Instruments of Change
In Romans 8:29 we learn that God has predestinated us to be conformed to the image of His Son. That is the ultimate end of all things — that God is going to make us, His people, like His Son Jesus Christ. That is why we were created originally. With the fall of man, we marred God’s original intent for us to be like His Son. Because of the fall, we need to be re-created. If you know Christ as your personal Savior, you have been re-created. You are a new creation in Christ Jesus, and the purpose for being re-created is the same purpose that God originally created you: to bring glory to Himself by reflecting the likeness of His Son. In fact, the apostle Paul called this the “prize.” He said, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14). The prize that Paul was referring to was not Heaven. The prize is something that we can enjoy before we get to Heaven. Heaven is the ultimate end, the full payment of that prize, but for the apostle Paul, the prize was Christlikeness.
Sanctification is the doctrine of how change into the image of Christ takes place. What are the instruments of change? What is it that God uses to promote godliness in our life? Second Corinthians 3:18 captures it: “We all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” All the instruments of change, all the answers as to what God uses to bring about godliness in our lives are found in this verse. In other words, Biblical change is all about beholding God’s Word. It is there that we find the glory of the Lord. Giving God a glance every now and then will not do. Beholding the glory of the Lord is making an effort to really scrutinize, to study, to meditate, to lean into it because we have great interest. What is the byproduct of beholding the glory of the Lord? It is godliness. In the here and now you cannot have godliness except as the byproduct of beholding the glory of the Lord. It’s the byproduct of that exposure that we are changed into the same image from glory to glory — literally from one level of glory to the next level of glory, which again communicates that this is a process that we’re involved in. Wouldn’t it be great if that were an event in the here and now? Wouldn’t it be great if we no longer struggled with our sins and our vices and our temptations and distractions of life? It would be wonderful if we were just rid of all that, but the fact is that we dwell in this body of flesh, and we will continue to struggle with all those things.
Sanctification is that process whereby the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make the people of God like the Son of God amidst the circumstances we face in the providence of God. So here we basically have four things: We have the agent of change (the Spirit of God); the means of change (the Word of God); the model for change (the Son of God), and we have the context for change (the providence of God).
Because the agent affecting Biblical change is the Holy Spirit, we must personally respond to Him. Probably the most neglected member of the Godhead in our Fundamental circles is the Spirit of God. When we hear the Word of God, which is called the sword of the Spirit, we must personally respond to Him and to His work in our lives. For example, we need to respond to His work of conviction which shows us our sin and to His work of illumination, showing us the Savior; His work of assurance, showing us our security in Christ; His work of intercession for us before the Father; His work of empowerment giving us the grace to do what God requires. Because the agent of change is the Spirit of God, we must respond to His work.
Sanctification is the process whereby the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make the people of God like the Son of God amidst the circumstances we face in the providence of God. Second Timothy 3:16 and 17 tells us that the Word of God is sufficient to do four things: teach doctrine (teach us what is right), reprove (teach us what is wrong), correct (teach us how to make the wrong things right), and instruct (teach us how to keep things right). The Word of God is the means whereby we are taught how Biblical change takes place. We must skillfully use it in these ways. That is how the teachable believer is equipped for every good work. We must daily read the Word and study it and meditate upon it and hear the Word preached and taught.
Sanctification is the process whereby the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make the people of God like the Son of God amidst the circumstances we face in the providence of God. God is on a mission to redeem and restore fallen man back to the image and likeness of His Son to the praise of His glory. Now if the model for change is the Son of God, then we must build a vibrant personal relationship with Him that comes only by beholding Him in the Word of God with an illuminated understanding, communing with God and obeying God. Peter talks about Christ’s character as he lists those virtues of self-control, endurance, knowledge, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Do you want to know what Christ looks like? Then study each one of those characteristics and the nature of Christ. The model for change is the Son of God!
Sanctification is the process whereby the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make the people of God like the Son of God amidst the circumstances we face in the providence of God. All that change is taking place amidst the circumstances that we face in the providence of God. The providence of God is the Creator’s superintendence of His created world. If sanctification is taking place in the context of life, then we must demonstrate knowledge of and confidence in God’s sovereign and loving control of our lives by trusting, obeying, and yielding to the circumstances that He arranges for us. Life is the context in which change is taking place — the context in which the Spirit of God is using the Word of God to change the people of God into the image of the Son of God, and all that’s taking place in all the circumstances of life. What circumstances do you find yourself in right now? It’s not the circumstance itself that does the changing. Real change takes place through the Word of God. The only way we can make sense out of the circumstances of life is through the Word of God! If we don’t understand anything else, we can always understand that God is trying to make us like His Son Jesus Christ, and that is always a good thing. That’s what Paul called the “prize.” If we didn’t know anything else except that, that’s enough! God is up to making me like His Son.
John L. Monroe pastors Faith Baptist Church in Taylors, South Carolina.
(Originally published in FrontLine • May/June 2012. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.)