How do we become what God has made us to become? Can we become what we are supposed to become? Can we fulfill our potential? Can we become joyful, content, and just people instead of angry, frustrated, and selfish people?
The answer that the Christian faith gives us is that on our own we cannot become what we are supposed to become. On our own, we are stuck. However, the message of the Christian faith is that the same power by which God raised Jesus from the dead is a power that is available to anyone to enable them to become what God has called them to be.
This raises several questions. First, if this is true, then why are so many Christians angry, upset, materialistic, and even mean?
One way to answer that is to say that not everyone who claims that they are a Christian is a Christian. The problem is that all people who claim to be Christian have these defects. Examine anyone’s life, and you’ll see that they fall short in a number of ways.
So, how can we claim that a power for a new life is available? The answer is that people do change, but it’s a process. God is in the process of making Christians into new people. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion” (Phil. 1:6). The fruit of the presence of God’s Spirt in our lives is love, joy, peace, etc. (Gal. 5:22-23). It just takes time.
Secondly, if it is God’s work, does that mean that we are passive in this transformation process? Does that mean that we should just wait until God works in us? If we don’t feel like doing what we’re supposed to do, for example, does that mean that we should just sit around and wait for God to work?
Starting merely from the premise that transformation is God’s work, this is not impossible, but it is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that we have an active role to play in the transformation process. We are to pray and desire the pure milk of the word like newborn babies so that we may grow by it (1 Pet. 2:1-3). Peter says, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge . . .” (2 Pet. 1:5). We are to work hard in this process of transformation. In regard to his character and gifts, Paul tells Timothy, “Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress” (1 Tim. 4:15). In the process of transformation, we are active.
We should also note that we are not only active in regard to our own transformation. We are active in regard to other people’s transformation. We can be contributors to their transformation as well, though God is the one who is the ultimate source of all transformation.
As my friend John McKenzie puts it, this is an asymmetrical synergy. We work together with God in this process of transformation, but He is always the initiator, always provides even what we give, and superintends the whole process. It is a partnership but not an equal partnership. Below, I will explain what this means in more detail. For now, let me draw out a few implications of what I’ve said so far.
First, what are the implications of God’s activity in transforming us? The main thing is that it gives us tremendous hope. God is in the process of transforming us. We need to believe and embrace this. So, we should trust Him and look to His power. If we don’t like where we are today, then we should trust that God will move us to a new and better place.
Second, transformation is a process. If we see that we are not joyful people but want to be, we should not give up on it, even if we don’t see the transformation we want in an hour or a week or a day. We should expect that we will see God’s power transforming us in the months and years ahead and that we will be able to look back and see how far He has brought us. In the meantime, we should embrace that process.
So, what does that process look like? And what is our part? The following chart explains how God is at work and how we can lean into that work in “sanctification” or “transformation” synergy.
God is at work to change us. God works inwardly. He changes us inwardly by giving us new characteristics and strengthening us in the exercise of them. He also enables us to see the truth, giving us inward illumination.
Second, God also works through outward means. He works outwardly through the Word of God, the Bible, teaching us how to think and see the world differently and rightly. He also teaches us through natural revelation and internal reflection on His Word and reality.
Third, he puts us in situations where we must implement the new mindset. He does this by bringing us into challenging situations where we will have to trust Him. He brings people into our lives whom it may be challenging to love. He takes away things we enjoy to train us to hope in Him.
Fourth, He gives us guidance on how to live through general and special revelation. He shows us how He wants us to serve Him through commands, instruction, gifts, and opportunities.
Fifth, He provides a supportive community that will help us see how we need to change, challenge us to change, and help us implement change. This is the church.
Once we see how God works in our sanctification, then it becomes clear how we can be active in leaning into what He is doing. We pray for His inward working, learn a new mindset through meditating and reflecting deeply on His word, embrace opportunities to implement a new way of life, seek to discern His will, and participate in the life of the church.
When it comes to others, we can lean into God’s work in the same way. We pray for other people, teach them God’s view of things and His will, and encourage them to put these things into practice and connect with people who can help them. We can play an active role in people’s sanctification.
What if we don’t do these things? Will people not get transformed? Will we not get transformed? Clearly, there is a correlation between our effort and our progress. However, God is still at work, even when we are not. In addition, part of His work is to ensure that we will make the effort that we need to (Phil. 2:12-13). This should give us great hope, even on days when we don’t feel like we have the energy to cooperate with God’s work of transformation.
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*Photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash