Tag: Transformation series

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From God to Us: A New Heart

Volunteering at an area drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, my friend Scott occasionally reminds its residents, “Give up all hope of a better past.” He’s right, we cannot change the mistakes and failures that lie behind us—not to mention the pains suffered at the hands of others—nor must we let them deprive us of a victorious today. Then in a similar vein, let us consider this corollary: “Give up all hope of a better sin nature.” Think of our sin nature—or “flesh,” as the apostle Paul calls it—as the human inclination toward sin. In last week’s post, we beheld this flesh for what it is: hostile to God and non-submissive to Him,1 opposed to the Spirit,2 and bearing rotten fruit.3 This is the nature of our flesh and, like our past, we cannot change it. We can modify our outward behaviors to a certain extent, but we cannot, in our own power, change our heart’s natural proclivity toward sin.

And to this we say, “Good!” For God has a better way: He gives us a new heart, His heart; He gives us new life, His Spirit in us. We should not be surprised, for God preannounced His plan several hundred years before its fulfillment in Jesus’ redemptive work and the sending of His Spirit. Through the prophet Ezekiel God foretold: “I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”4 The Holy Spirit in us would incline our heart toward God’s heart, conform our desires toward His desires, and align our ways with His ways. This was God’s plan, and He has done it. Paul writes to early believers, “God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”5 Ah, the proactive love of our initiating God!

Then as God continually transforms us into the image of His Son, what must we do? We recalibrate our hearts and minds. Paul writes the Colossians, “Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”6 To the Galatians he urged, “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh”7 And to believers in Rome, “be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that . . . you may discern what is the will of God.”8

“To set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace,”9 assures the apostle. Isn’t this what we want?

Father, “teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!”10 In Christ I pray. Amen.

1 Romans 8:7
2 Galatians 5:17
3 Galatians 5:19-21
4 Ezekiel 36:26-27 NLT
5 Philippians 2:13 NLT
6 Colossians 3:1-2 NIV
7 Romans 12:2 ESV
8 Galatians 5:16 ESV
9 Romans 8:6 ESV
10 Psalm 143:10 ESV

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Good!

Diane1 knew her young child Ashley2 had a hearing problem. To sudden noises, Ashley often had no jump response—no sudden muscle reflex—and she would act out in exasperation at not understanding or being understood. Strong willed by nature, Ashley was also generally less than cooperative with auditory testing, which added to the overall frustration. When finally an audiologist was able to diagnose Ashley as having moderate to severe hearing loss, Diane, to the doctor’s surprise, rejoiced, “Good! Now I know what we’re dealing with. Now we have something to work with.” What a healthy, positive response!

Our spiritual journey, likewise, has its own frustrations. Paul’s symptoms reflect ours: “I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”3 Can you help me, Doc? Is there a diagnosis, so we can have something to work with? Yes, in fact, there is: it is called, “the flesh,” or in this context, our “sin nature.” It is the natural human inclination toward sin. Think of it as the self-willed part of us that wants to live life on our terms and not God’s. And in his letters to the Romans and the Galatians, especially, Paul exposes the flesh for what it is . . . 

“I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.”4 Good! Now I know what I’m dealing with.

“The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”5 Good! Now I know the futility of spiritual self-reliance.

“The works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.”6 Good! Now I can trace these ominous symptoms to their fleshy root.

“The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other.”7 Good! The choice is clear—my flesh, or God’s Spirit.

It is good to come to the truth of a matter, even if only to understand more clearly our situation. Then where do we go from here? How do we move from futile to fruitful? We’ll discuss this next time. For now, rejoice in the freedom of knowing we cannot live the Christian life by our own wisdom or in our own power. God has a better, freer way forward. See you next week.

Father, thank you for your Word; it is wisdom and power, rest and joy. Send your Spirit to us, your church, and lead us ever in your way and always for your glory. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1, 2 This name is changed for privacy purposes.
3 Romans 7:18-19 ESV
4 Romans 7:18 ESV
5 Romans 8:7 ESV
6 Galatians 5:19-21 ESV
7 Galatians 5:17 ESV

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God’s Timeless Pursuit of Our Transformation

SpaceX, the aerospace pioneer, went public last week, raising tens of billions of dollars through its initial public offering (IPO). Its progenitor, Elon Musk, redefines innovation, having founded Tesla, the electric car company, while, “Oh, by the way,” pioneering reusable rockets in his spare time. He envisions orbiting AI data centers, a city on Mars, and who knows what else this ideator-extraordinaire may have dreamed up while shaving this morning. Yet everything man explores, God has made, for “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of [man] is to search things out.”1 We dispatch our exploratory rovers to “the red planet”; yet it is “[God] who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning and darkens the day into night.”2

Then as man looks to the heavens to search out what God has established, God in His heavens pursues His vision for us, His beloved on Earth: to make us ever more like His Son, through whom “all things were made.”3 God’s pursuit of our transformation into Jesus’ image is firmly established from beginning to end. His plan is purposed from the past: “For those whom [God] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”4 He pursues His vision in the present: “We . . . are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”5 And this He promises for the future: “When [Christ] appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”6 God’s vision is clear, His sights are set, and our transformation is certain.

Then what must we do? First, trust and know this: “God . . . works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”7 It is a lifelong process. Even if we don’t see transformation right away or at the pace we’d prefer, the fact remains, God is at work in us. Then in the confidence of His faithfulness, we rest and rejoice—rest in the fact that God is doing in us what we cannot do ourselves, and rejoice in our transformation, God’s ongoing expression of love for us. This is His vision; this is our life. So good.

“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. . . The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV

Father, thank you for your eternal wisdom and purpose. Thank you for raising us to ever-increasing glory, the image of your Son. Inspire us to trust, rest, rejoice and thrive in such amazing grace. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 Proverbs 25:2 ESV
2 Amos 5:8 ESV
3 John 1:3 NIV
4 Romans 8:29 ESV
5 2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV
6 1 John 3:2 ESV
7 Philippians 2:13 ESV