From the MLJ Archive

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: We are still in process, as most of you will remember, of considering the first two verses in the 12th chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Romans. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this 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."

Now, here in these two verses, as we've already seen, the Apostle gives us what is in many ways, I suppose, the most remarkable summary that is to be found anywhere in the New Testament of the Christian teaching or doctrine concerning sanctification. It is a great theme, of course, in the New Testament, a theme that is applicable only to Christian people, to believers. Sanctification has nothing to say to those who are not Christians, but it is a very vital doctrine for Christians.

It means, of course, the kind of life we are to live because we are Christians. And here the Apostle introduces it all in just these two verses. We've considered the inducements or the motives which he puts before us as he calls upon us to do this. It is in the light of all we've been learning in this great Epistle. It is because of God's mercies to us. And now we're considering what we actually have to do in practice.

And the first thing we saw was we present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our intelligent, mental, reasonable service to God. And then, having told us that, the Apostle then comes down to greater detail, if you like, or he puts it in a slightly different way by putting it now in terms of how we are actually to live. There's the fundamental thing: you present your bodies even to God and all their faculties and powers.

But now he says, "I want to be more particular, and here's one thing: don't be conformed to this world." He starts with a negative. Here you are as a Christian in the same old world that you lived in before. How are you to live? Well, the first thing is this: don't live as you lived before. Don't live according to this world; don't be conformed to it. Hitherto, your whole outlook has been governed by that. It must be no longer the case.

Now, there is the negative, and we've dealt with that and have tried to show how that must be interpreted in a biblical and in a scriptural manner. We mustn't impose our own ideas and theories into that word "world," otherwise, as we've seen, we can go astray. Now then, there's the negative. We come now to the positive. "Be not conformed to this world: well what then? Well, be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind."

Now, this is a most important statement. They're all important, but this really is one of the most crucial of all. Now here, you see, the Apostle tells us not only what we are to do positively, but he gives us the reason why we are not to be conformed to the world what he's already told us in the negative. It's only as a man understands this positive statement that he can see that it's inevitable that he mustn't be conformed to this world.

And it, at the same time, provides us with the only real incentive in this practical sense to the living of the Christian life. I don't hesitate to say that the whole secret, if you like, of living the Christian life, the whole secret of understanding the biblical doctrine of sanctification, is found in this phrase: "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." Now what does it mean? Well, I want to show you first of all this evening that the Apostle's doctrine really is in two words in this verse.

And the two words are the one we've already been glancing at, namely, the word "conformed," and this other word, "transformed." You see his contrast: "Don't be conformed to this world, but be ye transformed." Two most important and vital words. Now what do they mean? Well, let's first of all look at the word "conformed." We've been considering in practice and in detail what it means not to be conformed to the world and its way.

But now let's really look at the meaning of the word "conformed" which he uses. What's it mean? Well, now here is a definition that's been given of it which seems to me is excellent. It is the act of an individual assuming an outward expression that does not come from within him and which is not representative of his inner heart life. I want to repeat that. That's the real meaning of this word "conformed."

It is an act of an individual, or it is something that an individual does when he assumes or takes on or puts on an outward expression that does not come from within him and which is not representative of his inner heart life. Now, that's not some theory that I've got. I'm giving you now a definition which you can find in the writings of the authorities on these matters, the lexicographers. That's they tell us the real meaning of this word, that is it what it represents.

Now, let me give you one example which will show you at once what an excellent definition that is of this word "conformed." The same word really is used in Philippians 2 with regard to our blessed Lord and Savior. Now let me start reading at verse 6: "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." Then verse 7: "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men."

Now that's the word, that word "likeness." This is an account, you see, of the incarnation. And what it tells us is that the Son of God, the eternal Son of God, was made in the likeness of men, in fashion, if you like, as a man. That's what its meaning is. So what the Apostle is telling us is this: that we are not to appear in such a fashion as if we were men of the world. Now, the case of our Lord I think demonstrates it quite perfectly.

