In this lesson we will examine how the Holy Spirit transforms us via the ongoing application of Christ’s finished work on a daily basis. Paul referenced this process in his letter to the church in Ephesus.
..that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Ephesians 4:22-24 (NASB)
I include spiritual transformation, the process of “sanctification” or becoming holy or “set apart to God” in thought, motive, words, and action, in a grouping under Christ’s Finished Work. I have stated earlier that salvation has three dimensions – past, present, and future. Some aspects of Christ’s work on the cross are a “once for all” “done deal,” never to be repeated, such as propitiation and justification. These things were accomplished on our behalf before we were ever born. We simply “tap into” the benefits. Believers are also “in process” in some areas, as we are all too familiar. Perhaps every Christian should wear a tee shirt stating: “Under Construction – Please Excuse the Mess.” Additionally, part of our salvation still awaits us at a future time via the resurrection from the dead.
Sanctification, or, as I prefer to call it, transformation, is part of the present or ongoing work of Christ in our lives, but there is also a completed aspect to it.
Our daily “walk” with God depends on three things: 1) a personal trust relationship with Christ, 2) a dependence upon the indwelling Holy Spirit to supply what we call “grace,” and 3) faith in God’s promises found in the Bible. Without a proper understanding of God’s Word, we will not even know what those promises are!
For us to properly draw upon God’s grace (the ability he gives to us via his Holy Spirit), we must first understand that all that we need for godly living has already been given to us in Christ.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 2 Peter 1:2-3 (NASB)
Jesus has already done everything that God requires us to do.
The benefits derived from his life of perfect obedience have been transferred to us because we are one with Christ. (1 Corinthians 6:17)
This enables us to live out in the present what Christ accomplished for us in the past. Paul, in the opening scripture passage above (Ephesians 4:22-24), exhorts us, to “put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” The “new self” is who we are as a result of the new birth.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB)
Our transformation into Christlikeness depends upon our “clothing” ourselves by faith with the finished work of Christ’s perfect life, death, and resurrection. What he did for us is already ours, but we must “apply” it by faith to our present situation.
God wants us to believe what the Bible says is true about us.
Jesus called it “abiding in the vine.” We live in the present by accessing what Christ has already done for us at Calvary and by waiting with expectation for the full manifestation of that salvation at the resurrection.
We live in a divine tension between what is done and what is still to come. This “tension” is called faith.
Faith is the key to the transformation process, as it is to everything in the Kingdom of God.
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20 (NASB)
In the above verse, we see that Paul lived in the present by accessing the past finished work of Christ on the cross. In the following verse, note that his present is also lived in anticipation of the coming completion of our salvation.
For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. Galatians 5:5-6 (NASB)
The hope of righteousness is a term that acknowledges that we do not yet experience or manifest the righteousness of Christ in any complete or perfect way, even though we have the legal righteousness of Christ in our “spiritual bank account” through justification. In the present state, we are still flawed because our bodies (the “flesh”) are still connected to Adam’s sin. God removed sin’s power to rule over us but did not obliterate its pull through the “flesh” altogether, or we would be physically dead. At any moment, we are still capable of sinning, that is, until the resurrection, when we shall be made completely righteous in every sense of the word because our physical bodies connected to Adam will be replaced with glorious new creation bodies. In the present, therefore, we live with the tension caused by having a “fleshly” side and a “spiritual” side. We now have a period of time to learn how to rely on God’s promises and the Holy Spirit to transform our thinking, words, and behavior.
Sanctification or transformation depends upon changing how we think so that we come into agreement with God’s truth.
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 (NASB)
By accepting the truth of God’s Word, we change how we think, which is the definition of repentance.
Lies must be displaced by truth. Strongholds of deception must be torn down so that the knowledge of Christ may flow into the barren and devastated places in our souls. Fear must be replaced by faith in our loving God. Unbelief must be rooted out, and a fresh crop of trust planted. Selfishness must be crucified so that love may develop and flourish.
Transformation is a daily process of dying to self and living to God.
Transformation requires faith, surrender, and obedience. Transformation is the working out of what God has worked into us via the new birth and Christ’s finished work.
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13 (NASB)
We have all that we need for life and godliness right now in Christ, but it takes a lifetime to work that out. The Christian will have good days and bad, ups and downs, progress and regression. There are still hidden areas of sin and deception in each one of us that God will expose and demolish one way or another. If we cooperate in the process, life will be much easier for us and more blessed.
Transformation is a joint venture with the Holy Spirit.
Love is never passive. God wants us to pursue him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Like Paul, we can make it our goal in life to know Christ and fulfill God’s purpose for our lives.
Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14 (NASB)
The Holy Spirit is beckoning us. Let’s do this!
Questions for Further Study and Discussion
- Can you explain how transformation or sanctification is both part of Christ’s finished work and an ongoing work of God’s Spirit in us?
- Describe our part in the transformation process.
- Explain what Paul meant in Romans 8:24 when he wrote, “For in hope we have been saved.”
