"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
2 Cor.5:16-17
"But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit."
Rom. 7:6
Through the centuries the church has been making the same mistake over and over again as it has defined Christianity by what you know instead of Who you know, or better yet, Who knows you. We've confused information (learning about God) with transformation (being known and recreated by Him in His image, not our own).
When we define Christianity by what we know…it becomes a doing based religion, a treadmill of shoulds and a list of tasks derived from the information we have acquired. That is not the freedom found in being a new creation, or the new way of the Spirit, it is life under the old Law of performance.
There is a big difference between these two dynamics however. As I was thinking about these two realities, the following considerations and contrasts came to mind:
information is finite – transformation is infinite
information improves – transformation creates
information is temporary – transformation is permanent
information is the known – transformation is the unknown
information is safe – transformation is risky
information is predictable – transformation is unpredictable
information requires study – transformation requires trust
information promotes self-sufficiency transformation demands dependence
information breeds familiarity – transformation embraces the unfamiliar
information is inanimate – transformation is alive
information is a noun – transformation is a verb
information takes hold – transformation lets go
information is knowledge – transformation is truth
There is so much more for us to encounter and experience in God, but we must be willing to allow the information to translate into a liiving reality in the graceful grip of God. The journey in and down to the soul-ular level is a journey that will change your life.
It's time to experience being a new creation, and life lived in the new way of the Spirit…if it is a new way, then why do we keep doing the same old things? Perhaps it's time to move from information to transformation.
Dei Gratia,
Monty
Like this:
Like Loading...