Wednesday of Lent 3

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal

of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. — Romans 12:2

The will of the world is contrary to the will of God. God teaches this clearly many places in His Holy Word, such as I Corinthians where the wisdom and power of God for the salvation of mankind are contrasted with the wisdom and power of the world. To the world, which includes our fallen reason, the cross is foolish weakness, not the power and glory of God.

So it is God’s good and gracious will that our minds be transformed through the proclamation of the Law and Gospel so that we love what God loves and hate what God hates. Thankfully, He doesn’t leave it up to us to determine what is good, acceptable, and perfect in His eyes or what His will is – praise be to God! His will is revealed in His Word. His will is that we love Him above all things and our neighbors as ourselves. This we fail to do, so God, out of His fatherly, divine goodness provides a Savior to take our place under the Law and keep it for our sake.

The resulting pattern of the Christian life is one of confession and forgiveness created and sustained by rightly distinguishing the Law and the Gospel. Through this the dull mind of the Christian is sharpened and renewed. It is no great mystery how these things can be. God does not remain silent, and His Word cannot be broken. In this way, the testing and discerning which often lead to confusion and anger are undertaken in joy and freedom because our salvation is in no way tied to them.

Dear Father in Heaven, grant that Your Word renew our minds so that we love what is good, acceptable, and perfect according to Your holy will, and hate all that is contrary to it. Amen.