We need to see that the freedom of a Christian, the glory of a Christian, and the image expressed by a Christian, are all the Holy Spirit Himself. To repeat, the Lord Himself is the Spirit, and when this Spirit lives out of us, the Lord’s image is expressed from us. Therefore, to be transformed into the Lord’s image means that in every matter in our daily living, whether big or small, we deny ourselves and walk according to the Spirit. In all of our family life, church life, and contact and interaction with others, we must deny and reject our self and live in the Spirit. Then the Lord’s image will be expressed from us. If we live in this way every day, rejecting our self and walking according to the Holy Spirit, we will be transformed day by day. Transformation comes when we lay our self down and the Spirit enters into us more and more.
Our self is the flesh, and the Holy Spirit is the Lord Himself. Whenever we live by our self, the flesh is expressed, and whenever we live according to the Holy Spirit, the Lord is expressed. The Lord is the Spirit. This Spirit is the freedom and glory within us and the Lord’s image that is expressed out of us. The more we lay our self down and live in the Spirit, the more we will be transformed unto maturity. If we do not live by the self but by the Spirit in every matter—regardless of whether we believe that something is right or wrong, good or bad, and regardless of whether we agree or disagree with it—then we will be transformed. If we do not regard our own views or the views of others and only pay attention to the feeling of the Spirit within us, then we will be those who live according to the Spirit. If we do not trust our own observations or rely on our own thinking but follow the sense in our spirit and care only for that sense, then we will be those who have abandoned the self.
As we daily reject our self, care for the sense in our spirit, and walk according to the Spirit, we will be transformed day by day. This transformation will cause us to have the same image as the Lord. The more we have the Lord’s image, the more we will become mature, and the more we become mature, the more we will have the Spirit in our soul. Transformation will cause our mind, emotion, and will, that is, our thoughts, preferences, and judgments, to be filled with the Spirit and to have the Lord’s image. As a result, our whole being will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and we will become mature. When we become mature, we will be like the prudent virgins in Matthew 25 who not only have oil in their lamps but also have their vessels filled with oil.
Proverbs 20:27 says that the spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah. Thus, the lamp in Matthew 25 refers to our spirit and the vessel to our person, that is, our soul. When we become mature, not only will we have the Holy Spirit in our spirit, but even our person, our soul, will be full of the Holy Spirit. We will be fully transformed into the Lord’s image, we will be mature in life, and we will be ready to be raptured to meet the Lord. In order to reach this stage, we need to reject the self, deny the self, and walk according to the Spirit, putting the self aside in every matter and allowing the Holy Spirit to have the ground. This is to pay the price to buy oil, to prepare oil in our vessels. Only this kind of person—one who lives in the Spirit and allows the Spirit to be expressed—will be made mature and will be raptured to meet the Lord.