How many have seen the movie Transformers?  These alien robots could morph in an instant to become whatever machine they came in contact with.  They would literally transform on the spot.  Who could forget the scene where Bumble Bee changed from a ragged out 1980 something Camaro into the state of the art Camaro.  I couldn't help but think that Christians are a lot like the old beat up Camaro before we surrender to Christ.  Still a nice car, underneath it all, but we have a lot of problems and dents and dings along the way. However, as we grow in Christ we transform from something rather common into something incredible, powerful, and beautiful!
 
"But be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

Did you know that the Greek word for transform is "metamophoo?" What does that sound like in our language? Metamorphic! It means to change to be transfigured. When we become Christians, the Holy Spirit comes to live within our bodies.  We become "born again"  Jesus said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."  II Corinthians 5:17 says, "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all things have become new."  We are new creations in Christ, but that doesn't mean that this old sinful self is going away anytime soon.  Just like a new born baby needs to grow to full maturity, so does the "spirit man."  How does this wondrous change take place?  It takes place from the inside out! 

There is a difference between reformation and transformation.

Reformation changes a person from the outside in.  Rules, Guidelines, Dos and Don'ts are typical of those that teach reformation.  The problem with reformation is that it doesn't change the nature or the heart of someone.  You could take a pig out of the barn yard, take him in the house, give it a bath, spray it down with pretty perfume, put a nice ribbon around the pig and treat it like one of your children. The pig will be appreciative of all that you have done for him, but given the first convienient opportunity that pig is going to go right back to the mud hole where he came from.  It is unfortunately the same with human beings too.  We can clean up, go to church, stop doing this, stop doing that, but it is only is a modification of the behavior and not a change to the heart. Have you ever noticed that on the Highway we all speed until we see a State Trooper, then all of the sudden we slam on the breaks!  With reformation change is brought about through fear, discipline and domination.  With transformation, we are changed at our very core, and our behavior is dictated by our thoughts, convictions, and values. Transformation changes a person from the inside out.

So how are we to be changed/transformed?

We do this by:

Reading the Word of God.

Meditating on the Word of God.  Psalm 119:

Applying the Word of God to our lives. James 1:22

Submitting to the Holy Spirit Gal 5:17

Two important verses about our thought life are Phillipians 4:8

Think on these things whatsoever is:  true, honest, just, pure, lovely, good report, virtuous, & praise worthy.

Casting down imaginations and every thought that exalts itself against God taking every thought into captivity and bring it into the obedience of Christ. II Cor 10:5.

Let me close with a visual illustration.  Imagine with me that we have 5 gallons of black paint in a huge 100+ gallon vat.  Let us say that the black paint represents the carnal natural mind.  The way we think/thought before we came to Christ.  The Bible says about the heart and the mind of man that it is evil continually and it is deceitfully and desperately wicked.  Let's say we have an unlimited supply of white paint available to us.  The white paint represents God's Word the Bible. How much white paint would it take to turn the black paint white?  Of course, the black paint in the vat will never be totally pure, but the more white paint you add to the black paint, the lighter the paint becomes.  It is the same with our spiritual lives.  The more of God's word that infiltrates our way of thinking the more we are changed into the image and likeness of Christ. Yes, it is going to take a whole lot of paint to lighten that paint as it will take a whole lot of God's word to change your mind, but it can be done.  It is a process of a lifetime, but that is what the Apostle Paul is talking about when he says, to "Be transformed through the renewing of your mind."