The Process of Transformation
Now, now we come to the major issue that we
have to deal with, and that is in some detail
how this happens. And I'm going to go over
this in a general way now, and then in the
meetings later, I will talk about some of
the particular things that we can do.
Grace
Not by human effort alone, OK. Let's settle
that. So, not without grace. We're not talking
about bringing the inner transformation of
the self into Christlikeness by human effort.
OK?
But note the next one. Not without human effort.
We still have to act. The statement, "Grow
in grace," from Peter is a command. That means
that we do it.
Effort
How do you grow in grace? That's our question.
How do you grow in grace? Grace is a gift.
Can you control that? Can you pull up to it
like you would pull up to the pump at a gas
station and just download grace.
Well, the answer is, sort of. Strangely enough.
And one of the greatest difficulties that
we have in our religious circles today is
not understanding how effort works with grace.
But you must make an effort if this transformation
is to come about. Not without grace, and the
Holy Spirit. Obviously. But not by grace and
the Holy Spirit alone. That's passivity. And
the transformation of the inner being, the
righteousness that exceeds the righteousness
of the scribe and the Pharisee is going to
be something that will not happen passively.
Jesus
So now notice the last line on the screen,
because this will give you some balance I
think. We're very familiar with the statement,
"Without me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)
And that is true. That is why there is no
boasting in this matter. Paul makes it very
clear, Boasting is eliminated because it's
by grace. (Romans 3:27) Right? Boasting is
a terrible thing that it disrupts everything
in Kingdom living, so that has to be eliminated.
But now notice also that you can be sure if
you do nothing it will be without him. And
there's again a place we just kind of need
to stop and let the - just let sit with you.
If we do nothing, it will be without him.
Without me you can do nothing.
OK, yes, right. We agree. But that's not the
end of the story. Because in the very passage
in which Jesus is saying, without me you can
nothing...do nothing, he's giving you a command.
Do you remember what the command is? It is,
"Abide in the vine." (John 15:1-11) That's
a command. That's like grow in grace. Abide
in the vine.
The Role of Grace
So now this brings us to this issue that we've
brought up several times, and now we need
to try to say something a little more definitive
on it. And that is the role of grace in the
life we're talking about. So let's start with
a statement about what grace is, and just
try it on, folks. I'm not, you know, I'm not
trying to dictate to you. I give you things
that you can see how they work. So let's go
with this idea of grace, and see if that is
going to do the job.
God acting
Grace is God acting in our lives to bring
about what we cannot do on our own. That's
grace. That's God's grace. God acting in our
lives to bring about what we cannot do on
our own. Is it unmerited favor? Of course
it's unmerited favor. But if you just say
grace is unmerited favor, you don't say what
it does.
And this is where the teaching of grace can
easily slip over into the default gospel that
says grace just have to do with the imputation
of righteousness. It has to do with merit
of Christ being substituted for your demerit,
to bring you out of the red and into the black
with God, you see. So you have to say more
about grace than just that it is unmerited
favor. Is it unmerited favor? Yes, it is unmerited
favor. What does it do? It does this. Grace
is God acting in our life to bring about what
we cannot make happen on our own.
Supports effort
So now, we'll want to look at some of these
passages in a moment to see how this works,
but there're just another point or two here
that we need to make.
And the most important one is that grace is
not opposed to effort, but to earning. 
God acting in our life doesn't mean that we
do nothing. But grace means that we never
come to the place of saying we've earned what
comes out at the end of the process. Earning
out of the question. Whether it's earning
your way into heaven, or earning success in
your ministry, or earning a lovely family
that you have. No, grace is involved in that.
You can never say, I earned it. You always
wind up saying, Thank God for that. Because
that's the activity of God on your behalf.
And so, the effect is to eliminate pride,
and boasting, and self-reliance, and self-will.
It is to say to God, I am dependent on you.
