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“The Lord
is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:17
– NKJV) and He has begun a work in us and He will carry it on to completion
until the day of Jesus Christ (this work of God consists in transforming us into
Christ’s image). Why did He begin this work in us? Because God predestined us
to be conformed to the image of His Son, and thus God through His Spirit is
transforming us and renewing us so that we may become like Jesus Christ. Listen
to what Paul says to the Corinthians: “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 by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians
3:18 – NKJV). Beloved, the Spirit we have received is a spirit of power, who
works powerfully in us according to the will of God, and that Spirit
transforms us daily so that we may be conformed to the image of Christ ….. of course, His spiritual image. Paul says also that Christ
is not weak toward us, but mighty in us (2 Corinthians 13:3), for the Lord,
who is the Spirit, is mighty in us and His purpose is to produce in us a
Christ-like character.
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Now, we
have an outward man and an inward man; the outward man is made of flesh and
bones and is perishing, while the inward man is spiritual and “is being
renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16
- NKJV), as the apostle Paul says. Our inward man has been made new, while
the outward man has remained the same, for when we were born again our bodily
image did not change in that our stature, our weight and our somatic types
remained unchanged; but what changed radically was our spiritual character,
for after we were born again our old friends (those who knew us very well)
told us that we had become unrecognizable. They said to us: ‘You are no
longer the same!’, ‘I no longer recognize you!’, ‘You are another person!’. As far as our body is concerned, they did not notice
any change, but in regard to our speech and our conduct, they saw such a renewal
in us that they were amazed. Listen to what the Scripture says of Saul of
Tarsus (after He turned to the Lord): “And straightway he preached Christ in
the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. But all that heard him were
amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this
name in Jerusalem,
and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the
chief priests?” (Acts 9:20-21). The Jews who were in Damascus knew that Saul
of Tarsus had come to Damascus in order to bring the disciples of the Lord
Jesus bound to Jerusalem, that’s why they were amazed at hearing him preach
that Jesus was the Son of God. The outward appearance of Saul had not
changed, but his conduct had changed radically; he had come to Damascus to
destroy the Church which was in Damascus, but after his conversion he began
to edify it; before his conversion He blasphemed the good name that the saints
called on, but after his conversion he began to preach it in the synagogues
of the Jews; he had departed from Jerusalem to bring the saints who were in
Damascus bound to Jerusalem, but after his conversion he stayed with them for
several days, as it is written: “Then Saul spent some days with the disciples
at Damascus” (Acts 9:19 – NKJV). Afterwards, Saul went to Jerusalem and
“tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not
believe that he was a disciple” (Acts 9:26
– NKJV). Saul had become a disciple of the Lord, yet the disciples who dwelt
in Jerusalem,
when they saw that he was trying to join them, at first they did not believe
that he had become a disciple. But Saul had been really renewed and did not try
to join with them by intrigue, and after a short time the disciples
recognized that Paul had become a disciple of the Lord. That happened when
Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles declaring to them how Saul
had seen the Lord and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached
boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus (Acts 9:27).
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Concerning
the renewal worked in us by the Spirit of the Lord, we can compare it to the
renewal that the owner of a house does in his own house, making it new inside
and taking away the old furnishings and putting in it new furnishings,
leaving unchanged the outside of the house. Therefore, just as some people
buy a house and although they leave unchanged the outside of it they renew
the interior of it as they like because they want to go to live in it, so the
Lord bought us at a price, left unchanged our outward man but He renewed us
inwardly in order to dwell in us. Christ purged our hearts from an evil
conscience and has come to us and made His home with us through the Spirit.
Jesus said that “new wine must be put into new wineskins” (Luke 5:38 – NKJV)
and God, before Jesus came, had made the following promise through the
prophet Ezekiel: “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be
clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and
I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an
heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:25-26), and that’s exactly what God has done, for
He has given us a new heart and has put a new spirit within it, that is, the
Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’. So now we are the
house of God, and let it be known to you that the Owner of the house is not inactive
for He is still working in us through the Spirit He sent forth into our
hearts. Therefore, let me tell you what the Spirit wants to do within us.
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The Spirit
wants to bring us “to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ” (Ephesians 4:13
– NKJV). That is to say, He wants us to grow up in all things and thus to
become mature spiritually; and in order to accomplish His will in us He uses
the ministries appointed by God in His Church. For you must keep in mind that
when a man experiences the new birth, he is a new born baby; he is of course
a child of God, but he possesses little spiritual intelligence and little
knowledge about many things concerning the kingdom of God, so God uses His ministers
to make him grow, as it is written: “And he gave some, apostles; and some,
prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12).
