A Transformed Life

Watching YouTube this week I saw an interesting interview with Ben Shapiro. Shapiro is the host of The Ben Shapiro Show, a daily political podcast and live radio show. In this interview this is how he explained the difference between Christianity and Judaism. Mr. Shapiro is Jewish. He said:

"Christianity says you believe the thing therefore you do the thing, Judaism says You do the thing, therefore you believe the thing."

A Life Transformed by the Holy Spirit

What he is saying is that Christians believe in God and then do good, while Jewish people do good (follow the law) and then believe in God. Mr. Shapiro was right, up to a point. As Christians, we believe in God and then we have a desire to live the life that Christ wants us to live. What Mr. Shapiro may not be aware of is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian. In the comment section of the video someone known as "Prayerfully Blessed Mama" posted an explanation. She said, "I don’t just believe, so therefore I can do good. The Holy Spirit literally abides in me from baptism and is minute by minute transforming me into the best version of myself God wants me to be." Our lives are transformed by the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Our desire to be better people, to forsake sin, comes from the Holy Spirit not from ourselves.

"for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." Philippians 2: 13

New Creatures

We are new creatures. Changed, never to be the same again. I remember the testimony of a man many years ago. He was a wonderful evangelist. He had been a drunk, an alcoholic who stumbled into church one night, sitting at the back and expecting nothing, who was touched by the Holy Spirit and gave his heart and life to God. He never drank again. He went on to become a powerful preacher.

A Work in Progress

Most of our transformation stories are not as dramatic or as sudden as his, but they can be. For most of us our transformation is a work in progress. We change, then regress, then we get on the straight path, then fall, then go forward... but the general direction is always forward. Always closer to the human being our Lord intended us to be.

My Spirit in You

The Old Testament hints of this new way of being. Ezekiel explains that there will come a time when the Jewish nation won't "do the thing, therefore you believe the thing" as Mr. Shapiro put it. The time will come, the prophet Ezekiel says, when God will "put my Spirit within you" and because of this Spirit He will "cause you to walk in My statutes". This is our transformation! (Ezekiel 36: 26-27)

A New Covenant

Jeremiah also speaks of the days coming when God "will make a new covenant" Jeremiah 31:31. This new Spirit, new covenant, comes about in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit falls on the disciples like tongues of fire. The comforter was sent and lives were transformed. Jesus told the disciples that this would happen.

Jesus Leaves - The Holy Spirit Arrives

Jesus explained to His disciples in John 16:7 that it was actually a good thing for Him to leave them. Why? Because without the death, resurrection and ascension into Heaven of Jesus; then the Comforter, the Helper, the Holy Spirit wouldn't be able to come to us. For us to be transformed the Holy Spirit must be present in us.

How Are We Transformed?

What does it mean to be a transformed Christian? A transformed life is a life that desires a relationship with God. A transformed life wants to study, wants to learn, about the God they love. A transformed life desires to NOT sin. If they do sin they seek forgiveness and repent, they turn from that sin. A transformed life doesn't forsake fellowship with other Christians. A transformed life listens and speaks to God. It is a life of prayer. A transformed life loves - God and others. A transformed life is a new creation.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2 Corinthians 5: 17

Change Should Be Evident

As Paul says, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." (Galatians 2:20) This change should be dramatic enough that people know the difference. After I came to know Christ a good friend who I had not seen in many months stopped by my house to visit. This person paused and said, "Something is different about you. You aren't the same." I hadn't told the friend what had happened to me but my friend knew something was changed.

Mercy and Forgiveness

I wish I could say that I have always lived in a transformed way, but sadly I can't. I have had times when I struggled to live the Christian life, times when Jesus could say to me, "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love." (Revelation 2: 4) But because He is merciful and forgiving, when I repent, He welcomes me back. I am not deserving of His mercy and forgiveness. He offers them freely, but He also expects for me to repent and to walk with Him again that transformed life that His Holy Spirit makes possible for each of us.

Have you been transformed?

A Transformed Life