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A Spiritually Transformed People
A Spiritually Transformed People
". . . Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and
perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2).
Immediately after the Church began, Peter healed a widely known beggar who
had been lame since birth (Acts 3:1-10). This extraordinary event drew the undivided
attention of everyone in the temple area. Immediately "all the people ran together
. . . greatly amazed" (verse 11). Peter advised the astonished crowd:
"Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out . . ."
(Acts 3:19).
Paul, on another occasion, wrote to the Christian converts in Rome: ". . .
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind
. . ." (Romans 12:2).
What do these commands-repent, be converted, be transformed - mean to anyone who wishes
to be a part of the Church of God?
The word repent, translated from the Greek metanoeo, literally means "to perceive
afterwards" (Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament
Words, 1985, "Repent"). It conveys the concept that one must recognize
and admit his sins and acknowledge the need to change his mind, heart and behavior.
The word converted is translated from the Greek epistrepho, which means "to
turn about" or "turn towards" (Vine's, "Convert, Conversion").
It indicates that, in addition to recognizing and acknowledging sin, one is taking
the necessary action to turn away from sin by turning toward God. This requires doing
what is right, not just acknowledging what is wrong.
The word transformed is translated from the Greek metamorphoo. It implies major or
total change-a transformation comparable to the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into
a butterfly.
All three of these concepts clarify the profound change God expects of Christians-a
spiritual transformation we commonly call conversion. But no one can bring about
such remarkable transformation by himself, by his own power.
The preceding words describe a miraculous shift in thinking and behavior that occurs
in people who receive God's Spirit. Only those who are converted-spiritually transformed
by the power of the Holy Spirit-are Christians (Romans 8:9).
Why is this spiritual transformation so important?
Our need for spiritual discernment
Paul said, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5). God wants all His people to think like He and Jesus Christ think. Only if we
think like Christ will we ever learn to behave like He behaves. To understand how
Christ and the Father think requires the transformation of our minds.
People assume that the themes in the Bible are easy to understand, that anyone can
readily comprehend biblical truths.
Some are easily understood. But many scriptural themes and principles are also easy
to misunderstand. This leads to a fundamental problem: A person tends to see what
he wants to see.
The Bible is written in a way that makes it ever so easy for anyone to close his
eyes to what he prefers not to see and to shut his ears to what he would rather not
hear. As a result, he can easily develop a distorted view of what the Bible really
says and means.
Paul's letters in the New Testament provide us with an excellent example of this.
Speaking of Paul's writings, Peter said they "contain some things that are hard
to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures,
to their own destruction" (2Peter 3:16, NIV).
This is no rare occurrence. Paul's epistles, as well as other parts of the Bible,
are commonly misinterpreted by people the world over. They were misunderstood in
Paul's day, and they are still frequently misunderstood.
Only people with God's Spirit guiding their thinking can comprehend the biblical
message. Those who do not have God's Spirit either fail to understand or simply refuse
to accept portions of the Scriptures.
Paul well understood this tragic human characteristic: "The man without the
Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned"
(1Corinthians 2:14, NIV). Paul's words are clear: One must have God's Spirit to
comprehend spiritual truths.
Spiritual blindness hides the truth of God
Generally, the problem is not that the Bible is all that difficult to understand.
Rather, those who read it find much of what it says hard to accept, so they interpret
it in a manner that is acceptable to them-more compatible with their own views.
Why this self-delusion?
The problem is twofold. First, God tells us: "My thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways My ways . . . As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Why is this so? Primarily because God's thoughts and ways are based on love-concern
for others (Matthew 22:36-40). As humans, however, we are fundamentally self-centered;
we first think of ourselves.
Our natural tendency is to deceive ourselves so we can serve our own selfish interests.
Jeremiah 17:9 points out that our "heart"-our basic human motivation and
reasoning-"is deceitful above all things"? it leads us into self-deception.
We need to recognize in ourselves this common characteristic of human nature and
be willing to change it so God can transform us. We need a new way of thinking, a
new heart and mind.
Our thinking must be changed by God's Spirit so our interests will be focused outward,
enabling us to love others as we love ourselves. Commending Timothy's loving concern
for others, Paul wrote: "For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care
for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus"
(Philippians 2:20-21).
Satan's blinding role
Another major reason people get confused and misinterpret the Bible is Satan's influence.
"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot
see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ . . ." (2Corinthians 4:4, NIV). Isaiah compares this blindness to a "veil that is spread over all
nations" (Isaiah 25:7).
Satan misleads humanity by inciting prejudice against biblical principles. To some
extent he has, at one time or another, succeeded in deceiving all of us (Revelation 12:9). God's Word warns us that Satan's influence is so pervasive that "the
whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1John 5:19).
The combination of deception and prejudice against God's ways has warped the spiritual
character of mankind. "There is none righteous, no, not one," wrote Paul,
and "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:10,23).