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When a
woman gives birth to a child, there is much joy within the family; every
member of the family is happy, both the father and the mother are happy, as
well as their children, yet the new born baby is not left alone because his
parents begin to take care of him, feeding him and doing many other things
which are necessary. So the new born baby begins to grow. Both his stature
and his weight increase, and with the passing of time he looks more and more
like his father who begot him; of course, when the child is born he looks
like his father because he has some somatic types he inherited from his
father (It is written that “Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat
a son in his own likeness, after his image” Genesis 5:3, so this is confirmed
by the Scripture), they can be seen, however they are accentuated with the
passing of time. For instance, when I was born I looked like my father, but the
likeness between me and my father was accentuated with the passing of time. As
I said before, he who is begotten inherits the somatic types from the father
who begot him, for this is what happens in the natural realm. However, this
is what happens also in the spiritual realm, for those who were begotten of
God inherited the ‘spiritual hereditary types’ from God. For instance, when
we were born again (that is to say, when we were regenerated through the
Gospel), those who at the time were already members of the household of God noticed
at once a resemblance between us and the Son of God (the firstborn among many
brethren), but this resemblance was accentuated with the passing of time and
it is still being accentuated because the Lord, who is the Spirit, works in
us transforming us into His likeness.
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God wants
those who are new born babes in Christ to become in understanding adults, as
it is written: “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice
be ye children, but in understanding be men” (1 Corinthians 14:20). However,
this process takes some time because the growth of a child takes place
gradually and even though the child does not understand certain things he
still is a member of the family and the father is patient and merciful toward
him. Now, as you know, in the natural realm there is a great difference
between a child and a man, for Paul says: “When I was a child, I spake as a
child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a
man, I put away childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:11). Likewise,
in the spiritual realm there is a great difference between a child in Christ
and a man in Christ. Of course, both of them are sons of God, but the former
is a child, who is not mature in understanding and consequently he thinks and
behaves as a child, while the latter is mature in understanding and thus his
way of thinking and behaving is different. A man in Christ has ceased to
think and to behave like a child in Christ. For instance, after I was born
again I was zealous for the things of God but sometimes my zeal was without
knowledge and so I made some mistakes, even though I wanted to grow
spiritually. But with the passing of time my knowledge increased and so one
day, thanks be to God, I ceased to say certain
things, to think certain things, and to do certain things. I realized I had
done those mistakes because of my lack of knowledge, because I was a babe in
Christ.
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But how
does God help babes in Christ to grow? As I said before, He helps them to
grow through the ministries He has appointed in the Church, as it is written:
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and
some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the
unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we
henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with
every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow
up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the
whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint
supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part,
maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians
4:11-16). Therefore, from Christ, who is the Head of the Church, through the
ministers of God, those who are children take their nourishment to grow and
to become perfect men.
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It must be
said, however, that there are some who, even though they have been believers
for many years, are still babes in Christ. By this time they ought to be
teachers, but they need someone to teach them again the first principles of
the oracles of God and so they need milk and not solid food. They are exactly
like those believers to whom the author of the epistle to the Hebrews said: “For
when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you
again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become
such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth
milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong
meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use
have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:12-14). I
would like you to notice that according to these words, the babes in Christ do
not have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil, while the mature
have their senses exercised to distinguish good from evil. But why do these
believers not have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil?
Because they walk according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit. In
other words, because they don’t put the Word of righteousness into practice:
they hear it but they don’t keep it. That’s why they call certain evil things
good things, and some good things evil things, because they don’t keep the
word of God. Therefore, they lack that discernment they need. Do you remember
the saints of the Church in Corinth?
Paul called them babes in Christ, didn’t he? Why? Because there were envy,
strife, and divisions among them; they were carnal and behaving like mere
men. For one said: ‘I am of Paul’, and another ‘I am of Apollos’, and another
‘I am of Cephas’. They had been enriched in every thing by God in all
utterance and all knowledge, they did not lack any spiritual gift, yet they
were carnal because they walked according to the
flesh and not according to the Spirit. Therefore Paul had to speak to them as
to carnal, as to babes in Christ. He had to give them milk instead of solid
food, because they were not able to receive solid food. Paul rebuked them
because they were not conducting themselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel
and exhorted them all to speak the same thing and to be perfectly joined
together in the same mind and in the same judgement.
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Paul tells
us that we have been taught by Christ that we put off, concerning our former
conduct, the old man which is being corrupted by its deceitful lusts, and be
renewed in the spirit of our mind, and that we put on the new man which was
created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians
4:21-24). Therefore, we, with regard to our former way of life, have been
taught to cast off the works of darkness, that is, revelry, drunkenness,
lewdness, lust, strife and envy, all hypocrisy and all evil speaking, which
deceive those who walk in them; while with regard to our new way of life we
have been taught to be renewed in the spirit of our mind and to put on tender
mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, that is, the new man
which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
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Brethren,
I want you to know that if we want to look more and more like Christ we have
to be renewed in our mind, which means that we must not conform to the
tastes, the habits and the way of thinking of the people who belong to this
world. Those who conform to this present evil age put a stumbling block in
their ways, which prevents them from growing spiritually. You cannot grow in
wisdom, nor in the grace of God, nor in knowledge, as long as you think like
the unbelievers; the way of thinking of the world has harmful effects on
believers and it does not help them grow spiritually; how could it be
profitable to them when we know that “the whole world lies under the sway of
the wicked one” (1 John 5:19 – NKJV)? Brethren, the way of thinking of the
people of the world is contrary to the way of thinking of the saints. We have
the mind of the Lord, while unbelievers have the mind of the wicked one, for Isaiah
the prophet says about the wicked: “Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity”
(Isaiah 59:7 – NKJV). However, not only their thoughts are evil, but also
their works are evil, as it is written: “Their works are works of iniquity” (Isaiah
59:6). These words of Isaiah show us that the wicked act badly because they
think evil thoughts, that is to say, their evil thoughts lead them to act
sinfully. Consider also the following words of Paul: “This I say therefore,
and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk,
in the vanity of their mind” (Ephesians 4:17).
