image of Christ

Led by the Spirit

Paul associated being led by the Spirit with being children of God (Romans 8:14). Paul said, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:16-17). Being led by the Spirit implies that action or motion is taking place and that believers are the ones who are following. Paul talked about in his own life how he had finished his course and had kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7). Paul also said in his letter to the Ephesians that before we were saved, we were dead in the trespasses and sins in which we once walked, “following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:1-3).Paul contrasted the course of his life with following the course of this world to show us that being a child of God should change the course of our lives and that this is evidence that we have truly been saved.

Paul made the distinction between walking according to the flesh and walking according to the Spirit to illustrate his point that we must make an intentional effort to align ourselves with God’s will. Paul said:

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:3-8)

The Greek word that is translated set their minds, phroneo (fron-ehˊ-o) means “to exercise the mind, i.e. entertain or have a sentiment or opinion; by implication to be (mentally) disposed (more or less earnestly in a certain direction); intensive to interest oneself in (with concern or obedience)” (G5426).

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for believers to set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Paul said, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you” (Romans 8:9). The Greek word that is translated dwell, oikeo (oy-keyˊ-o) means “to occupy a house, i.e. reside (figurative, inhabit, remain, inhere); (by implication) to cohabit” (G3611). Paul referred to believers as God’s temple in his first letter to the Corinthians. Paul asked, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). Jesus told his followers that the Holy Spirit would come and would dwell in them. Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper. To be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17).

Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17) and said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). The Greek word that is translated guide, hodegeo (hod-ayg-ehˊ-o) means “to show the way” (G3594). When believers are led by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit shows them the way that they need to go. Jesus identified himself as the way, the truth, and the life, and said, “No one comes to the Father except though me” (John 14:6). The Greek word hodos (hod-osˊ), which is translated way, means “a road; (by implication) a progress (the route, act or distance); (figurative) a mode or means” (G3598). The book of Hebrews tells us the way or means that Jesus was referring to, was the way of access into the direct presence of God (Hebrews 9:8). It says, Jesus, “entered once for all into the holy places not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). The writer of Hebrews tells us the truth about all of this is that Jesus, “offered himself without blemish to God, purifying our conscience from dead works to serve the living and true God” (Hebrews 9:14).

Paul’s declaration that believers must suffer with Christ, “in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:17) provides insight into why it is difficult for us to be led by the Spirit. Speaking of the believer’s future glory, Paul said, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:18-21). The sufferings of believers serve the purpose of setting God’s creation free from its bondage to corruption. Sufferings are things that believers go through that produce hardship or pain (G3804). Bondage is the condition of those who are subject to death and of those who are subject to the fear of death (G1397). Hebrews 2:14-15 indicates that it is the devil who has the power of death and that he makes those who fear death subject to lifelong slavery. Through suffering, believers are delivered from the fear of death and are perfected in their faith (Hebrews 2:10-11), resulting in their future glorification with Christ (Romans 8:17, 30).

Paul encouraged believers to look at the suffering that leads to their future glorification through the lens of God’s everlasting love. Paul compared the redemption of believers’ bodies to the process of childbirth and said that the Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God. Paul said:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:26-30)

Paul indicated that believers are called according to God’s purpose, which is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). Being conformed into the image of Christ means that there should be a likeness between us, our lives should resemble his (G1504).

Paul described the process of being conformed into the image of Christ in his letter to the Colossians. Paul said believers must put off the old self and put on the new self through intentional acts of obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Paul stated:

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:5-17)

Paul said that we must put off anger, wrath, malice, slander and obscene talk from our mouths and put on love, “which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:8, 14). The goal of believers being led by the Spirit through the process of sanctification is to achieve perfect harmony.

Paul assured believers that their sufferings could not separate them from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35). Jesus alluded to this when he told his disciples that the Helper would be with them forever (John 14:16). Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). Paul said that believers have the assurance that they will be victorious in their sufferings because of God’s everlasting love. Paul asked, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:35, 37). Paul concluded his discussion of being led by the Spirit with the statement about the Holy Spirit’s ability to keep us connected to God’s love. Paul said, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

Put on and put off

Paul talked about being transformed into the image of Christ in the context of the New Covenant that Jesus established before he was crucified (Matthew 26:26-29, 2 Corinthians 3:5). The Greek word metamorphoo (met-am-or-foˊ-o) is “spoken figuratively of our being transformed in mind and heart” (G3339) in 2 Corinthians 3:18 where it says, “And we with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” Paul used the example of Christ’s humility to encourage the Philippians to willingly engage in the process of transformation that Christians are called to. Paul told the Philippian believers to “have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-7).

