THE BIBLE AND TRANSFORMATION BY THE SPIRIT

How do we experience growth and transformation? The Bible consistently claims that growth occurs by the Spirit applying the Scriptures to our lives:

·       Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2; 2 Peter 1:2-4)

According to Jesus, life is about living according to every Word of God, just as the Hebrew Scriptures had consistently affirmed. After fasting for 40 days in the desert, the Devil challenged Jesus to change a rock into bread if He is truly the Son of God:

·       Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:4)

If Scripture is fully the Word of God, it makes sense that we must adhere to “every word” and not pick only those verses that appeal to us. In fact, Jesus never disparaged the Scriptures. He claimed that the slightest letter had been inspired by God:

·       "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18)

How then does Scripture transform. Peter likened Scripture to milk for the newborn:

·       Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Peter 2:2-3)

However, Scripture is not merely a matter of head-knowledge. Instead, it is also the Spirit’s tool to encounter us in a transformative way. Paul claimed that “inwardly we are being renewed” each day:

·       Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

When we look towards Scripture, we are looking towards the transformative “unseen” things of God, as the Spirit applies these truths to our hearts and minds:

·       And we, who with unveiled faces all behold the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

On many occasions, I was hurting so that Scripture was my only refuge. During these occasions, the Spirit ministered hope and light into my life in ways I will never forget. As Paul had communicated to the Ephesian elders, Scripture can build us up:

·       "Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32)

However, this can only happen through the work of the Spirit. After Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, He consistently brought them back to the Scriptures, even though whatever He said was the Word of God:

·       He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:44-45)

We experience God through His Word. Jesus not only presented them with the Scriptures, He also “opened their minds so they could understand” them. This is something that God continues to do for us as we cry out for the correct understanding of His Word.

This is why the man without the Spirit cannot truly understand the Scriptures. Instead, he scoffs at them:

·       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. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:14-16)

As we meditate on the Word, having confessed our sins, we are given the “mind of Christ” so that we can understand as the Lord would have us understand.

What does this look like? I will just provide one of thousands of examples. For decades, I had hated myself. Even after coming to Christ, my feelings of self-loathing were so deep that it felt as if God too loathed me. However, the Spirit eventually made this verse so real for me:

·       Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

As a result, I became convinced that God neither loathed nor condemned me. Instead, He loves me with a love that goes beyond human comprehension (Ephesians 3:16-19). Consequently, I now want to praise Him always.