I do not have a copy of Moo's commentary, but assuming your quote
represents his view well, I would say that he IS taking the dative phrase
as instrumental. "Means" is one possible implication of the instrumental
use of the dative. Perhaps you could paraphrase what Moo is saying as "'The
renewing of your mind' is the means/instrument by which this transformation
takes place." This is distinct from an agent (in the normal sense of that
word) which implies a thinking, acting element. An agent is usually a
person or other thinking being (though some grammars do speak of an
*impersonal* agent--something which seems quite contradictory to me).
The quote you give from Moo, however, seems to me to represent a rather
frequent and natural reading of the dative.
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Micheal W. Palmer
Religion & Philosophy
Meredith College
mwpalmer@earthlink.net
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