The second step of transformation is sanctification, the sanctification of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 6:19, 22; 15:16). After our old man was buried through baptism, God set us apart and sanctified our regenerated new man. This new man belongs to God, and God is in this new man. This sanctification is not only an objective sanctification in position; it is even more a subjective sanctification in disposition. We, as the saved ones, all have this experience. For example, after a person is saved, without anyone telling him, he may feel that the shoes he is wearing are too worldly. When he bought this pair, he liked the pointed style, which is a favorite of the Texan cowboys. But now that he is saved, when he wears these shoes, he feels that there is too much of a worldly flavor, so he cannot wear them.
When I went to the United States about thirty years ago, it was the time of the hippies. There were many hippies who came to our meetings, but there was one that I can never forget. He was big in stature, wore a headdress with varied colors, and had a long beard. He came to the meetings barefoot and sat on the front row. Praise the Lord, after two or three meetings his headdress was gone, and after another week his long beard was also gone. I was very happy. Nevertheless, he still came barefoot. After another week he came wearing sandals. This was better than being barefoot. After another period of time he came wearing shoes, and after a little more time he came also wearing socks. He was sanctified.
Stanza 1 of Hymns, #841 says, “Thou art all my life, Lord, / In me Thou dost live; / With Thee all God’s fullness / Thou to me dost give. / By Thy holy nature / I am sanctified, / By Thy resurrection, / Vict’ry is supplied.” The Lord lives in us to be our life, and this life with the divine nature sanctifies us within. This is the second step of transformation.
The third step of transformation is renewing. When we were washed, we were sanctified; when we were sanctified, we were renewed. Titus 3 speaks of the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. I know of some brothers and sisters who have changed their hairstyles. This was not due to the teachings of man, but it was surely the renewing of the Holy Spirit within them.
In 1942 during the great revival in Chefoo a young woman came into the church life. She was from a very rich family. She had gone to Shanghai by herself to study law in the university so that she might come back to fight for her inheritance. We all knew her family situation. I saw her sitting in the meeting and noticed that her hair was like a tower three or four stories high. After she came to the meetings for about one or two weeks, I saw that the high tower on her head was dismantled, though not completely, because there was still a little portion left. Then after another period of time, the tower was completely brought down. We can say that the change in her hairstyle was a renewing. From the time we are saved, we who love the Lord may feel that we are often weak, and we fail in many things. Yet if we carefully consider even a little, we will realize that in many areas we have been renewed.
Renewing begins from our mind. Romans 12:2 says, “Be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” God is in us as our life to transform us. How does He begin the transformation? First, God comes to be our life. Many verses in the Bible refer to this matter. Second Timothy 4:22 says, “The Lord be with your spirit.” This shows us that the Lord is in our spirit. Then it says, “Grace be with you.” The grace of the Lord is the Lord Himself as our enjoyment. This is in our spirit. However, our spirit is the deepest part of our being, and it is surrounded by our mind, emotion, and will. Therefore, the Lord wants us who love Him to have our spirit spread into our soul that we may always set our mind on our spirit.
We all know that man has three parts. The outermost part is the body, the innermost is the spirit, and in the middle is the soul. Thus, starting from the outside, we have the body, the soul, and the spirit; whereas, starting from the inside, we have the spirit, the soul, and the body. When we were saved, we first felt regretful and confessed our sins. That feeling of regret was the function of our conscience, which is the main part of our spirit. Then we repented and called on the name of the Lord. Although we called outwardly, we were motivated from the spirit deep within us. Thus, we believed in the Lord and received Him. He then began to renew us in our mind. The renewing of the mind is the foundation of the transformation of our soul, and it is the result of our setting our mind on the spirit (Rom. 8:6). Our mind is the main part of our soul. Since our emotion and our will, together with our mind, constitute our soul, when our mind is renewed, our emotion and will spontaneously will be renewed along with the mind.
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