Romans 12 shows that after our bodies are presented to the Lord for His Body, we still need to be transformed in our soul through the renewing of our mind so that we may prove what the will of God is by producing the Body of Christ through our organic union with Him. Verse 2 says, “Do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect.” The mind, the leading part of the soul, represents our soul. Therefore, transformation in this verse refers to the transformation of the soul for the Body life. Our bodies need to be presented, and our soul needs to be transformed. To practice the Body life, we must first present our bodies to God, and then we need to be transformed in our soul by the renewing of the mind.
Transformation does not merely denote an outward change; it implies that a substance is changed both in nature and form. This is a metabolic change. It is not merely an outward change; this is a change in both outward form and inward constitution. This kind of change takes place through the process of metabolism. In the metabolic process, an organic element comes into our being and produces a change in our organic life, changing our constitution from one form into another.
Transformation is Christ added into us and replacing our being, which causes Christ to increase and our natural life to decrease. When the process of transformation takes place in us, the old element of our natural man is gradually discharged, and the new element—the resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit—is added into us, replacing our natural element. We need to have a deep impression of the fact that transformation is a metabolic process, a metabolic change related to our entire being—our life, nature, essence, element, form, and expression. Transformation is not outward correction or adjustment; rather, it is an inward, metabolic change. Therefore, transformation can be defined as a divine and spiritual metabolism, in which a new element is added to an old element, discharging the old element and producing something new.
According to Romans 12:2, we are transformed by the renewing of the mind. It is possible that we may have been regenerated in spirit but are still old in our mind. If we are still old in our mind, we will have no transformation in our soul and no change in our thinking. However, if our mind is renewed, our soul will be transformed. The mind in this verse is different from the mind as presented in Romans 7 and 8. In Romans 7 the mind is alone, acting independently. In Romans 8 the mind is dependent, being set on the spirit. However, the mind not only needs to be dependent and set on the spirit; it also needs to be renewed. For transformation we need a renewed mind.
The mind is renewed not by outward teachings but by the element of Christ being added into it. When the Lord Jesus spreads Himself from our spirit to our mind, our mind is renewed. By the renewing of our mind, our soul is metabolically changed. When our mind is renewed, we are spontaneously renewed in our emotion and will, because the mind regulates the emotion and affects the will. Moreover, if our mind is saturated and occupied by the Lord, He will take over our emotion and occupy our will. This is why the transformation of our soul is by the renewing of the mind.
In 12:2 Paul exhorts us to not be fashioned according to this age but to be transformed by the renewing of the mind. This age denotes the present, practical part of the world, which stands in opposition to the Body life and replaces the Body life. The whole world is a system of Satan, and the age is a part of this world system. We cannot contact the world unless we contact the present age of the world. To be fashioned according to this age means to adopt the modern fashions of the present age; to be transformed is to allow an organic element to be wrought into our being, thus producing an inward metabolic change. Because the present age opposes the church, we must not be fashioned according to it. If we are to live in the Body of Christ, we should not follow the present age or be fashioned according to this age.
We need the renewing of the mind and the transformation of the soul so that we “may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect.” In this verse the will of God does not refer to our personal human situation—to matters of marriage, employment, or housing. According to Romans 12, the will of God is the Body life. Through transformation by the renewing of the mind, we can prove and discern that the will of God is to obtain the Body.
In the Body of Christ the believers are being blended together by God; that is, they are being mingled and blended together in order to be coordinated, balanced, and adjusted. To be blended means to be balanced by having one’s extremes dealt with. The Body is built up by means of all the different members, and these members are blended together to produce a blended Body. God not only places the members of Christ in the Body, but He also blends the Body together.
To blend the Body together is to practice caring for one another so that there is the Body in reality. In the Body the believers need to have mutual care for one another and be members of the Body of Christ individually. Through their transfer into Christ and their organic union with Christ, the believers enter into the Body of Christ and are joined to Christ and to all His members by the divine life. In order to live and function in the Body, the believers must remain in an organic union with Christ in practicality. The Body life is a corporate life; hence, the believers, being different kinds of members in the Body, need to be members mutually and individually.
The believers live in the Body of Christ by presenting their bodies as a living sacrifice. In His salvation, the Lord released the believers’ bodies from the usurping hand of the enemy; now the believers should present their bodies to the Lord for the Body as a living sacrifice, full of Christ as life. The believers not only should be filled with Christ as the life-giving Spirit; they should also present their bodies as a living sacrifice, that is, be separated from all common things and matters and to possess God’s nature.
The believers then need to be transformed by the renewing of the mind, not being fashioned according to this age, so that they may know that the will of God is to obtain a Body for Christ, a Body that has been produced through their organic union with Christ. The mind is the leading part of the soul and the representative of the soul. For the Body life, they need to present their bodies and have their soul transformed, that is, to let Christ be added to them to replace their being and to allow Christ to increase and their natural life to decrease. In this way, they will prove and discern the will of God, which is to obtain the Body so that they would live the Body life.