The subject of Transformation may now be considered psychologically. The teacher should have the class read Romans 12:1-2. Verse 1 speaks of that complete dedication of the whole being which has already been described; the yielded body, manifesting the yielded powers of soul and spirit. Verse 2 describes the actual process of transformation as a renewing of the mind. That this expression may be the better understood, the relation of the mind or intellectual faculties to the other powers of the tripartite being of man should be explained.
With the powers of spirit we know God and our relation to Him and our relation morally to every object of creation. God’s communications to man are in the form of intuitions, i.e., direct knowledge apart from the exercise of the intellectual faculties; but the mind has to deal with these intuitions of the spirit before they can be acted upon. The mind has also to deal with the claims of the affections and emotions and the record of the bodily senses; therefore we perceive its importance.
In the Garden of Eden we find Satan assailing the mind of Eve. He sought to substitute his lie for the intuitive knowledge of God’s will which she had in her spirit and which her mind had attentively considered up to this time. He caused her mind to revolve around the possibilities that inhered in the choice to become “as (equal to) God,” until with mental powers completely dazzled by the wonderful prospect, she used her power of choice-and the fatal deed was done.
We read in Proverbs 20:27 that “the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord,” and it is this candle that is lighted by God the Holy Spirit at regeneration. We have seen that the new Life of God in Christ Jesus enters the spirit of man at the instant of regeneration and is intended to permeate the whole being, but this is accomplished only through the renewed mind. If the Christian refuses to present his entire being to God for renewal, then the unrenewed mind deals with the intuitions of the spirit, and the result is disastrous to Christian development and transformation. Many Christians refuse to yield their minds to God, yet think that they are able to understand the deep things of God. They talk about Eternal truths, they preach about them, they write books about them, yet they fail to understand them or lead others to understand them; for the things of God are spiritually discerned, and their thinking is performed by the natural mind. This is the solution of the otherwise unsolved problem as to the present day teaching of many persons whom we do not doubt are truly “born from above.” Of course those persons who have not been regenerated have not even a renewed spirit. They are not able to understand anything that pertains to the Christian life. All that they say in regard to God and His Eternal Purpose is distinctly opposed to the Truth as stated in God’s Written Word. Their teaching is not only unscriptural and blasphemous but it is illogical and puerile, betraying the darkness and weakness of an unrenewed personality.
The Christian who has said “the irrevocable, inclusive yes” to God, soon realizes and manifests a renewed condition of the mental powers. The mind becomes increasingly able to intelligently deal with the intuitions of the spirit. In other words, the mental life of the God-Man is manifested within the natural mind of the person, freeing it from the darkness and weakness resulting from sin, and also strengthening its natural powers.
The Apostle Paul was continually beseeching Christians to dedicate themselves wholly to God, because only so could they know that practical transformation whereby they would be able to “prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” (Notice the order and significance of these adjectives.) Without this transforming work of the Holy Spirit, they would to some extent become conformed to this world, i.e., to the great world system under the leadership of Satan, “the god of this world.” (See 2 Cor. 4:4.)
“Conform” means “to shape in accordance with.” For illustration: The metal worker pours hot metal into a mold and as it cools, it assumes the shape of the mold. The housekeeper pours fruit juice into a jelly mold and when it hardens, the jelly is in the shape of the mold. The metal and the fruit juice are conformed to their respective molds. It is very easy for Christians to be influenced by the great world system all about us. Unconsciously, Christians follow the ways of the world in matters of business and educational methods, social customs, dress, expenditures, recreation and conversation, while professing to follow Christ, and in many cases really desiring to put Him first. Christians are not to be conformed to this mold of Satan but to be conformed to God’s mold, the likeness of His Son (Rom. 8:29), i.e., the glorified humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice that the word transform indicates a change in the elemental substance, while “conform” denotes a change in form only. The metal is unchanged in substance when conformed to the mold. The jelly is precisely the same variety of fruit juice that was placed within the mold to harden. No real transformation has taken place; only conformation is realized.
No human being can become conformed to God’s mold until there is a change from within, i.e., the introduction of a new life into the human personality. This new Life is for the purpose of permeating the entire personality, until transformation shall have resulted in complete conformation. The teacher should have the class read 2 Corinthians 3:18, R.V., also the Rotherham and Weymouth translations, if possible. Notice that this transforming work of the “Spirit of the Lord” is by degrees (from one degree of glory to another).
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