Posted: 17th July, 2010

The Call for a Metamorphosis: It is Only Reasonable

In response to my last blog entry, entitled “Metamorphosis”, one person wrote: “Metamorphosis (transformation) is really just another word for sanctification, i.e. becoming the Christians we have become.”

This is an interesting response to what I wrote. It would lead you to assume that transformation is identical to sanctification. In fact, it is not. Sanctification is the supernatural work of God, in which believers are progressively conformed to Christ-likeness in every aspect of our character. While transformation bears resemblance to the sanctifying process, it is used differently than sanctification in the Bible.

The word “metamorphosis” (transformation) is used four times in the New Testament. Each of these occurrences is extremely significant. Both in Matthew 17:2 and Mark 9:2, it is used to speak of the transfiguration of Jesus Christ. It has nothing to do with sanctification. 2 Corinthians 3:18 speaks of believers beholding the glory of the Lord, and being “changed into the same image from glory to ever increasing glory, just as the Lord.” This sounds more like what is occurring to Jesus in Matthew 17 and Mark 9 than the process of sanctification.

The reference in Romans 12:2, speaks of the transformation that takes place through “the renewing of our mind.” It is a renewal that is directly related to “thinking.” The word “mind” and the word “think” are the same Greek word. Our minds are our thoughts. What we think is what we are (Proverbs 23:7). In Romans 12:2, Paul commands us to be transformed, not in the future, but NOW. As believers, we are to be thinking like Christ. While this is a basic aspect of sanctification, it is only one part of the sanctifying process.

We want our life and behavior to change in every way that is necessary to allow us to do all that God calls us to do. That being the case, we must obey the command for renewed minds. We must possess the mind-renewing transformation! There is no other way we can accomplish the rest of Romans 12:2, which is to “do the will of God, that which is good, and acceptable, and perfect.” This transformation is not some impossible expectation on the part of God. In fact, Romans 12:1 calls it simply “logical” or “reasonable.”