Something profound, and nothing short of miraculous, happened deep within us when we were born again. It happened in the very deepest part of us, our spirit. When we came into agreement with the plan of God for our salvation, by way of believing in Jesus, and mixing that belief with the faith that He’s already provided for us…..our spirit was renewed. I mean, completely renewed! OK, I’ll make it clearer…..your spirit was perfected! Don’t argue with me….you’ll lose the argument. I’m pretty passionate about this one!
That ‘thing’ that happened is there, in you, to totally transform every area of your life. No kidding! The real you has been ‘renewed’! (made new…and perfect!) And while it’s a lifetime process to flesh it out…your spirit can’t get any more renewed-er (I just made that word up!), than it is right now. So, the challenge becomes……“How do we get what’s happened on the ‘inside’, to manifest itself on the ‘outside’!?
Paul said it this way in the Bible; “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”. (Don’t get too uptight about that ‘fear and trembling’ thing; it just means to be serious, sincere…and diligent about it!) Now, he’s not talking about working (doing good things) to ‘earn’ your salvation. That’s far from the truth. Besides, salvation is a ‘gift’; and like any other gift it can only be ‘received’, and not worked for or earned! What’s happened in our spirit is always ‘ready’ to be given permission, by us, to be useful in our everyday lives. It’s simple; don’t complicate it! It amounts to us learning to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit….Who now lives in our spirit to guide us every step of the way.
It could be classified as ‘learned behavior’; we learn from His Spirit how to let the miracle that’s happened inside to be manifest in everything we do. It’s going to require us to change our thinking, some; OK, a lot! But, it’s doable. And, as we change the way we think our behavior, and everything else, begins to change….for the better!
If we’re really being ‘conformed’ into the image of Jesus, then what’s inside has to be ‘worked out’!
Check these out:
God Moves Through ‘Influence’ ……. Not ‘Control’!
“Loosen the Bible Belt a Little!”
