Transforming Your Mind:

These [in Berea] were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so." - Acts 17:11

Romans 12:1-2 - Transforming Your Mind:

Biblical Insights on Spiritual Renewal and God's Will

(1) Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. (2) Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

New International Version copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

These verses summarize what must occur during the conversion process. The apostle Paul presents our marching orders directly. We are to sacrifice our bodies while we still live, that is, submit ourselves wholly to God and to His way of life, which is only reasonable, since having redeemed us, He owns us completely. In addition, we are to reject this world's attempts to pull us back into its ungodly lifestyles, despite its many allurements. Instead, we are to engage in the transformation of our minds into perfect alignment with God's will.

Paul calls it "the renewing of your mind." This renewing is not making the mind new in the sense of time. For instance, to say one has a new bike suggests that it was recently purchased; someone else has not used it. The renewal of Romans 12:2, however, speaks to quality. We might understand it better by using the terms "refresh," "revive," or "rejuvenate." When a tool—say, a chisel—is old and dull, a craftsman will renew it by cleaning off the rust, sharpening the edge, and perhaps putting on a new handle. Essentially, this is what God is doing in renewing our minds. He is taking an old, ill-used mind, cleaning it, sharpening it, and putting it to use in His work.

Consider that another spirit has had many years to shape our minds to follow his way (Ephesians 2:2; Revelation 12:9). Satan the Devil's way of life is that of pride, vanity, lust, greed, envy, deceit, murder, adultery, and covetousness—all the evil things that we are supposed to be putting off. While he had a hold on us, Satan impressed his ungodly way on our minds, but now God has called us and is now in us by His Spirit, transforming us, refreshing our minds, so that we can change the quality of our minds from carnal to spiritual. The transformation that we are undergoing will take us from the self-absorbed, degenerate, sensual mentality to the outgoing, pure righteousness of God's own mind.

The last part of Romans 12:2 can be paraphrased as "so that you may test or experience all the benefits of His will." Without His mind being formed in us through the Holy Spirit, we would have no way of truly understanding His will or His way. Our minds must be transformed so that we can have even the capacity to understand the differences between God's way and Satan's way, as well as the overwhelming benefits of living as God prescribes. Only then, as it says in Deuteronomy 30:19, can we truly "choose life." This process is happening in us so that we can make the choices that will allow us to live eternally.

— Richard T. Ritenbaugh

To learn more, see:
What Is Real Conversion? (Part Five)

Leviticus 19: 35-37

God's Demand for Honest Weights and Measures in Society

 

Leviticus 19:35-37 - God's Demand for Honest Weights and Measures in Society

(35) "You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. (36) You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. (37) "Therefore you shall observe all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them: I am the LORD.""

New King James Version copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

In earlier times, food and other goods were measured out by weight using a balance. A standard weight (typically made of stone) was placed on one side, and the material being measured was put on the other. When the balance was level, both buyer and seller knew that the amount had been measured correctly.

However, human nature being what it is, it did not take long for the unscrupulous to use one stone for a standard when buying and a different one for selling. In this way, they could "tip the balances" in their favor by using weights that were advantageous to them. Using such a "double standard," as it came to be known, might materially benefit the individual, but it was highly destructive to the overall society because it bred distrust and suspicion. Thus, God's Word makes it clear that universal and unchanging weights and other measurements are crucial to the smooth functioning of a group of people:

• Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight. (Proverbs 11:1)

• Honest weights and scales are the LORD'S; all the weights in the bag are His work. (Proverbs 16:11)

• Diverse weights and diverse measures, they are both alike, an abomination to the LORD. (Proverbs 20:10)

• Diverse weights are an abomination to the LORD, and dishonest scales are not good. (Proverbs 20:23)

As with most of God's instructions, though, over time the Israelites paid them little heed. Before Israel's fall, these principles were commonly violated, and God links these practices with deceit, violence, wickedness, and oppression (Amos 8:5-6; Micah 6:10-12; Hosea 12:7). Their dishonest dealing was part of the same pattern of unfaithfulness wherein the people were more interested in their own well-being than in their covenant responsibilities to God and man. Whatever the motivation, the overall result was societal breakdown as the individual exalted himself against God and his fellow man.

Actual balances are rare these days, and Western civilization has seen to it that we have standard weights and measures, so the instructions in Leviticus may seem to have little relevance now. However, godly principles are timeless, and though the application may not be the same, honest weights and scales are still crucial for a smooth and peaceful society. When God re-gave the law to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land, He broadened His instructions regarding honesty in measurement:

You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light. You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure, that your days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD your God is giving you. For all who do such things, all who behave unrighteously, are an abomination to the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 25:13-16)

The fact that one's "bag" (pocket or purse) and one's "house" are specified indicates that not just the measuring at the shop or depot is important. Honest and balanced measuring is needed everywhere—in the home and anywhere else one goes with a "weight" in one's pocket. Anytime something must be weighed, God demands that the scale or balance we use must be as accurate as possible. He does not use "abomination" lightly, yet that is how He consistently describes using varying standards when weighing or measuring. Thus, we must take great care not to use a lenient standard to measure ourselves or our friends and a harsher one for someone else. Having differing standards will contribute to the breakdown of society through distrust, suspicion, disunity, or even oppression.

Our carnality moves us to weigh things in our own favor or according to our preferences. We are inclined to cherry-pick evidence that tips things to our advantage and discard or minimize facts that could tilt matters away from us. But with God's Spirit and the new heart and eyes that He has given, we have the wherewithal to use honest weights in relation to others.

Anytime there is a group—such as a church—it is natural and easy to "weigh" it, especially in relation to any group we are not part of. When such measuring is done, great care must be taken not to use differing standards—a light one for our particular group and a heavy one for another. After all, the "society" at risk for disruption is not some human enclave but the spiritual Body of Christ! The relationships in it must be protected if the Body is to grow, and that begins with not despising. A "just weight" is God's delight, as Proverbs 11:1 says, because it indicates that the individual is working for the good of all and not just the good of one.

— David C. Grabbe

To learn more, see:
A Just Weight Is His Delight