How Do We Change?

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I experience a daily battle with remaining sin in my heart. I unfortunately have no trouble identifying with the Apostle Paul when he says that “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing (Romans 7:19).”

Since I’m a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) who is no longer enslaved to sin (Romans 6:6), why do I continue to fail to love God with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength (Matthew 22:37), and my neighbor as myself (Matthew 22:39)? Why do my feelings, thoughts, motivations, and desires continue to be tainted with sin instead of godliness?

And perhaps more importantly for the purposes of this article: Is there any hope of change?

The Ongoing Struggle of Sin

So first, why do we continue to struggle against sin? The short answer is that a person is not perfected upon their conversion. Praise be to God, when a person is born again (i.e. regenerated) by the Holy Spirit, the Lord removes the heart of stone (i.e. a spiritually dead heart) and replaces it with a heart of flesh (i.e. a heart that is spiritually alive), just as the prophet Ezekiel revealed (Ezekiel 36:26). This allows a person to  love, worship, adore, desire, glorify, delight in, and yearn for the Lord, just as they were created to! This miracle is a gracious gift that is performed by the Lord.

Apart from His working in us, we would remain dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:1), alienated from God (Colossians 1:21-22), enslaved to our passions and the ways of this world (Galatians 4:3), and walking in the darkness (Ephesians 5:8). At that point, we could never do anything pleasing to the Lord, for we did not acknowledge Him or live for His glory (Romans 14:23b). But upon our conversion, that all changed!

Even though we are changed when the Holy Spirit regenerates us (i.e. brings us to life), we are not glorified (i.e. perfected) in that moment. Instead, the Bible describes a life-long, progressive process of change that is called sanctification. Sanctification is the process of Christians becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. In other words, we increasingly become more like the people that God created us to be. The Lord made us to love Him above all, and to love others as ourselves. This leaves no room for sin!

The Lord made us to love Him above all, and to love others as ourselves. This leaves no room for sin!Click To Tweet

Hope for Change

This means that God is actively working in His people to rid them of those evil thoughts, actions, words, etc. This is great news, indeed, and it surely means that there is hope for change in the Christian life!

The prophet Jeremiah sadly describes the human heart in this way: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). When Jeremiah (as well as the rest of the Bible) uses the word heart, he is referring to the immaterial (invisible) aspect of the person.

The Bible uses the words spirit, soul, mind, and heart in ways that refer to the non-physical aspect of who we are (keeping in mind that God created us as functionally one, but essentially as two: composed of a spirit/soul and a physical body). All of those terms are therefore pointing to the same reality that exists within us instead of talking about differing functions and organs.

So the bad news is that Jeremiah alerts us to the truth that the heart is desperately sick and deceitful. Let’s just call it flat-out evil! The good news, however, is that God doesn’t want to leave us in that place. Instead, He wants to take that evil heart and transform it into a heart that glorifies Him!

Heart Transformation

It’s wonderful to know that God desires to transform us from the inside out, but how does He actually sanctify us?

Perhaps I should mention that any good doctor will tell you that in order to provide an effective treatment plan for an illness, it is crucial to rightly understand the source of the symptoms/problems. Or any good mechanic will tell you that in order to fix a vehicle, it is pivotal for them to rightly diagnose the problem. Likewise, in order to properly understand how people change, we must first understand what is truly wrong with people.

In order to properly understand how people change, we must first understand what is truly wrong with people.Click To Tweet

According to the Word of God, our sins are not a result of our biology, circumstances, social circles, family of origin, culture, media, etc. Now to be sure, those factors most certainly influence us as people, but they do not determine who we are or what we do. There is a massive difference between that which is influential and that which is determinative. And according to the Word of God, the heart is determinative of what we think, say, do, desire, etc (Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 15:18-20; Luke 6:45; Romans 2:5). It is the control center of who we are! Since the heart is the issue, then we must focus on the heart if we are going to see true, lasting, transformative change!

Our Role in Heart Change

Lastly, how do we practically pursue this change of heart? It is important to recognize that we cannot change our own hearts; this is a work of God! Specifically, this is primarily a work of the Holy Spirit (though the Father and the Son are most certainly active in the process of sanctification as well, but that’s an article of its own).

We can’t make the mistake, however, of thinking that we are passive in this process of sanctification! Yes, we cannot change our own hearts, but the Lord has commanded us to pursue holiness and Christ-exalting, changed lives. A great example of this is found in Galatians 5 and Romans 8. The Apostle Paul says this in Galatians 5:16-17:

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

And he says this in Romans 8:13:

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Notice that in both of those passages, there is clearly a work being done by the Holy Spirit, and yet we are active as well. It is when we walk by the Spirit that we will not gratify the evil desires of the flesh. And we are to put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit. It is all of God’s grace, and yet we are called to participate.

The Holy Spirit supplies us with all that we need to put off the sinful ways and to put on the godly ways (Ephesians 4:22-24). This is the difference between biblical change and the superficial model of morality that many of us have been taught. Morality is like a mechanic noticing the check engine light and simply turning it off, thinking that the issue is resolved. However, biblical change is a mechanic noticing the light, finding the issue within the engine, and actually repairing it. One is superficial and temporary, and the other is deep-seated, authentic change.

Authentic, biblical change happens primarily through beholding the Glory of Christ! One thing that you will hear constantly from us at Maturing Life in Christ is this point: as we behold the glory of Jesus, we are conformed to the image of Jesus. This great truth is found in 2 Corinthians 3:18-19, and teaches us that the more we see Jesus in all of His glory and splendor (or His infinite beauty), the more we love Him and desire Him. And the more we love Him and desire Him, the more we look like Him in our character and our actions. The Holy Spirit is actively making us more like Christ as we look to Jesus and find our satisfaction in Him!

This is where the importance of the Bible comes in, because the Bible is the God-breathed revelation of the glory of God! It is in His Word that we behold His glory. The Bible is living and active (Hebrews 4:12), and it’s the necessary, sufficient, relevant resource that God has given to us in order to mature spiritually for the glory of God! If you want to mature, you must spend time in the Word of God!

The Bible is living and active, and it’s the necessary, sufficient, relevant resource that God has given to us in order to mature spiritually for the glory of God! If you want to mature, you must spend time in the Word of God!Click To Tweet

It’s also important to mention that change is not a solo project. Instead, change happens in the context of the community of the church. All Christians have been charged to obey the many one-another commands (i.e. love one another, serve one another, carry each other’s burdens, etc.) and to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15-16). It is within this community of caring, loving relationships that God has chosen to primarily facilitate the process of change. We need one another!

Let’s praise the Lord that He hasn’t left us in the dark in regards to change! For He has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3)! We can joyfully exclaim the truth that if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed! (John 8:36). It is through His grace and by His Spirit that we are able to experience change in the depths of our hearts. This brings great joy to us and precious honor to the Savior of every single part of our lives. After all, that is what a maturing life in Christ is all about!