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Scripture Reading: Rom. 8:2, 6, 16, 29; 12:1-2, 4-5; 2 Cor. 3:17-18
In this chapter we want to fellowship about our need to be transformed by the Spirit. Within our spirit we have the wonderful, all-inclusive Spirit, but without we have something awfully troublesome. This is our natural man, the man of the flesh. Outwardly, people may look nice, but actually no one is nice. Everyone is troublesome. We have this wonderful One within us, but we still have the old man, the old nature, the flesh, and the soulish life.
We have two realms from which to choose: the realm of the spirit and the realm of the flesh. Now the crucial thing is what we do with our mind. Our mind may be a mind of the flesh, or it may be a mind of the spirit. The mind represents the man. Whether we stand with the spirit or with the flesh depends on the attitude of our mind. The mind set on the flesh is death, and the mind set on the spirit is life and peace (Rom. 8:6). What is the attitude of our mind today? Is it set upon the spirit or the flesh?
In the garden of Eden there were three items: the tree of life, the tree of knowledge, and a man standing before the two trees (Gen. 2:8-9). Do you realize that within you today there are these three things? First, you have the spirit, the divine Spirit mingled with your human spirit, with all the wonderful things of God. Second, you have the flesh with something of Satan. Third, you have the mind representing yourself. Where does your mind stand? If your mind is set on the flesh, that means you are standing with Satan. If your mind is set on the spirit, that means you are standing with God. Therefore, the central point, the main thing, today is the attitude of the mind.
Now we realize why in Romans 12:2 the apostle said that we need to be transformed by the renewing of the mind. In Romans 8:2 there is the law of the Spirit of life. Then in Romans 8:6 there are two possibilities. We may stand either with the flesh or with the spirit. If we stand with the flesh, we are in death. If we stand with the spirit, we are in life. Romans 8:29 says that we have to be “conformed to the image of His Son.” By the renewing of our mind we are transformed and conformed to the image of Christ. Also, by being transformed we will realize that the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God is the Body life revealed in Romans 12.
Romans 8 reveals that we have the law of the Spirit of life within us. If we stand with this law, we will be transformed and conformed to the image of Christ. Then Romans 12 shows that by our being transformed, we realize the good will of God, which is to have the Body life. Hence, the church life is a life of transformation, a life in which Christ as the Spirit is transforming us all the time.
You may feel that several brothers are good brothers. But do not assume that they are without problems. Because they are not transformed, they can be very troublesome brothers. They are good yet so natural. One of them may be naturally quick, and another one may be naturally meticulous. One is very fast, and the other is overly concerned with details. According to the fact that they have Christ within them, no doubt, they are members of the Body. But their natural man has no part in the Body.
Of course, the problem is not with the Christ within but with their being so natural without. When one who is naturally quick and one who is naturally meticulous come together to serve the Lord, they will have problems with each other. This does not mean that the Christ within this one is fighting with the Christ within the other one. It means that the quick one is fighting with the meticulous one. Both are members of Christ, but both are human. They are good, but they are humanly good, naturally good. This is the problem.
Hence, we need the transformation in our inward parts through the Spirit. At the time we were saved, the Lord Jesus as the Spirit of life came into us as the one law regulating our inward parts. One law in many parts means one law with many functions. When the Spirit as the one law permeates our mind, He becomes the law of the mind, regulating our thoughts and our way of thinking. When He permeates our emotion, He becomes the law of the emotion, regulating and ruling over what we like or dislike. When He permeates our will, He becomes the law of the will, regulating and governing our making of decisions. Thus, there is one law becoming three kinds of laws. But actually, they are not three laws but three functions of one law.
When the Spirit as the law regulates us in our inward parts, we are being transformed. How much we will be transformed depends on how much we are willing to be regulated by Him. If we are willing to be regulated by Him in our mind, our mind will be transformed. That means our mind will be permeated and saturated by Him and with Him. Our mind will be filled with Christ. Our thoughts and the way we think will be full of Christ.
If we allow Him to regulate our emotion, He will permeate our emotion. Then our desires, our preferences, will be filled with Christ. This means we are being transformed in our emotion. Whatever we like or desire will have the image, the expression, of Christ. Moreover, if we allow Him to govern, rule over, our will, our will will be possessed by Him and be full of Him. Then whatever we decide will have the flavor of Christ. This is the transformation of our inward parts by the wonderful Spirit. He is the law of life within us, living, moving, working, shining, illuminating, regulating, ruling, and governing within us.
Brothers and sisters, I look to the Lord that our eyes may be opened to see that with us Christians it is not a matter of changing things outwardly. It is not that formerly we had hatred, but now we try to cultivate love because we were taught that hatred is not good. It is not that formerly we had pride, but now we pray to the Lord to give us humility because we were taught that pride hurts, damages, and spoils things. Nor is it that formerly we easily lost our temper, but now we have learned to be patient because we found out from Proverbs that patience is desirable and profitable.
We may have some changes outwardly, but what about inwardly? The human way, the religious way, the way of Christianity, is to improve man in his outward conduct and behavior. The Lord’s salvation, however, is to transform us from within. He wants to spread out from our very center, saturating and permeating all our inward parts with Himself. In this way we will be transformed from within. Then there will be no need for us to get rid of the troublesome, outward things. Because of the maturity and the growth of the inner life, all the troublesome, outward things will spontaneously be dropped. The life for the practice of the church life is a life of transformation by the Spirit.
When you are being transformed by this wonderful One, many times you experience the effectiveness of the all-inclusive death of Christ on the cross. Something within kills your desire, your motive, your intention. Sometimes when you are being transformed, you sense the release, the liberty, and the glorification. Something within makes you want to shout Hallelujah! And sometimes when you are being transformed, you sense the government, the headship, and the lordship of Christ. You sense that the very Christ is on the throne, and He is the real King to you. Furthermore, you sense that you are reigning with Him, and you are His co-partner in the kingship. On the one hand, you are ruled and governed by Him. On the other hand, you are ruling with Him and sitting on the throne with Him. Many times you have the sense of the Lord’s divinity, humanity, and human living within you. You have the deep inner feeling that what the Lord is, what the Lord has, and what the Lord has done are realized in you.
The church life is Christ Himself as the Spirit permeating, saturating, and transforming us. When we are fully transformed and are full of Christ, we will become the living, real, practical members of Christ. Then it will be easy for us to be joined, knit, and built up together with others. This is to be built up, not with something natural as wood, grass, and stubble but with something transformed as gold, silver, and precious stones (1 Cor. 3:12). The church is not formed by organization and discussion and by electing a chairman, a secretary, and a treasurer. That is a religious organization. The church is organic, something growing up in life.
In order to have the church life, we need to go to the cross and take care of Christ, who is the wonderful Spirit within us. We need to take care of our inner feeling, inner guidance, inner shining, and inner registration. If we would go to the cross and realize Christ within us, we will be clear. All problems are solved by the cross. This is why in 1 Corinthians 2:2 the apostle Paul told the believers that he did not determine to know anything among them except Jesus Christ and this One crucified. The church life is a transformed life, not a natural life. It is Christ Himself, not as an objective doctrine but as the subjective Spirit living within us.
Let us learn the lesson of being an inward Christian, not an outward Christian. Do not try to change yourself outwardly. That is false. You have to be transformed from within to become a living member of the Body; then you will realize the genuine church life. This is what we need today.
