Thursday, July 10, 2008
- Chris Branscome
The freedom that God offers involves changing who we are, a transformation of our person, setting us free from the sinful thoughts, habits, words, attitudes, and actions that plague us and keep us imprisoned. As I tried to make clear on Sunday, when we study the Bible, we need to be sure we're not looking at verses in isolation, but looking for the Big Picture. If we don't, we can read passages like Colossians 3:1-17, and get the idea that this transformation is entirely up to us, that we just need to have a stronger will, to exert more effort, to try harder, and to be more disciplined. We can begin to think that, when it comes to changing, we're on our own.
Just before Jesus ascended, He told His disciples that it was actually a good thing that He was going away, because then He would send the Holy Spirit - you can read about it in John 16:5-15. This is such a HUGE thing, and we don't talk about it much. This means that if you are "in Christ," then the Holy Spirit is living in you - God Himself is living in you. Romans 8:11 says that this is the "Spirit of Him who raised Christ from the dead..." That is the Spirit and the power that is in you, and it is through that power that we can be transformed. We're not on our own. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 says "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 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."
Other people have spoken about this with more wisdom than I can, and one of those guys is Francis Chan. Please check out his website: http://www.francischan.org/ Click on "Media," and listen to his messages on the Holy Spirit, especially part 3 (just click on the message, and it should start playing in a separate window, but note that you'll need high speed internet).
Tomorrow, I'll close the week by writing about why this transformation is so important.