Paul explains that all have "walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just
as the others" (Ephesians 2:1-3).
This may shock you, but it's true: We have been blinded and deceived by Satan's pervasive
influence. We need to repent, abandon our personal prejudices and accept the authority
of the Bible. We must begin to read it with understanding.
Tragically, someone who is deceived doesn't know he is deceived. The Bible describes
people's prejudices against God's truth as a hardening of their hearts: "They
are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of
the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts" (Ephesians 4:18, NIV).
Their understanding is hindered by the hardness of their hearts. That is why Jesus
Christ told His followers, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of
the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given" (Matthew 13:11, NRSV).
Jesus knew that all but a handful of people cannot really understand the significance
of His message-and so it remains to this day.
Jesus Christ reveals why people become hard-hearted. When faced with truths that
do not fit their prejudices, they shut their ears and close their eyes. They harden
their hearts by choosing not to understand matters that are contrary to their own
opinions.
Jesus clearly explains this: "And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled,
which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will
see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are
hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their
eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and
turn, so that I should heal them'" (verses 14-15).
Jesus explained Satan's deceptive role in nurturing this blindness: "When anyone
hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, the wicked one comes and
snatches away what was sown in the heart" (verse 19). Satan acts quickly to
mislead and confuse those who are inclined to hear the truth by influencing them
to harden their hearts and refuse to listen.
Only God can heal spiritual blindness
It is extremely difficult for many people, especially those with strong religious
convictions, to acknowledge that they may not correctly understand much of the Bible.
Our tendency is to cling to what we have first learned. We tend to be prejudiced
toward anything that would attempt to correct our own views. Becoming a true disciple
of Jesus Christ begins with repentance-recognizing where we are wrong and changing
our beliefs and behavior. But, before we can repent, God must open our minds. He
must grant us spiritual understanding of our prejudices, sins and other weaknesses.
Jesus said that "no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,"
and "no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him" (John 6:44,65, NIV). We need God's help in changing our hearts.
We all, to some extent, tend to be righteous in our own eyes. We naturally assume
that our own ways are good and fair. The writers of the Bible, however, knew better.
They warn us, for example, that "there is a way that seems right to a man, but
in the end it leads to death" (Proverbs 14:12, NIV). Just because we believe
something is right doesn't mean it is right.
Even if our ideas and beliefs appear right and good to us, we should be willing to
reexamine them in the light of the Scriptures. Unless we carefully compare our beliefs
to God's revelation in the Bible, we risk allowing unrecognized assumptions to harden
our hearts and blind us to the truth.
When comparing our beliefs with the Scriptures, we should keep these human tendencies
in mind. Our inclination toward self-deception, coupled with Satan's pervasive, deceptive
influence through the world around us, is a major barrier to our understanding the
Bible. It is all too easy to read our personal beliefs into God's Word and overlook
biblical truths that challenge, and can correct, our own ideas.
Blindness obscures meaning
This was the problem of many of the people in Paul's time. They thought they understood
the Scriptures; they believed they were living by them. In reality, however, they
were deceived by their own preconceived notions. Paul explains that "their minds
were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted . . . Even
to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one
turns (epistrepho, converts) to the Lord, the veil is taken away" (2Corinthians 3:14-16).
Paul was describing normal, sincere but spiritually blinded religious people of his
day who regularly heard the reading of the Holy Scriptures. They closed their eyes
to passages that pointed to Jesus as the Messiah. Why? They blocked them from their
minds because that knowledge was unacceptable to them. Their prejudices controlled
their thinking. They read the Scriptures, or listened to leaders in the synagogue
read them, but they missed the point.
Their example warns us not to do the same thing. Everyone needs God's help to recognize
and face contrary ways or beliefs that seem right but contradict God's Word (Proverbs 14:12). Everyone must turn to God for help to accept, understand and apply the Scriptures
to his life.
The true Church of God is people whose minds God has opened to see their own shortcomings-their
misdeeds and prejudices. Only if we are willing to repent-if we're inclined to change
our innermost thoughts and attitudes as well as our actions-can we become true disciples
of Jesus Christ.
When we study God's Word we should emulate David's attitude when he prayed: "Search
me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked
way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24, NRSV).
Our prejudices are usually too deep for us to root them out by ourselves. Remember,
Jesus said that "no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him"
(John 6:65, NIV).
It takes a miracle from God for us to properly recognize some of our deeply rooted
prejudices. It takes strength from our Creator for us to be willing to change them.
Without His help, we could never recognize and awake from the spiritual blindness
and prejudices that separate us from God.
Knowing how God enables people to overcome spiritual blindness and come to Christ-as
repentant and committed Christians-is key to understanding how God's Word distinguishes
those who are the people of God from those who remain spiritually blind.
Powerless without God's Spirit
God warns us not to trust our own understanding in spiritual matters (Proverbs 3:5).
