Knowing and Growing – Being transformed – what is that process?
Vern Peterman · Jun 11, 2017
Knowing & Growing, No. 22
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926559143879

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Jim was asking a very good question just before we came in here, and that's one that comes up actually in multiple places in the New Testament. He was bringing up specifically Philippians 3, where Paul says, I press on, and things of that sort. Here's Peter, but grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and guess what?

Grow is an imperative. And it isn't a passive imperative that you must be grown. It's one where you actually have an act of will. So how does that fit in graciously with the rest of the picture? So that's one of the great reasons for what we're going through in this class, is looking at these things. What is the process God has us going through, including the growing? We're going to get there. So what we have here is this being transformed, and being transformed is one of those where It has both an active part and an understanding of what God is doing, right? And just like a number of these things that we're looking at here in this elective.

So this is Romans 12, 1 and 2, and 2 Corinthians 3, 17 and 18. Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. And then 2 Corinthians 3, 17 and 18, Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord the Spirit. So we've been talking about being conformed for four weeks. We just introduced being transformed and This begins today then looking at transformed and let's look at what is it and what's God's part and what's our part. So let's ask this question, is conformed and transformed the same thing?

No, and that's one of the points that we want to make here. They're not simply interchangeable. They're two different things. God has an essential part in each, but it is not the same process. And God is not doing the exact same thing, except for one thing in common. Both conformed and transformed make us into the image of Christ. So there are two parallel processes, two different processes, carried out in an entirely different way, to the same end. that were being made into the image of Christ.

Interestingly, the above two passages are the only ones in all of the New Testament epistles that use the word transformed. That's it. So what I just read, that's what you got in the way of insight into being transformed. So, there are, however, two passages in the Gospels that speak of Christ being transformed. Let's see if that gives us some insight.

These are Matthew 17, 1 and 2, and then Mark 9, 2 and 3 describe the same event, and this is what's known as the Transfiguration. So six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white light. Okay, recall this event? This is one that are recorded in three Gospels and Peter even writes about it in his letters.

So the Greek word that is translated transfigured is the exact same word as is translated transformed in Romans 12.2 and 2 Corinthians 3.18. So what is this event? Here is Peter and James and John led them up on a high mountain by themselves, so he was transfigured before them.

What does that mean? His face shone like the sun, his garments became white as light. Can you describe what else happened that time? At that event? Yeah. Now this is, he was transfigured before, so ascending into heaven is certainly a miraculous, I'm sure it was a startling event to the apostles, right?

But this is different in that he's not yet even been crucified. So there's that distinction, no problem. So it's important to get the distinction there, that there are other things going on. This one specifically is translated transfigured, but in fact it's the exact same word. So here's an amazing thing, if you think about it, what we're looking at here is Christ was transfigured before them, transformed, same word, and who was with Christ at this event?

Moses and Elijah. So Moses and Elijah were brought there to be seen by Peter and James and John. Now we get asked questions, why didn't the Lord include the other apostles at the same event? That's another interesting question. I don't want to get caught on a rabbit trail, but fascinating the thing that the Lord would at times have only Peter, James, and John at the raising of Jairus' daughter. That's another instance, only Peter, James, and John.

So really interesting. So in this one, how he was transfigured before them, his appearance changed. He was expressed to them before his crucifixion as if he was actually from the kingdom time. looking in advance, so there was a major transformation taking place and essentially in an instant. Okay, let's bring Christ and Moses and Elijah back in time, if you will, time machine, right? Back in time and have Peter and James and John see them. and to have this event recorded in the Gospels and in Peter's writing. One of the things for us to ponder is here was essentially a miraculous event in which Christ was transformed, same word, Christ was transformed before them.

So let's ask this question, if you're being transformed, is that also miraculous? Yes, it's essentially by God's intervention. And does it happen maybe just once in your lifetime? The intent is that this is something that goes on regularly. So how about an ongoing miracle in your life? That's really what God is doing here. Spiritually speaking, He desires and has designed that there's an ongoing miracle of being transformed. And that's exactly what God intends. And it's not just for a select few. It's not like, OK, we've got Holly Hills and we've got the transformation group over here. God intends that it be for every believer.

I think that's one of the reasons that Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3.18, but we all. Is that what sometimes, you know, we're around some people and there's one particular person that might stand out and we kind of wonder if that person is a believer. Is that what we're seeing there?

