Romans 12 Lesson

TRANSFORMATION

Our focus verse for today’s lesson is taken from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans.

It highlights a fundamental change that occurs in the mindset of a Christian as they mature in their faith:

• “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformedby the renewing of your mind.” – Romans 12:2.

Being transformed means, “To make a thorough or dramatic change in the form, appearance, or character of.”  

To be clear, Paul is not talking about a small, subtle change.   No, Paul is talking about something much more powerful!  

The change that Paul is talking about only comes when we commit our entire beings to following Jesus.   When we do that, the change in us will not only be dramatic, we will be transformed!

So how do we go about transforming ourselves into the servants that God created us to be?  

There are two things that we will highlight in today’s lesson that all of us can do to begin this transformation!

1. Study God’s word,
2. Apply what we learn.  

We will look at each of these two steps in more detail below and then the lesson will be yours.  

STEP 1 - STUDYING GOD’S WORD

Being in God’s word every day changes us, as God’s awesome power transforms us into the people that God created us to be.  

The following scripture teaches us that we can increase our faith by spending more time in the Bible:

• “Faithcomes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” – Romans 10:17.

If we are going to be transformed, we need to change the way that we think.  

Transformation means no longer following the crowd and doing what everyone else is doing.

Transformation means recognizing that God is above all things and that His commandments are the basis for how we determine right from wrong.  

Paul wrote about this in his second letter to Timothy:

• “All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

STEP 2 - TAKING ACTION BASED ON GOD’S WORD

Once we commit to studying God’s word, we are well on our way to being transformed.  

The next step in our transformation is to apply what we have learned.

Sounds simple, right?

Not so fast!

The Bible teaches us that Satan Is The Ruler Of The Earth.  

God is temporarily allowing Satan to rule the earth until he ultimately gets defeated, as described in the Book of Revelation.  

And Satanwill not go down without a fight.  

Consider the following two verses that warn us not to underestimate our opponent:

1. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, thedevil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” – 1 Peter 5:8,
2. “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” - Revelation 20:10.

As we study God’s word and put it into action, Satan will do his best to throw us off course.  

That can manifest itself in peer pressure, temptation, or any number of ways.

We must never underestimate the lengths that Satan will take to try and stop our transformation.  

To counter his attacks, we can do two things:

1. Put on the full armor of God, as described in Ephesians 6:10-17,
2. Resist him! James wrote, “Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” – James 4:7.

We all must challenge ourselves to learn the Bible and then to act on what we have learned.

At times, this may involve little changes, and other times, it may involve a huge leap of faith!

CONCLUSION

As Christians, we are not to conform to the sinful ways of the world.   Instead, we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds! (Romans 12:2)

We do this by studying the Bible and then putting what we have learned into action.  

Reading the Bible is not enough. The scribes and the Pharisees did that!

To please God, we must take action, as James wrote in his epistle:

• “What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?   If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?    In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” –James 2:14-17.

In the next verse, James wrote:

• But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” – James 2:18.

It is our works that show our faith!

If we are going to be transformed, we must take action!  

In conclusion, there are two things that we must do if we want to be transformed followers of Jesus:

1. Study God’s word,
2. Take action based on what we have learned.

When we do these two things, we are on our way to being transformed into the people that God created us to be.  

We will end today’s lesson with the following Psalm:

• “Create in me a clean heart, God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.” - Psalm 51:10-12.