God Is Interested in The Transformation of Our Hearts and Minds

In his Epistle to the Romans St. Paul wrote: 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. 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. (Romans 12: 1-2)

Paul is saying he wants us to be transformed from being the kind of person that the world loves to the kind of person who pleases God and gives glory to Him. But, How Are We Transformed? Well, in the first place, let us realize that Paul is not referring to mere outward changes. Otherwise, he would have said, “Be conformed to the ways of the Church” or “Be conformed so as to obey the Law,” that would only make us like the Pharisees who Jesus told presented a good outward appearance, but inside they had hardened hearts.

God is interested in the transformation of our hearts and minds, not just our outward appearance and actions. So, Paul tells us that we must be transformed, that is, we must be changed not only in terms of outward behavior, but internally. We must be changed from within.

We need a personal transformation, an inner change, a renewing of the mind. It requires a new attitude, a new perspective, a new disposition, a new way of thinking. In other words, we are to be totally changed from within. Only God can bring this about. “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one”. (Job 14:4) So it is something that must be done unto us.

On January 20, 1961 during his inaugural address President Kennedy spoke his now famous words, “ask not what your country can do for you, and ask what you can do for your country”. This statement is extremely meaningful today regarding the state as well as the church. Many folks who select a place to worship ask what the church can do for them, not what they can do for the church. This attitude calls for a renewal of the mind that St. Paul was referring to.

Jesus told us when we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all the things we require will be provided to us. (Matthew 6:33).

The apostle Paul also tells us that: “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, (2 Thessalonians 2: 13).

Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit and is a continuous work in our hearts until the day that we meet the Lord. Therefore, when the apostle Paul says, “be transformed,” he is not suggesting that this is something that will happen overnight, for as the psalmist says, “my soul cleaveth to the dust” (Psalm 119:25). This indicates the earthly struggles and the hope found in God’s promises. It reminds us that even in our lowest moments, we can turn to God for revival and renewal

We are made of dust, and we love the dust of the world. So, it is not possible for us to be immediately transformed, it is something that we must work at and is something that must be done with the help of the Holy Spirit. Even though it is something that must be done unto us, we must respond to that work which is done within us.

Paul puts it this way in his Epistle to the Philippians:” Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.(Philippians 2:12-13)

Though it is the Holy Spirit who works within us to transform us, we must respond to that gracious work that is being done within us. But how can we renew our minds? Simply by continuing in the Word, as the Lord Jesus in His prayer to his father says: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17).

Jesus also told his disciples: “If you continue in my word, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). How do we continue in the Word? Simply by hearing and reading the Word and then prayerfully putting it into practice.

But we must begin by availing ourselves to the use of all the means of grace, especially the reading and hearing of the Word of God.

Many of the Jews departed from Christ when he begun to preach hard doctrine (John 6:66). If we refuse hard doctrine, we will be following the example of the unbelieving Jews. We must remember that it is only by the renewing of our minds, will our lives be transformed.

Many of us are so comfortable where we are that we have very little motivation to improve our spiritual life. We think that an hour or so every week spent attending a worship service is enough for our souls. But you can be quite sure of something: if all you receive from the Word is from the time spent in morning worship, then you are backsliding. The Lord says: “My people are bent on backsliding from me” (Hosea 11:7a). If your mind is not constantly being transformed through renewal, then you are backsliding. Saint Paul is warning against that happening to us, as he knows our minds should be set on things above and not on things of the earth. (Colossians 3:2)

The world we live in is a slippery slope. We must either be climbing upward to heaven or we will be sliding backward. None of us can remain the same day after day.

Jonathan Edwards remarked in his sermon on Christian knowledge: “Christians ought not to content themselves with such degrees of knowledge of divinity as they have already obtained. It should not satisfy them, [to] know [only] as much as is absolutely necessary to salvation, but should seek to make progress, all Christians should make a business of it. They should look upon it as part of their daily business, and no small part of it either. It should be attended to as a considerable part of the work of their high calling.”

While having knowledge of the scripture is a wonderful thing, but we must also remember that even Satan had knowledge of the scriptures, it is the transformation of the heart that leads to the practical application of the scriptures: And as Paul said: “may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”. Amen.

The Most Rev. Dr. Rick Aaron Reid, Presiding Bishop Traditional Anglican Church of America Rector, St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Newton, North Carolina 28658