There is a whole long set of miracles that takes place when we are saved, right? And it's been summarized, I think Louis Perry Schaefer kind of summarized it. If you count, I've seen 33 and sometimes 34 things, so it depends on how people group them. But a whole bunch of miracles take place. This is talking, however, about a process that's taking place, well, only in believers, right? Only in believers, because of that long list of miracles that took place when they believed.

Does that make some kind of sense? Yeah. Stan, you had a question. Okay, so, is this related to the creation of the new self? Ah! Which happens once, right? It's an ongoing process. Well, let's think about this. The new man, is that something that is... Let's put it this way.

What or who is the new man? It's actually one we covered in April a couple months back. The new man is all of who we are in Christ. Is who we are in Christ changing? No. So that's actually our position. The new man is the statement of our position in Christ which doesn't change. But one of the things that we mentioned is that the new man, all of who we are in Christ, is not changing.

But what is changing is that there is this continuing person, starts way back when God chose you in Him, but then we have this other aspect of personality around it that is being changed. This is why the Apostle Paul, speaking as a believer, could talk about before he was saved. He had a certain identity that continued and he also went from being this unbeliever to being a believer. So it's that continuing person that is being changed over time.

So could you technically say then that with his position that this instantaneous thing, you go from in Adam to in Christ? Positionally, we go from in Adam to in Christ, and by the way, that's one way, one time. Right? We don't go back and forth. Oop, I slipped back into Adam. Oop, not happening. Right? So it's one way, one time, and who accomplishes it? God accomplishes it one way, one time, doesn't slip back, you don't slip back into Adam, because we say the definition of the new man is all of who I am, present tense, in Christ. The old man, all of who I was in Adam. Yes?

So Romans 6.4 talks about newness of life. That's a one-time thing. That's who we are in Christ.

It says that we might walk in newness of life, and it does mention the old man in that same passage, right? And so, we're talking about several different things here. One is our position. We were in Adam. and the old man is all of who we were in Adam. We are now in Christ, the new man is all of who we are in Christ. So that's position, right? And the old man is therefore a positional person. The old man doesn't show up, right? And then the new man is all of who we are in Christ, and so those don't change, right? And again, it's one time, one way. And God makes the change from having been in Adam to being in Christ, and we no longer have the old man to deal with, and we have the new man, all of who we are in Christ.

So those who believe that we can lose our salvation, they say, they probably think that we can take our position out of Christ and put it back together. Well, and that's a part of the problem, is with all the statements of our position, there isn't any passage that talks, when you examine it, there isn't any passage that talks about being taken out of Christ and back into Adam. There isn't any passage that says, okay, I'm a sheep, and I'm now taken out of this fold, and I've gone back under Satan's domain. Into the goats, yeah. Yeah, so there isn't any reversal of any of those marvelous things that we have that is in Christ.

That would give too much power into our hands. Yeah, and it just doesn't square up the scripture at all, anywhere. It's got to be another death. Yeah, think about it, yeah. We have been, this first Corinthians, excuse me, Romans 7, 1 through 6, we've been joined to Christ, right? And died to the law.

And so having been joined to Christ, show me the passage that says I'm unjoined. There isn't any such thing, right? So that's the thing, we see position, our position as we were in Adam, we're taken out of being in Adam and placed into Christ and again it's one way, one time, there isn't any way for me to enhance it, there isn't any way for me to mess it up. Well, there was no way for me to take myself out of that and put myself into Christ. Yeah, I didn't do that. God did it anyway, so it doesn't depend on me. All they did was what? I believed. That's it. And by the way, did the old man believe? No, the old man would not believe. The old man did not believe. Not happening.

And that's where we talk about the continuing person. That's what gets saved, that's what believes, and that's where Paul could say, I was, but I am now. And even Ephesians 2, 1-3, dead in trespasses and sins, he writes that of believers. before they believed. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. That was us. We've been taken out of that.

And then it goes, but God, and God did this, and God did that, and God did this other thing. And there's never a, oops, undo it, oh, it didn't stick. Or you're 50% done, right? There's no, I'm stuck halfway, you know, straddling this, you know, in and out and I'm caught in the doorway. There isn't any such thing. All I did was believe. That's it. God did the rest. That's it. I'll take it from there. And God did the rest.

