Spiritual Formation: Being Changed by God

Our being transformed to be like Christ is not a merely human attainment, but rather the work of God: a gift of grace. Grace is God acting in our life to accomplish what we cannot do on our own. Grace does not make us passive, and in the process of spiritual formation, human effort is indispensable. Paul, who perhaps understood grace as none other says, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me” (2 Corinthians 15:10). 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us that “we are being transformed into his likeness… which comes from the Lord.” God is the One who changes our hearts to be like Jesus.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Topics?

Is there anything specific you would like to discuss? Please let me know by posting or emailing me. If you do not have anything in mind, I'll continue to post things I'm interested in. Thanks, Terry
Read more

Practical ways of developing and expressing community

After having discussed the biblical principles describing what a Jesus community looks like, we must ask, “How do we develop and express community/fellowship in our churches today?” Is the biblical model a pattern for all times? Not necessarily, otherwise we would all have to meet in private homes, share a common meal in our gatherings, and eat the Lord’s Supper in the context of that fellowship meal. Yet, it is important that we follow the principles discussed above. We must be careful not to make every action of the early church an authoritative precedent to be rigorously copied without regard to time and place. The New Testament is not a second Levitical Code. It is our responsibility, guided by ancient precedent and wisdom from above, to adapt to the current and future needs of our world. Whatever forms, projects, programs, or activities we use today, they must be guided by the fundamental truths that Jesus is Lord, the Holy Spirit is present, the gospel must be lived out, and...
Read more

God builds community through spiritual gifts

As the body of Christ, we must learn to understand each person’s giftedness from the Spirit of God. Each person in a community should understand the various roles, functions, and works of the body, and how every individual works within that framework, coordinated and networked within the body to accomplish the overall purposes of the community. We must remember that God has gifted His church for her own well being and growth. Sadly, many do not recognize their gifts in the body of Christ, nor do they know what their role is in the body. We might begin by studying together the purpose of the church in light of the gospel, and evaluating the various gifts of each body part within the realm of that purpose. In doing so, we learn to appreciate the unity that is inherent in the diversity of a community. After discovering one’s gifts, and identifying their role in the community, each one must be taught how and where to administer their gifts and carry out their role within the community...
Read more