Be Ye Transformed

And be not conformed to the world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:2)

Transformation is a wonder and delight. To be transformed suggests some kind of existential and exponential improvement: but maybe not, maybe transforming far exceeds changes of a positive natural. To be transformed is to be made new, with the old passing away, and the newness emerging as though the creature is almost unrecognizable. The image bearer may look the same on the outside, but the insides, the guts, have a surreal substance that is essentially, a regenerated version of self, remade in the spiritual image of God. 

Matthew Henry's description is so uplifting, that I feel compelled to share. This is for all the Christians that know that God has done, and is doing, a work of transformation in them. We go to Volume 6, Acts to Revelation, Matthew Henry, page 368:

Conversion and sanctification are the renewing of the mind, a change not of the substance, but of the qualities of the soul. It is the same with making a new heart and a new spirit - new dispositions and inclinations, new sympathies and antipathies, the understanding enlightened, the conscience softened, the thoughts rectified; the will bowed to the will of God, and the affections made spiritual and heavenly: so that the man is not what he was - old things are passed away, all things are become new; he acts from new principles, by new rules, with new designs. The mind is the acting ruling part of us; so that the renewing of the mind is the renewing of the whole man, for out of it are the issues of life, Prov. 4:23. The progress of sanctification, dying to sin more and more and living to righteousness more and more, is the carrying on of this renewing work, till it be perfected in glory. This is called the transforming of us; it is like putting on a new shape and figure. Metamorphous thee - be you metamorphosed. The transfiguration of Christ is expressed by this word Matthew 17:2:

And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 

God glow, dear reader! The transforming process, the metamorphosis experience, brings an inner glow that can be seen as gleaming light on the outside! One of the most miserable expressions seen on the faces of humanity, is their disgruntled malcontentedness. Not so with Christians that have the joy of the Lord. I want to glow like Jesus, don't you?

• A renewed mind changes the qualities of the soul
• A new heart, and a new spirit, changes dispositions and inclinations
• With a renewed mind, and a new heart, sympathies and antipathies adjust too
• With these transformative occurrences, understanding brightens, enlightens, and our conscience softens while our thoughts rectify
• Wonderfully, in this newness, the will bows to the will of God, and affections are made spiritual and heavenly  
• This remaking of the man has him living with contentment, abiding new principles, new rules, and new designs
• We put on a new shape and figure 

I have read many a time that each cell in the body is remade or renewed every seven years. Built into each human is the capacity to be new, and yet, it is the mind that must be addressed, if transformation is to take place, and that, of a spiritual nature. How we think and what we think about, impacts the whole being. Meditating on the Word and will of God, can and does, change every fibre of a person's being, when their faith is enlivened and their mind transfixed, so that their heart and soul sing God's praises. 

There are many falsified Christians. They mislead because they simply do not know the God of The Bible, and they have yet to be transformed. It is God that changes thoughts; it is by his saving grace power that we are made new and reshaped into the image of our Redeemer. He is the one that rescues us from our ugly thinking, our warped behaving, and our maladjusted approach to living. To be rectified is to be straightened out, corrected, so that we do not continue to go down a damnable path of destruction. I don't know about you, dear reader, but I am very keen on having my thoughts align with God's will, which is forever and always, the better way, and the only way, to the Father, through Christ the Lord.

Be ye transformed. Do not conform to the world. You get to choose to be like Christ, or like your dodgy acquaintances. Read The Bible, learn who Jesus is, and carry on from there Christian soldier.