THE SPIRIT, THE WORD. AND SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION

 

 

Because we are filled with the Spirit, we want to become more like our Savior and are grieved to see we are not more like Him.

 

We know that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16) but forget that the Gospel, the Word of God, is also the power of God unto sanctification and transformation.

 

The Israelites also had the Gospel, although it wasn’t laid out as plainly as in the NT. However, even the sacrificial system abundantly revealed that they were sinners who needed the mercy of God. The substitutionary slaughter of thousands of sacrificial animals communicated this along with the mercy of God, who forgave their sins.

 

Likewise, when King Solomon had dedicated the Temple, he prayed:

 

·       “If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near, yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you.” (2 Chronicles 6:36-39)

 

From the truths embedded within their religious practice, it should have been clear to them that they were all sinners who were in desperate need of God’s mercy.

 

Instead, the Israelites hardened their hearts against these abundantly apparent truths. Paul likened it to their having a veil over their eyes and hearts, preventing them from understanding what should have been obvious. Instead, they convinced themselves that they could be good enough for God (Romans 9:30-33).

 

Consequently, their self-righteous veil had to be removed by the Spirit so that they could understand God’s Word through Moses:

 

·       But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:14-18)

 

What do we now behold? By the Spirit, we can now behold and understand the transformative Word. It was the Spirit by His Word which had painfully convinced me that I could never be good enough for God. He had to stripe away my arrogance before He would lift me up. If He hadn’t done this, I would have interpreted any blessings as proof of my moral sufficiency and entitlement.

 

The Gospel is also the power of God unto sanctification. The Spirit illuminates the Word through our regenerated, born-again minds and hearts to transform us into the likeness of Christ:

 

·       Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

 

Although this verse doesn’t mention the Word, the renewal of the mind depends on the Word, as many other verses reveal:

 

·       “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.” (John 15:3)

 

Therefore, Jesus prayed:

 

·       “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17)

 

Sanctification is a process. It includes holiness, understanding, and is a matter of cleansing and renewing, by the Spirit through the Word, of our old attitudes:

 

·       Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. (Ephesians 5:25-26)

 

This means that the Word is central to our growth in Christ. This might sound strange to us today. Instead, we tend to think that becoming more Christlike is a matter of therapy, having a mountaintop experience, or being good enough.

 

While our Lord might use these things, sanctification is fundamentally the work of the Spirit through His Word. It is like how God created man by using the earth and the woman, by using Adam’s rib. But it was also like how God created the world through His Word alone.

However, He invites us to partake of His work and His Word. Therefore, we are to meditate on His Word, day and night (Psalm 1:1-3).