Monday, July 10, 2006

The Process of Transformation

In the last couple of weeks, I've had a deeper revelation of who the Lord is -- His nature and character, as well as His purpose for my life. And the effect of this revelation, quite understandably, is that I also have been changed -- or more accurately, I am in the process of change. We know why this is so, because 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us:
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
Like all disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm on a journey of discovery. But this journey is not just a discovery of information, but one of transformation. The key word root in both "information" and "transformation" is formation. In other words, God is forming me into something -- in fact, the correct biblical term is conforming me into something, and that something is identified in Romans 8:29:
"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."
So, here's how it's working for me:

  1. First, I am informed of God's nature, by a process the Bible calls "revelation" (see Ephesians 1:17).

  2. Then, by the power of God's Spirit -- also called "the Spirit of wisdom and revelation" (Ephesians 1:17) -- I am transformed through a process the Bible calls "repentance" (Acts 3:19; 2 Peter 3:9).

  3. The end result is that I am conformed to the likeness of Jesus (Romans 8:29), which means a change not just in specific behaviour, but a change in the whole pattern of life (my attitude, outlook and actions).

I often use three words (each beginning with "R") to describe this three-step recursive process:

  1. Revelation - being "informed" by God's Spirit through His Word.

  2. Repentance - reorienting my life direction through obedience to God's revealed Word (at which point I am then "transformed" by God's Spirit).

  3. Reality - walking in the truth of God's Word through the empowering of God's Spirit (where I am "conformed" to the likeness of Jesus).

I'll be sharing a fair bit on this inform/transform/conform process over the next few posts.

posted by David A.Collins @ 12:51 PM   1 comments

1 Comments:

At 4:49 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

David, I remember way back when I first discovered Online Bible College, the "sample" lesson was this teaching. Hearing it again now reminds me of what a difference there is between believing something is TRUE intellectually and experiencing the TRUTH of it.

I sometimes wonder how many of us who sit on the church pew (or stand in the pulpit), if we were honest, would have to admit that we believe these teaching to be true and can support the truth of them with Scripture, but we do not EXPERIENCE the TRUTH of them in our daily lives? That was me for a long time....

I'm so glad to hear you share how this process of transforation is not just a "teaching" for you, but is also the experiential reality of your walk with our Lord....there surely is a difference, isn't there?

I pray that none of us will settle for the mere intellectual understanding of this teaching but will seek to KNOW THE TRUTH OF IT as our daily experience in Christ.

Jodi

 

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