Programme 4: Transformations through knowing the truth

So far in this Series we have seen the Truth of who we are as New-Creations in Christ and who He is in us through the rebirth of our spirit. This describes what God has already accomplished in our recreated spirit by the New-Birth. It is called positional truth because it purely based on our position in Christ, not on our fellings or performance. It is a perfect work of His grace, not something we can earn or deserve. It is always true, independant of our feelings and works. We are new creations, sons of God, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, seated in heavenly places with Him, more than conquerors, the righteousness of God in Christ, not because we earned or deserved it but by an act of grace when we received Christ as our Lord and Saviour. It is a done deal! But it is not enough for these things to be true in be spirits, for we want to also experience and express these realities in our lives.

We may be all these things, but not realise it. If we don’t KNOW the TRUTH of who we are in Christ we won’t enjoy or experience the reality of these things in our lives. We will live life as if they were not true. Unfortunately this is true about many Christians, and it is hard to distinguish them from unbelievers. 

Just imagine you lost your memory and you forgot who you are, who your parents are, what you could do, where you lived and what you owned. Although you are the same person and own the same things,if you don’t know who you are and what you have, you cannot enjoy it. Your lack of knowledge prevents you from entering into your true life. Likewise many believers have spiritual amnesia - they forget who they really are now and still think of themselves according to how they used to be before they were born-again, according to the flesh, according to the old-man and they identify with that. 

They just think of themselves as sinners saved by grace. No, I was a sinner and now I have been saved by grace. I am a new-creation. The old-man was crucified with Christ and I am now a new-man risen with Christ. That’s the real me, the inward man. Yes I still sin when I follow my flesh (and I need to confess it to God), but that does not define who I am. I am the righteousness of God in Christ- thats what I identify with, because I know who I am in Christ. We need to remove the blindfolds and let God’s light (truth) shine into our hearts and minds so that the darkness of amnesia flees and we know who we are in Christ. Then our lives will rise up to that level.

So, it’s not enough to be New Creation, we must knowknow the truth of who we are in Christ. That’s why Jesus said:“You shall know the truth, and the truth (you know) shall make you free” (John 8:32). What is this truth that we must know in order to experience freedom? It is the perfect work of Christ setting our spirit free from sin, curse, satan and death by the miracle of New-Birth, for He went on to say: “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (v36). Once we know and believe this truth, we can act upon it, and thus release the new-life within. But it all starts by KNOWING THE TRUTH.

Where can we discover this truth? Where is it found? It is only found in one place? The Word of God! Not in experiences, feelings, imaginations or circumstances, but in the Word, for Jesus said: 
“If you continue in my Word, you will know the truth, and (then) the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31). This truth is only found in the Word of God, and as we diligently continue to look in the Word, we will discover who we really are and our lives will be transformed as a result. Thus, once we are born-again the next key is KNOWING the TRUTH,

When Jesus said (John 8:36,32): “If the Son makes you free (from sin), you shall be free indeed” and “you shall know the truth, and the truth (you know) shall make you free” He was speaking of two freedoms. The first freedom (“the Son shall set you free”) is the result of a single, direct, perfect work of the Son. It is the freedom from sin and the curse that our spirit receives in the New Birth. Jesus accomplished a perfect work in us, and we are free now indeed (this is now PT). The second freedom: “the truth will set you free” is the freedom from sin and curse that we will experience in our life through knowing the truth of what God has done for us in the spirit. This freedom is the result of a process of us gaining knowledge, through continuing in His Word: “If you continue in My Word you shall know the truth (the unchanging positional truth of who we are in Christ, and what He has done in us) and the truth (you know) shall make you free (you will experience that freedom)" (v31,32). 
So when we know the life and freedom that God has already accomplished in our spirit, we can experience that very same life and freedom in every area of our life. That is, the life of God that is in our spirit will also be manifested in our life and experience.

Once we are born-again, the issue is now bringing forth, living out and experiencing that new-life and freedom that we already have in our spirit (so that it is not just PT, but becomes ET in our life). And Jesus told us that the key to this was knowing the truth of His Word. 

Essentially our Christian life and growth is NOT about trying to force ourselves to become someone we are not, trying to conform to a new set of rules and laws, or trying to get what we don’t have. Rather it is about being who we really are and enjoying what we already have. It expressing outwardly in our life what is already true in our spirit, releasing what we have within (such as the fruit of spirit: love, joy, peace...), becoming in our walk what we truly are in our spiritual-being, living out the truth of who we are in Christ. But in order to do this we must KNOW and BELIEVE who we are and what we have in Christ. We gain this knowledge (truth) by discovering it in His Word.

This process of change from the inside out (where the life in our spirit is outwardly revealed) is called TRANSFORMATION.

Transformation is the Greek work ‘Metamorphisis’, and is used 
3 times in the New-Testament. In each case it describes the process whereby the true nature and glory that was hidden within, is now outwardly revealed for all to see. The classic example is the metamorphisis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. The beautiful butterfly is there all the time, but hidden within the outer shell (cocoon). By the process of metamorphisis (the changing of the outward form by the working of an inner life) it breaks through (which involves exertion on its part which makes its wings strong) and the beauty within is revealed. We may look like a caterpillar on the outside, lacking in freedom, unable to fly, but that is not the real us, for on the inside (in our spirit) we are a butterfly with the ability to fly. As we become strong in who we are in Christ, we start pushing through our previous limitations, we break out of the cocoon of our old life and ways and we start to spread our wings and fly free from sin and the curse on the wind of the Spirit. We start to enjoy the life and freedom that we always had within our spirit.
Let’s look at the 3 times this word METAMORHISIS is used:

1. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus was TRANSFIGURED (literally: metamorhisised or transformed) before them with the glory of God shining out of Him. The glory of God was there all the time, but it was hidden within, veiled by His flesh. But now it was being revealed, manifested, expressed and released outwardly. Likewise, by the New-Birth the Holy-Spirit and the nature and glory of Christ is in our spirit. God wants us to be transformed so that it is manifested in our lives so that even the world can see our new-life in Christ.

