Living Consistent With a New Idenity: Radical Transformation

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
1789 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104-5215 : Info: Phone (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Today’s Date: August 13, 2006

Living Consistent With A New Identity: Radical Transformation
by Dan Trygg

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

The word in Romans 12:2 that is translated as "be transformed" is the Greek word, metamorpheō. It means "to change the essential form or nature of what you are", or "to become something entirely different from what you are". In the NT, it is used four times. Twice it is used to describe the transformation that came over Jesus when He was transfigured on the mountain before His three disciples. In fact, it is a form of metamorpheō that is translated as "He was transfigured". The description of Matthew was "and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light" (17:2; cf. Mk. 9:2). Whatever happened, there was no natural explanation for it. His essential nature was changed before them. Suddenly He became luminescent, and even His garments were illuminated.

Another place the word is used is II Cor. 3:18. There, Paul is making a comparison between the dynamics of the old covenant, which was law-based, exterior to the inner heart of people, and the new covenant, which is internal in nature, empowered by the Spirit within. Moses was the giver of the old covenant law, and the greatest example of its glory. He was privileged to meet with the manifestation of God’s presence, and saw a bit of His "afterglow" (Ex. 33:18-23). Being in the presence of God’s glory radically affected the appearance of his face. When he returned from meeting with God, the surface of his face radiated the glory of God. In his case, however, this was only an outside-in, skin deep effect, much like the dynamics involved in being in the sun too long. Most of us have experienced that. We might not even be aware of it, but others can see our skin beginning to turn red. In a similar fashion, Moses did not know that his face glowed (Ex. 34:29). Others told him about it. Furthermore, just as the sunburn begins to fade, the appearance of the glow on Moses’ face would diminish with time. He did not want people to see the fading away of this glory, so he would cover his face with a veil. When he met with God, he would remove the veil and get "recharged", so to speak. He would then speak to the people, and they would see the glory radiating from his skin. After delivering the message from God, Moses would again cover his face, so that people would not see the fading glory (vss. 34,35). It is clear that Moses himself was not "transformed", it was only the appearance of his skin that was temporarily changed.

Paul used Moses’ experience to draw a distinction between the old covenant and the new. The old covenant did nothing to change or transform the heart. It was external. It was a list of attitudes, behaviors and duties to be performed or avoided in order to be pleasing and acceptable to God. The law was an accurate portrayal of what God’s holy nature and morality required of those who would be in communion with Him. The problem was the weakness of our human flesh (Rom. 8:3). The law didn’t deal with the sinfulness of our inner hearts. In actuality, what the law could only do was show us how bad off we were (Rom. 7:7). In a sense, the law set us up to fail, simply because it asked us to do what we could not maintain. The sin nature, that which rebels against restriction and which selfishly wants to do what is evil, is actually aroused by the law. The law not only shows us where we fail, but also is used by the sin nature to deceive us and cause us to choose sin, which leads to spiritual death (Rom. 7:8-13). This is so much the nature of the reaction of sin to the law that Paul says, "apart from the law, sin is dead" (Rom/ 8:8), and "the power of sin is the law" (I Cor. 15:56). Of course, the law was never intended to solve our sin problem. No one can be justified by works of the law, because no one can keep it perfectly (Gal. 2:16; Jas. 2:10). By exposing sin, and making us aware of both our accountability to God, and that our sin brings us under His wrath (Rom. 3:19,20; 4:15), the law is a tutor that brings us to the end of our self efforts, the strivings of the flesh, and prepares us for the good news of the righteousness God gives us freely by faith in Christ (Gal. 3:21-29).

Christ provides a righteousness which is credited to us when we trust in Him. God knew we could not ever be righteous enough on our own to satisfy the demands of His holy nature. Jesus came to be a corporate head for humanity, a representative who could take our place, and even take us into Himself (Rom. 5:12-19; II Cor. 5:14). As He died, not only were our sins paid for, and the just requirement of the law fulfilled, but also our old sinful selves were put to death with Him. His righteousness is counted to those who trust in Him. Furthermore, as Paul tells us, if we were united with Him in His death, we shall also be united with Him in His resurrection (Rom. 6:5). The power of the resurrection is the basis for the new creative power of the Holy Spirit which makes us new creatures when we come to Christ (II Cor. 5:17; Jn. 3:3-5). In spite of what we may see and feel, the apostle John tells us, "now we are children (offspring) of God" (I John 3:2). That new inner nature is not able to sin, being born from God’s own seed, and having been created in holiness and righteousness of the truth (I Jn. 3:9; Eph. 4:24). To use Jesus’ word picture, it is a "good tree" that can only bear good fruit (Matt. 7:17,18). So then, if we receive this gift of righteousness, and are born from above, we are to live by the dynamics of that new life. We are no longer to live by the old way, trying to keep the law by our own efforts. If we try that, we will get the same pitiful results as before. It is like we make Christ to be of no practical benefit to us (Gal. 5:2-4).

