The Power To Change Series

Over the last few weeks, our theme has been “power”. We looked at what the Bible says concerning God the Holy Spirit, who gives us the ability to love one another and who leads us into the truth. And we studied what the Bible tells us about Prayer and the reading of the Word, two important means by which we access the Spirit’s power. This morning, we are looking at another power which the Holy Spirit gives us, and that is the power to change, and mature, and bear fruit. Because the Christian life isn’t just a matter of getting saved, and then serving, and sacrificing, and suffering until Jesus comes back. We aren’t just marking time, doing our best to be good Christians until Christ returns. No, the Christian life is, or at least it should be, a life of joy and fulfillment. And much of that joy and fulfillment flows from the transformation that God is bringing about in us through his Spirit. Because the more that God changes us to be like Christ, the more we are able to know him and to experience his love for us. And that brings us joy. Sound good? All right. I’ll begin by sharing with you a passage from Paul’s letter to the Philippian church.

“3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus || 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:3-6, 9-10)

What is Paul confident of? Verse 6: he is confident that the good work which has begun in them will continue, until it is fully and finally brought to completion on the day Christ returns. And so spiritual growth is an ongoing process, one that begins when we first place our trust in Christ, and which continues throughout our lives. It is also a progressive process; note that Paul prays in verse 9 that their love would continually increase, that it would abound “more and more”. And so God does not intend that we be spiritually static; that we remain the same over time. God intends that we grow and change, and that is Paul’s prayer here. So what does Paul say will be the result of the work that God is doing in them?

• (v. 9) Their love would “abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight”

• (v. 10) They would “be able to discern what is best”

• (v. 10) They would be “pure and blameless”

• (v. 11) They would be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ”

And these are the kinds of changes that God desires to make in us as well. By the way, did you see a mention in any of these verses of an age limit? In other words, this process of becoming like Christ, does it level off, or plateau when we turn, say, fifty, or sixty, or seventy, or eighty? Do we ever retire from growing in faith? No. This is a lifelong process. And so as long as we are alive, we are to be changing. Paul writes this in 2 Corinthians:

“16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16)

Now, I’m doing what I can to slow down the “wasting away” of my outward body; you probably are too. But the point Paul is making is that the (sadly inevitable) deterioration of our flesh does not imply a corresponding spiritual decline. Someone might assume that, along with losing some physical strength and perhaps even some mental sharpness, we would also suffer a loss of spiritual strength and power. But Paul tells us that precisely the opposite is true. Even as the strength of our external body diminishes, our spirit continues to be renewed, every day. And that is why this process of spiritual transformation, this process of becoming like Christ, doesn’t stop or even slow down as we grow older. Because God is continually renewing us spiritually. Yes, even those of us who are on Medicare.

OK. We read in Philippians 1:6 that God is the one who began this process of transfor¬mation, and that he will bring it to completion. Does that mean it is automatic? Is it something that just happens, no matter what I do? Should I “let go and let God”? No. Spiritual growth requires intentional effort on our part. Yes, the power is all from God. But we have to cooperate with God. Listen to what Paul tells us a little later in Philippians: