The pattern of this world is the pressure to perform to prove our worth and an effort to marginalize those who don’t. The pattern of this world is to tear down instead of build up. We throw sticks and stones at each other, mainly because we’ve had them thrown at us. In the New Testament, God tells us to stop conforming to these patterns (Romans 12). Stop tearing down. Start building up. But what are we supposed to do with these cyclical patterns of performance and retaliatory based living? Primarily, we must first understand that God does not base His opinion of us on our performance or on who is right and who is wrong. We’re all guilty of throwing sticks and stones and might as well get over this fact that we fall in the same category. I must simply trust that God took it upon Himself to remove these defects from me through his own sacrifice and put all of His righteousness into me.
Once I get past the self-rejection and realize that He has made me perfectly lovable despite my performance in the here-and-now, then I no longer conform to the world simply by believing who He says I am. This is where the transformation begins and ends. I no longer conform to the pattern of this world when I make this change in belief. It is the core, the deep change, the repentance. I know this might sound counter-intuitive because we are all stricken with this false-idea that we stop conforming to the world through our behavior. However, that is opposite of the Gospel. The Gospel is that when I trust God for who He really is and who He says I am, then I no longer conform to the patterns of this world through having this belief.
Regarding our behavior, let's look at what Jesus has to say. This belief in Him as our Rescuer, Jesus tells us, is like a small mustard seed that will eventually become a great tree in the garden, providing shade for all around it. Eventually, from the beginning of this belief, I begin to realize that I feel much more relaxed. Those around me take notice and see that I no longer conform to the patterns of performance and retaliation. In hindsight, I find that my behavior conforms less and less with the world and more and more with my true identity as a child of God. How it happened exactly, I’m somewhat uncertain of in terms of the process, but one thing I do know is that it started from a correct belief in the fact that God has already reconciled my performance and my desire for retaliation in this world. Any other belief system eventually leads to self-rejection at one point or another which keeps us in a cycle of trying to prove our worth through performance or through proving ourselves right and others wrong.
2011 addendum: In addition to what I stated above, I believe that a person who believes God has already forgiven him or her is now in the process of doing good in the midst of sin, as opposed to trying to get rid of sin. We will sin. It happens regularly. What we must not do is heap mounds of self-contempt upon us. God's desire for us is to do good, to do relationship, and to believe it is okay to go out on a limb and do amazing things to bless other people even though we might fear that we won't live up to it the next day. This is sanctification by grace.
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