Lord, Why Can’t I Change?

[audience applauds] Would you turn please to Romans, chapter 12? And I want us to read the first two verses.

And the title of this message, Lord, Why Can't I Change? Romans chapter 12, verses one and two.

And Paul begins by saying, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Now, more than likely, all of us at some time or the other have felt like since we were saved, there were times when we wanted to do right, but something inside of us we felt wouldn't allow us to do right.

We were tempted with the same old temptations.

We had the same old thoughts we'd had before we were saved.

Maybe even wanted to do the same old things we wanted to do before we became a Christian.

So maybe you have become a little discouraged because even after you're saved, you think, "Well, now, wait a minute, uh, does not the Bible say that therefore if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature? Old things have passed away, and behold, everything has become new.

Well, if that's true, why is it that I'm having the same old thoughts? Why is it my pattern of thinking sometime drifts back to where it was before? Why do I find myself either desiring or sometimes not desiring but doing the things that I used to do before? And is it not true that when you receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, that He comes into your life, and He just sort of takes over, and from then on, it's just a matter of just Him doing it all."

Amen.

Well, life isn't quite like that, and the Bible does not teach that.

But there is a reason why God's people who really want to change and want their habits, their attitudes, their actions, their feelings about things to change, when they really want to, and they'd really like for it to happen all of a sudden the moment they're saved, they don't happen that way.

Well, there's a reason for that.

And you know, all of us, uh, as you'll recall in the scripture, the Bible says, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." All of us are the reflection of what we've been thinking all of these years because our thoughts govern what we do and how we respond in life.

Now, in this passage here, you'll notice what Paul says beginning in verse two.

He says, "And be not conformed to this world." That is, watch this.

Here's what that means.

That means don't allow the world to shape you externally in a form that is inconsistent with what you are on the inside.

Because when you receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, Christ comes into your life through the Holy Spirit, and it is the will and purpose of God that He exercise and live His life through us.

So he says, "Stop being conformed to the world.

Stop allowing the world to shape you and color you and pour you into its mold because all of that is external stuff, and it's inconsistent with what you are on the inside." Christ is in on the inside.

He says, "Stop being conformed to the world." Then He says, if you'll notice, "But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Now, when He uses the word here transform, that's the word, the, the Greek word here is metamorphose, which is the way we get our word metamorphosis, a change, a, a transformation taking place.

He says we are not to allow the world to shape us into its image because we have a different spirit on the inside.

He says now we ought to be being continuously, "Be ye being transformed." That is, the inner man being renewed day by day in order that the outer man will display the inner man, who is Jesus Christ.

God is working in your life.

[audience applauds] Would you turn please to Romans, chapter 12? And I want us to read the first two verses.

And the title of this message, Lord, Why Can't I Change? Romans chapter 12, verses one and two.

And Paul begins by saying, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Now, more than likely, all of us at some time or the other have felt like since we were saved, there were times when we wanted to do right, but something inside of us we felt wouldn't allow us to do right.

We were tempted with the same old temptations.

We had the same old thoughts we'd had before we were saved.

Maybe even wanted to do the same old things we wanted to do before we became a Christian.

So maybe you have become a little discouraged because even after you're saved, you think, "Well, now, wait a minute, uh, does not the Bible say that therefore if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature? Old things have passed away, and behold, everything has become new.

Well, if that's true, why is it that I'm having the same old thoughts? Why is it my pattern of thinking sometime drifts back to where it was before? Why do I find myself either desiring or sometimes not desiring but doing the things that I used to do before? And is it not true that when you receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, that He comes into your life, and He just sort of takes over, and from then on, it's just a matter of just Him doing it all."

Amen.

Well, life isn't quite like that, and the Bible does not teach that.

But there is a reason why God's people who really want to change and want their habits, their attitudes, their actions, their feelings about things to change, when they really want to, and they'd really like for it to happen all of a sudden the moment they're saved, they don't happen that way.

Well, there's a reason for that.

And you know, all of us, uh, as you'll recall in the scripture, the Bible says, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." All of us are the reflection of what we've been thinking all of these years because our thoughts govern what we do and how we respond in life.

Now, in this passage here, you'll notice what Paul says beginning in verse two.

He says, "And be not conformed to this world." That is, watch this.

Here's what that means.

That means don't allow the world to shape you externally in a form that is inconsistent with what you are on the inside.

Because when you receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, Christ comes into your life through the Holy Spirit, and it is the will and purpose of God that He exercise and live His life through us.

So he says, "Stop being conformed to the world.

Stop allowing the world to shape you and color you and pour you into its mold because all of that is external stuff, and it's inconsistent with what you are on the inside." Christ is in on the inside.

He says, "Stop being conformed to the world." Then He says, if you'll notice, "But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Now, when He uses the word here transform, that's the word, the, the Greek word here is metamorphose, which is the way we get our word metamorphosis, a change, a, a transformation taking place.

He says we are not to allow the world to shape us into its image because we have a different spirit on the inside.

He says now we ought to be being continuously, "Be ye being transformed." That is, the inner man being renewed day by day in order that the outer man will display the inner man, who is Jesus Christ.

God is working in your life.