“The Transformation – Part 2”
October 24, 2010
Ephesians 4:17- 24: “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 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. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Last week we talked a little bit about being transformed into God’s image. The Bible tells us that God created us in His imagine, we fell and became twisted and depraved, and when we come back to God He begins to recreate us, once again, into His image. We are to become more and more like Jesus as we grow and mature.
Let’s do a little test. Pick out the true Christian. (Picture of a man smoking and one not, woman screaming, one smiling, guy drinking beer, one drinking water.)
The truth of the matter is WE can’t tell who the real Christian is. God sees what is in the heart. So we can’t go around judging who the Christian is and who isn’t – only God can do that. But we CAN tell if a person (or ourselves) is living according to God’s Word and doing His will. God reveals that in the Scripture. He even tells us to test ourselves to see if we are in the faith and if Jesus is truly in our hearts (2 Cor. 5). So on the one hand, we can’t know what a person’s thoughts and intent is – but we can and should be able to know what God’s desire is for a Christian. He has given us this marvelous Book where He reveals His will to us. There are three areas in particular God wants us to work on - the Body, the Soul (or intellect), and the Spirit. Paul writes,
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23
I want you to notice that it is God, Himself, who desires this and does it – as we offer each one of these areas up to Him in a sacrifice of love. HE will do it – as WE allow Him to. But it is up to us to allow Him to work in these areas. Paul says,
“Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” Romans 12:1
One of the reason’s we can’t tell who the real Christian is – is because the ‘acts’ of the Christian; the works of the Christian, the fruit which a Christian produces, can be imitated. There are a lot of phonies and hypocrites out there. There are a lot of people led astray by false doctrine and false teachers. Many are merely immature and in time will be transformed into the image of Jesus. Their acts may be off by their hearts are pure. But for you and me and the one who truly loves Jesus; for the one who seeks to be everything God wants him to be, there are three areas we need to work on.
I think the way God made us, He made us as a sort of trinity. If you draw three circles, kind of like a target, the outer ring is the body, then the second ring represents the soul (which is the mind and intellect) and the bulls eye is the spirit. When God works in us, as we grow in maturity, the major focus is the body or fleshly sins. After making headway there, we move on to the soul – which is harder to overcome, and then we grow in the spirit which is even harder. It is more difficult because the body and soul affects the spirit. You need to overcome the flesh and the intellect before you can more on to the spiritual areas in any significant way. So in the maturing process, we work on the fleshly works first, then the intellect, then the spirit.
First of all, we are to purify our bodies. Paul says, in 2 Corinthians, that we are to purify our bodies. We are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, he writes in Hebrews 12. Jesus said,
“And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” Matthew 5:30
The sins of the body are those destructive habits we selfishly accumulate in life because we receive some sort of pleasure from them. Things like smoking or using tobacco in any way, alcohol, drugs, overeating, under-eating, or a hundred others things. God’s word says,
“Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Did you get that? You body belongs to God. It is His temple. If you selfishly misuse it and destroy it – God will destroy you. Seems pretty important to God, doesn’t it? Listen,
“you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:20
Some will try to dismiss their own particular sin by saying, “that’s talking about sexual sins” – and it is. But the principle, or the truth, is the same. You are not your own. You were bought at a price – the price of Jesus’ blood. Therefore, we are to honor Him with our body. Someone said, “Don’t smoke or chew or run with women who do!” But this goes beyond that. We are to control our bodies. We are to control our bodily appetites. The Scripture says,
“It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
Did you get that? We are to learn to control our bodies. How are you doing? Are there any habits in your life that dishonor God? Those piercing and tattoos – do they dishonor or honor God? Any destructive habits? How about sexual sins of the bodies – relationships that are of the flesh? We have excused fornication and sexual sins in our day and age. But the Bible says we are to control our bodies in a way that is holy and honorable.
Now, some of you were immediately tempted to excuse your actions by thinking, “we all sin every day” – and that may be correct, I personally, don’t think it is correct, but let’s say it is. That isn’t the point. The point is growing spiritually. The point is maturing. The choice is to continue to give in to sin or to choose to control our bodies – our passions and self-centered desires. The choice is yours – but to become more Christlike; to become more mature; to grow in grace – you must learn to control your bodies in a holy way. Your bodies need to be sanctified; your body needs to be completely surrendered to God.