It is an act of an individual assuming an outward appearance, an outward expression, that does not come from within him. When our Lord appeared in this world as a man—as a babe and boy and man—it wasn't something that came from within him, because what came from within him was his deity, his eternal deity and Godhead. And when you look at him and see him as the babe in the manger, or as the boy in the temple, or as the carpenter, you are not seeing an outward expression of what he really is.

That is something that he assumed. He assumed that; he assumed this humanity, this likeness of men in his incarnation. Now, that's exactly the word which is just added—he just adds a prefix to it—here in the second verse of this 12th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. He says, "Never be in fashion with the world. Don't put on this outward appearance of belonging to the world." Now, there's our first word. But let's go on and look at the second.

"But rather," he says, "be ye transformed." What does this mean? Well, it's a different word obviously, and it means this: it is the act of a person changing his outward expression from that which he has to a different one. It is now something which is expressive of his inner being. It is an expression which comes from and is expressive of his inner being. You see, it's the exact opposite of the other.

The other is a sort of schema, an appearance, almost a mask, if you like, which a man puts on which is not expressive of his inner being. But here now, the man is doing everything he can with regard to his outward appearance and expression to make it expressive of his inner being, which is entirely different from what he did before. Now, let me again give you an illustration which will help to show you the exact meaning of this "transformed."

You get it in the 17th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. Let me just read the first two verses: "And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light." The word is the word "transfigured." It's exactly the same word as is translated here by "transformed."

But the idea is exactly the same. So you see what happened to our Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration was this: he now appeared in such a way and in such a form as to give people some impression of his inner nature and being. Down in the plains of life, as he'd appeared hitherto before his disciples and other people, he appeared to be just a man. Though he is the eternal Son of God, he appeared to be just a man.

But Peter and James and John, looking at him there on the Mount of Transfiguration, now see something of the Godhead shining through. Something of what he really was now became evident and manifest. That is, he was transfigured; he was transformed. The act of a person changing his outward expression from that which he has to a different one, an expression which comes from and is expressive of his inner being.

So there on the Mount of Transfiguration, our Lord is now seen as what he really is: the Godhead shines through and it becomes manifest and evident. And another use of this same word is helpful, perhaps, in 2 Corinthians 3:18: "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed," transformed, "into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

Now, that is exactly again the same word, and that is the same Apostle putting it in a slightly different manner. But the idea is the same. You see, you remember his illustration of Moses up on the mount with God and then he comes down from the mount and the people see Moses coming and they run to meet him and suddenly they stop—they're frightened. What frightened them? Oh, Moses' face was shining because of his communion and contact with God.

He was beginning to reflect from his face something of the glory of God. That's it, and the Apostle says that that is what is to happen to us as Christian people: that we are to go on being transformed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Something of his glory is to be manifest in us, and it is through us that he is going to glorify himself amongst men and women. Very well then, now those, you see, are the two keywords: "Don't be conformed, be transformed."

What is he teaching us? Well, you see, it's very important teaching and very vital teaching. What he is telling us is this: that when as Christians we live in this world in a worldly manner, we are masquerading as something that we really are not. That's what he's saying in the light of the meaning of the two words. If you see a Christian living according to this world, what you say about him is this: that man is not now giving expression to his true nature and being.

He's acting as if he were a man of the world. He's putting on an expression—he's a kind of actor. He's masquerading; he's put a mask on. That isn't a true expression of this man. That's how the Apostle's putting it: "Don't be conformed to this world. You're involving yourself in a contradiction if you do. You're giving an appearance which is not a true representation of what you are." He says, "Instead of doing that, do the exact opposite. Rather, instead of that, let your true, real inner nature now shine through.

Let it be evident; let it be manifest. Let this thing happen to you in its measure which happened to our Lord, if you like, on the Mount of Transfiguration. Let it be known that you have been created anew after his image. Let that be seen. "Be ye transformed." Now those are the two words, and you see what expressive words they are and what powerful words they are. And they're the two controlling words in this whole matter of the sanctification of the Christian.

Now, there's another preliminary point which we have to make, and it's this: does it strike any of you as being odd that this is something which we are commanded to do? And yet that is the position. We as Christians are already changed; that is the regeneration, that is the rebirth. And yet, you see, he tells us to do this: "Don't be conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind."

