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Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 10:5; Eph. 1:18; 4:22-24; 1 Cor. 2:16; 1 Pet. 1:23; 2:2, 4-5; James 1:21; Matt. 16:25
As we saw in the previous chapter, we experience three matters as part of a process. These are release from sin, sanctification, and transformation. Some people call release from sin “victory over sin.” However, we cannot find such a term in the Scriptures. Instead, Romans 6:18 and 22 speak of release, or freedom, from sin and the slavery of sin. After we are regenerated, we must experience the release, the freedom, from sin.
Romans 6 also tells us that sanctification follows our release from sin (vv. 19, 22). One aspect of sanctification is separation from the world, from all things other than God unto God, and another aspect of sanctification involves a transformation in disposition, which is more subjective. As we pointed out before, we may be released from sin yet still not experience our sanctification. In relation to many things we still may be in the world. In our experience we may not have been separated from the worldly things unto God. To be set free from sin is one thing, but to be separated from the world is another. We must deal with sin, and we must deal with the world. To deal with sin is to be set free from it, and to deal with the world is to be separated from it.
We may illustrate this with a cup that is dirty and is sitting under a table. Before we use the cup, we must cleanse it and free it from all the dirt. However, in addition to being dirty, it is also in the wrong position. Besides cleansing the cup, we must move it from its old position to a new position so that it can be used. This is a picture of positional sanctification. Matthew 23:17 and 19 say that gold is sanctified by the temple and the offerings are sanctified by the altar. When gold is outside the temple, it is common and worldly, but if the gold is separated and brought into the temple, it is sanctified. Likewise, when cattle remain in the herd, they are common and worldly, but if we separate one of the cattle and put it on the altar, it is sanctified. This is a change of position. Sanctification, in this sense, is positional; it is a separation from the world unto God, and we experience our change of position by dealing with the world.
However, we may be separated from the world but not transformed. The cup in the prior illustration has been cleansed and moved to a new position. However, it has no change in its nature. The cup may be made of opaque clay, but if it is transformed into glass, it will be transparent. The gold and the precious stones in the New Jerusalem are transparent, like clear glass (Rev. 21:18-19). In the New Jerusalem, God is the light, and the Lord Jesus as the Lamb is the lamp (v. 23). If the materials of the city were not transparent, how could the light shine through them? This indicates the need of transformation. Transformation is not a matter of a change in position. It is a matter of a change in nature.
After sanctification, we need transformation. It is regrettable that in Christianity very little has been taught about transformation. It is hard to find an article or message dealing with transformation. However, the Scriptures clearly and definitely speak about it. Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “We all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” The Lord is the Spirit (v. 17), and the Spirit is the Lord. It is by the Lord as the Spirit that we are being transformed from glory to glory into the Lord’s image.
As we know, man is of three parts — spirit, soul, and body. We were regenerated, born of God, in our spirit. Our spirit was renewed and became a new spirit at the time we believed in the Lord Jesus (Ezek. 36:26), but from that time the work of God’s salvation is to transform our soul. After being regenerated, we must be transformed in the three parts of our soul — the mind, emotion, and will. Then when the Lord comes back, our body will be redeemed, changed, transfigured, from a body of humiliation to a body of glory.
Therefore, regeneration is in our spirit, transformation is in our soul, and transfiguration is in our body. At the time we believe into Christ, we are regenerated, and at the time the Lord comes back, we will be transfigured in our body. Between these two there is the process of transformation, which is accomplished in our soul.
Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” The word transformed is the same Greek word as in 2 Corinthians 3:18. In 2 Corinthians 3 transformation is by the Lord Spirit, and in Romans 12 transformation takes place in our mind. This shows that transformation is accomplished by the Spirit through the renewing of our mind. If our mind is not renewed, we cannot be transformed.
Second Corinthians 10:5 says, “As we overthrow reasonings and every high thing rising up against the knowledge of God, and take captive every thought unto the obedience of Christ.” Many people may never have realized that there is such a phrase in the New Testament as overthrow reasonings. Have you ever overthrown your reasonings? Every day we have many reasonings; even at this moment we may have reasonings. To overthrow reasonings and take captive every thought unto the obedience of Christ is the real renewing of the mind.
Ephesians 1:18 says, “The eyes of your heart having been enlightened.” The eyes of our heart involve our understanding, which is a function of the mind. With our understanding there are eyes, not the physical eyes but the inner, mental eyes, and these eyes need to be enlightened. This means that our mind, our understanding, needs to be transformed by being renewed.
