Before being born again, our lives are formless. dark and chaotic but at our rebirth supernatural light and illumination is shed within, the Spirit of God and Christ comes to dwell inside of us. But, despite that, our flesh life is still very real and alive and that is the issue the Apostle Paul and the other writers of the New Testament are concerned and passionate about – that we should experience spiritual growth and be transformed, in other words, Christ to be fully formed in us. The nation of Israel had been raised up to bring forth the seed, Christ, and once that happened, they were supposed to put their faith in Him and abandon the Mosaic Law. That is why Paul was concerned and astonished that the Galatian Church deserted Christ who had called them to live in his grace and instead started to adhere to portions of the Law. He called this a different, and actually no gospel at all. He saw them as being weak, miserable slaves, having lost something of the Christ within. The Apostle Peter called them people who went back to the Law adulterers. It is the destiny of every believer to have Christ formed within, and although the outward ‘do’s’ and don’ts’ form part of it, it is the inner heart transformation which is the most important in the process of Christ being formed in us. We should be noticeably different from the rest of the world, manifesting the character and nurturing attitude of Christ. The provision has been put into place for us to be like this, for as far as God is concerned, we are already predestined, called, justified and glorified, and as far as we ourselves are concerned, we are in a process of becoming. The Holy Spirit is strengthening us in the inner man, causing Christ to dwell in our hearts by faith. Added to the faith we need the increasing knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. The Holy Spirit never stops working in us towards this goal and purpose, and we need to keep on co-operating with Him in this regard, because the process is not automatic. We live in the faith of the Son of God, which is not only the inner faith, but also living according to the body of faith (teaching) which He has delivered, and hearing and applying that Word which becomes a gift of faith. Our transformation is of grace, because of what He has done, and by grace when we co-operate with Him. Spiritual transformation to maturity requires a growing faith in Christ, a living, vital relationship with him, and realizing that it is an ongoing process. When we go through difficult times of testing, and can respond right by God’s grace, then these are the times when we exponentially grow in Christ the most, because that requires exercising faith.
