Legalist Bible Interpretation

Worldly Christians

Many "Pastors" use the term "world" in the Bible to justify their convictions about worldliness. Next few post will be about the term "world" in the Bible and how it is used. It would be a crime and borderline blasphemy to misrepresent the Word of God. So let's see what The Word of God has to say.

Typical verse. Romans 12:1-2

John MacArthur says the term "world" is talking about our minds. Not how we dress or the type of Christian music we listen to. This thought goes with the actual meaning of the word in the greek and the context of Romans 12.
John says, "You know what? It is in the mind that our new nature and our humanness find their mix, right? It is in the mind that we make choices as to whether we will express that new man in holiness or allow our flesh to act in unholiness. So if the soul is to present the body, the mind must be renewed. And notice how he presents it with a negative and then a positive. "Be not conformed to this aion," not kosmos, not world, but age, to this age. The age is the fallen unredeemed philosophy of life, Trench says it so well, "The floating mass of thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, hopes, impulses, aims, aspirations at any time current in the world." The whole pile of the world's stuff. Be not conformed to that. The Germans used to call it the zeist guist(?) the spirit of the age of which Satan, of course, is the prince and ruler.
How do you do it? By the renewing of what? The mind...the mind. The word "renewing" here is renovation. The renovation of the mind. How do you renovate your mind? David said it this way, "Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not...what's the key to a renewed mind?, it's right here, isn't it?, it's the Word...it's the Word...it's the Word...it's the Word." That's the key to the renewed mind. We've seen this so many times over and over and over in our studies. The renewing of the mind through the Word. The key is if you're going to walk worthy, you've got to know the Word of God. You've got to know the Word of God. Just a simple profound truth.
And in Colossians 1:28, Paul says we teach every man all wisdom in order to present every man perfect. A perfect life comes out of perfect knowledge. In Colossians chapter 3 and verse 10, put on the new man that is renewed in knowledge. Colossians 3:16, let the word of Christ..what?..dwell in your richly.
I'll tell you, I've seen this so many times. The renewed mind is a mind that is saturated and controlled by the Word of God. A renewed mind, a renewed mind will be expressed in a submissive will and in a body presented as a living sacrifice. It all comes in one package. You can't present your body unless you have a renewed mind because you won't have the will to do that. But when you have a renewed mind, your will will be submissive to God and you will offer your body as a living sacrifice. And the key is a saturated mind, an obedient will, body presented."