I am a Transformer.
No, not an Autobot. Definitely not a Decepticon! But I'm a Transformer nonetheless.
Let me start by clearing the air: I'm not a super-mech hero. In fact, I'm not even a perfect human being. I've walked with Christ for many years, but I've been plagued by carnality and penchants of the flesh throughout the years. I grew up thinking the reason I couldn't stop giving in to certain temptations was because I wasn't doing some Christian-y technique right...
maybe I wasn't praying enough?...
or I wasn't reading the Bible enough?...
or I didn't think about God enough?...
Little did I understand, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
But over the years, I've drawn closer to God by my own hunger for His Spirit at work in my life. And whadya know! As a result, God's been faithful and has drawn close to me, maturing me little by little in His righteousness. Simple cause-and-effect. Over time, though, I realized something very discouraging, yet interesting: despite my intense hunger for righteous living, I still chose to sin and give in to my vice from time to time.
Can you relate? Now, by no means am I condoning double-dipping: being a Christian, but living in sin. God's got a beef with that. That's called "taking advantage of God's grace for your own selfish, sinful desires." That kind of lifestyle is described in Scripture (and by the author I mentioned last post, Neil T. Anderson) as living in "the flesh." You can't live an effective, fruit-bearing Christian life while bending at whim to "the flesh," the very mentality and behavior ruled by sinful desires. Paul outlines in Romans 6 how we who follow Christ are dead to sin. To me, dead sin sounds pretty...dead.
DEAD!!!
But when a believer in Christ chooses to willfully walk in "the flesh," all the while simultaneously trying to walk in "the Spirit," he is basically choosing to lay the paddles of the defibrillator to his old sinful nature. C'mon, let the dead rest in peace! Don't try to revive what will keep you from bearing fruit, and ultimately bring you death. Because like Jesus said in John 15, He will prune any branch that doesn't bear fruit.
I gave a little bit of a precursor of this in my last post, Hide and Seek, but if you are a believer in Christ, it is crucial to be assured of two things:
1. The Holy Spirit's very real and active work within you
2. Your very real and active identity IN Christ
Note: I highlight the word IN because every person on planet Earth is tailor-made for an identity given by our Creator - and that identity is only found in the Creator God's one-and-only master plan of redemption for the "human condition"...Jesus Christ. That's the Gospel, or in other words, the Good News! Thank God there is only ONE master plan and not a million different expectations to keep up with! And the great thing about the good news is that it's continuous as we live in and flourish in Christ. It's an ongoing process hinging on an active relationship with God. Choosing to walk away from that relationship is choosing to walk away from the process of redemption, i.e., choosing to not be IN Christ. Plain and simple.
If you believe in Christ's identity as Savior, it is necessary to believe your identity as The Saved. When Christ broke the bonds of sin in your life, you were freed from slavery to sin...but it's important to know, He didn't leave the shackles hanging from your wrists. "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" - direct words from Jesus, as written in John 8:36. A promise from Christ Himself. It's not a smoke-and-mirrors salvation, flimsily bending and swaying at the slightest mistake. It is set firm in Christ, anchored by His sovereign character and restorative work through His life, death, and resurrection as the ultimate sacrifice.
For so long, though, I didn't understand the Holy Spirit's work within me as someone freed from sin's slavery. When I was young, I thought the Holy Spirit was like a Parole Officer or something - mess up and you're outta here. As I grew older, I thought the Holy Spirit was more of a Nun - a pious figure who is a little more personal than a Parole Officer, but not much more forgiving, or even relate-able. A little while later, I thought the Holy Spirit was more of a Jiminy Cricket - a conscience of sorts, but kind of a tiny wimp who wouldn't really do much more than passively make suggestions, only to stand back and not put up much of a fight in my decision-making process.
Later on down the road, I came to understand the Holy Spirit for who He really is: He is the power of God made manifest in me through Christ's redeeming work. He is the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, taking up residence in me. He is supernatural guidance, the Counselor as Jesus said. Another word that is used to describe Him is the Comforter - which is a whole 'nother blog post I'll write a whole 'nother time!
All in all, the Holy Spirit was sent for our benefit. He is the very Spirit of God Himself active in...transforming us. Ah, there it is! See? I told you! I realized, I am a Transformer!
But why? How do I know the Holy Spirit is transforming me? Is there evidence? Well, in addition to the fruit I bear, and the Fruit of the Spirit outlined in Galatians 5, I've encountered some awesome evidence of the Holy Spirit's work in my walk with God.
In fact, my years of growing in Christ culminated to this profound and life-changing realization just the other day: as I live by the Spirit of God, if I mess up and sin, I find the desire that was once so strong behind that sin has...deteriorated. That's the work of the Holy Spirit that God meant for each and every one of His children: transformation.
It's like an old fashioned balance scale: as you transform to become more and more like Christ, His Spirit continuously grows in you and holds more weight in your life (your decision making, your motives, etc.). The Spirit's weight grows as you transform more into His likeness. Conversely, your old sinful nature holds less and less weight in affecting your life (decision making, motives, etc.).
As I chose to walk more and more in the Spirit, sin lost its influence in my life. It lost weight. And I found that if the occasion arose when I slipped up and sinned, the weight of sin had strangely diminished over time - the burning desire of the flesh I once felt, the hunger to satiate my sinful longings, had been starved of their power over me. It's a give-and-take: the more you give to one side of the scale, it takes from the other side. And that, my friends, is a beautiful illustration of God's grace. I now know the hymn to be true: "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of Earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."
The ability to be a Transformer has been offered to all of us. Allow God's Spirit to transform your heart. Let Him tip your scales...walk in The Spirit and indeed, the scales will tip toward life.
"I came that [you] might have life, and life to the full." ~ Jesus Christ (John 10:10)
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