As I see it, the two most important agents at work to transform the minds and lives of the followers of Christ to become more like Him are also two of the most neglected and or abused subjects in a great many churches today – the blood of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit of God. Both the blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit are actively involved in the transformation process from the very beginning of a persons Christian walk – without them no one could ever know, walk with or grow to become more like Jesus Christ.
The last time we spoke on this subject I mentioned that once a person receives spiritual life through Jesus Christ, he or she cannot help but give some immediate evidence of the fact. The reason for my assertion stems from my opening remark – the two agents of transformation are actively at work from the beginning to give us a “right mind” (Mark 5:15) about our sin and need of forgiveness and about God’s grace to sinners made possible by the suffering, death, burial and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.
In the more or less traditional (some might call them “old school” ) churches, where hymns are still sung one song asks the question:
“Are you washed in the blood, in the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?”
Likewise, in the New Testament Jesus declared to a group of people who had been following Him (John 6:53-56):
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”
In our day, people understand the words of the hymn about as well as those listening to the words of Jesus as He addressed them about His body and blood. We are not talking about taking a bath in Jesus’ blood any more than Jesus meant for people to literally eat Him. In actuality, Jesus was promising life to whomever would personally appropriate His shed blood by faith to their lives as an atonement for their sin. Jesus’ blood changes our standing with God, by that blood we have life (John 6:54), a standing before the Father (Ephesians 2:13), holiness, access to and fellowship with God (Heb 10:19, Romans 5:8-10) and redemption (1 Peter 1:17-21). The blood of Jesus cleanses our consciences (Heb 10:22) from evil – from outward sinful actions and inner tendencies to sin. By His blood our souls are purified and forgiven; without it there can be no “remission of sins” (see Heb. 9:22). The Bible declares in (Heb 9: (13)-14):
“…how much more (than the blood of bulls and goats) shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
When applied to our lives, Jesus’ blood gives us a standing before Almighty God but it is the Holy Spirit who drew us to Jesus (see John 6:44) through conviction of sin (John 16:8) and by grace (Ephesians 2:8) and abides in us from the moment we first believed (see Romans 8:9): “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His;” – that Spirit of God applies the blood of Jesus to our lives cleansing us and transforming us from the inside out.
You may recall that Jesus said:
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” (John 15:4–8, NKJV)
From the inside out the Spirit manifests Himself; His presence changes us and reveals Christ in us (when we get out of the way) so that He who gave us life may be glorified in us as others “see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16) and produce fruit through us (John 15:5,8).
The Holy Spirit gives us life (John 6:63) when we believe in Jesus; He opens the word of God to our understanding and leads us in the process of the transformation of our minds (Romans 12:2, Titus 3:5), His presence and our submission to Him enables us to demonstrate the character of Christ through our lives (Gal 5:16-25):
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
The Spirit of God gives us direction, illuminates the Word, speaks to our hearts, convicts us when were wrong, encourages us when we’re weak, seals us to the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30) but can also be grieved and quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19) in our lives by constant disobedience and disregard.
These two agents or transformation work in us till our dying day to transform (conform) us to be have the mind and attitude of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:5-11, Romans 8:29) and fitting us for the kingdom of heaven. Thus, I conclude that though no believer will ever be perfect in this life and will still occasionally sin and have need of repentance, each one will nevertheless bear some witness or evidence through their lives that they have been and continue to be with Jesus.
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