“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).
Conformity to the world is the sin of many professing Christians. Many think they’ve found a way to serve both God and mammon. But Scripture calls the redeemed of Christ to resist conformity to the spirit of this age. As the Apostle John wrote, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:15-16). And James tells us, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).
As believers, we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth (Heb. 11:13). Heaven is our country (Phil. 3:20) and the Lord Jesus is our King (Rev. 15:3). What does a believer have to do with people, places, and things that promote a spirit of unrighteousness and irreverence towards our holy God? (2 Cor. 6:14-18) What conformity does a believer have to a place where things are purposely designed to indulge sinful passions and eliminate all thoughts of God? The redeemed are those who have been translated from the realm of darkness and death into the realm of light and life in Jesus Christ. And so the Apostle Paul declares to every believer, “…for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light…” (Ephesians 5:8).
Therefore, we are commanded not to adopt the sinful customs, desires, ideologies, attitudes, actions, or thoughts of the rebellious people in the land where we sojourn. It’s the duty of every believer to redeem the time, to walk with God, and to do all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and for His glory! (1 Cor. 10:31) In this way we are truly living as salt and light in the midst of a dark world.
