We must remember, however, that we are tripartite. It is indeed wonderful to have the Spirit with our spirit, but we have also a soul and a body. The spirit is the center of our being, while the body is the circumference. In between is the soul. The soul occupies a great part of our being. The Triune God is in our spirit, but our soul may contain very little Christ. Our soul may be occupied by self alone. While we are saying, “Praise the Lord for the Spirit in my spirit!” our mind, the biggest part of the soul, is still full of self. Our emotion, another part of the soul, is fully in our hands. Our will, the third part of the soul, remains untouched.
Our spirit has been regenerated, but our soul is still old and unchanged. We need transformation. Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, that you may prove by testing what the will of God is, that which is good and well-pleasing and perfect.”
To be conformed to this age is to be modern. Wanting to be modern comes from the soul. Suppose you look at the advertisements in the newspapers. Your interest is aroused by the fashions they show. Your emotion finds some styles appealing. Your mind begins to figure out how much money you can afford to spend. Your will makes a decision to go and buy a certain one.
If this is your practice, you are conformed to this age. Do not be conformed to this age! To be conformed to this age is to get the things that satisfy the soul. The soul likes fashions and color variations. It is never satisfied.
“...But be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” The renewing of the mind indicates that transformation is in the soul, because the mind is the leading part of the soul. For our soul to be transformed, what is first needed is the renewal of the mind. These are two different words: conformed and transformed. To be conformed does not require that anything new be added to our inner being; it is an outward matter. To be transformed, in contrast, requires that a new element be added inwardly to us.
Conformity is mostly a matter of appearance. About fifteen years ago many young people were attracted to the hippie movement in California. It did not take any great effort for them to become hippies. All they had to do was to let their hair grow long and stop taking showers! They did not need a special element added to them. Simply by adopting that kind of life style, they were conformed.
Transformation is not outward like conformity. Suppose someone’s face is quite pale. He needs to be transformed. The answer to his problem is not makeup. What he needs is to eat nourishing food in a regular way. As this food is digested and assimilated into his blood, its elements will become part of his cells. These new elements will gradually transform his paleness into a healthful color. By eating properly, his being has been changed. The old has been discharged and the new added to replace the old. No color has been outwardly added to his skin; the change in color has been inwardly brought about. Transformation is like this.
What is the new element that brings about this inward change? It is Christ, the Triune God, the all-inclusive Spirit. At first this element is only in our spirit. He is confined there, with no way to enter our mind, emotion, and will. If we do not allow Him to spread, our spirit becomes a prison to Him. We need the teaching about transformation by the renewing of the mind. The Spirit wants to spread into our soul, thus adding the new divine element to replace the self. When this new element replacing the old is added to our soul, there will be a change in our mind, emotion, and will.
Of all the books in the Bible, only the writings of Paul speak of transformation. Part of the completing ministry is that we need to be transformed. This change in our inner being comes about by the divine element being added to us to replace the self.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:17-18, lit.).
What is the liberty referred to here? It is freedom from the knowledge of good and evil, from culture, from philosophy, from ethical teachings, and from religion. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, we shall be bound no longer by these things. In Paul’s time many believers were still under the bondage of law. They needed to be free from the law and from the Jewish religion. In our day the Chinese believers need to be liberated from the teachings of Confucius. All of us need to be set free from religion. We all need to be cleared out. Nothing should be left in us of the old knowledge of good and evil, the old culture, the old philosophy, the old ethical teachings, and the old religion.
Verse 18 says we are like mirrors with unveiled faces. All these veils have been taken away. All five layers need to be removed. Even if only one veil remains, our vision is impaired. The things in the Bible we cannot see, even though they are there. This is why many Christians do not see beyond the words when they read the Bible. Their eyes are veiled by all these layers.
Every layer needs to be removed. Then we as mirrors with unveiled face beholding and reflecting the Lord, are being transformed. The way to be transformed is to remove the veil of the knowledge of good and evil, of culture, of philosophy, of ethical teaching, and of religion. Then we can look at the Lord with unveiled face and have Him shine into our being.
If you want to take a picture, you must be sure to take the cover off the camera lens. Then, when you touch the shutter, the light shines in and the picture is taken. The same is true of you. If your face is unveiled and you look to the Lord, He Himself will be shined into your mind, emotion, and will, as well as your spirit. Something divine has shined into us, replacing the old and thus causing a change. This change is called transformation in Paul’s completing ministry. It is the Spirit spreading out from our spirit into our soul to occupy and saturate every part of it.
Transformation is for the building of God. Without it there is no possibility of His gaining a building. Even though our spirit has been regenerated, there is no way for believers to be built into one as long as our soul is full of self. What is the self? Opinion is the self in expression. As long as we are full of our differing opinions, we cannot be one.
If, however, we allow the Spirit to spread out, one by one our opinions will go. As we are all transformed, we become one. Gradually through transformation all of us are delivered from our opinions, and we become one, not only in our spirit but also in our soul. This oneness is the building, which is the purpose of transformation.