Romans 12:2
"Do not conform 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.”
From Background Notes [BN] for November 19th/20th written by Pastor Bob Brown:
Paul calls, not for a new conformity, but for transformation, using the Greek word
metamorphousthe, from which comes our English term "metamorphosis". The prefix meta implies "change", while morphē refers to the essence of a thing.
What Christian ethics seeks is not simply an outward conformity to a set of rules or the mindless imitation of a spiritual "idol." Instead, the change God seeks utterly alters our spiritual center, and brings to completion God's purposes for our whole being. If we consider the biological meaning of "metamorphosis," one common example is that of the butterfly, passing through distinct stages of larva, pupa and adult. Among amphibians we are familiar with the emergence of the frog from egg and tadpole. By comparison the Christ follower at the new birth receives a new nature, rendered by the presence of the Holy Spirit in the heart. Spiritual development does not end there, but passes through innumerable stages of transformation until the "day of Christ.".[BN,6]
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