And so as we go through this, it's important to see that. So here is the Greek word that is translated transfigured, the same word that is translated transformed in Romans 12-2 and 2 Corinthians 3-18. There is a change in Christ's appearance which further revealed and made apparent his essential glory, the radiant essence of who he is. So think about this.

Was Christ changed when he was transformed before them? Was Christ changed? Yeah, was he changed? No. He didn't change, his appearance to them is what changed. His appearance is what changed. His essential glory, the radiant essence of who he is, was revealed but it didn't change who he fundamentally was. His basic identity remained the same. His deity, however, was gloriously revealed. See the difference?

Alright, so now, a quick one and I won't take time with it. 2 Corinthians 11.14 says, No wonder for even Satan disguises that King James has transformed as an angel of light, that's actually a different Greek word. It's translated transform, and that's why the newer translations don't use that word, because it can create some confusion. Satan is not able to transform himself as God does. Because if you look at all the transformations in the Bible, all have to do with Christ and believers.

Right? So, anyway, subsequent translations have corrected that. Okay, so now on to page 2. So the transformation of the believer has some points of comparison with Christ's transformation as described in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. In each case, God is the one who does the transforming and Christ or the believer is the one who is on the receiving end of that transforming process. Number two, the transforming process is miraculous. It is not a natural process originating from the physical realm. We don't just get transformed as time goes by.

It's one of the things I look in the mirror and think, heaven sakes, what is happening? Well, I'm getting older, right? So physically, but it's not a natural process from the physical realm, this is a spiritual process. As my grandfather used to put it, for the unbeliever, life is like a funnel looked at from the large end and it gets smaller and smaller. But for the believer, the funnel gets turned the other way. It gets bigger and greater. as you get towards the end. Not because this body is doing all that better, a lot of times it won't, but rather because of what God has done and is doing and what you're looking forward to.

Alright, so the next one, the transforming process is based upon and centered in truth and reality as opposed to deception or mistaken perception. That's one of the reasons for pointing out the distinction there in the bottom of the footnote on page one, is that's not really transformed, it's not the same thing. It's essentially disguising. So Christ was transformed, revealing what was the truth, as opposed to Satan who disguises.

See the difference there? And why a different word is used in the Greek text. So there are essentially points of comparison between how Christ was transformed, how the Christian believers transformed. There are also some important differences. And one of the things, this brings up again, the interpretive principle of comparison and contrast. Comparison and contrast, really big. So here's point one.

Christ's change as he was transformed amounted to a glorious revealing of who he was and is as deity. It was a change that revealed his essential glory. Also Christ never came from a place of being saved from sin, so his essential glory was not changing only its appearance. Christ was who he was and this passage provides us with a preview of who he is and who he will be forever. We on the other hand are transformed from glory to glory, that is there is a change and increase.

Paul used the figure of speech, as he did in 2 Corinthians 3.18, where he uses, he'll have from glory to glory, in Romans it's faith to faith, and also elsewhere in 2 Corinthians, life to life, death to death. That is an expression, the figure of speech, that Paul uses, meaning increasing. So, an important insight here. So there is a change and increase in glory.

As we are changed, transformed, God brings about miraculously an increase in glory which is from the Lord himself as he shares his glory with us. Let's think about this. Just in the passage right prior to this, the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 3 describes Moses. Moses came down from the mountain and what did he put over his face? A veil. Why?

Initially he had this brightness, right? But essentially is the law continuing or growing glory? No, it's a diminishing glory, right? And so the veil actually covers the decline, right? The veil covers the decline. But we all with unveiled face, are we going through the same decline in glory? No, we're going through an increase.

This is the reason for the figure of speech, glory to glory. Is it glorious because we try to be glorious? Are we working on our glory shine? Polishing up the old man? So we're not working on our glory shine. This isn't something God does. This is instead God's process for the believer. Transform from glory to glory.

So yeah. I think it's interesting, it seems like as we age, our bodies cover up the glory that is increasing in us. Yes. There are various points at which different declines typically take place. Accident or disease or condition can change that. Yes, that's right. And so that's one thing that's what's happening in our bodies. Rough rules of thumb, on average, the brain starts shrinking at about age 35.