This is an exhortation, a command, if you like. And this is something over which people have often stumbled, but it is the characteristic New Testament way of teaching holiness or sanctification. You can put it like this—I always like to put it like this: what he's really telling us is, "Be what you are. Be what you are. You have been transformed—well because you've been transformed, transform yourself." Now, those are the two sides to the New Testament teaching with regard to this whole matter of sanctification and of holiness.

And you see, don't forget these two words. It's very good; we'll have to work this out. In a sense, he's saying, "If you as a Christian are living according to the mind and outlook of this world, you are being unnatural as a Christian. So don't do that; be natural as a Christian. Let it be evident and manifest that you are a Christian. Throw the mask away. It doesn't belong to you any longer. You once did it by nature—no longer." Very well, don't do that.

Well now, then there is the great basis of all that, and we must now proceed to consider how we are to carry out this exhortation. So I would put it first of all like this: how are we to live the Christian life? We are conscious that we are born again, that we're new creatures. How are we to live the Christian life? Now, the first practical exhortation it seems to me is this one—and it sounds, of course, to the world quite ridiculous and quite mad—but here it is: don't start with your conduct.

But, says somebody, we are dealing with the whole question of conduct here. I agree. But this is how Christianity deals with conduct: it doesn't start with conduct. What do I mean by that? Well, you see, we must stop thinking about Christian living in terms of a mere modification of our former behavior or a mere improvement on our former behavior. It isn't that. You mustn't think of it like that at all.

When you begin to consider how am I to live the Christian life, don't start immediately with the details of living. You'll go wrong if you do. You must never start like that. Well, how do you do it? Well, the answer is this: you start by thinking of the whole Christian life. You start in the realm of the mind and of the outlook and of the understanding. This I want to try to show you is a very vital matter.

I think I can say quite honestly that in my pastoral work, there is nothing that I've had to say in some shape or form more frequently than just this very thing. People come to me over particular sins and so on. "What can I do? And I've been fighting this particular sin or temptation." And what I invariably tell them is this: "Forget all about that particular sin and temptation at first." And they're amazed at that. But it's based on this teaching.

Now, let me put it like this: you don't start with the particular problems in the Christian life. What do you do? Well, you start with the whole of the Christian life. You see, it's a fundamental difference in approach. I venture to call this the differentia of Christian teaching. It's the thing that separates Christian teaching with regard to conduct from every other type of moral or ethical teaching.

Now, I remember reading once a phrase like this which seemed to me to put it very perfectly: "Jesus demanded not a reformation of behavior, but a transformation of character." I'm going to repeat that; it's worth repeating. If you do believe in putting up texts on your walls, put up that: Jesus demanded not a reformation of behavior, but a transformation of character. You see the difference? Moral systems are concerned only about behavior and reformation of behavior.

That is the one concern and interest of moral systems, ethical systems. That's the one concern about law, the law of the land. It's concerned about behavior, always—starts with it and ends with it. But you see, Christianity doesn't. Behavior to the Christian is an end product; it isn't the primary thing. We are concerned primarily not with an improvement of or a reformation of behavior, but with a transformation of character.

Now let's look at this. This I say is the whole secret of sanctification. It means, as I've pointed out to you, that you've got to handle this whole problem of particular sins in this way, in the right way. You don't start and end with them. People come and give the impression, "If only I could deal with this particular temptation, if only I could get rid of this particular sin, then all would then be well." But it wouldn't, of course, and the very fact that they think that is absolute proof that it wouldn't.

Because if they do deal with that, something else will rise. They're starting in the wrong way and at the wrong end. You've got to start by realizing the whole truth about yourself. You mustn't think of yourself as the person who does this or that which is wrong. You've got to realize what you are as a Christian. "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." So, you see, the exhortation is: don't take up these particular problems in the first instance and see what I can do about this and then try and tackle that and deal with your life in a piecemeal manner.

