TWO KINDS OF ‘CONFORMED’

Thursday 17 April

And do not be CONFORMED to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2 (NKJV)

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be CONFORMED to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:29 (NIV)

When we come to the Word of God we need to make sure that we’re not reading it like a regular book. There are words in the Hebrew and Greek that need to be interpreted to ensure we are getting the meaning that the writers intended. It’s also important to remember that there are usually more than one word for its English counterpart.

One such word is the word CONFORM. The word conform in our opening verse is ‘syschematizo’, where we get the English word schematic from. It means to fashion alike, conform to the same pattern or fashion yourself according to. The context here is your mind and character being altered over a significant period of time as you are squeezed into a mold of thinking and behaving according to a Satanic system.

We are encouraged to renew our minds with the Word which is also a process that requires time and intention. Also, despite what you may have been taught there are not three wills of God. There is only one good, acceptable, perfect will of God. Just in case you were wondering.

When we come to Romans 8:29 we see the word CONFORMED again. Same English word but different Greek meaning. ‘Symmorphos’ carries the meaning of having the same form of another. Unlike syschematizo, there is an instant conformity to the image of Christ.

Galatians 3:27 confirms this thought, ‘For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.’ This isn’t something that you have to aspire to, it’s something that happened to you in your salvation experience.

Baptised into Christ is the same as saying born again, saved, new creations, sons of God etc. Notice that this is not an ongoing process like conforming to a pattern or being renewed. No, this is an instantaneous work that happens in salvation. It’s the same as sanctification. It’s not a process, it is an immediate result of being born of the Spirit.

The Hebrew word ‘damah’ meaning to resemble or to be like and ‘tselem’ meaning image or likeness capture the meaning of CONFORMED in Romans 8:29 perfectly.

I’m also reminded of 1 John 3:2

‘Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.’

Why are we now the sons of God? We have been CONFORMED to the image of Christ. Past tense. This is why when He appears we will already be like Him. We are not trying to do it. We were born that way!

APPLICATION

Take some time out of your day to look at these verses and see if you can identify what is an instant work of the Spirit in salvation or an ongoing process so you understand the difference.