How does God actually change me?
Not by trying harder. Scripture says God changes us the way life works, not the way machines run: He gives a new heart, puts His Spirit within, and then works in us both to want and to do what pleases Him. We remain in Christ like branches in a vine, behold His glory until we are transformed, and actively put off the old self and put on the new. Your effort matters, but it is response, not engine: God supplies the power, and the fruit appears over time.
This question arose from studying What is grace? and Does James contradict Paul? Is it faith or works? and What does the new life look like day to day?.
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Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.
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What the Scripture says
God begins the change by giving you a new heart
The change starts with something only God can do. Through Ezekiel He promised, 'I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you,' taking away 'the stony heart out of your flesh' and giving 'a heart of flesh.' And He does not stop at a new heart: 'I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.' Salvation itself is described as 'the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.' You did not make yourself alive, and you do not remake yourself holy: the same God who began the work carries it forward.
I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
not by works of righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
The power is God's: He works in you to will and to work
Paul joins two truths that sound opposed until you see they are one: 'work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.' You work out precisely because God works in; even the willing is His gift. And the promise stands behind it all: 'He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.'
So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
Change flows from abiding in Christ, not striving apart from Him
Jesus' picture of growth is agricultural, not athletic. The branch does not strain to manufacture grapes; it stays connected to the vine. 'Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.' Union with Christ is not one technique among others; it is the whole engine, because 'apart from me you can do nothing.'
Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
You change as you behold Christ and renew your mind
There is a looking that changes us. Paul says believers, 'with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.' The same instrument appears again in Romans: 'be transformed by the renewing of your mind.' Gaze long enough at Christ in His word, and the Spirit shapes the gazer into the image of the One gazed upon.
But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.But 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.
Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Your part is real: put off, put on, put to death
None of this makes you passive. Because God is at work, you act: 'put off the old man with his doings,' and 'put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator.' Where a specific sin still grips you, the command is surgical: 'if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.' Notice the phrase 'by the Spirit': even the killing of sin is done in His strength.
Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings,Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
The proof of the change is fruit, and fruit takes time
How do you know God is changing you? Look for fruit, not fireworks. 'The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control.' Fruit grows quietly, season by season, which is why slow growth is still real growth. And the calling keeps both halves together: 'If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.'
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
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What is the fruit of the Spirit?→The Holy Spirit trail“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”We haven't written this one yet. Take it to your church or small group: the Word answers it wherever it is asked. If we study it here later, all the better.
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Verses to meditate on
I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings, and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
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