That's not Christianity; that's morality. Christianity says start by realizing who and what you are. Get your thinking straight; get your whole outlook right. Start with the whole, then the parts will fit into position. Now, this is to me not only a vital doctrine, but I find it a very thrilling doctrine. It was something that this particular Apostle brought out so frequently in his writings. For instance, I read to you at the beginning that section from the fourth chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians.

Because there he sets it out perhaps in extenso, in a greater way than he does here. Here he's only summarizing the whole thing. But there he really does work it out. And it is the best commentary that you'll ever find on this second verse of this 12th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. You see, having again laid down his great doctrine, he stops and says, "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord: What? Well, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind."

Be not conformed to this world. Why do they walk like that? Because their understanding is darkened, because they're alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. "But ye have not so learned Christ." That isn't what you've learned; you've learned the exact opposite.

If so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus. What then? Well, "that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind"—he always starts with that—"and that ye put on the new man." But you don't put on the new man until you've been renewed in the spirit of your mind.

Then you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. There's your doctrine. Then he says, "All right, I want to help you. What does all this mean? Well, it means things like this: wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor; be angry, sin not; neither give place to the devil, let not the sun go down on your wrath," and so on and so forth.

But here, you see, is the great doctrine, the essential teaching. I do trust I'm making this plain and clear to you. In Christianity, you don't start with the particular; you start with the whole. In every other type of thinking, you start with the particular. You see, the whole approach to the problem is different. And it's because so many don't see that, that they get into a muddle and their lives end in failure.

Very well then, I say you don't start with your practice, with your conduct, with your individual actions. You start by dealing with your own mind. So if a man comes to me and says, "Now I keep on falling into this self-same sin. What can I do?" Well, I never talk to him about that sin. That's what he wants me to do, but I won't. I talk to him about himself. I talk to him about his mind. I talk to him about his whole outlook.

And that's the only way in which Christianity gives us the victory. You see, but everything else—your physicians of morality and ethics and so on—always with this particular thing. And there you get your mind fixed on it and the devil fixes it still more, and you're already partly defeated because you're thinking so much about the particular thing. You've got to get right away from it. You start in a different manner.

Now I could illustrate this principle to you in many different ways. Let me just give you one illustration. I remember a man once having to speak in a meeting on Sabbath observance. And I've never forgotten the way in which he did so. He had been asked to do this by men who ran an organization which was concerned about the Lord's Day observance. It wasn't the Lord's Day Observance Society—it wasn't that—but it was a kind of commission or committee within a certain denomination which concentrated on that particular subject.

And this man, who normally didn't belong to that society, was asked to deliver the address on this occasion. And I remember very well how he began. He was absolutely scriptural. He was true to the teaching of this Apostle in particular. He said, "Now," he said, "you know, I always feel when I approach a subject like this, that the first thing we've got to do is to put it into its family." What he meant was this, you see: that observance of the Lord's Day is not something isolated.

It is a part of a whole. So you don't start by immediately beginning to argue about Lord's Day observance; you go away back, you put it into its context, into its setting. And then you'll see it in proportion. And that is what you do with all the problems of the Christian life. So you've got to start by the renewing of the mind. Christianity always adopts what is called "the strategy of the indirect approach."

And that's a very good way of testing any teaching that offers itself to you, purporting to be Christian. Christianity always approaches indirectly; everything else does it directly. Here you are consumed with this one thing, and you want this to be dealt with the whole time. Christianity, in dealing with it, doesn't do that; it starts away over there somewhere. I've used an illustration like this: I think of these problems very often as hurdles.

How do you jump over a hurdle? Well, what is generally done is this, isn't it? If it's a very high one in particular, and the higher it is, the longer will be the run you take before you get over it. You see, you don't walk up to a hurdle and try to elevate yourself over it. It can't be done. If you want to get over that hurdle, go a long way back, turn your back on the hurdle, walk away from it as if you'd forgotten all about it.

Then when you've gone a great distance, turn around and then run for all your worth, and you'll vault over it. That's Christianity. But it's not morality; it's not ethics. But this is essentially the Christian teaching. You've got to get this great background. You start by renewing of the mind. Now, what does this mean? Well, it really means what it says: renew. We once had a mind which we haven't any longer got.