Paul explained in his letter to the Colossians that being alive in Christ involves putting off the body of the flesh (Colossians 2:11). What Paul meant by this was that believers should not be controlled by their desires. Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians that this kind of lifestyle belongs to a believer’s former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires (Ephesians 4:22). Paul told the Colossians:

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:8-10)

Paul said that a believer must put off their old self and put on the new self, indicating that an intentional effort is required. Regeneration or spiritual rebirth has two different aspects. The new birth or what Jesus referred to as being born again (John 3:3) “stresses the communication of spiritual life in contrast to antecedent spiritual death …it is the act by which God brings him from death to life. In the act itself (rather than the preparation for it), the recipient is passive, just as a child has nothing to do with his own birth.” Regeneration stresses the inception of a new state of things in contrast with the old. This ongoing process, known as the renewal of the mind or anakainosis (an-ak-ah’ee-no-sis), “by contrast, is the gradual conforming of the person to the new spiritual world in which he now lives, the restoration of the divine image. In this process the person is not passive but is a fellow worker with God” (G3824).

The renewal of the mind or the act of putting off the old self and putting on the new self is also referred to as the walk of repentance because it involves an ongoing, continuous cycle of repenting from sin. The renewing of our minds is a result of us continually adjusting our thinking to align with God’s word. Paul indicated in his letter to Titus that renewing believers’ minds is a work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told his followers, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:7-15). Jesus told his disciples the Holy Spirit would convict the world concerning sin because they do not believe in him. The Greek word that is translated convict, elegcho (el-engˊ-kho) means “to prove one in the wrong and thus to shame him” (G1651).

Paul indicated in his letter to the Colossians that the old self is associated with practices, performing something repeatedly or “habitually” (G4238). Putting on the new self involves believers replacing these sinful habits with godly behavior. Paul instructed the Colossians:

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. (Colossians 3:12-15)

The behaviors that Paul identified are referred to as the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Paul said if we live by the Spirit, we should keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25). In other words, our walk of repentance should not be hindered by an unwillingness on our part to repent of the sins that the Holy Spirit makes us aware of.

Paul made it clear in his letter to the Ephesians that renewal, or more specifically change, takes place in the mind. Paul said in Ephesians 5:23 that we are to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. The spirit is “the principle of life residing in man. The breath breathed by God into man and again returning to God, the spiritual entity in man (Matthew 27:50; Luke 8:55; 23:46; John 19:30; Acts 7:59; 1 Corinthians 15:45; Revelation 13:15)” (G4151). The mind is described in the Bible “as the seat of emotions and affections, mode of thinking and feeling, disposition, moral inclination, equivalent to the heart (Romans 1:28; 12:2; 1 Corinthians 1:10; Ephesians 4:17, 23; Colossians 2:18; 1 Timothy 6:5; 2 Timothy 3:8; Titus 1:15)” (G3563). To be renewed in the spirit of your mind, you have to change the way you think. Believers must intentionally stop thinking about certain things and in certain ways and intentionally start thinking about life the way that God does. Paul said, “you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth” (Colossians 3:8), and then, “put on…kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12).

Paul indicated the way to put off and put on is by letting the word of Christ dwell in us (Colossians 3:16). “The expression ‘the word [logos, (3056)] of Christ’ refers to the revelation that Jesus Christ brought into the world” (note on Colossians 3:16). Logos means “the Divine Expression” (G3056). It says in Hebrews 1:3 that Jesus is the exact imprint of God’s nature, “and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” The Greek word that is translated word in this verse is rhema (hrayˊ-mah). Jesus used the word rhema when he responded to the devil’s temptation to command the stones to become loaves of bread. Jesus stated, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4), indicating that when we put on or take in God’s word, we are receiving the spiritual nourishment that enables us to live forever (G2198).