The believers are being transformed in the spirit of their mind (Eph. 4:23). Between the word regarding the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new man (Eph. 4:22, 24), Paul wedges in the thought of being renewed in the spirit of our mind. Based upon the accomplished facts of the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new man, Ephesians 4:23 tells us to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. To be renewed is for our transformation to the image of Christ (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18). The spirit here is the regenerated spirit of the believers mingled with the indwelling Spirit of God. Such a mingled spirit spreads into our mind, thus becoming the spirit of our mind. It is in such a spirit that we are renewed for our transformation. In this way our natural mind is conquered, subdued, and put under the spirit. This, of course, implies a process of metabolic transformation. As this process takes place, the mingled spirit enters our mind, takes over our mind, and becomes the spirit of our mind.
By the spirit of the mind we are renewed to fulfill in experience what was accomplished in the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new man. The putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new man are accomplished facts. Now we must experience and realize these facts by being renewed in the spirit of our mind.
To be renewed is not to be adjusted, corrected, or improved in a mere outward way. It is to have a new element, the divine element, wrought into us. For something to be renewed means that the old element is replaced by a new element. Our spirit is a renewing spirit because it is indwelt by the living Christ as the renewing element. Because we have the element of newness in our spirit, we can be renewed in the spirit of the mind as the renewing spirit spreads into our mind. The more we turn to the spirit of the mind and walk in the spirit of the mind, the more our mind will be renewed. Then in a practical way the old element is replaced by the new element. The old element, the element of Adam, is discharged, and the new element, the element of Christ, is added to take its place.
We need to be impressed with the fact that when our mind is taken over by our spirit, our human spirit becomes the spirit of the mind. In a very real sense, our regenerated spirit, mingled with the Holy Spirit, not only influences our mind but overrules and dominates it. The spirit’s spreading itself into the mind to take over the mind and thus become the spirit of the mind is for continuous transformation. First, transformation takes place in our mind and then in our emotion and will.
As the result of being transformed by the renewing of the mind, the believers become precious materials-gold, silver, and precious stones-for the building up of the church (1 Cor. 3:9b-10, 12a). In 1 Corinthians 3:12 Paul speaks of building “on the foundation gold, silver, precious stones.” Gold, silver, and precious stones signify various experiences of Christ in the virtues and attributes of the Triune God. Gold signifies the divine nature of the Father with all its attributes; silver, the redeeming and life-secreting Christ with all the virtues and attributes of His person and work; and precious stones, the transforming work of the Spirit with all His attributes. These precious materials are the products of our participation in and enjoyment of Christ in our spirit through the Holy Spirit. Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God. With the Triune God we have God the Father as the gold, the redemption and life-secreting of God the Son as the silver, and the transforming work of God the Spirit as precious stones.
It is significant that Paul mentions only three categories of precious materials-gold, silver, and precious stones-for these correspond to the Three of the Triune God. Gold, the first of the precious materials mentioned by Paul, refers to the first of the Trinity, God the Father. Gold signifies neither redemption nor transformation; rather, as a precious element, it signifies something that does not change or become corrupt in nature. Gold always remains the same. Hence, in the Bible gold signifies the nature of God the Father. The divine nature, like gold, never changes.
In Exodus 30 we see that silver was used to redeem the life of God’s people. Silver signifies the redemption accomplished by Christ the Son, the second of the Trinity. Therefore, the silver in 1 Corinthians 3:12 refers to the redemption of Christ. According to the New Testament, Christ’s redemption first terminates us. When Christ died on the cross to redeem us, He terminated us. Whatever Christ terminates, He also redeems, brings back to God. Thus, being brought back to God comes after termination. Furthermore, whatever Christ terminates and redeems He then replaces with Himself. Redemption, therefore, involves termination, being brought back to God, and being replaced with what Christ is.
The precious stones are related to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Every precious stone is a transformed substance. At one time it used to be some other material, perhaps clay or carbon. Then as a result of intense heat and pressure this material has been transformed into precious stone. Thus, precious stones indicate transformation. According to 2 Corinthians 3:18, we are transformed by the Lord Spirit. This reveals clearly that transformation is the work of the Spirit. Therefore, the third item of the precious materials mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3:12 refers to the third of the Trinity, the Spirit.
In experience the precious stones are the totality of gold and silver. When in our spiritual experience we have the nature of God and the redemptive and life-secreting work of Christ, the result will be the transformation of the Holy Spirit. This means that the Spirit transforms us by the divine nature and the cross of Christ. To experience the transforming work of the Spirit is to undergo a metabolic change by the divine life within us.
Through the process of transformation we are being constituted of the Triune God-constituted of the Father’s nature, the Son’s redemption, and the Spirit’s transformation. When we receive the Triune God, when we take Him into us by drinking Him and eating Him, when we are transfused with Him and by Him, the Triune God-the Father, the Son, and the Spirit-comes into us to be our element and substance. This causes a metabolic process to take place within us by which a new element is added and an old element is discharged. This is transformation.
By the way of implication Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3 that through growth plants can become minerals. First we have the growth on God’s farm (v. 9). Then the plants grown on this farm become the precious materials for God’s building. We are God’s farm, and this farm produces plants. But as these divine plants grow, their growth brings in transformation. As a result, the plants grown on God’s farm are transformed to become the materials for God’s building.
The church is a farm which produces gold, silver, and precious stones. This implies that as the plants on God’s farm grow, they become minerals. The plants, of course, are botanical in nature. But as they grow, they are transformed into minerals. Whatever is grown on God’s farm will be transformed in nature. Transformation does not involve mere outward change but an inward, organic, metabolic change, a change in which a new element is added into our being to replace the old element. As the current of the divine life flows within us, the divine essence is added to us, the divine essence of the elements of gold, silver, and precious stones. The more this current flows in us, the more we have the increase, the enlargement, of the divine essence. This enlargement causes transformation. Eventually, we not only grow as plants but are transformed into precious materials for God’s building.
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