And the whole trouble with mankind is that it's lost its true mind. It's become insane. And what it means is to get back the mind it had—renew the mind. It needs to be restored to a condition which has been lost. And this is something which has to go on. It's a continuous process, he says. "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." What does it mean? Well, now here again, you see, is a very fascinating thought to me.

Now in Ephesians there—Ephesians 4:23, I think it is—the Apostle, you remember, puts it in terms of what he calls the "spirit of the mind." Yes, Ephesians 4:23: "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind." That's an elaboration of what he says here: "by the renewing of your mind." Now, why does he trouble there to say "the spirit of your mind"? Well, this is a very important point in this way: the mind as such is really just an instrument.

And take a man who is not a Christian and then is converted and becomes a Christian. There is a sense in which he's always got the same mind. A man who was rather dull and lacking in ability doesn't suddenly become a genius because he becomes a Christian. Oh no. Some people seem to think he should, but he doesn't. Your faculties and powers are not changed when you're regenerate. You've got the same instrument that you had before.

The same mind in terms of the capacity to think and reason and be logical and so on. That's something that remains constant. The Apostle Paul had the same mind exactly as he had as Saul of Tarsus. He had a very good mind, the Saul of Tarsus—that's why he did better than anybody else in the examinations held by the Pharisees. He was always outstanding. He'd got a first-class brain. Well, let's call it "brain." That emphasizes the aspect of faculty, instrument.

Now what Paul is saying is this: that what needs to be changed is not the apparatus, is not the instrument. What needs to be changed is the spirit of the mind. You see, because there is something that even controls the mind. And that's the thing that needs to be changed. Let me put it like this to you: there are men in London tonight who are brilliant men. They've got wonderful brains—quick, alert thinking.

Yes, but you see, they're using that brain and that mind and that ability to some base and unworthy ends. That's one of the tragedies of life today, isn't it? You mustn't say about these people who blaspheme on the television and what-not these foul things that they're unintelligent—that isn't their trouble. The trouble with them is that they're almost devilishly clever. The trouble isn't in their minds; the trouble is in the thing that controls their minds.

The thing that matters in men is what Paul there calls "the spirit of the mind." That essence, that ultimate power of control which determines everything else. The interior principle of the mind, the thing which directs the mind, the thing which controls the mind and all its processes. That's the thing that's got to be renewed, not the mind itself. The mind itself is a kind of neutral instrument; it is the direction of the mind is the thing that needs to be controlled and to be changed.

And what the Apostle is saying then is this: this is the great key principle, he says, to Christian living. You must train your minds to think correctly in the new way. That's what he's saying. You must take these minds of yours that hitherto have been working in that direction, put them to work in this direction. Again, let me use a simple illustration that I've probably used before. The mind, if you like, can be compared to a steam engine, or any other form of engine—electric or anything you like.

There it is, and it's got great power. And there it is, standing on rails and it's facing in that direction. Now what you've got to do, says the Apostle, is to get that engine onto one of those turntables so that it's turning in this direction. Remember, it's the same engine, with exactly the same power, the same horsepower, or however you may be able to measure it. It's precisely the same engine. But you are now directing it in a different direction.

And with the same energy, it will go in that direction. The Paul, the Saul of Tarsus, who persecuted the church with all that extraordinary ability, excelling everybody in that even, preached the Gospel with the same energy and the same ability and with the same extraordinary manifestation of understanding. Now, that's the whole key according to the Apostle in this matter of living the Christian life.

Let me therefore sum it up to you in a number of propositions, if you like, which will help I trust to fix these—this thing—in our minds. Go back to the original trouble with mankind. Why do we have a fight with temptation and sin? Well, the answer is, of course, the Fall. What happened when man fell? What is the real meaning of the Fall? What is the significance of the Fall? What was the real thing that happened there?