As you can see, those who don’t know God not only think vain thoughts, but
they also live a meaningless life, and this shows that the way of thinking
influences the way of life. Therefore, brethren, do not permit the thoughts
of iniquity to enter your mind lest they harm you, but rather ‘‘be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that
good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). Know this,
that you must be renewed in the spirit of your mind in order to prove what
God’s will is. That’s why many believers are not filled with the knowledge of
His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, because they conform to
this evil present age and by so doing they walk in the vanity of their mind
just as those who don’t know God do, and so wisdom is not with them. What do
unbelievers think of? They think of getting rich, of becoming famous, of
giving themselves over to lewdness and all uncleanness, and of doing harm to
their neighbour. But what should we, who are children of God, think about?
Here is the answer: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things
are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report;
if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians
4:8). These are the things we have to think about in order to be transformed
by the Spirit into Christ’s image and to prove what God’s will is.
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Wisdom
says: “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with
thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to
understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice
for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as
for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find
the knowledge of God. ….. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and
judgment, and equity; yea, every good path” (Proverbs 2:1-5,9).
As you can see, brethren, God has promised us He will make us understand the
fear of the Lord, find the knowledge of God, and make us understand
righteousness and justice, equity and every good path, if we receive His
words, keep His commandments and seek understanding as silver; but if we
refuse to obey His commandments we certainly won’t understand the fear of
God, nor righteousness nor every good path. Now, since God has commanded us:
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of
your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect,
will of God” (Romans 12:2), those who disobey God by conforming to this
world, certainly won’t prove what is that good, and acceptable and perfect
will of God.
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Paul said
that the new man “was created according to God, in true righteousness and
holiness” (Ephesians 4:24),
which means that we need to know the truth in order to live a righteous and
holy life
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(the IBRV says that the new man “è creato all’immagine di
Dio nella giustizia e nella santità che procedono dalla verità”, that is, “has
been created in God’s image, in righteousness and holiness that come from
truth”). But how do we come to know the truth? Listen to what Jesus one day
said to some believing Jews: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my
disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free” (John 8:31-32).
Now, to continue in the Word of Christ means to continue to believe in it, to
continue to meditate in it, and to continue to put it into practice. By so
doing we will know the truth, from which righteousness and holiness come.
Brothers, it is only by continuing in the Word of Christ that we come to know
the truth about many things; it is not by giving heed to Jewish fables or to
persuasive words of human wisdom that the treasures of wisdom and knowledge will
be opened to us, but by continuing in the Word of Christ. Jesus said: “And
you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32 – NKJV).
Now, the knowledge of the truth comes from the Word of God because the Word
of God is truth, therefore it is necessary to know the Word of God and to
keep it in order to obtain this precious knowledge. The knowledge of the
truth is the strength of salvation, as it is written: “Wisdom and knowledge
will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation” (Isaiah
33.6 – NKJV), because it delivers a believer from Satan’s devices, as well as
from bad habits and bad companies and makes him feel secure and calm.
Furthermore, it is written in the Psalms: “I will walk at liberty, for I seek
thy precepts” (Psalm 119:45), that’s why those believers whose delight is in
the Word of God walk at liberty without any fear. The Word of God instructs
in righteousness and holiness, for it teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly
lusts and to live righteously and godly, that is, in the way God wants us to
live; therefore, the knowledge of the Word of God is necessary in order to be
transformed into the Lord’s likeness. Today, unfortunately many despise the
knowledge of the Word of God, this is what I have seen with my eyes, and
their negative attitude toward the knowledge of the truth has had harmful effects
on them: they look like the people of this world because they live unjustly
and licentiously, they have refused to continue in the Word of Christ and are
slaves of many bad actions and they are without discernment. God says in the
book of the prophet Jeremiah: “Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed
seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their
migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord” (Jeremiah
8:7 – NIV) and again: “Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord; so
what wisdom do they have?” (Jeremiah 8:9 - NKJV). That’s exactly what can be
seen among the people of God today. If many who are called Christians don’t
conduct themselves as Christians should do, it is because they don’t continue
in the Word of Christ. They don’t know many things concerning the kingdom of
God because they don’t want to know them, they don’t know many things because
they like being ignorant of the Word of Christ, but their foolishness
punishes them and makes them inhabit the parched places in a salt land: they resist
the Holy Spirit, who wants to transform them into the Lord’s likeness and by
so doing they have become enemies of God. Ah! …. my heart within me is broken
because I see them behave and speak like the people of this world!
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