Transformation, A Promise to Believe

Today I was delving into the book of Hebrews more deeply than ever before. I noticed that the writer repeated himself a few times when speaking of this new covenant that we have in Christ Jesus. I wanted to pay attention because I figured that it must be important if he mentioned it twice. And here it is:

Speaking of the passing away of the Old Covenant between God and Israel that was based on keeping the law, Paul writes:

“But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant which was established upon better promises.” (8:6).

Oh I love the word promise! That always gets my attention because I live by God’s promises. I immediately thought of one of my favorite verses that says that we acquire the divine nature through God’s promises. Why do I like this? Because my ability to generate freedom from sin’s clutches came to a screeching halt at the relatively young age of 19. If there is one thing that I know down to my toes, it is that I cannot free myself from sin. I cannot make my heart loving. I cannot break free of addictions-at least not inwardly. Actually, I can’t even break free outwardly. My flesh is so very weak. My life was quite literally saved when I discovered that God alone could, and would, make me holy. He was my only hope. He alone. It was hell getting to that place, and it was pretty awful getting out, but I am so happy that I discovered this truth. God redeems it all. (I have written a bit about this in other posts if you are interested in that story, but that is all I will say for now.) This is the rest to which we have been called, and the rest that the Lord asks us to believe day by day.

But I digress. Back to those scriptures that Paul repeats. Oh they are delicious! You’ll see why:

Hebrews 10:16

“This is the covenant that I will made with them after those days, said the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them: and their sins and iniquities will I remember nor more.”

What does it mean to us practically to have God write His laws onto our minds and hearts by His Spirit? I found the words of the commentary in my Dake study bible to be very clarifying. It means:

1. I will put my laws in their minds means that “they will be fully enlightened and have knowledge of the truth.” And ,

2. I will write them in their hearts is to say that “…all of their affections, passions, and appetite shall be purified so that they will obey me willingly.”

Did you catch that? Our heart desires will be changed so that we want what God wants. In Christ, God is recreating our hearts and transforming out minds. This leads me to my next favorite verse in a very powerful chapter, 2 Corinthians 3. Once again contrasting the two covenants, law and grace through Christ, Paul calls the covenant of grace the “ministry of the Spirit” and the “ministry of righteousness” (the Spirit creates our righteousness, not us).

Now when I say grace, most people think of grace to be saved as in get into heaven. Wipe that out of your mind! That’s what I thought as well and why I was such a miserable wretch. That comes from what I call “churchianity” and it is killing us.

Let’s now redefine grace as it is meant in the Bible and according to the above text: grace is how God forgives us as well as how He transforms us. Grace is God’s gift of righteousness (Heb 5:17). I broke down the meaning of the word gift and the word righteousness in that verse and came out with this: “sacrificial gift of being made innocent.” Innocence is purity of heart, the lovely lowly, meek, compassionate, fearless nature of Christ. We need to see this. This new nature is pure gift received by faith, and it is also a process. How many of us long to be more gentle? More loving? Less selfish or fearful? The great news is that we can become all of these things and more because of the gift of salvation.

“But 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.”

Yes! It’s so awesome. The Spirit is transforming us into His image. This is the meaning of Paul’s declaration that under this brand spanking new covenant, God is writing His law into our hearts and minds so that we want what He wants. We desire what he desires. As long as we inwardly do not desire something that is considered righteous, God has not yet brought the transformation that we need. As we grow in Him, we are changed from the inside out. As long as I have to bite my lip to really love someone, I am still under the power of that sin nature. I cannot will myself to be transformed. I cannot will myself to love and to experience love from the heart. I must choose it, but my willpower cannot accomplish it; it must be an outgrowth of abiding in the Vine, just as a fig grows from a fig tree in good soil.

I once had a very short, but strange dream: I dreamt that I was aiming a gun at an old man. I squeezed the trigger and the old man closed his eyes bracing for the bullet, but it was blank. I did it again. Again he braced for the bullet, but it was a blank. I awoke and said, Lord, what on earth! And immediately I realized that He was showing me that I can’t kill the “old man” which is the sin nature. It’s like shooting blanks. So we continue sinning and do nothing? God forbid I say, and Paul too. Sin is death. I can and I must choose to seek God with all of my heart. Everything. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. I must choose and seek. God cannot do that for me. God will not make me be transformed. It goes like this: “Lord, I don’t love Jane. You live in me, and you love her. I confess that I dislike her. I agree with you that it is wrong. There is no hate or dislike in you. It’s evil. I believe that you live in me Lord and that you cleanse me from all ungodliness. Lord, I believe and I receive your nature.”

And we just keep confessing and seeking until we see that transformed nature emerge.

Don’t fall into the old way of trying and failing. Enter the rest of admitting defeat. It’s glorious to embrace the depth of your inability. It is pure rest and peace. Then lift your eyes to your Savior, your faithful High Priest who sympathizes with you in your weakness. Believe the promise that He is committed to forming His image in you, and you will see it. You will be changed by that Spirit. By faith and faith alone can you enter into His rest.

What a good God we have. What a compassionate, merciful savior.

Be blessed.

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