Was it merely that Adam and Eve disobeyed a particular commandment of God? Was it merely that they committed one particular sin? Would to God that it were, but it wasn't. The real thing that happened there was the change in the mind and the spirit of Adam and Eve. You see, until that point, they had lived for God and to enjoy God and to obey his commandments. And all their thoughts of God were good thoughts and loving thoughts and obedient thoughts.

But the devil came in, you see, and he didn't merely praise that fruit and try to make that attractive—he did that, of course—but the thing he really was doing was this: he was insinuating into the spirit of their minds a new attitude towards God. "Hath God said?" And, "God has said it in order that he may keep you down." That's the thing that happened. It isn't the mere eating of the fruit; that is the manifestation of the change that has already taken place.

The real damage had been done before they began eating the fruit. The eating of the fruit is simply the outward expression of this thing. Their attitude to God and to themselves had undergone this terrible change. They still got the same abilities. Ah yes, but the thing that's controlling the abilities has now gone wrong. So you get a statement like this in Genesis 6:5 just before the flood: "Every imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil continually."

That's man as the result of the Fall. That's man. It is this imagination of the thought of the heart. Now, these are not just words, you see; he means exactly what he says: imagination of the thought of the heart. That's the thing that needs to be renewed. Man has become carnal; he's become fleshly. And that is the essence of all his difficulties. And so you see, there is only one thing that can deal with man's conduct, and that is regeneration. Nothing else can touch it.

That is why these men who talk in the name of Christianity of applying Christian teaching to the problems of the world are denying this essential point. You cannot apply Christian teaching. A man who is not a Christian cannot live the Christian life. Why? Well, because Christian living starts with the renewing of the mind. You see, these other people are only interested in conduct and behavior. Take the pacifists and so on.

You see, they say, "Well now, then Christ said turn the other cheek," and so on. Incidentally, apart from the misinterpretation, they show they're already wrong. They think that you can teach people who are not Christians to turn the other cheek. But you can't. That's just what they can't do. Men have been trying to persuade the world to do this for centuries. That's the whole story of civilization, and it always comes to nothing.

The idea that you can take this teaching and then get men to apply it, put it into practice, is I think the greatest denial of all of the Christian Gospel. The Christian Gospel says, "You must be born again." It isn't what you do that's wrong; it's you that are wrong. And before you can do the right things, you have got to be put right. That's Christianity. And that's where I say you see the contrast between it and all these other teachings.

And what happens in the new birth is not that we receive new faculties. We don't get new brains; we don't get new hands or feet. What we do get is a new disposition. We get a new heart; we get a new controlling principle put into us. So that now we can use all these faculties and instruments in an entirely new manner. You start, in other words, by a new way of thinking. And when you think in a new way, you'll act in a new way.

Don't start with your acting; start with your thinking. Thinking controls the action. As a man thinks, so he is, so he does. Very well then, don't start with what he does; start with how he thinks. "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind." You've got to be transformed, and the way to be transformed is to renew your whole way of thinking and your outlook. Very well, so my next principle is that the appeal to the Christian is never a kind of mechanical appeal to him to conform to a certain pattern, pattern of behavior. Never.

Now, there are people, you know, who misrepresent Christianity like that. They take their people; they say to be converted. Then they say, "Now you're converted. Now you do this, that, and that, and you don't do this, that, and that." I think that's wrong; that's terribly wrong. That's not Christianity to me. That's putting them back under a new kind of law. That's legalism ultimately. No, no. What you say to the man is this: "Look here, you're a new man. Because you're a new man, therefore."

You don't give them a list of rules and regulations, but you tell them now to remember what they are and who they are. There's nothing of the sergeant-major in the Christian life, my friends. It's reasonable—we've already met that term—it's intelligent, it's mental. You know what you're doing, and you know why you are doing it. If you are living a sort of life and you don't quite know why you're doing it, this is the text for you.

"Be renewed in the spirit of your mind." Don't live in the way you're living simply because other people do. You must know why you're doing it. You must understand why you're doing it. In other words, in Christianity, it is always the inward state that matters: the spirit of the mind, this transformation, this shining forth of the inner being. That's the thing that matters. The Christian's conduct, in other words, is not something that he adds on to his life.