In order to be renewed in our mind, we must first learn to overthrow our reasonings. Day by day there are reasonings and imaginations in our mind. These imaginations are like dreams. In our imaginations we can travel all over the world. We may travel to Japan in our mind, and two minutes later we are back in the United States. If we check with ourselves, we will see that we have many imaginations. It is difficult to quiet and stop our mind. We must learn the lesson to overthrow our reasonings and imaginations. We also need to take captive every thought unto the obedience of Christ. We do not realize how rebellious we are in our thoughts. We need to be subdued in our thoughts. Our thoughts need to be taken captive. We need to practice and exercise to do this.
Originally, our soul was something in the old creation, but the Lord’s salvation transforms it into something of the new creation. Most of this transformation is in our mind. Our natural mind is too old. Because we have the mind of Adam, our mind is as old as Adam, which is six thousand years old. Even a young brother has an old mind. In addition, our mind is a mind of our own national culture. Therefore, we need a change of mind. First Corinthians 2:16 says that we have the mind of Christ. By our old nature we have the mind of Adam, but by the new birth we have the mind of Christ. After we are regenerated, we need a change of mind. This change of mind is the meaning of repentance.
Ephesians 4:22-24 says, “That you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.” Putting off the old man and putting on the new man depend on our being renewed in the spirit of our mind.
The old man is mainly the soul, and the mind is a part of the soul, so the mind is a part of the old man. The old man has been crucified on the cross. Now we need to recognize this fact and put off the old man. This is simply to put off the old mind with its thoughts. If we recognize the fact that we as the old man have been crucified on the cross, we must act on it by rejecting and giving up the reasonings and thoughts of our old mind, reckoning that our mind has been crucified. If we do this, the Holy Spirit will do His part; He will renew what we put on the cross. To renew is simply to resurrect. If we put our mind on the cross, the Holy Spirit will renew it by resurrecting it from death.
We must learn the lesson to reject our reasonings and our old thoughts. We do not realize how much we are controlled, directed, and governed by our mind. The more we think about a brother, for example, the more we may be unhappy with him. We need to learn the lesson to give up these thoughts and put them on the cross. We must realize that we, the old man, the self, the soul, have been crucified, so our mind and our thoughts have to be put on the cross. If we do this, the Holy Spirit within us will renew our mind. He will come into our mind and take possession of it, causing it to be renewed. At this very point, the Spirit will even fill our mind. Our mind will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
We cannot understand the Scriptures with our old mind. Moreover, because our mind is wrong, we often misunderstand the ministry of the word. Therefore, when we come to read the Scriptures, we must learn the lesson to reject our old thoughts and our old way of thinking. We do not realize how much we bring our own thoughts into our reading of the Scriptures. To come to the Word with an old mind means that our mind has not been renewed.
I once stayed in the home of a brother and sister. This couple loved the Lord, but they were not of one mind, because it was hard for the sister to submit to her husband. One morning I asked the sister what she had read in the Bible. She said that she had read Ephesians 5. I asked what help she had received, and she replied that she received the light that husbands should love their wives. I turned to the brother and asked the same thing. He said that strangely he had read the same passage and had received the light that wives should submit to their husbands. No doubt, the sister already had the thought in her mind that husbands should love their wives, and when she came to the Scriptures, she brought her thought with her to get a confirmation. It is the same in principle with the brother. He had the thought in his mind that his wife should submit to him, and he came to the Scriptures to get a confirmation. This demonstrates that people come to the Scriptures with their old mind.
Because our mind is occupied by all our human thoughts and reasonings, it is difficult to understand the Word. It is difficult to get something new, heavenly, and spiritual. We cannot get something from the Scriptures, because we bring something to them. This is because our thoughts and mind have not been renewed. This is our problem. After we are regenerated, we need to be transformed by the renewing of the mind. Then when our mind is renewed, our mind influences our emotions and our will. If our mind is transformed, our whole soul, including our emotions and our will, also will be transformed.
In the same principle, we must learn the lesson to reject our natural will and emotions. Many times when someone comes to us or when something happens to us, we cannot control our emotions. We are so influenced and directed by our emotions that we are beside ourselves. We must learn the lesson to reject our natural emotions. Then something will happen in our emotions. They will be renewed by the working of the Holy Spirit. It is the same in principle with our will. We need to learn the lesson always to subdue and reject the natural will.
