Romans 12:2
1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to discern is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.…
Be not conformed . . . but be ye transformed.--Here the English is somewhat misleading. It would naturally lead us to expect a similar play upon words in the Greek. But it is not so; indeed, there is a clear distinction between the two different words employed. It is the difference between an outward conformity or disguise and a thorough inward assimilation. The Christian is not to copy the fleeting fashions of the present time, but to be wholly transfigured in view of that higher mode of existence, in strict accordance with God's will, that he has chosen.
This world.--Not here the same word as that which is used, e.g., in 1John 2:15-17, but another, which signifies rather the state of the world as it existed at the Coming of Christ, as opposed to the newly-inaugurated Messianic reign. "To be conformed to this world" is to act as other men do, heathen who know not God; in opposition to this the Apostle exhorts his readers to undergo that total change which will bring them more into accordance with the will of God.
By the renewing of your mind.--"The mind" (i.e., the mental faculties, reason, or understanding) is in itself neutral. When informed by an evil principle, it becomes an instrument of evil; when informed by the Spirit, it is an instrument of good. It performs the process of discrimination between good and evil, and so supplies the data to conscience. "The mind" here is not strictly identical with what we now mean by "conscience;" it is, as it were, the rational part of conscience, to which the moral quality needs to be superadded. The "renewed mind," or the mind acting under the influence of the Spirit, comes very near to "conscience" in the sense in which the word is used by Bishop Butler.
Prove.--As elsewhere, "discriminate, and so approve." The double process is included: first, of deciding what the will of God is; and, secondly, of choosing and acting upon it.
What is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.--The "will of God" is here, not the divine attribute of will, but the thing willed by God, the right course of action. Are we to take the adjectives "good, and acceptable, and perfect" (with the authorized version), as in agreement with this phrase, or are they rather in opposition to it, "that we may prove the will of God, that which is good, and acceptable, and perfect"? Most of the commentators prefer this latter way of taking the passage, but it is not quite clear that the former is impossible, "that good, and acceptable, and perfect thing, or course of action which God wills." "Acceptable," that is to say, to God Himself
Cross References
Ezra 10:11
"Now therefore, make confession to the LORD God of your fathers and do His will; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives."
Matthew 13:22
The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Mark 4:19
but the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Galatians 1:4
who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
Ephesians 4:23
to be renewed in the spirit of your minds;
Ephesians 4:24
and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 5:10
Test and prove what pleases the Lord.
Ephesians 5:17
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
Colossians 1:9
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
Colossians 3:10
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