I am surrendered to you. I am following your
direction. I'm expecting your help. I'm going
to do my very best, but I'm not going to trust
my best. I will engage in disciplines, but
I don't trust disciplines, right. I will seek
to know, to get knowledge, I'll try to keep
myself strong on all of that. But I don't
trust that. My trust is in God.
So grace does not make you passive, but it
also doesn't allow you to be proud. It does
not allow you to trust yourself. Because you
recognize that what you're involved in is
something that is far greater than anything
that you can do.
Paul on Grace
Well, this last point is we need to look at
a few verses on this one. Here's a case that
I spoke about last night, in Ephesians 3:8.
You remember what Paul said there? "Unto me
the least of all saints, this grace is given
that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unfathomable riches of Christ." Now just think
about that. That's grace. Does it have to
do with guilt? No. Does it have to do with
God acting in our lives to bring about what
we can't do on our own? Yes. Obviously. That's
what Paul's talking about.
1 Corinthians 15:10. Another statement by
Paul about grace. He really does seem to have
been the one who understood it best, and certainly
he deserves a lot of attention for the way...for
what he says about grace. 1 Corinthians 15:10
is he's talking about how he was born out
of time as a witness to Christ. You remember
this passage I trust. He's talking about all
the people who had seen Christ, and he says
in verse 9, "I am the least of the apostles.
I'm not fit to be called an apostle because
I persecuted the church of God. But by the
grace of God I am what I am. And his grace
towards me did not prove in vain. But I labored
even more than all of them."
Grace as foundation for good works
And then he catches himself. There's a beautiful
expression of the consciousness of how grace
and effort work together in the life of Paul.
"I labored even more than all of them." Whoop!
"Yet not I, but the grace of God with me."
(1 Corinthians 15:10)
Remember our little discussion of God with
us, God with us, God with us, last...yesterday.
See that's... Now, what is grace? Have you
internalized this idea? Grace is God acting
in our lives to bring about what we cannot
do on our own. Paul. What is it he couldn't
do on his own? He couldn't have had the tremendous
effect he had in preaching the gospel on his
own.
Strictly speaking, I'm sure that it's true
at this time of all the apostles, if you looked
at the work that was done, Paul was miles
ahead of them. Miles ahead of them. At that
time. I don't say later. Maybe later on, some
got it. And caught up and went ahead. I wouldn't
want to say; I don't know how to judge that;
eternity will tell, possibly. But at this
point there's just no question.
But what, Paul had just gone along, crossed
the Greco-Roman world like a cyclone. And
was it him? Well, he did something; if he
had stayed home it wouldn't have happened,
would he? If he just said, I'm going to stay
in my cave, or I'm going to sit around the
Sanhedrin down here, and though they're Christian
I'll sort of haunt them.
No. He got out. He went. 2 Corinthians 9:8
is a really good passage. This is a discussion
of the Macedonians giving, and he's talking
here about how they had given far beyond what
they were able. And given not grudgingly or
under compulsion, but they had just given.
And so this is an offering situation, missions
offering, or something like that.
Look at verse 8 in 2 Corinthians 9. "And God
is able to make all grace abound to you, that
always having all sufficiency in everything,
you may have an abundance of every good work."
Every good deed. For every good deed. You
see what grace is there? Is that guilt? Are
we talking about dealing with guilt? No. It's
not just for guilt. Grace is for life. Guilt
is one of the things we need it for, but when
we're done with dealing with that we still
need grace.
Grace as fuel for living
See, the person who is living fully in the
Kingdom of God is consuming, if you wish,
consuming grace all the time. But not just
for guilt. The sinner needs grace for forgiveness,
yes. To deal with guilt, there's not doubt
about that. But compared to the grace that
the saint uses in their lifetime, that's nothing.
The saint burns grace like a 747 burns fuel
on takeoff, see. They're burning it in quantities.
Because what they're doing is always accompanied
by grace, and much more is being accomplished
than they could possibly do on their own.
