spirit working within us, and that we are in relationship with Jesus Christ. Through the working of the Spirit as we focus on our relationship with Jesus, transformation can and will happen.

Well, it can and will happen, unless we don’t believe God’s promises.

Our first step on the road to transformation is a simple decision; a commitment to open ourselves to His leading, to center our daily focus on Him, and to be ready and willing to answer His call.  Will we make that commitment and stick to it?

As these posts, and the “Journey” posts continue, I will be sharing a number of things that may help you in  this transformative process, in fact, you might also want to keep up with my posts of Biblical Covenant, as they are nearing the point where the theology of this transformation takes shape.