The mind, emotions, and will are the parts of the soul, and the soul is the old man, which has been crucified on the cross. We have to realize this fact and reject the old elements of the old man. If we do this, the Holy Spirit will honor what we do. He will renew our mind, will, and emotions, which we have rejected. This results in transformation. The Holy Spirit with the divine life, which is the Lord Christ Himself, will take possession of our mind, emotions, and will. He will heal our entire soul with Christ as our life. Then the element of Christ will be not only in our spirit but also in our inward parts, our soul. Christ will be the infilling factor in all our inward parts. The Holy Spirit will fill our inward parts with Christ Himself. This is the transformation in our soul.
First Peter 1:23 says, “Having been regenerated not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the living and abiding word of God.” Chapter 2 verse 2 says, “As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow unto salvation.” After being regenerated, that is, born again, we become newborn babes who need to grow. Following this, verse 4 speaks of coming to the Lord, and verse 5 speaks of being built up as a spiritual house. To be born again as newborn babes is one thing, but to grow in order to be built up is another matter. The more we are transformed, the more we grow. The way to grow is by transformation, and the way to be transformed is the renewing of the mind, because the mind is a great part of the soul, which very much directs and governs our soul.
Transformation is the salvation of our souls. Our spirit was saved at the time we were regenerated, but by transformation our soul also will be saved. James 1:21 says, “Putting away all filthiness and the abundance of malice, receive in meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” Implanting is like grafting, as a branch of one tree is grafted onto another tree. Have you ever noticed that there is such a phrase in the New Testament as the implanted word? This is a wonderful, special term. James 1:21 likens the word to a living plant that is planted into our being and grows in us to bring forth fruit for the salvation of our souls. If we receive the implanted word, it is able to save our souls.
Romans 11:17 and 24 speak of grafting as the uniting of two lives, a poor life and a glorious, fruitful, and better life. In the same principle, when we receive the word of God, the word is grafted, or implanted, in us with the life of God. In the word of God there is the divine, better, uncreated, and eternal life, which is implanted in us. This implanted word with the divine life will save our soul. Our soul is a poor soul, but if we receive the implanted word of God, this word will deliver and save our soul from a poor condition into a glorious condition. For our soul to be saved means that it is renewed.
In Matthew 16:25 the Lord said, “Whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it.” To lose the soul-life is to deny and reject the soul. If we deny our soul for the Lord’s sake, our soul will be renewed. When we reject our self, our soul — our mind, will, and emotions — we give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to take possession of our soul. Our soul is put to death, but the Holy Spirit comes to resurrect it. In this way our soul is renewed, saved, uplifted, and divided from the spirit. It becomes spiritual and not natural, full not of natural thoughts but of spiritual thoughts. We also become full of love, desire, and other emotions, not natural emotions but spiritual ones.
To deny the soul does not mean that we lose the faculties of our soul; it means that we save our soul. The more we deny our mind, the more our mind is renewed. The more we deny our emotions, the more our emotions are developed in a spiritual way. This is the meaning of transformation.
From the time we are regenerated until the time the Lord comes back, there is a long period for the process of transformation. We must constantly be transformed, but this transformation can be accomplished only by our cooperation with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is dwelling within us, and our old man has been crucified by the Lord’s cross; the Spirit helps us to realize this fact. Then if we cooperate with the Spirit to deny the natural mind, will, and emotions, He will take the opportunity and the ground to take possession of our soul, to occupy it, and to fill it with the Lord Jesus. In this way we are renewed in the soul. Our soul is renewed, developed, and uplifted. This is the meaning of transformation, and this is also the meaning of growth. Moreover, if our growth is up to the highest standard, it is maturity. To be transformed up to the highest standard is to be matured in the spiritual life.
We have seen the dealings with the flesh, the self, the conscience, the world, and the spirit. Here we have seen the transformation of the soul. Our spirit has been regenerated and renewed. Now our soul needs to be transformed in life and nature. Then when the Lord comes back, He will transfigure our body. This is our full salvation. We have God’s salvation in our spirit, but this salvation must work through our soul, and it will reach even to our body when the Lord comes back. Today, however, we are responsible to be transformed by cooperating with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is now dwelling within us to do the work of transformation, but He needs our cooperation.
What I have presented to you is not mere doctrine. Rather, these messages point out to us the way to grow in the Lord and be matured. I look to the Lord that we will put all these things into practice. We must try day by day in all our daily life to reject our natural soul — our natural mind, emotions, and will. In this way we give the Holy Spirit the opportunity, the ground, to transform our soul by the renewing of our mind.