With only our natural abilities we are simply incapable of properly understanding
many aspects of God's Word. Paul explains why we cannot trust our own minds: ". . .
The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's
law-indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:7-8, NRSV). They lack power to control their human nature.
This is why so many people who read the Bible will not accept what it says. Even
though they don't recognize it, they harbor an innate hostility toward anything that
represents divine, absolute authority over their lives.
Paul explains that God's Spirit is the only remedy to the human problem. "But
you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in
you" (verse 9). Only with the understanding and strength God provides through
His Spirit can we gain the spiritual strength to overpower the dominance of our fleshly
nature.
Without the help of God's Spirit, a person's spiritual perspective is distorted by
the pulls of his fleshly nature and the influence Satan exerts in shaping his beliefs
and values. Even those who have considerable knowledge and understanding of God's
ways and try by their own strength to obey Him (like Jesus Christ's own disciples
before they received the Holy Spirit) are still swayed by the pulls of the flesh.
Jesus had to warn His disciples: "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.
The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41). (See "The
Apostles: A Case Study in Conversion," page 24.)
Even after his conversion, Paul cited himself as an example to explain how extensively
human weakness controls behavior. "I do not understand my own actions. For I
do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate . . . It is no longer
I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells
within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it"
(Romans 7:15,17-18, NRSV).
But, with the help of God's Spirit, Paul saw that he could successfully resist the
pulls of his nature (2Timothy 4:7-8). "For the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2).
Paul explains that, "at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ
died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6, NIV). His death made it possible for us to
be forgiven of our sins and receive the Holy Spirit-giving us the spiritual power
from God we need to combat the weakness of our flesh (Acts 1:8; 2:38; 2Timothy 1:7).
A spiritual transformation
The Church of God is the people who are spiritually transformed by the power of God's
Spirit. Here is how Paul sums it up: "For if you live according to the flesh
you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will
live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (Romans 8:13-14).
This power of God dramatically changes the human equation. His Spirit transforms
a person's life. It enables us to override the pulls of human nature and live as
God commands. God's Spirit is the single most important component in a Christian's
life.
The presence or absence of God's Spirit is what determines whether a person is a
servant of Christ-a true Christian. "Now if anyone does not have the Spirit
of Christ, he is not His" (Romans 8:9).
Those who have received God's Spirit constitute the spiritual body that is the Church
Jesus Christ founded. "For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body-whether
Jews or Greeks, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink"
(1Corinthians 12:13, NIV).
God's Spirit provides great power
Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ provides the power for His people to do the
good works-to bear the fruit - He expects from them. "His divine power has given
us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called
us by his own glory and goodness" (2Peter 1:3, NIV).
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit will "guide (us) into all truth" (John 16:13) so we can know how to serve God according to His will. His Spirit makes it
possible for us to "grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ"
(Ephesians 4:15).
Paul talks of God's Spirit dwelling in us: "And in him you too are being built
together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit" (Ephesians 2:22,
NIV). The Holy Spirit is the direct presence and power of God working in His people.
Paul admonishes Christians to "continue to work out your salvation with fear
and trembling, for
it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose"
(Philippians 2:12-13, NIV).
God's Spirit leads to obedience
The transformation of the people of God through His Spirit is a transformation of
their hearts, their innermost being. Instead of hard-heartedness and hostility to
God's laws, they gain an obedient spirit because God works in them; He dwells in
them.
The apostle John says: "Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them.
And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us"
(1John 3:24, NIV).
The presence of a will to obey is so central to the definition of
a Christian that the apostle John boldly states: "The man who says, 'I know
him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But
if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we
know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did" (1 John 2:4-6, NIV). This is plain language indeed.
Jesus emphasizes that those who have not received this obedient spirit from God respond
to His commands quite differently. "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about
you hypocrites; as it is written: 'These people honour me with their lips, but their
hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught
by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions
of men" (Mark 7:6-8, NIV).
Any who do not have an obedient spirit adjust God's commands to accommodate their
own nature and reasoning. Jesus continues: "You have a fine way of setting aside
the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, 'Honour
your father and your mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be
put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever
help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted
to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you
nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many
things like that" (verses 9-13, NIV).
Those who do not have God's Spirit find it easy and convenient to disregard the biblical
instructions they dislike. They devise their own traditions, giving the appearance
of obeying and honoring God while sidestepping the intent of His instructions. Jesus
said such worship
is in vain-useless and empty (verse 7). Such people have eyes that can't see and
ears that can't hear (Romans 11:8).
God's Spirit, however, dramatically changes the attitude, outlook and spirit of His
people. They earnestly desire to obey God, and He gives them a humble, obedient attitude
and approach toward Him and His Word. They can willingly and faithfully obey His
commandments (Revelation 12:17). They have received from Him the power of the Holy
Spirit to combat Satan and their own nature.
In short, they are the transformed, special people of God.
©1999 United Church of God, an International Associtaion
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