Identity - Conformed

Brian Boswell

Identity - Who are you? • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

Romans 12:1–2

Conformation

Identity

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Introduction

Last week we read a verse, that I’d like to start with today, though this won’t be our main verse. I just want to open with it.

Jeremiah 18:3–6 ESV

So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

Now, I want to look at this idea of being formed in a greater way. When it comes to Identity, which is the series that we are in, one of the key ideas in this series is that we are formed. We are formed by God, like clay on a potter’s wheel. Now, one way that we interpret this is the physical way. He formed us out of the dust of the earth and we are his creation. The second way that we can interpret this is in the idea that he is forming us even now. That he has a plan for us and he is working in us to change us into the person He want us to be, which is Christ.

Romans 8:29 ESV

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

In other words, God is conforming us into the image of his Son, so that we can be his brothers and sisters. Now, one more side of this, when it comes to identity, I believe we were created to be formed. We were created to be molded and shaped like clay at the hands of the Potter. Now, the issue with this is that we are all being shaped, but not all of us are being shaped by the hands of the potter.

So today, I want to look at what is shaping us and how we should be shaped. If God is forming us, how do we become more like Christ. What is the process? And listen, we are all being shaped by something. We are all being formed by something. What is it? What’s that process?

And this is a process. I heard someone say that most christians do not like processes, they want instantaneous satisfaction. We want God to wave a magic wand at us and boom, we are just like Jesus. But God, is a God of processes. He loves the process. He seldom does anything quickly. Remember an oft repeated admonition is “Wait on the Lord.” Wait on Him. Well, that doesn’t sound very good in our microwave culture, does it? Can’t God move on my time? Can’t he put some pep in his step?

So today we are going to look at the idea of formation by studying together Romans 12:1-2. Hear now the very words of God.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 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.

So I want to look at this passage as our main passage today and specifically I want to focus on verse 2. But before we get there, I want to make sure we get the basics. This passage starts with an appeal. Paul says I appeal or I urge you therefore. Whenever we see a therefore, we always ask what’s the therefore there for? In this case, it’s the entirety of his argument in the first 11 chapters, which culminates in Chapters 10 & 11 with the idea that the gospel is for all people, even Israel will be saved provided that they repent and believe.

Romans 10:13 ESV

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

So Paul is starting this chapter and this thinking goes through the rest of the book…what type of life shall you live now that you are saved? In other words, you are saved now, what do you do? How should you live?

We should be living sacrifices, and then he lays out what that spiritual formation looks like in the next verse.

Do Not Be Conformed To This World

So Paul starts his instruction with do not be conformed to this world. Now he’s holding this up to the opposite thought, which is to be conformed to Christ. Do not be conformed to this world, be conformed to Christ. How should a Christian live? Like Christ, not like the world. But let’s look at this deeper.

Let’s start by defining this term. The Greek word for Conformed is “syschematizo” which refers to an individual assuming an outward expression that does not come from within him. In other words, Paul is using this word because we are a new creation in Christ, Christ is in us, the Holy Spirit is in us, He guides us. Do not conform or show an outward expression of what is not inside of you. Let what is inside of you control or express itself. In other words, don’t be molded into the pattern of this world.

Nothing worse can happen to a church than to be conformed to this world.

Charles Spurgeon

When we read Scripture, there are essentially two different things that we could be conformed to and only two that I can find - The world or Christ. That’s it. You are either being conformed into the image of Jesus, like we read earlier or we are being conformed into Christ or you are being formed into something else. Christ is in you, he is your Lord, he should be the one forming you.

But we all know the reality of the situation, we all have allowed the world to form us. Not just our actions, but our thoughts and attitudes have been formed by the world. This formation continues today, even though most of us would identify as being Christian. We are being conformed to the wrong image. We are conformed to the image of Adam, rather than the image of Christ. We are conformed to the spirit of this age, rather than by God’s Holy Spirit.

This word for the world here may better be translated as “this age”. Do not be conformed to this age. This age gives you a better idea of the intent. He’s saying there are certain thoughts, philosophies, ideas, actions, methodologies and strategies that are not godly and they are seeking to mold you. They are trying to squeeze you into their mold and you need to resist that. You need to fight against it. Don’t be conformed to this age.

I think there are at least two different ways of being conformed, whether into Jesus or this age.

Two different ways of being conformed: 1. We are conformed by things we invite into our lives.

2. We are conformed by things without our knowing consent.

The first one is very important. What we invite into our lives forms us. It does. This includes everything that you may be thinking and more. Everything from the movies we watch to the music we listen to is included in this. But more so even, the friends that we keep, the co-workers we associate with, the books that we read, the neighbors, the church, the pool friends, whatever. Everything we invite into our lives is forming us. And we are choosing those things. We are actively picking what music we listen to. If you watched Game of Thrones, that was your choice. No one forces that upon you. You choose it.

Now, I’m not saying that these things are sinful in and of themselves. So don’t mis-hear me here. If you go home and “I love rock-n-roll, so put another dime in the jukebox baby” is playing in your car, God’s not sending you to hell for that. There are plenty of other reasons someone might be headed to hell, listening to Joan Jett is likely not one of them. But just because something isn’t sinful, doesn’t make it wise. Wisdom might be, I shouldn’t listen to this because it puts me in a bad mood. Or it’s causing me to remember my old life before Jesus.