It's not like putting on a suit. What is it? Oh, it is the outward expression of something that is within. I'm going to borrow another of my own illustrations, which I think I've often used in this pulpit. That is the difference between what you'll be seeing in a few weeks at Christmas time. You know, people have their Christmas trees, and they hang onto the trees apples and pears—they're all artificial. They hang them on with a bit of string which is as invisible as possible, or a very thin bit of wire.

And there you've got a tree with apples and pears and all sorts of things on it. But you see what happens: the artificial is that which you put on to the tree. But when you go to an orchard, you see apples and pears and so on. What's the truth there? Oh, well, this is something that's come from inside and outwards. Now that's Christianity. Christianity is always from inwards to outwards.

It's never adding on to the outwards. It is the outward expression of something that is true within. That's not only the difference between Christianity and morality; it is the difference between true Christianity and hypocrisy. The hypocrite pretends and isn't; the true Christian is and appears to be what he is because he is what he is. Very well, it's the renewing of the mind. And this doesn't merely mean a change of opinions. That's included. It means much more than that.

It means that a man has seen this truth and has been captivated by it and he is controlled by it. It means a total change and not a particular change. If my conduct as a Christian is now different from what it was when I wasn't a Christian, it is not because I have introduced a partial change into my way of living. It is because I am different. It is because I am a new man in Christ Jesus.

Or if I may put it in a final word, I'll put it like this to you: the difference between the Christian and the best moral man in the world tonight who is not a Christian is not a mere difference in degree. It is an essential difference. You see, your good moral man may appear to be remarkably like the Christian; at times he may even appear to be better than the Christian. Yet he isn't. It's all on the surface.

But God seeth the heart. And that which is highly esteemed amongst men is abomination in the sight of God. The Christian doesn't merely differ then in degree from the moral man. He differs in essence. He differs in the spirit of his mind, he differs in his heart, he differs in his center. He is a new creature, a new creation, and he has a new perspective, a new point of view upon everything.

"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Very well then, we've got to leave it at that for tonight. But here it is: don't forget this. Have you got a particular problem? Is there one thing in particular that is worrying you above everything else at this moment? I'm talking particularly of this matter of conduct. Well, here's the teaching of the Apostle; this is his exhortation to you: stop looking at it.

Stop looking at it. Turn your back on it. Walk away from it. Go back, go back into eternity. Go back into God's great purpose. Go back into man as originally created. Go back as far as you can. Then turn around, and then you'll be able to approach your problem in a way and in a manner that'll enable you to surmount it with ease. That's the Christian way. You don't start with the problem. "Be ye transformed."

Remember this inner essence. And then you do that by renewing the mind. The Spirit is in you, and he will prompt you, he will lead you. What you've got to do is to respond. So you've got to think about these things, you've got to meditate about them, you've got to pray about them. That's the renewing of the mind. Well, God willing, we'll work it out a bit together next Friday night. Let us pray.

O Lord our God, we do indeed thank thee and bless thy name for so great and glorious a salvation. We thank thee for its uniqueness. Lord, for it is here we see that there is hope for all of us. We see how hopeless is the world with its teachings, how impatient it is with the failure, how it has no hope to offer to those who are wretched and miserable in their failure and helplessness, who've lost their willpower and who are the victims of the world and the flesh and the devil.

We thank thee, O Lord, for a message that can speak to us about renewal, about transformation, about transfiguration. O Lord, we bless thy great and holy name. Forgive us, we pray thee, that we so often still think in the old way. We humbly beseech thee to spiritualize our minds and to help us and to aid us as we ourselves renew the mind and all its processes and thinking. O Lord, we pray thee to forgive us for our folly, for our misrepresentation not only of thy great and glorious salvation, but even our misrepresentation of ourselves as thy people.

Teach us then, we pray thee, to implement this great and blessed word: "Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship and the communion of the Holy Spirit, abide and continue with us now this night, throughout the remainder of this our short and uncertain earthly life and pilgrimage, and until he shall present us faultless before the presence of his Father's glory with exceeding joy. Amen.