Conformance, Transformance, and Performance

     There are standards to which mankind are to abide. "Standards" are the basis of morality. It should be obvious that there are not two sets of standards but one because the second standard is the opposite of the other - immorality.
     Morality is a system of conformance to a right standard. For everyone that system is the Law of God. Others may not realize that, but like it or not, the entire premise of "goodness" (right doctrine) is in congruence to the Law of God. Even other religions in civilized nations usually have the same morality, knowing right from wrong.
     "Civilized" is a key word. That is abiding by acceptable standards in the educated world. In contrast to that is "barbarian" - basically living without "humane" regulation.
     Immoral is the opposite of moral. The prefix "im" returns to the opposite meaning. It transforms the word moral to it's opposite. The world was created moral. The only law was the Law of God. There was only one law: revere God's authority. When Adam sinned, that one act transformed the Law of God into the law of sin. Yes there became two laws:

So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. Rom 7:25

     The law of sin is strictly the Law of God which is "im'd" - transformed to the opposite.  God's will is that mankind return to the original condition - regenerated - which is transformed back to the genesis in which He created Adam. What genesis was that? In the image of God (Gen 1:26-27).
      Adam and all mankind was transformed with the original sin from pure and holy to immoral. No longer in the image of God, they were transformed into the image of Satan who thought of himself "as God" (Gen 3:5).
     Satan is a pretender to God's throne. His entire existence is to obtain God's authority, glory, and power. Mankind, transformed to that image, despises God's authority, seeks esteem, and believes that he has the power to save himself. The old creature (us) are fools who live in the folly of the world!
     Purity and holiness was the original condition of the world. Adam and Eve were expelled from Paradise into the wilderness, and Paradise was lost. (I know where it went!). Now, the world is the standard. Those who live according to the law of sin have conformed to the standards of the world. Those standards were developed by the pretender to God's throne who is "Prince of the Air" (Ephes 2:2). Satan has the power over the atmosphere of the world, not because he is strong, but because God allows that to test those who claim transformations - that they now conform to the Law of God.
     There are two standards of conformance: to the world or to God. People have the flexibility to move from one to another, but God's rule is that transformation from sinful to righteous is for one time only (Heb 6:6). In other words, transformation is a two-way choice but each person is wise to choose one Way and one Way only. A person can only be "saved" one time, and the pre-requisite for that is that to be a Christian anyone "must be born again" (John 3:7). That event is the beginning of the transformation. The transformed person is to cease conforming to the world and conform to the rule of Paradise: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth" (Luke 11:2).
     Transformation means doing things on earth as it was in heaven, or back in the Garden before the fall of Adam which is God's Kingdom. I say "is" rather than "was" because Paradise was also transformed from the earth into the spiritual realm. It will be transformed back (Rev 21:1). Heaven and earth will be have a re-genesis - a transformation back to the Way things were!
     Scripture is clear about conformance and transformation:

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Rom 12:2)

     Christians are to cease obedience to the law of sin and be transformed into a new creature, actually back to the Designer's intent - back to the image of God which is goodness, graciousness, and  perfect will of God. "Transformation" is the renewing of our minds, and is an ongoing process.  It's to whom we wish to conform. God died on the cross to provide eternal life, but mankind's part in salvation is accepting the gift of God's own death, and serving others the same grace.
    Our nature is not to transform. Satan is allowed to tempt weak beings to prevent transformation. We are stubborn creatures. We don't want our mind's renewed. We are stuck in spiritual dysfunction and like it there, "come Hell or high water" which I believe is the perishing in Hades or drowning in the flood of Noah's time.
     "Free will" is endowed and allowed by God who has His own will. Mankind, created in God's image, also has individual wills which we all can exercise freely. With that, renewal of our minds can only occur with our permission since God will never force love. Our part in being born again is the willingness to change - to diminish ourselves and elevate God (John 3:14-16). Once sinners make a decision to become willing to transform, God does the transformation. We can't do that because we merely think we are gods but are not!
     God changes or transforms the old creature who was conformed to the world into a new creature who conforms to the Designer's intent - the way things were in the Garden Paradise. Note that both Adam and Eve could be deceived and sin, albeit they were safe from death while in the Garden. When people are transformed, they too can still sin, and like Adam, surely will, but God's grace is removing the fig leaves which we construct, and replacing the temporal leaves with a covering of flesh - blood that was sacrificed in our stead!
     Regeneration or transformation, you see, is a re-genesis, our chance to redo Genesis Chapter 3. We have the possibility to undo Adam's and Eve's damage, if we choose to do so.
     How can we tell if we have been transformed? By what we conform! To whom are we in league?

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. (James 4:4)

     If we do what the world does, we are still conformed to the world, and our transformation should be evaluated. Babes in Christ still have problems conforming to the world. (1 Cor 3:1). Those "babes" are still carnal and are in the process of transformation. Satan attempts to abort that rebirth. Regeneration is more than a decision; it is a commitment.   It is willingness to serve Christ instead of the flesh - those things which provide pleasure from the produce of the world.
     God's plan for those who would transform provided a standard of performance:

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Rom 8:29)

     It's hard, but the expectation is to continue the transformation which was started with the rebirth of the babe. Those regenerated are to conform to the image of the Son. Where have we heard that before?

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness... So God created man in his own image... (Gen 1:26-27).

     That is why I use "regenerated" and "a re-genesis" for our transformation.  What did Jesus do at the transfiguration? He somehow finished his own transformation. He became one with God. We won't be completely transformed until that is done because our conformance to the world is a struggle. Life is tribulation. Until we die and Satan has no power over us, the transformation will never be complete.
    Then comes the rapture. That's when the dead and living in Christ are "caught up" in the sky with Jesus. Our transformation will be complete, and we will be transfigured back to the very image of God - incorruptible and glorified. What is glorification? Transformed all the way - transfigured  back to the image of God.
     God provided standards of performance to test our servitude to Him. By diminishing ourselves and elevating God, we welcome God to be THE authority in our lives. How well we do that is measured by how much we love God and others. Those performance standards are written on stone for perpetuity; they are the Ten Commandments.
    The purpose of commandments were always misapplied. They were not for God to judge us, but standards by which we judge ourselves! To judge ourselves we must be under conviction. That difference is imperative because the Pharisees were confused. Jesus compared them to the Serpent with "you generation of vipers". They had not been transformed by the renewal of their minds. They elevated themselves instead of God, and were the same as the Jews who tried to step over the snakes on the Wilderness instead of looking up to Satan dead in his "tree".
     The metrics of love are to be abided by because they are the Law of God. We can actually measure if and how much we love God by recognizing God's authority. Those who are truly transformed do God's Laws willingly without coercion. They no longer are considered commands but desires. Perhaps we should now call them the "Ten Willings". We don't have to do them, but with transformation should be willing to do them! They are Christians' performance standards.
     I didn't cover degeneration, but scripture does indicate that the regenerated can become degenerates. The word scripture uses is reprobate. That is when one conforms to the world so much that transformation is rejected even in the face of eternal death! Those who are regenerated and then degenerated are reprobate as well. They cannot leave the "Garden" and return to it without being on the right path and entering the right gate. There are not two gates nor two paths. Salvation is when anyone enters the Gate and stays inside the safety of the Garden. Once anyone leaves the safety of the "Garden" there is no re-entry. Those regenerated degenerate if they still live in the world.