And then one of the most famous passages on
grace is Paul's statement: "My grace is sufficient
for you." (2 Corinthians 12:9) This was not
to make up for guilt; it was to supply the
strength that Paul needed in his weakness
to do the things that he needed to do. And
because this was such a wonderful thing, you
have the statement of Paul, "Most gladly therefore
I would rather boast," here's where boasting
comes in, "about my weaknesses, that the power
of Christ may dwell in me. My weakness is
an opportunity for the grace of God," the
power of Christ is the grace of God; God is
acting and alive, "Thank God I am weak." (2
Corinthians 12:9-10)
Now, try that on, would you? "Thank God I
am weak." Why? "Because when I am weak, I
get to know the power of God working in me."
Look at what the man says! "Therefore I am
well content with weakness, with insults,
with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties
for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then
I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10)
Now. Wow. We have to put that into ordinary
life. And we think about all the things we
might suffer from. The attacks... We might
imagine a person who is being attacked in
their ministry or their work, and say, Thank
God for that. Someone's being insulted. That
actually happens in the church, doesn't it?
Thank God I'm being insulted. Thank God I"m
being attacked. Thank God I am weak.
Can you even imagine that? Why would one be
thankful? Because they expected to see God
acting in that situation. And that is better
than them being able to control it themselves.
That's what Paul is talking about.
Holistic Picture of Spiritual Growth
Now, this is a kind of holistic picture of
spiritual growth and I have to give it because
we want to have all the picture...all the
factors in place. And if we have these factors
in place, our mind is centered in the mind
of Christ, and we will gradually take on that
mind, and we'll have it.
Action of the Holy Spirit
You start at the top. This is the action of
the Holy Spirit. Don't go anywhere without
that. That's grace in action. Down here at
the left are the ordinary events of life.
That means you take where you are. You accept
where you are. You say, this is the place.
This is Jacob saying, I did not know God was
in this place. God was in this place and I
didn't know it. This is the gateway of heaven.
(Genesis 28:10-17)
Well, that's what Paul is saying when he talks
about taking pleasure in his weaknesses. He's
saying the same thing. So we don't throw our
temptations away. We don't flee to a monastery.
We live in ordinary life and there we experience
trials. So the ordinary events of life turn
out to be trials or temptations. We're not
distressed about those. Why? Well because
we expect God to act in those situations.
OK.
Planned disciplines
But now wait a moment. It may not be possible
for us to hold still and let that happen.
That's where this side comes in, planned disciplines
to put on a new heart. When you fail, what
are you going to do? Try harder? No. See,
what you require in this process of the transformation
of the inner person, in the righteousness
that is beyond the righteousness of the scribes
and the Pharisee, what you need here is not
just trying. You need to put yourself in a
position where you can train and receive help.
And that is where planned disciplines to put
on a new heart come in.
2 Peter 1:5 through 10 is a story about a
progression: "Add to your faith, add to your
virtue knowledge," and so up the line until
you get to agape again. But the planned disciplines
here are crucial. And this is I think the
area where when we're thinking in terms of
what we do in the religious life, we are most
apt to miss. We are most apt to miss the understanding
that we have to take practices that enable
us to receive grace in the ordinary events
of life, to keep our mind centered in the
mind of Christ, and acting with the Holy Spirit,
to be the kind of person that Jesus has called
us to be and gives us to be. You plan for
this.
The VIM Principle
VIM, the VIM principle, I'll talk a little
more about that this evening. But these are
the... This is the outline of spiritual growth.
If you're going to change personally in any
way, if you're going to learn to speak French,
dance the polka, carry on conversation, save
money, lose weight, any kind of change that
you want to go through, you have to have these
three elements. If you don't have them, and
they're not rightly related, probably change
is not going to happen. If you have them,
and they're right related, change can happen,
even at a natural level.
Vision
You have to have the vision of the goodness
of what you're after. You have to be convinced
that's a good thing. And the educational illustrations
are again the most familiar, and I think the
most illuminating. Back to our talk about
learning algebra or calculus earlier. If you
have a vision of the goodness of it, then
you're ready to move on to the intention to
realize the vision. If you don't have that,
the intention won't form.