And there's a progression that typically takes place, and of course there's some variation person to person, but that's one of the things that happens. There's different levels of peak in terms of maleness and femaleness and those expressions, I kind of think, that happen physiologically. Again, that's on average. There tends to be a decline, for example, in men, in their testosterone production, actually starting after age 20. That decline begins for most men. So there are lots of different things where the body is slowing down. Early on, we tend to heal more quickly.

Later on, one of the concerns for older folks is if you go in for a surgery, which maybe you really need, but even healing up from the surgery can be more difficult for older folks. So a lot of things like that, but you look at it spiritually speaking, does that happen? No. As a matter of fact, that's the neat thing, spiritually speaking, this transformation process, doesn't diminish with age. So that's really cool. Maybe the spiritual transformation actually needs the physical to make it grow. I think you have a point and that is one of the reasons for our physical decline and that doesn't mean we shouldn't have surgeries and see the doctor about things and try to eat right and exercise and all that. But I think one of the reasons for that decline, even with the best efforts to try to thwart it, is simply to point us to, hey, it's not all about what you have in this body, right? It's not all about what's going on here. And to focus on what really matters and what's going to last.

My real question was going to be, can you give me a simple definition of glory? It's in here, the radiant essence of who God is. The radiant essence of who God is. So when we say glory, it is essential to his being. God does not just have glory, he is glorious. It is not simply a possession of him, it is an essential part of his character.

I think the reason, at least one of the reasons for the diminishing of our physical body is, like Paul said, so I don't put any confidence in the flesh. We put less and less confidence in the flesh as we lose our physical abilities. Yes, and it doesn't mean that we shouldn't do things to try to stay healthy, be responsible for the body we have, things of that sort. But the truth is that, yeah, I should not be putting confidence in the flesh.

Not even in, you know, boy, when I was a kid I used to do this and that and the other thing, you know. I used to weight lift regularly, you know. All that goes away. I used to run three half marathons a week. By the way, I don't still do that. I've noticed in older people who have kept their physical abilities, they have less interest in spiritual things. Yeah, it is possible. It can happen. Should we try to maintain and all that? Yes. But it's possible there could be so much emphasis on how am I keeping my body up and all that. that we get our focus off of what really is going to matter forever. It doesn't matter how far you swim. It's like one of the comparisons. Okay, we're going to swim from here to Japan, right? The U.S. to Japan. You're going to swim across the Pacific Ocean. You're going to get started.

It doesn't matter whether you've been practicing a whole lot and eating the right foods. Nobody's going to make it. Unless you do it in very small little bits, right? So nobody's going to make the whole swim. It's just not humanly possible. You're just not going to do it. And the reality is, take care of your body as much as you want, and to some extent, yeah you should, but the reality is, it's not happening.

This body is terminal, and there's a reason for that. It's the point at which a man wants to die, right? And after that, the judgment. And for us as believers, that judgment is actually something we should be looking forward to. Yes? This is a question.

In Ephesians 3.16 it says, he prays that God would grant you to be strengthened in the inner man, so Paul is praying that God would strengthen us in the inner man. Do we need to ask God for that? There is one of several places in scripture where you can find where, and this is an instance where Paul prays, but he's not the only one, for something that is in fact a given. And so what he's doing is praying our position into our current condition. Let's get another perspective on that. Hebrews 13 talks about our being strengthened by grace. Well, he's talking about being strengthened in the inner man. That's correct.

Which is not our physical body, right? And so the question, is it possible that we can become weak in our inner man, even as believers? I thought our inner man was always okay. When he talks about the inner man, does he mean the new man? Well, in Paul's battle there, where he says, I weaken the flesh, he says that my inward man is fine and dandy, essentially. So that verse seems to say that the inner man is always fine and dandy, because it always conforms to them. It's always good. Paul says that of himself.

Is it automatically true of others? My new man, all of who I am in Christ, is always just fine. But that is unchanging. And it frankly can't be impacted by anything. Doesn't that equal inner man? No. And that's my point in talking about the continuing person. of each believer, that that is what gets transformed, that is who is conformed to the image of Christ.

My new man is already conformed. My new man is already fully transformed. So this is talking about me as a person and not simply the new man. So you're saying that when Paul talked about his inward man being fine and dandy, that was just him, not us? Well, he was speaking with reference to himself, right? And the reality is it can be different from one person to the next. So some of our inward man is not sold. Well, let's ask this question.

