This week we begin worship with:
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.
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Yes, our transformation is because of our renewal. But recall please the conclusion of the first eleven chapters (Romans 11:36). Our renewal is God’s doing, not ours, and it is already done. To underscore this, the Greek word for “renewal” (anakainōsei) is a noun and not a verb. It is a completed thing and not something still necessary to do.
So, we are not being asked to renew our own mind. We are simply being asked to use it.
Pirates bite gold coins. We hold $100 bills up to the light. We delete emails that ask for our social security number. We are not locating God’s will as if it is elusive and secretive. We are being asked to reject choices that are simply not part of His revealed will.
We use our renewed mind to discern (dokimazō) what is and what is not the will of God. Translators have used the words “test” and “prove”. But dokimazō is not experimental. It is analytical and observational with its root words having to do with the eyes. There is no need to taste poison.
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