2. Romans 12:1,2: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove whatis that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
 
“Do not be (outwardly) conformed to this world (by its pressures), but be TRANSFORMED (a metamorphisis, a change from inside to out) by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). The world’s pressure tries to squeeze us into its mold, from the outside in, to conform us to its image, but God works differently. He is working to transform us from the inside out. He has already saved our spirit, now He wants that salvation to be worked out into our lives. 

How can this transformation take place? The first key is in the phrase: ‘be transformed’. That is we must cooperate with the transformation that God is causing to take place in us. God is initiating the process. He has worked salvation into our spirit, and by His Spirit He is the One transforming us, and we must allow ourselves to be transformed. Our transformation can only happen through the Holy-Spirit who lives in us. We must depend upon Him, calling upon His help and power as we seek to be transformed. So the first key to our transformation is that God, the Holy-Spirit is working it in us.

The 2nd key is having our mind renewed through knowing God’s Word for it says: “be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind (by meditation on PT) that you may prove (demonstrate in our lives) what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” The key to transformation is renewing our mind by the Word which reveals the good, acceptable and perfect work that God has done in us, for then we can put it into practice and demonstrate it in our life. The perfect will of God is PT, it is what God has already put (done) in our spirit, and what He wants us to show forth it in our life. We prove out a car by driving it and demonstrating that it works. Likewise we prove the will of God by putting it to the test in our life, by acting on it and demonstrating it works. We prove we are a new creation by acting accordingly. As we act on PT we demonstrate that it is real, for as we do it the new life in us is released and revealed. But we can only walk in and release this new life within, if our minds are renewed to it. 

The key to transformation is renewing our mind so that we know the truth (PT) of who we are in Christ by His grace and mercy. In Romans 12:1 he tells us what we should focus our meditation upon: ‘the mercies of God’ (what He’s done for us by His grace): 
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God.” 
 (the mercies of God are described in detail in Romans 1-11). 

v1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, 
 The key to transformation is renewing our mind to the mercies of God, so that we know the truth (PT) of who we are in Christ and can express it in our lives. We do this by offering our bodies (tongues, hands, feet, ears, eyes etc) as a living sacrifice to express/act out what is in our spirit: “that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” 
 
Only when our mind is renewed to who we are in the new man, can we prove it out by putting it into practice and expressing it in our lives, and so he goes on to explain in v2: “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove (demonstrate by practice, show forth in your life) what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (such as His love, joy, peace that God has put in your spirit).”We can only prove who we are in our life if we KNOW who we are (PT). Thus the key to showing forth the good and perfect will (the love, joy, wisdom, righteousness, peace...) of God in our lives, is for our minds to be renewed by the Word to who we are in Christ.

3. 2Corinthians 3:16-18: “Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord (seeing ourselves in the Word of God), are being TRANSFORMED into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” The veil signifies unbelief, and as we turn to the Lord the veil is gradually taken away. First we see Jesus for Who He is, and we are born again and the Spirit of God comes into our spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is (in our Spirit) there is liberty (freedom from sin, sickness, curse, death). Our spirit is set free! 

But this is just the start, for then we (believers) continue to have the veil of unbelief removed as we look into the Word, and see ourselves in Christ. For the Word is described as a mirror and you see yourself in a mirror. What we actually see is described as the glory of the Lord! Yes, we already have the glory (nature) of Christ within us. As we see ourselves in Christ and know the truth of who we are, we are being TRANSFORMED into the same image we are looking at. It is an ongoing metamorphisis (a change from the inside out).Whatever we see through the mirror of the Word of who we are on the inside, so we become that. (“As a man thinks of himself in his heart so he is.”). So again we see that knowing who we are in Christ through the Word is essential to our transformation.

“We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a Mirror the glory of the Lord (seeing ourselves in the Word of God), are being TRANSFORMED into the same image, from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Again we see that it is the Spirit within us who is effecting this transformation as we meditate on the Word. The Holy-Spirit is now working a transformation process, whereby our outward life is being changed into the likeness of our inward glory, from one degree of glory to the next (an ongoing process) as the veil of ignorance and unbelief is increasingly removed.As we see the glory of God’s work in our spirit, we are being transformed into that same image of glory, from glory to glory. This means that the glory within you is being increasingly released and revealed in your life through the Spirit who works with the Word.The liberty you have in your spirit will be manifested in your life. 

*So keep looking in the Mirror, until you see yourself as you really are and then act like it. Know the truth and walk in the truth -you are a new-creation etc, so live like it. As Jesus said: “If you continue in My Word and you will know the truth of who you are and knowing the truth and walking in the truth of the nc will cause you to experience that truth,freedom, new-life in your life.” we are a New Creation if we want to see the manifestation of the life of God within, so that people can see we are a New Creation. The more we know who we are in Christ, the more it will show in our life. To express and to experience this reality in our life, we must for it is not just the truth that sets you free, but knowing it!