Paul writes to the believers in Corinth and he says, you guys are fleshly. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. You guys are fleshly. Is that their new man? No, it's not their new man. He writes to the believers and says, some of you are sinning so badly that the Lord has had to judge you.

Some of you are ill and some of you have even gone home. Didn't say they lost their salvation, but their spiritual condition, not of the new man, all of who they are in Christ, that's untouched. But this continuing person, that can get in pretty bad shape. Hebrews chapter 5. You guys, by now you ought to be teachers, but instead you are actually dull of hearing.

So it is possible for us, not at any decline of the new man, not with any decline of that, it is possible for us to experience great decline. And that's speaking outside of who we are in Christ. So inward is different from inward? Yes. Could you say the inner man is the, well the continuing version of course, but would that be the personality, the likes, the dislikes that's being transformed?

Yeah, let's talk about that. We don't have lots of time, but let's take a few minutes to talk about that because it's obviously something, given the questions, that people need to ponder. So, okay, so here, let's take it for instance. Here is Vern at age four and a half, right?

I'm coming home from church and I asked my parents, how do you become a Christian? And they said, well you should wait. I wake up my mom that night and I said, I waited long enough. So before I believed that night, before I believed, I was unsaved. As we talked about before, unless you believe, you're going to die in your sins. So up until that time I was in my sins. Up until that time I was in Adam. Up until that time that I believed, the old man, all of who I was, defined me. I was in Adam. Spiritually speaking. Unsaved. And there was no fixing anything, spiritually speaking. The only way out of that terrible condition was to believe.

So now, does the old man believe? Does the old sin nature believe? That's the nature of the old man, but that's not all of who the old man is. So he doesn't believe. So what part believes? But that hasn't happened yet. So I'm still in the old, what part believes? This is the continuing person that then believes and then is taken into this who I am.

Now there's the new man, all of who I am in Christ. At that time I was four and a half. There was a whole lot I didn't know, right? An awful lot I didn't know. So decades have gone by, and guess what? I'm still catching up with what God did right there when I was four and a half.

Right then, He took me out of Adam and put me into Christ. Right then, I was brought into His fold. Right then, He had taken me out of Adam with the old man, all of who I was in Adam, and put me into Christ. And the old man no longer has anything to do with me, but this new man then is in Christ, all who I am in Christ. And yet in the midst of that, the new man from that day I turned four and a half and I believe, from that time, my new man is not changed because that's all who I am in Christ and it got changed that night when I was born again.

Is the continuing person the mind, the emotions, and the race? Yeah, so let's talk about what continues. So, you know, maybe it's easier to think of, here's the Apostle Paul. So here's the Apostle Paul And the Apostle Paul, let's briefly describe the Apostle Paul before he was saved. Where was he born and raised? Tarsus. Born and raised in Tarsus. Jewish household. Which tribe? Tribe of Benjamin. So we know he was of that tribe.

He lists in Philippians four things that he had. that were part of his birthing, right? Circumcised. Did he make that decision? Circumcised in the eighth day? No. But that was something that essentially he was born into. Then there were three things he listed, so for a total of seven. That sounds perfect, right? A total of seven things that he had as a Jew. He says, man, what I was born into, what I accomplished, I'm just the best of the best. And what does he say about it? He counts it all... Rubbish. Dumb. Sewage. Right? That's kubbalani. It's all junk. It's all refuse. Right? Why? Compared to what? Knowing Christ. And he says that's all rubbish. Right? Compared to knowing Christ. So, let's think about it. Here's the Apostle Paul.

He's on the road to Damascus. He was headed to Damascus to go and arrest a bunch of Christians. Get them hauled back and probably kill them. All of a sudden the Lord just stops him right there in the road. He gets overwhelmed with light. The Lord talks to him. This is Saul, Saul. Twice, right? Why are you persecuting me? And who are you, Lord? And so he comes from who are you, Lord, to oh, you're my Lord, right? And begins that day to know him.

And so what has been unchanged in the Apostle Paul from the moment before when he was walking to Damascus to the moment afterwards when he comes to believe? What changed? Excuse me, what was unchanged? His personality. One is that he has the same body, right? Same body, just like me, probably around four and a half, I got a scar on the inside of my left ankle and it's still there. So before and after. Same brain, all those things, same body. It's like people joke, if you're a bad cook before you bleed, you'll probably be a bad cook afterwards. And you don't want me cooking anything, I'll tell you. What's that?

