In the foregoing message we saw that the believers are being transformed, having been freed from the bondage of the law by the Spirit of the Lord. Now, with unveiled face, we are transformed by beholding and reflecting the glory of the Lord into the image of Christ from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18). In this message we shall consider three further matters related to transformation. Then we shall go on to consider the believers’ being conformed to the image of Christ.
Because we are of three parts-spirit, soul, and body- the Lord in His salvation takes three steps to deal with us: regeneration in our spirit, transformation in our soul, and transfiguration in our body. The Lord starts His salvation from the center by regenerating us in our spirit (John 3:6). When we received Christ, the Spirit of the Lord came into our spirit to regenerate us by imparting Christ into our spirit as life. By this divine act not only was our deadened spirit made alive, but the life of God with its divine nature was put into it. As a result, a change of life began from the center of our being. Now it is the Lord’s desire that this change of life continue by spreading into our soul so that our mind, emotion, and will may be transformed. Our spirit has been regenerated, but our mind, emotion, and will may still be the same. This means that we have Christ as life in our spirit, but we do not yet have Christ in our soul. We need Him to expand continually from our spirit into our soul till every part of our soul is transformed into His image. Then we shall think as He thinks, love as He loves, and choose as He chooses. We shall have the likeness of the Lord in our practical life because our soul has been thoroughly saturated with His divine element. Therefore, as believers, we need the renewing or the transformation of the soul.
Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” To be conformed to this age means to adopt the modern fashions outwardly; to be transformed is to have an organic element wrought into our being to produce a metabolic change inwardly. We need to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.
The mind in Romans 12 is different from the mind both in Romans 7 and Romans 8. In Romans 7 the mind is alone, acting independently. In Romans 8 the mind is dependent, being set on the spirit. The mind, however, should not only be dependent but also be renewed. Romans 12:2 tells us that we need a renewed mind. The mind is renewed not only by outward teachings but by the element of Christ being added to it. When the Lord Jesus spreads Himself from our spirit into our mind, our mind is renewed. Then by the renewing of the mind our soul is metabolically changed. In this way we experience transformation in our soul.
It is quite possible for us to be regenerated in the spirit but still be old in the mind, emotion, and will. If our mind remains old, we are not being transformed in the soul. There is no change in our thinking, loving, and choosing. In these things we are the same as unbelievers. The only difference is that we have been regenerated in the spirit and they have not. As far as the soul is concerned, our way of thinking, loving, and choosing is the same as theirs. But if our mind is renewed, our soul will be transformed.
Because Christ is in our spirit, when our mind submits to the spirit, it is actually submitting to Christ. This gives Him the opportunity to expand from our spirit into our mind and to permeate, fill, and renew it with Himself. In this way our soul is transformed by the renewing of our mind. After we are renewed in the mind, we shall automatically be renewed in the emotion and in the will, for the mind adjusts the emotion, and the will is influenced by the mind. If our mind is opened to the Lord, the emotion and the will surely will follow. Furthermore, if the mind is saturated and occupied by the Lord, the Lord will certainly take over our emotion and possess our will. It is for this reason we are told in Romans 12:2 that the transformation of the soul is by the renewing of the mind.
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