Now, I have a very nice exercise machine at
home. It is relatively unused. And I can tell
you why it's relatively unused. I bought it
once when I thought it would be a good idea.
But I had no vision, and no intention to go
with it. So, it sits there. And it's a means.
It would work if I had the vision and the
intention. I'm told that there are other people
who have that same sort of thing. I understand
it. It's how it works.
Truthfully it just doesn't mean that too much,
that much, to me, and I don't think it's that
important. I do try to watch my health; I
try to be careful about eating and getting
some exercise and so on. And I can ride that
thing once in a while. But I don't do it consistently
because I don't have the vision, and I haven't
formed the intention. I just have the means.
Now, that's where, when we come back to the
gospel gives us the vision. If we don't have
a vision that's provided, a gospel that provides
a vision of something to be done. In this
case we're talking about living in the Kingdom
of God.
Intention
If we don't have the vision, we won't form
the intention. We won't decide to do it. And
I spoke earlier about intention when I said
the reason why we don't for example learn
to bless those who curse us is because we
never intend to do it. We don't intend it.
It isn't the law of gravity. It's simply for
the failure of intention.
Why does the intention fail? We don't have
a vision of the goodness of it? See, when
we get gripped with the vision of the goodness
of it, then the intention will follow. And
once we have the intention, then the means
comes in. And we find the means and actually
it isn't all that hard.
Means
And, the means aren't...they don't fall in
the area of righteousness and things we have
to do to obey Christ. Christ doesn't tell
us to go into solitude. He went into solitude.
And one of the things that suggested to me
I should go into solitude was that if he needed
it, I might need a little of it myself. So,
I got to thinking about well maybe there's
something here. And that's what led me, as
I said earlier, when I was concerned about
being able to preach effectively, and realized
that prayer was connected to that, and realized
I couldn't pray in the condition I was in,
then I moved more or less by accident into
solitude and discovered what solitude and
silence could do to build those connections.
But that's all means.
Now my intention in that case, or my vision,
my vision was a soul-winner. Preaching to
bring people to trust Christ. And so that
intention to do that based on the vision of
this as good things, led me eventually into
means. I had to back my way into it. But see
I thought that solitude and silence sounded
awfully Catholic, and I wasn't into that bag
at the time. In fact, I was young and full
of spizz, and I thought they were all wrong.
But I hadn't...I had no experience of it.
I had to work my way back, then reading helped
me see things differently, and practice a
back and forth between - leads into means.
So that my intention to bring to pass a certain
vision, and the vision changed as it went
along because I began to realize that perhaps
it was very important what kind of person
I was. And not just a whizz bang preacher.
I used to preach like a machine gun, until
a man once said to me, "Why do you preach
so fast? Why don't you give people time to
think about what you're saying?" And I realized
I didn't want them to think. I wanted to keep
them back on their heels. I wanted them to
respond. I didn't want 'em, to give them,
to think. I wanted to manage them and manipulate
them, and get them to do what I wanted to
get them to do. So I had to go through a whole
process of rethinking that.
So the vision shifts, I think improves in
some measure, as we go along. And as it does
then our intention has to change. And so I
became intent more on who I was than what
I was doing. I'm still concerned about what
I was doing. I'm concerned about results,
but I now believe the most important thing
that God gets out of my life is the person
I become. Actually, I think the most important
thing I get out of my life is the person I
become. That the things I might accomplish
in the way of ministry, it...they're very
small compared to the importance of my becoming
Christlike. I actually believe that the more
Christlike I become the greater my results
will be, but that's not why I do it.
The Quality of Life
So now, that goes back to the statement I
said earlier today that the church's problem
is never that we need more money, more influence,
more people. The problem is always of the
quality of the people who are there, and that
begins with me. If there's a problem, that
begins with me. What is the quality of my
life? Now, of course there are meaningful
questions to be raised about other things,
but that I think is really fundamental.
