Have you ever wanted to know the will of God? Sure. Really everyone has at one time or another. Christians ask questions such as “Why is God allowing this to happen to me?” “What is God trying to teach me in this moment?” Even atheists, before the hard-shell of disbelief fully solidifies, struggle with the idea of knowing the will of God. When they make the statement “I cannot believe in a god that would allow children to suffer” or “Why doesn’t God stop all suffering if He is all-powerful and loving?” In all these instances there is a desire to understand the will of God.

The 12th Chapter of the Book of Romans begins with this:

“Therefore, I urge you, in light of the mercy of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but rather be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may discern what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.“

Herein is scripture’s answer to the question “How do I know what God’s will is?” Want to be able to determine the will of God? Then present your whole self as a living sacrifice and arrange your mind and heart on the proper trajectory. As often is the case with the best questions the answer opens up to something deeper to understand. Let us work backwards for a bit so that we can then plunge deeper.

If we want to know the will of God, that which Paul describes as good, acceptable, and perfect, then we must first learn to think rightly. There is a focus, a mindset, a worldview, a direction (whatever you want to call it) that will enable any of us to discern God’s will. Some well-versed students of scripture may respond, “does it not say that the Lord says that ‘my ways are not your ways; my thoughts are not your thoughts'”? IT does! This may seem contradictory. To be sure, I am not suggesting that we can fully know the mind of God nor ever completely understand all there is to know about him. But I am saying that there is a way for us to discern God’s will in our lives and in the world around us. These truths can exist side by side. Furthermore, the very fact that God’s ways and thoughts are not our ways and thoughts reenforces the idea that we have to change our own thinking in order to discern. The thought process we are going to be discovering together is not natural to a person.

Do not to be conformed to this world but rather be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

There are four words in the passage that we need to briefly touch on. First is mind. Here Paul is referring to more than simply our brains and intellect. Paul didn’t use the other normal words for mind found in Greek. He used nous. This comes from the Greek verb for perception and understanding. So, this is more than just thoughts, but intentionality. It is both how we think and what we do. This intentionality derives from the way that we see and perceive things.

Imagine that you are walking and see a man grabbing at an elderly woman on a street corner. You may think to yourself that he is assaulting the woman. You may think he is robbing her. Then you realize he is preventing her from stepping in front of traffic. The difference in the three is perception. Once you have all the inputs the intentionality of the action is clear.

Another example. If you were reading in your home and suddenly hear loud popping sounds and explosions, you might be afraid that something horrible was happening outside. If you remember that it is New Year’s Eve, you will be less afraid for your life and more afraid for your roof because you will have discerned that those sounds are from fireworks and a celebration is happening.

Paul says that we can discern God’s will by the renewal of our nous through transformation, the second of the four words. The Greek is a word that we are all familiar with metamorphosis, the changing of one thing into another thing. The most common example is of course the caterpillar that enters the cocoon and exits a butterfly. Once common and green with lots of feet and strange bendy locomotion now with beautiful wings and flight! I was at a funeral once when the preacher shared that the caterpillar actually becomes a soupy mixture inside the cocoon. All that the caterpillar was is gone. The butterfly is literally something new.

Something that can be lost in the English translations is how the transformation is taking place. Without getting into the weeds of verb tenses and grammar, the simple point is this transformation is happening to you it is not of your own doing. Like the caterpillar the metamorphosis is outside of our control. How can this be? It is the work of the Holy Spirit. While this is not self-evident in these verses, as we journey through Romans together it will become more obvious.

A quick note about the trajectory that we are on. Over the past three years I conducted a weekly Bible Study where we studied in this order Luke, Hebrews, Philippians, and Romans. This Bible Study was part of the reason that it took so long for me to complete the blog post series on Mark. This post is the first in a series on Romans wherein I am going to try and integrate and convey all that I learned over those three years. While Romans will serve as the roadmap, we will take rest stops and side trips into those other books I mentioned along the way. The overall journey I pray will be mutually beneficial.

While the transformation is not something that we “make happen” there is a way in which we can allow the transformation to flow more easily in our lives. There is something that we can do to get out of our own way to what the Holy Spirit is trying to accomplish in us. We can experience the transformation more readily only if we are not conformed to this world.

Conformed is the third word. Conformity is often poorly spoken of because it presents the image of being like everyone else. Young people are often masters of conformity, but truth be told so are adults. One 18th century theologian wrote “all men are born original and die copies.”

When I was in boot camp we went through a structured regimen of conformity. We were issued the same clothes, given the same hair cut (shaved), and went through the same daily routine at the same time. We were being made to conform so that we could act as a team and think collectively and not as individuals. Conformity by itself is not a bad thing. As believers we are to conform to the image of Christ. As I type this the Summer Olympics are happening. I can assure you that the swimmers are more successful conforming to the strokes that they were taught than to conform to the things that I do when I am in the pool. The problem with conformity is not the action itself but the object of the conformity. Which leads us to the fourth word.

Do not be conformed to this world.

We live in a post-modern world where facts are “fluid,” and all things are only true in so far as they are believed to be true. That is not the world of God. We also live in a world that teaches that we must put ourselves first. We live in a world that suggests that coming out on top and survival are the only things that matter. I could go on and on, but it would belabor the point, and I suspect that most people who have read this far understand that there is a disconnect between most of what we call culture (no matter where you live) and the ways of God.

I do want to clarify that when Paul uses the term world here, he is not trying to denounce the actual physical creation. World here is a way of saying the current Age. For Paul there is the current Age and the Age to come. We will see as we go through Romans together that Paul typically refers to the current age as the flesh and the age to come as the spirit. This may seem confusing. No matter what words are used for the distinction, the concept is what will shape you and how you live. I prefer to think of them as spheres of influence on your mind and soul.

There is a focus, a mindset, a worldview, a direction (whatever you want to call it) of the world that shapes our thoughts and actions. Paul is telling us that if we want to understand the will of God then we have to have eyes to see the distinctions between the two spheres that influence us. We develop those eyes by resisting conformity and allowing transformation.

Let’s reconsider the verses again, this time with a more paraphrased translation:

“Therefore, I urge yall, because of God’s mercy to present your bodies as a living sacrifice set-apart from the world around you and striving to embody God’s ways. This is the sort of worship that a person with the Holy Spirit offers. Resist conforming to this world by embracing the Spirit’s transformation of your every thought and intentions so that you can come to understand the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.“

In order to learn how to embrace this other way of thinking, doing, and being we will need to begin our journey through Romans. We need to unpack and understand all that Paul has written up to the “therefore” that begins chapter 12. As I mentioned above, to do so we will be drawing on other parts of scripture emphasizing Luke, Hebrews, and Philippians specifically. Our journey into how to be transformed begins with the first highlighted word above: mercy.

But that is for next time. Thank you for reading. If this post blessed you, please share it with a someone else. As always it is freely given. You are welcome to use it although it would be nice if you credited where it came from.

Peace to you on your own journey, vaya con Dios!