Let’s look at it like our diet. You can be skinny and incredibly unhealthy. You may not be a glutton at all. Maybe you barely eat. But when you do eat, all you eat is chicken tenders and fries, with a Mountain Dew to wash it down with. Now, you may not be sinning because you aren’t overeating, but does that make this diet wise? NO! It’s a terrible diet, I don’t care how much you love Bojangles.

What we choose to take into our bodies matters. What we let into our eyes matters, they are the gateway to the soul. What we listen to matters. What we choose to engage with matters. This also carries over to who we surround yourselves with. If your friends are always tearing each other down, guess what? Don’t be surprised if you feel beat down when you leave that place. Your friends drinking and checking out other women. Is it sinful for you to be there? Probably not, but is it wise?

We are conformed by things without our consent.

The second one though is things that you may not have chosen. They are forced upon you in certain ways. The first way that I can think of this being done is via culture. We live in the eastern US, in the south, in the Raleigh area, there is a certain culture that pervades our area. You may be living here because you chose to come here, but the culture is not something that we necessarily choose. It is what it is in some sense. Our culture does form us. Let’s take our diet example again - Most of us eat terrible in Clayton. Why is that? Because the choice of restaurants around here is terrible. Lots of fried food. So our diet is terrible and it’s not entirely by choice. Obviously no one is forcing you to eat out, but you get my point. You don’t really control which restaurants open in your town.

This is the same concept for the spiritual formation. There are certain sins in this area, certain spirits that reign over this region, that have an impact on us, they form us. Here’s a couple of examples - In this area, it is considered normal to talk bad about your neighbor, so long as you add, “Well bless his heart” to the beginning or end of your statement. Listen, you can add whatever platitude you want to the end of your gossip, but its still gossip. You can make whatever excuse you want for bad-mouthing someone behind their back and it’s still sinful.

Here’s another one for our area - jealousy. Jealousy is a sin y’all. Listen, just because someone has more land, a bigger house or a more jacked up jeep or a bigger pig or a smarter child or a better husband or a larger bank account than you don’t give you the right to be jealous about it. Listen, many of us complain that we have no time with our family because we work all the time. Or wives may complain that their husband is exhausted and never wants to do anything. And the reason we work all the time is because of the choices we have made. Here in the Raleigh area, we live in a well to do city and we want a certain lifestyle. If we don’t have that, we are jealous. Even after we get it, some of us are jealous for more. A bigger home than what we have, more land, more stuff.

Another example - there is a spirit of religion that hangs over our area, Clayton in particular, that says something like this - You better go to church so you can check off your religious duty for the week. There’s nothing about relationship with Jesus in that train of thought. It’s about going through the motions. And a lot of churches feed into this. They are like cattle auctions, push them through the gate, get them through the process and push them out the door. No relationship, no real lasting change in their life.

A man can be outwardly conformed to the Christian way of life while he is inwardly conformed to the spirit of this world.

Sinclair Buchanan Ferguson

That should not be what people say about this church. We should strive to be better. We should strive for relationship. That means, you should reach out to people you don’t know and get to know them. You should be mindful when someone visits, introduce yourself, but more than that, invite them over for dinner or out to lunch after service. We are not trying to build an institution, we are selling memberships to the country club, we are trying to impact people’s lives for Jesus Christ. And we can’t do that if we stay stuck in our own little bubble.

This is my main point -

Be conformed into the image of Jesus, not the image of this world

Like clay in the hands of the Potter, you need to be molded into Jesus Christ. You need to have him work in you. Press you, wash you, mold you into his son. There is no other way. This is the path. This is the journey. This is the process that we need to walk down.

Now next week I want to spend some time on exactly how that happens. Paul says to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” I want to focus on that next week. So this week. I’m going to give you some practical things based on what we have talked about today.

Be Aware - First and foremost we need to be aware that we are being formed. There are things in our lives, some things we’ve invited in and other we have not, that are forming us. And they are not forming us into Jesus. They are forming us after the Spirit of this age. And we need to be aware of that. We need to be cognizant that there is no neutrality in this world. Everything in our lives is seeking to form us, influence us, persuade us to its side. Social media literally is paying people to be “influencers.” And we spend an ridiculous amount of time of social media. And if you think you don’t, youtube does count as social media. So first and foremost, we need to be aware of what is going on.

The nearer you get to the light the more you are aware of the darkness.

The Sons of God, 187–88

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones

In other words, draw near to Jesus and your awareness will increase. You will see the dark places in your own life. God will reveal them to you. That is what He does. He is kind and gentle. He is a father who love us and leads us into a great awareness of how we have conformed to the world and not to his Son.

2. Guard your heart. God has redeemed you. If you are a Christian today, this isn’t a message of condemnation. I don’t care if you watched Jeopardy or the Sopranos or the Walking Dead last night. Doesn’t matter to me. I’m not here to condemn you. But i am going to encourage you to guard that which is incredibly precious to God. Jesus died to put a new heart in you. He died to take out the heart of stone and put that new heart in you, so don’t treat it as an afterthought.

Guarding our hearts begins with guarding our eyes and ears.

Jerry Bridges

I believe our eyes and ears are the gateway to our heart. Be careful, be on guard as to what you allow to speak into your life and what you see. Some of us far to easily allow ourselves to be influenced by things that we have control over, things that we invite into our lives.

On the other hand, the things that we have no control over - the culture we live in, the upbringing or education that we received, etc. - we have to be aware of those things and fight against those tendencies.

Just because we grew up with it or because momma said it, doesn’t make it right (sorry momma), but only the things that are found in the word of God are truth. Hold on to those things.