The Ultimate Transformer

Spiritual change and development is the product of intimate interactions with the Spirit of the Lord. Bible study in and of itself is very good, but it is not an end. The study of the Scriptures is a means to an end. The goal is life with God. Living intercourse with Him daily is nothing short of revolutionary in our experience. Yes, beloved, intimacy with God will transform you and me. Do not fear, child of God, this is why God deposited His Spirit within you. He is the Ultimate Transformer!

TRANSFORMER

 The Apostle Paul highlighted the wonder of the Spirit transforming believers from being carnal to spiritual (1 Cor. 2:14-16).  Because of the Spirit’s dynamic teaching ministry, believers will grow as they cooperate with Him.  This is one of the reasons He undertakes a teaching ministry—to mature saints. The saved person is referred to as “spiritual” simply because God’s Spirit tabernacles in him.  The lost person is called “natural” because he does not possess the Spirit.  Dr. Wiersbe (1989, Vol. 1, p. 576, 577) pointed out,

In 1 Cor. 3:1-4, Paul will introduce a third kind of person, the “carnal man.” He is the immature Christian, the one who lives on a childhood level because he will not feed on the Word and grow…. But as the Christian day by day receives the things of the Spirit he grows and matures.

ILLUMINATOR

Though the growth process is gradual and sometimes imperceptible, God is very much at work.  First Corinthians 2:14, reveals that the gospel can only be received by the power of “the holy Ghost.” Since only Spirit indwelt people have the capacity to receive spiritual truths, it follows that an unregenerate person, would not and could not receive the message of wisdom regardless of his intellectual aptitude.  Unassisted, the unsaved natural person does not get “the things of the Spirit of God.” They are regarded as absolutely foolish by him. He cannot possibly understand them because they can only be “spiritually discerned” (1Cor. 2:14). This highlights the need of the Spirit to illuminate the truth—make it understood to the reader. Walvoord and Zuck (1985) in their Bible Knowledge Commentary said, “Like a deaf critic of Bach or a blind critic of Raphael is the unregenerate critic of God’s Word.” The unsaved individual really cannot penetrate into the full understanding of what the Christian's life is all about. The insightful Vance Havner (MacDonald & Farstad 1985, p. 1753) advises:

The wise Christian wastes no time trying to explain God’s program to unregenerate men; it would be casting pearls before swine. He might as well try to describe a sunset to a blind man or discuss nuclear physics with a monument in the city park. The natural man cannot receive such things. One might as well try to catch sunbeams with a fishhook as to lay hold of God’s revelation unassisted by the Holy Spirit. Unless one is born of the Spirit and taught by Him, all this is utterly foreign to him. Being a Ph.D. does not help, for in this realm it could mean ‘Phenomenal Dud!’

Conversely according to The Life Application Commentary Series (Livingston Cooperation 1994), a believer, possessing the Spirit and guided by Him, is equipped to scrutinize, evaluate and apply all things the Spirit reveals (v. 10). He is illuminated by the Spirit of God and can discern these wonderful truths even though he himself cannot be rightly judged by the unconverted. MacDonald and Farstad (1995, p. 1753-1754) observed,

Perhaps he is a carpenter, or plumber, or fisherman; yet he is an able student of the Holy Scriptures. “The Spirit-controlled Christian investigates, inquires into, and scrutinizes the Bible and comes to an appreciation and understanding of its contents” (KSW). To the world he is an enigma. He may never have been to college or seminary, yet he can understand the deep mysteries of the word of God and perhaps even teach them to others.

The spiritual man can be judged only by God (4:3-5), not by unregenerate people (2:15) or by worldly Christians (3:1-3). The believers in Christ Jesus “have the mind of Christ” (1Cor. 2:16). To have the mind of Christ is to know and be obedient to God’s revealed plan and will (Phil. 2:5-8). God cannot be known through the wisdom or power of men. He is known only as He chooses to make Himself known.

However, since Christians have the mind of Christ we are able to understand the deep truths of God. In practical terms to “have the mind of Christ” is looking at life from the Lord’s point of view, having His values and desires in mind. It refers to thinking God’s thoughts and not the world’s. Believers can never fully know everything God is thinking (Romans 11:34), but because we have the Holy Spirit, we can develop a relationship with God. And, as with any relationship, when one spends time with someone, one begins to understand their thoughts, plans, and ways. This is illustrates in marriage. After years of marriage couples can finish each other's sentences and anticipate each other’s thoughts. It is the same with God. As one spends time with Christ in his Word and prayer and the relationship develops, one begins to gain the mind of Christ. Intimacy with God transpires and one knows what He desires, appreciates, cherishes, and plans. Also one will understand what He hates, rejects, and what He finds offensive and wicked.

So there it is. God’s Spirit reveals and teach things to Christians what they would not and could not know otherwise. The Spirit is the Revealer, Inspirer of Scripture, the Illuminator of truth as the Teacher and Transformer of repentant sinners who trust in Christ as Savior. He enables God’s people to understand and apply what He has already revealed in the Scriptures. Still the pull to sin that is within each child of God clouds their minds and their wills so that they misunderstand, misinterpret, and resist the full truth of Scripture. Even though they are believers, they in themselves lack both the ability and the inclination to understand. Max Anders (1995, Chapter 4) observed, “The Holy Spirit, however, opens their minds and warms their hearts so that they gain a growing understanding and a growing inclination to follow Scripture” (Ephesians 1:17–18; 3:18–19; 2 Corinthians 3:14–16; 4:6). It may not be as sudden and clear-cut as the experiences of others, but the Holy Spirit will open the mind of the Christian to the truth of Scripture. David prayed again and again, especially in Psalm 119, that the Lord would teach Him. He said,

Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. ¹⁸ Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. ¹⁹ I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me. ²⁰ My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times” (Ps. 119:17-20).

This is a prayer every believer can and should pray. Is this not the longing of your heart? To be close to God and listening to His instructions and insights.... David's prayer is a plea God truly delights in answering thoroughly. Listen carefully, depend on ‘Professor Holy Spirit’ like a nursing infant upon his mother and you will learn and grow. He is the finest Teacher we believers can ever have. Go ahead and clear the schedule.  Make some time to be His student.  Get your Bible, and prepare yourself to be changed from deep within. You will know God as a result of such a study with the Spirit. Such knowledge can change you and me forever.