On the one hand, he said "In Christ, I am a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come." This seems to suggest that transformation comes in an instant. It happens, then it's over. Old is past. New is present.
But he also said, "...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling..." (Philippians 2:12, NIV) Further, Paul lamented the 'war' that continued to rage within him between good and evil in Romans 7.
So, transformation, it seems, BEGINS at a moment or a decision, but it doesn't end there. Transformation is ongoing. Again, Paul's words come to mind from Philippians 3
Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV) "Not that I have already obtained [perfection], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Press on toward that goal!
2 comments:
The encouragement to "continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling" has always been a firm place to stand in my walk with Jesus. Love that verse, and love the implication of grace for every time I slip....
Great post. Great teaching.
Hey Doc,
The difficult part of transformation is that when we come up against a giant in our life sometimes it's eaiser for us to try and give that old self mouth to mouth, instead of trusting Christ. Transformation will have it's proof by the way we love and the way we speak and most importantly the way we act. So many of us are led to believe that if I go to church, and give some time and money that makes my transformation complete, however Paul says that transformation comes by the word and we can't expect the full time benefits of Christ if we are only giving part time to our developement.
Like you have said in the past: " when people have an encounter with Christ they are never the same." We also need to not forsake the gathering of the brethern because when I am with others who believe we can help each other.
Thank you for listening to the Lord and making PCC a place that is safe to come to and grow.
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