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” Romans 6:12-14
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Do not give in to the flesh or obey its evil desires. You are free to live as you ought. God has given us the power, through the Holy Spirit, to break every addiction, every bad habit, every wrong desire. Use the power God gave you. You have the power! You can overcome anything! You are more than a conqueror! Purify your flesh!
Secondly, we are to purify the soul – or intellect. Often we use the word ‘soul’ synonymously with spirit – but it really refers to the intellect and the mind in the Scripture. The Great Command tells us that we are to love God with all our mind – in some places, “all our soul”. The Scripture tells us the power of the Bible. Listen,
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
It seems to me, from this Scripture that the soul has to do with thoughts and the spirit has to do with the attitude of the heart. As we read the Bible our minds become illuminated, we see the light, we understand God’s will. Our hearts haven’t changed yet. Our hearts have not caught up to the mind yet – but it’s the next step. Our minds need to see the truth before the heart can make the change. Paul said,
“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
How do we renew our minds? How do we sanctify our minds? By dedicating them to God. We sanctify our minds by giving them completely to God. We surrender our minds to God’s will.
Here’s a Scripture that greatly helped me:
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
Two things I want you to see here, first, we have weapons. We are not powerless. We have incredible authority in Jesus. We have unbelievable power as God’s children. Second, we are to take every thought that come across our brains and take it captive. We are to make our thoughts obedient to Christ.
What that means is when our minds take us someplace we know God doesn’t want us to go – we stop it. We control it. We change our thoughts. You have heard the old saying, “You can’t stop the birds from flying over head, but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair.” You can’t stop the enemy from putting temptations and wrong thoughts in our minds; you can’t keep your fallen nature from experiencing wrong urges and having evil desires – but you can control them. The Scripture says,
“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.” Galatians 5:16-18
“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind controlled by the sinful nature is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. The sinful mind is hostile to God…” Romans 8:5-7
We will have desire of the flesh, but if your mind is sanctified, if you are Spirit filled, you don’t have to give in. The Holy Spirit can give you power to control your mind your thoughts. You have the power to make the right choices. It’s available through the Spirit of God.
One last thought, we are to purify our spirits. Sometimes we substitute the word “heart” for the word Spirit. They can often be used interchangeably. What is in our hearts is who we really are. Our spirits are who we really are. Our bodies and minds contribute to who or what we are - spiritually. Spiritually, we are becoming more and more like Christ. Spiritually, we are becoming more and more in sync with the Holy Spirit. Spiritually, we are becoming one with God. Our hearts are changing. The more mature we become – the more we will think like God, the more we will act like God, and the more we will look like God. His desires become our desires. His likes become our likes. What He hates – we hate. One of my professors use to say, “You can’t love God more unless you hate sin more.” It’s true! We need to loath sin. We need to abhor rebellion to God – especially in ourselves. Our hearts need to be fully given over to God. The brother of Jesus said,
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” James 4:7-8
The heart is who we really are. We can act one way and be something else. We can talk one way and say all the right things – but in our hearts, be completely different. The heart is the ‘heart of the matter’. Our hearts need to be filled with true love for Jesus. Our hearts need to be completely surrendered to God. He needs to be boss. We need to allow Him to be calling the shots.
So what’s YOUR heart like? Is it spotless and pure – or not? It can be. The bible says,
“Come now, let us reason together says the Lord. Through your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; through they be red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18
God wants to forgive you. God loves you. That’s why He sent Jesus to die for you and pay the penalty for your sins. God wants to have a loving relationship with you – but He can’t as long as you are rebelling against Him. Sometimes we surrender our minds –but not our bodies. Sometimes we give up some fleshly sin – but are not surrendered in our heart in every area. Why not just give up and give in to Jesus. Love Him with ALL your heart, soul, body – everything. If there is any area of your life you are holding back –ask God to free you and cleanse you from that rebellion right now. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father,
I do love you. I want so much to be the person you want me to be. But I have to confess the flesh is so strong. You know the area I struggle with. Forgive me for resisting you. Forgive me for rebelling. Cleanse me from every sin – right now. I surrender my body, mind and spirit to you. From this moment all – do all you need to do to make me into your image. I need Your power; I need Your strength; I can do nothing without you. But through Your Strength – I can do anything. Change me, I pray.
