Elsewhere in this issue we have referred to the fact that God expects change in the believer, as he goes on in his Christian life. But sometimes we find that this change does not come about, at least not in the way that it should. Perhaps in our own lives and perhaps in the lives of others, we continue to see some of the same old patterns of thinking and behavior that characterized us before we were saved. This may, and should, bring us to the point of asking why we are not changing and becoming more like Christ.
First of all, we must remind ourselves that man in the flesh does not change for the better. Changes in the world around him may modify his outward behavior, but the bad root remains the same. For thousands of years man has vainly tried to deny his fall and to persuade himself that he is innately good. If only the right environment and influences could be arranged, then all would be well! But man’s history only confirms the words of Scripture: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:99The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)). Even the believer must often go through some hard experiences before he can say with the Apostle Paul, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7:1818For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Romans 7:18)).
The Natural Heart
I would suggest that there are at least two main reasons for the lack of change in us as believers. The first reason takes us back to the time before we were saved. At that time we had no thought of God, except that our natural hearts were “enmity against God” (Rom. 8:77Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7)). But then the Spirit of God began to work in our hearts to convict us of our sinful state and our need of a Savior. Perhaps at that time we even tried to improve our condition in our own strength, but eventually we had to be brought to realize that we could do nothing to help ourselves. We were totally dependent on the grace of God, and because we understood our helplessness, we gladly accepted God’s provision for us in Christ.
But how subtle is the human heart! Paul could ask those in the Galatian assemblies: “Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:33Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3)). How easily our hearts fall from grace, thinking that our flesh can somehow help us to grow in Christ and to become more like Him. This wrong and un-Christian way of thinking has pervaded much of Christendom today, and all of us, if we are honest with ourselves, must probably admit that sometimes our thoughts run along this line. We have been saved by grace — there is no question as to this truth — but then we feel that we can add something of our own to the grace and power of God.
The Grace and Power of the Lord
Once again, we must be brought back to the way we were saved and realize that as it was the grace and power of God through which we were given eternal life, so it is the grace and power of God by which we are changed “from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:1818But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)). The change comes about by “beholding the glory of the Lord,” and not by any of our own efforts. Then we find that the power of the Spirit of God — a power outside of ourselves — accomplishes the change for us, perhaps almost unknown to us. When Moses had been up on the mount with God, his face shone because he had been in God’s presence. Others saw it, but Moses himself was not conscious of it; he “wist not that the skin of his face shone” (Ex. 34:2929And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. (Exodus 34:29)). So it is today; the believer who has been beholding the glory of the Lord will radiate the glory of Christ, and others will see it, although he himself may not realize it. Unconsciously perhaps, old habits and patterns of thinking and behavior drop off, and more of Christ is seen in us. But so it should be, for the Spirit of God never occupies us with ourselves, except to judge sinful self. In occupation with Christ, His radiance will be seen.
Pride
However, there is another reason why a change does not occur more often in us. We may admire what we see of Christ in others, and we sincerely want to become more like Him. Yet over time we may be frustrated as we see the same patterns continuing — patterns of self and not of Christ. Another has given the reason in one sentence: “We may want to become more like Christ, but often we like ourselves too much to become like another Man.” Pride in our hearts clings to what we are by nature — a nature that resists change. National and racial characteristics, family traits, personal habits, cultural behavior — all these may be products of the flesh, and we may be reluctant to change them. We may excuse them, feeling that there is at least some good in them. Or we may palliate them and perhaps try to control them with human energy. But they stand in the way of our Christian growth. There is only one remedy for the old sinful self — death. The root of the problem must be recognized; we must realize that some of things which we have held dear must be owned as sin and judged unsparingly in God’s presence. This can be hard work, as we seek to change that which may well have characterized us for many years. Yet God’s power is sufficient, and when we look to Christ and win a victory, we will find as the hymn says, “Each victory will help you some other to win.”
One day, when the Lord comes, every believer will be perfectly like Christ. But how blessed is the pathway of those who seek to be more like Him now, whatever the cost!
W. J. Prost