Well, let me just, I think the last thing
I can get done in the time I have is just
look at this list. And then maybe just an
additional point or two, and then we'll have
to quit.
Understand the Disciplines
There are many ways of classifying disciplines.
I think it's really helpful to understand
them in terms of disciplines of abstinence,
as opposed to disciplines of engagement. Disciplines
of abstinence refers to things you abstain
from, that you need to step out of in order
to allow things to shift around in your soul
and your body, and in particular to allow
you to break free of old patterns that keep
you enslaved.
Now, I started over here. You see. Study,
worship, celebration, service, prayer, fellowship,
confession. And those are good things. But
the thing is I didn't know those were disciplines.
I didn't know what a discipline was. So I
was just trying to do those.
Now, if that's all you got, that's a short
recipe for burnout. That's what that is. So
you grind away at those. And especially in
a social context where people have all sorts
of things for you to do, that's going to burn
you out. Because it will not put you in touch
with the things that will nourish you and
grow you. It will not allow you to have a
joyous, strong, walk with Jesus. In order
to get that you have to shift over, and you
have to practice some of these other things.
And I've mentioned the importance of solitude,
and silence is very important. Fasting. Solitude,
silence, and fasting are the big ones on the
list. The others are more like hygienic exercises.
They're important, very important. But they
don't have the importance of those first three.
You begin to move into them. You begin to
practice them, and as you do, they begin to
sustain you.
Usually with something like solitude it begins
very quickly. And I would encourage anyone
to begin to try to have substantial periods
of time every week when they're simply alone,
doing nothing. Solitude primarily means doing
nothing. Solitude is connected to Sabbath.
And Sabbath is still one of the big deals,
one of the big commandments, as in often people
think that was the ritual law, and not the
moral law. No, it turns out to be moral law,
because it has so much to do with your wellbeing
and the wellbeing of others that you're related
to. And Sabbath means you do no work. And
solitude is for most people the only way they
can start practicing Sabbath is to go into
solitude, because as long as they're around
others the others will keep them working.
Experiment With the Disciplines
So, you need to move over to that side, and
begin to experiment with them. And as you
experiment with them, they will begin to confirm
themselves to you. You can talk endlessly
about them, but when you really come to know
them by practicing. And you enter into them
experimentally, you enter into them expecting
the Lord to lead you and be with you and he
will. This will be a part of his teaching
presence with you. Don't try to force things.
Don't try to make things happen. Be gentle,
be experimental. If you don't succeed with
this for some reason, don't worry about it.
Find out what went wrong, try to fix it, and
try it again.
Not righteousness
I say these are not righteousnesses. They
are wisdom. They're not laws. They're wisdom.
And as you enter into them, you will begin
to experience from God and from your own nature
and soul a kind of renewal and strength that
will then put you in a position to engage
in study and worship and celebration in a
way you've never done it before.
And out of this will come a richness of your
life in the Kingdom that will allow you to
do the things that Jesus said at a walk. And
all of the struggle and the tension will gradually
move out of your life, and you'll understand
what it means when Jesus says, "My yoke is
easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:30)
Not behavior modification
But now remember, this is not behavior modification.
That's one of the differences between a wonderful
program like Alcoholics Anonymous and spiritual
disciplines. Alcoholics Anonymous is aimed
at behavior modification. This is not aimed
at behavior modification. But it has as its
result incredible behaviour modification.
But that's not what you aim at. You aim at
the inner transformation of the self. And
then that comes to pass as your efforts and
your experience grows. And this is what it
means then to grow in grace, because as you
enter into these things you increasingly receive
grace through your knowledge of the Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.
Practice the Disciplines
How does one practice the disciplines? Well,
you decide to live a Jesus student. You begin
to obey his teachings. You observe why you
fail, and you will fail. And then do in reliance
on the Spirit what will remove the causes
of these failures. You will find that they
are disciplines. Now that list is not a complete
list. There are other things that also are
disciplines.