But he still had all the criteria that he before had that made him the best of the best. Yes, here he was moments later, and he still was born into all those things in Judaism, wasn't he? He had, at least as his immediate history up to that point, all the things that he'd accomplished. So all totaled, all seven things were still right there.

The things that he liked, the relationships that he had, earthly relationships that he had, his education. He was brought up under Gamaliel. Gamaliel was one of seven most honored rabbis of all time. Gamaliel was considered the premier rabbi of the first century. He had about a thousand disciples, and Paul was one of them. He was highly regarded among the Jewish leadership.

So yeah, it's all there. So if the new man is positional, or in Christ, could you say that this old man, the continuing person, The old man is all of who I was in Adam. The continuing person is what and who continues from the time I was in Adam until the time I'm in Christ. But there's something that keeps you in this world and how you live in this world, the conditions that you're in, right? You're still in the same body, right? And one of the things we say, the old man, you're out of it, and if the old man is out of the picture, all of who you were in Adam is no longer in Adam, right? What stays, you still have the same body, and to that is attached the sin nature, an inclination to think and to act.

We have a different relationship to the sin nature, and the sin nature is terminal. By the way, why doesn't God just get rid of the sin nature and just, you know, hey, you don't have to mess with this thing anymore. Why doesn't God just get rid of it?

I think it's to, so we can identify with people who live in sin nature. There's some, there's some sense to that. And why else? Why else? Why doesn't God just take the sin nature away and just make a, certainly living the whole Christian life would be a lot simpler, wouldn't it?

It's attached to this thing. In order to get rid of it, you have to kill you. Some guy prays to believe and expresses his belief in the prayer. It's really belief, not the prayer that saves you. So he believes, he expresses that, and all of a sudden he just quotes. Oh, that guy must have become a believer. I'm never going to do that. Look, they all die, right? No. If you want to become a believer, besides that, who would tell them, right?

So the thing is, God would have to take us out. And say, well, because that sin nature is a part and connected to this thing, right? So he'd have to take us out. But instead he says, no, I've made a way to deal with that sin nature. And until I give this believer a new body, they won't have that. But the sin nature is terminal. That's one thing, it's condemned right here. Right where it sits, it's terminal. It's not going any further than this body. Alright, so in the short time that we have left, let's take a look here. Top of page 3.

We have a couple of examples of metamorphosis in the biological realm. It helps to illustrate the degree and kind of change involved in metamorphosis. Laws 1 does not apply the physical biological change too rigidly to the spiritual change as described in Romans 12.2 and 2 Corinthians 13. One principle in common between the biological metamorphosis and the spiritual metamorphosis is that while the radical change called metamorphosis takes place in an environment, the change takes place largely on the basis of internal direction and information rather than through the external circumstances. So the great transformation that takes place does not appear to be driven from any externally identifiable causes. So it's the difference between the biological process that we see illustrated here and the spiritual process that's talked about.

So here is 2 Corinthians 3, 17 and 18 has the form of a chiasm, which is a mirror image in literary form. Verse 17 is referring to the Holy Spirit. The term the Spirit of the Lord is found here for the last time in the Bible, but the exact same term is used 28 times in the Bible, starting with Judges 3.10. In each case it refers to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. What I'd like to do, because our time is limited here, is shift ahead to page 5.

Let's read 2 Corinthians 3.18, expanded and explained, because this is going to be at the core of what God is doing and what our response is.

2 Corinthians 3.18, expand and explain. It's at the top of page 5. As a matter of fact, it's the only thing on page 5.

So here we go. But all of us who are in Christ with a face that is not veiled by the law. What do we mean by the law? By the law of Moses or any principle of law. Specifically in the context is the law of Moses. having died in relationship to the law and living by God's amazing grace, are right now continuing to behold as we read and hear the written word of God, seeing as one who looks into a mirror the glory, the radiant essence of who Christ is, the glory that comes from Christ himself, and we are in fact in the very process of being changed and transformed into the same spiritual character. growing from one level of Christ's glory to the next, and every part of this beholding and transformation is from the God-given ministries of the Holy Spirit.

