Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Hello, welcome to your daily grace. By Timothy Wilder Foundations Episode 76 the Holy Spirit the Spirit's transforming work is from the inside out.
[00:00:14] Paul writes, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom and we are being transformed into his image from one degree of glory to another. 2 Corinthians 3:17 18 transformation is not the result of human striving, it is the result of the Spirit's presence. Sanctification is not self improvement, it is Spirit led renewal. The Christian life does not begin with grace and continue by effort. It begins with the Spirit and continues by the Spirit. He changes you from the inside out, not the outside in.
[00:00:47] Paul says we are being transformed. A passive verb. Transformation is something done to you, not something you manufacture. The Spirit lifts the veil, reveals Christ, and shapes your heart to reflect his character. He does not demand that you produce holiness, he produces holiness within you. He does not pressure you to become like Christ. He forms Christ in you.
[00:01:10] This is why Paul describes the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22 23. Fruit is not manufactured. Fruit grows. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control are not the result of spiritual performance. They are the evidence of the Spirit's life within you. You do not force fruit, you bear fruit because the Spirit is present and active.
[00:01:36] Paul reinforces this in Philippians 2:13 it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Notice the order God works in you to will he shapes your desires and then to work he empowers your actions. Sanctification is not you trying harder. It is God changing what you want and enabling what he commands. The Spirit does not merely help you obey, he makes obedience possible.
[00:02:02] Paul expands this further in Romans 8:4,6, teaching that the righteous life God desires is fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. The flesh produces frustration, failure and death. The Spirit produces life and peace. To walk by the Spirit is to depend on his power, respond to his leading and trust his work. It is to live from the new life he provides rather than the old life you left behind.
[00:02:31] The Spirit's transforming work is not about behavior modification, it is about heart renovation. He changes your desires, your motivations, your affections and your direction. He forms Christ in you one degree at a time, slowly, steadily, faithfully. Transformation is not your achievement, it is his miracle.
[00:02:51] You are not changing yourself, you are being changed. Everything else flows from there.
[00:02:58] Thanks for listening. If you are being fed and or uplifted by these messages, we encourage you to like comment, share, and subscribe. These things help us spread the message of grace.
