Romans 12:2

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.

Paul instructs us here to have a Biblical worldview. And there are two commands – negative and positive – that help us do this: “do not conform” and “be transformed.” Don’t let the world mold you. Be in the world but not of the world; live a life of non-conformity. Paul said a similar thing in Romans 8:13 – be killing sin by the Spirit or sin will be killing you! See 2 Corinthians 3:18. Be transformed by the Spirit into Christ’s likeness. The verbs are in the passive voice, indicating that we do not change or transform ourselves. We must be transformed, which is something God does in us through the Spirit. Paul has already mentioned this in Romans 8:29, as God’s purpose in predestination to conform us to the image of Jesus.

The method by which these two commands occur is explained by Paul as by the renewing of the mind. And that comes by studying God’s Word. Yes, by all means, put your faith into practice; live out that Biblical worldview, as Paul will say in just a minute. But study God’s Word! That’s how the Spirit transforms the mind, so make it a priority. Avoid "amusement," which means "no thinking." The world likes to turn on the tv and be amused; they turn their brain off. We avoid a-muse-ment by musing over the Word of God repeatedly. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. John Piper drives his audience back to Romans 1:23-28, where the same Greek word is used. He says, “Not being conformed to this world involves a renewed mind that reverses the exchange of the glory of God for the glory of man.” We used to walk in darkness, and we loved it (John 3:19), but now we walk in light, and we love it. This is a result of a renewed mind by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We worship God with our bodies in v1 and with our minds in v2. God works on us from the outside and in us from the inside. Paul is saying to know who you are and be who you are, just as did in Romans 6:11-12. Paul has said in the first half of this verse to have a Biblical worldview; now he tells us how that will benefit us: we will know the will of God. And it makes perfect sense that by studying the Word of God, the Spirit will transform our minds, conforming them to the mind of Christ, who is God in the flesh. And with the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), we will certainly be able, then, to test and approve God’s will. Minds transformed by the renewing work of God’s Holy Spirit in accordance with the Word of God will be able to discern what they ought to do. You can’t do the will of God if you don’t know the will of God, and you can’t make a discerning choice if you don’t know the truth of God. And so the renewed mind, according to God’s Word, is a mind able to discern the will of God.

What is the will of God? First, there is the sovereign will of God that always comes to pass without fail. Second, there is the revealed will of God in the Bible—the law and the commandments—that often doesn’t come to pass. And third, there is the path of wisdom and godliness—wisdom where we consciously apply the Word of God with our renewed minds to complex moral circumstances, and godliness where we live our lives rightly without conscious reflection or deliberation. And Paul here, most agree, is talking about the latter two. See Hebrews 5:14 and Philippians 1:9-11. We get discernment in the renewing of our minds. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to discern God’s will in every situation or circumstance without having to spend hours thinking about it? In time, we will make the hard decisions quickly and easily. Like Christ, we’ll respond to situations in calculated ways, yet instantly, unconsciously, automatically, according to our Spirit-filled natures, according to the will of God. This ability develops in us through the power of the Holy Spirit as our minds are renewed by the study of God’s Word.