So who accomplishes the transformation? God does. And specifically, who are we beholding? Jesus Christ. We're beholding Christ the Lord, and who is making the transformation take place as we behold Christ? It's the Holy Spirit. So, real interesting here. Here's a transformation. We're doing the beholding, but it's whom we're beholding. And the transformation, it's all about the Lord. It's not about us.

Let me ask this. Is it possible for a person to behold someone other than Christ? Yeah. Can you think of some examples? You could behold another person. You could behold a group of people. You could also even be beholding things. Beholding your smartphone, right? So you can be beholding different things or different people, but the transformation that takes place in the 2 Corinthians 3, 17 and 18 passage, the transformation that takes place, takes place as we behold Christ in the Word and no other way.

And it is accomplished by the Holy Spirit, not because we behold the Holy Spirit. So this is key. This is where whole charismatic churches get way off track. What are they doing? They're beholding the Holy Spirit and expecting the Holy Spirit to do some miraculous thing. Not what God had in mind.

I was also thinking that if you take new creation out of this, then people, they seem to put that metaphorical sustain in there, in place of identification. They say new creature, as it's translated into non, is a new creation. So it doesn't have anything to do with metaphor.

Yes. Let's ask one other thing. We all with unveiled face, what's the veil with regards to? The veil is with regards to the law. Suppose that I say, boy, you know, I'm really going to try really hard to keep these laws. Suppose you'd say, well, you know, all 613, that's just like really tough, so I'm just going to try to keep the 10.

What does that do to this transforming process? It stops it dead in its tracks. Nobody gets transformed by trying real hard to follow the law, by trying to be a good Christian. Yeah, everything I can do with the law is going to just stop this process in its tracks. So the person who is trying really hard to follow the law or some set of laws, the person who is trying really hard to be a good Christian is not doing anything to satisfy with this calls for in 2nd Corinthians 3. Not at all.

Yes? Okay, well Wayne said, and I agree with that, that it's a new creation, it's a brand new self. So how does that relate to this transformation process which is metamorphosis? So that's where we keep coming back to my new man, new creation, unchanging. Position. is all of who I am. That's completely unchanging. So what's changing, we keep coming back to, that's why the continuing person is what's changing. And that's all that's changing. My new man, all of who I am in Christ, is not getting changed.

It doesn't need to. I'm not getting more identified with Christ. By the way, we don't just say the new man is Christ. Why? Because I was only identified with Christ, that's my new history, in his what? Death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seeding. Christ fed the 4,000, he got in the boat with the disciples, crossed the Sea of Galilee, and landed at Magdala. That was a phenomenal, wonderful event. But you and I were not identified in that. So it's not just that Christ in dwell is as true as that is. That's not what this message is. Different message.

Yes, so there's a growing into what God has already done. That's all of who we are. That's the new creation. So that's one of the ways that I put it. We believe God does all these phenomenal things. He makes all these changes and we spend the rest of our lives catching up to what He's already done. We spend the rest of our lives catching up to what He's already done. Isn't that just phenomenal? But God's already done it. pulled it off and made it reality the moment we believed. And it wasn't any surprise to him because they already chose us in Him before He said, let there be light. So we're always catching up to what God's already done, He's already accomplished, catching up to our having been chosen, everything. We're catching up to what He's already done. And that's what we do until we go home.

I don't even know if I can ask this appropriately, but the new self which has already been created an entire creation finished. But the transformation process is an ongoing process and so it really doesn't have any effect on that completed new self. So this transformation process then must be something that is growing here so that we can be better people here on earth. Is that the idea? The new self is already, you said, already created and completed, right? So then the transformation process on the continuing person really doesn't make any difference as far as that completed process, right?

You said it's completed, it's done. Positioned, the new man, the new person. It's completed, it's finished, it's done. Done deal. Okay, so this continuing person that's being transformed, how does that relate to the completed new person? I don't get that. That's one of the reasons we're looking now at the processes. Those are the processes taking place. When we go to be with the Lord, those will be completed. Those will be done. So does that have to do with the rewards, or does that have to do with our work here, or what?

Okay. What we're going to have to do is, we've run out of time. We're actually five minutes past our time. So anyway, we've run out of time. What we will do is address that next time. Yeah, this is key stuff. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your just amazing grace. We thank you that you put these things in place, these processes. And these are things that are growing us, that are transforming us, that are conforming us into Christ. And we just thank you that you've made provision for everything. And we look forward to that day. We hope it's today. when you come for us. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.