Instead of living by the dynamics of the old covenant (the law), we are to live by the power and leading of the Spirit inside of us (Gal. 5:5,16,18,25; II Cor. 3:5,6; Rom. 8:6,14). In the OT, that was the difference between the old covenant, and the new covenant that God was going to establish for His people. He was going to give them new hearts and put a new Spirit within them, His Spirit. This would make obedience possible (Ezk. 11:19,20). The Spirit would cause them to walk in His ways (Ezk. 36:26,27). Jesus instituted this new covenant (Lk. 22:20), and we have the promised Holy Spirit, so that we could thus be transformed. This change comes from the inside out. Instead of restraining the old sinful nature, our focus can now be on following the new desire to do God’s will, which the Spirit causes to rise up within us (Phil. 2:12,13). Giving ourselves to follow our heart’s desires is liberty (II Cor. 3:17). The more we get to experientially know God, …the more we understand His love and His delightfulness…, the more we find ourselves transformed or transfigured (metamorpheō) into becoming increasingly like Him. This comes from the Spirit within us (II Cor. 3:18). Unlike Moses’ temporary glory, which was only skin-deep and soon faded away, this transformation is from our inner being, and increases in intensity as we continue to grow.

The final passage in the NT that contains the word, metamorpheō, is Rom. 12:2. There the form is an imperative, a command. Literally, it would be translated "transform (yourselves) by the renewing of your mind". Like the II Corinthians passage, this change comes about as we understand more of who God is, and what He has done in our lives. As we become comfortable in our relationship with God, …established in His love, discerning the promptings of His Spirit, and growing in His grace…, and we begin to grasp how to put off the old way of living and walk with Him according to the inside-out working of His life, then we can begin to "test-out-by-trial-to-discover the will of God" in our lives. Our lives will radically change as we live out the inner working of His Spirit within us. Everyone will see the difference, and will recognize that God is at work within us. The key to this outward change is the growing understanding that we are not who we once were. God has put an entirely different nature within us that we must come to understand. There is an entirely different way to live than what we have known up to now. The command to "to change the essential form or nature of what you are", or "to become something entirely different from what you are" is only possible because God has put a new life and a new nature within you. The "transform (yourselves)" of this passage is based upon this premise, ...otherwise it would be an impossible command. We are different than we used to be. We just need to learn to tap into that new life, and express it in our behavior.

The word "metamorphosis" is a direct derivative of the Greek word, metamorpheō. The clearest example of this radical transformation in the world of nature is the change that takes place in the life of a caterpillar as it becomes a butterfly. It is hard to imagine that the graceful creature flying around from flower to flower could ever have been a worm-like caterpillar. The transformation is so incredible! It had multiple sets of legs as a caterpillar; as a butterfly it has only six. Its mode of transportation changed from crawling through undulating its wormlike body, to flapping wings on its back. As a caterpillar, it was an eating machine, chewing up many leaves with its mandibles; as a butterfly, it no longer chews anything, but nourishes itself from nectar sucked through its long, coiled tongue. The change in its form, and its manner of living is so dramatic and complete that it is almost incomprehensible that it could be the same creature. This transformation happens mostly within the cocoon, away from human eyes. Even this stage, however, is not without effort. Time lapse photography reveals that the bug inside the shell of that receptacle moves, wiggles and struggles, as its body is reworked and the new form takes shape. When it emerges, it must fight and struggle against the confining, constrictive hole it manages to open in the cocoon. This process requires great effort, but is necessary, so that the fluids contained within its wings could be wrung out as it emerges. Finally, it must stretch out those new wings and flap them, so that they open up properly and dry. When its transformation is complete, it must learn to use these new appendages to fly away and start its new life. This natural metamorphosis is meant as an illustration of what we must go through in our transformation. The inner working is there, but we must work hard to work out the salvation that God’s Spirit is working in us (Phil. 2:12,13).