When we hear the word “trans” these days, our immediate first thought probably has something to do with transgender. That’s what we hear most often in pop culture and political debates. But the prefix itself transcends the current debate.  The prefix trans- comes from Latin meaning across, beyond, or to the other side of something. Once you understand that meaning, a whole group of English words becomes more clear: transform, transport, translate, transfer, transgress. Each of these words carries the same basic idea—movement from one place, condition, or state to another.  Trans words run all throughout Scripture. The Bible repeatedly describes the work of God as moving people across something—from darkness into light, from death into life, from separation into reconciliation. God is constantly bringing people from where they were into something entirely new.  Transform One of the clearest examples of this prefix appears in the word transform. In Romans 12...