And I'm - I notice that I did not give the
standard definition of what a discipline is.
You have to have the concept. So let me just
give it to you now. A discipline is something
in your power that you do. A discipline is
something in your power that you do, in order
to enable you to do what you cannot do by
direct effort. It's something in your power
that you do, in order to enable you to do
what you cannot do by direct effort. So the
principle is in direction. You find the things
that will help you grow and change and you
do those and then as a result what comes out
of you is different, because what is inside
you is different.
Live as Jesus' student
So, that's the way you do it. If you don't
decide to live as Jesus' student you're not
a disciple, and disciplines are for disciples.
They can do you a little good here and there
if you're not a disciple, but still, if you're
going to take an orderly approach to the change
or the transformation into Christlikeness
you need to do this.
Now, churches that are making motions in the
direction of discipleship and transformation,
always find that they have to organize their
program of spiritual growth and development
around the disciplines. Of course that includes
church and giving and other things like that,
but it's always much more.
You cannot get growth in Christlikeness out
of church as usual. There just isn't enough
there. You have to do more. A couple of hours
in church, some giving, it isn't enough. So
you have to plan for more. So many churches,
like the ones I've mentioned, are making available
more intensive experiences. For example, instead
of having a group that instead of just going
to church on Sunday, they take them to a retreat.
And they have a Friday through Sunday evening
retreat. And they allow them to be practicing
some of these disciplines. And that's one
way of going beyond things as usual.
The result will be you'll get out of improper
subordination in yourself, where body is running
the show, soul is subordinate to that, the
mind to the soul, and the spirit to the mind,
and God to the whole shebang. That's the situation
that people live in, sometimes they just leave
out God and live for their body. And the prominence
of the body in human life is the result of
that. Then the proper subordination shifts
those, puts God first, the spirit is the will,
it puts the will under God, then the mind
at the direction of the spirit, thoughts and
feelings, then the soul begins to respond
to the mind and to the spirit, and to God.
And the body finally takes its place under
the soul, rather than driving the soul, which
drives the mind, which drives the spirit,
which tries to drive God, which doesn't work
very well.
Relationship Between Salvation and Transformation
So what does all this have to do with being
saved? We have to come back to that question,
because as long as you think it has nothing
to do with being saved it will precisely amount
to nothing. And I don't need to go back and
talk about the situation we find ourselves
in for the most part in our culture and in
our churches, where discipleship is one thing,
and being a Christian is another.
Regeneration
But the way this works is, regeneration, new
life from above, comes at the new birth. Now
we're entering into an interactive relationship
with God and his Son Jesus, and in his Kingdom.
Since that has happened, then forgiveness,
justification, is an appropriate thing. We
are forgiven. I don't mean to suggest that
you have to worry about which of these comes
first, but they do come together. Then, that
life which comes in regeneration naturally
develops into sanctification. Sanctification
means simply the established relationship,
walk with Jesus. And all of the parts of the
self are involved.
Glorification
Now that naturally progresses to glorification.
Glorification has already begun. Remember
Colossians 3 again? "When Christ who is our
life shall appear then you also shall appear
glorious." (Colossians 3:4) Well that glory
begins to shine in you already, and when you're
walking this path, you're going to look differently.
And there's going to be something in you that
people can see. And they will respond to it,
and they will want to know where it comes
from, and they'll want to have it themselves.
There will be a beauty in you.
Do you ever use that song, Let the beauty
of Jesus be seen in me? Did you ever hear
that song? Anyone? A wonderful song. Let the
beauty of Jesus be seen in me. I should stand
up and sing it, but probably you couldn't
stand that. And being saved is not a matter
of where you're going, but who you are now.
You are a participant in the life that Jesus
is now living here.
And that's what salvation is. And that all
fits together, you see, once you start at
the right place, and keep Jesus in the right
place in all of this, namely central, and
you see him as King over a Kingdom, in which
he invites you to live with him now. And God
then as Colossians 1:13 says, "We are transformed
from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom
of his dear Son."
