The Transformed Will

A Compromise with Powerlessness

Somehow along the way, as I grew up in a conservative Reformed church,  I picked up that I could never be perfect, but that I should always try. I could never be perfect because my will was completely corrupted. I would never be free from the power of sin in my life until I died and the old self (my sinful nature) died with it.

So, as I sat there, on one of those unpadded, wooden pews, I thought to myself: "So, if I can't do it, why try?" It wasn't a question born out of rebellion, as much as hopelessness. Somehow I knew that I had either learned wrong, something was mispoken, or the preacher was just plain wrong.

I could write a great deal more about how I had come to accept the concept of the irreparably corrupted will, but it would be a long story with a simple conclusion: I believed that when it came to victory over sin, on this side of glory, we still "couldn't get there from here."

A Biblical Challenge to This Powerlessness

Fast forward to 2015.

In the last year and especially the last few months, I've been hearing a response to the teaching I grew up with. It's been coming relentlessly and it has forced me to reexamine my assumptions and perhaps those of my theological heritage. Here's the challenge: according to Romans 6, our old self is dead.

Without making a quick jump to Romans 7:7,ff or 1John 1:8-10, in order to explain away this passage in the light of the others, Romans 6 certainly teaches that our old self was crucified with Him . . . that we should no longer be slaves to sin (Rom.6:6). And in Galatians 2:20 Paul says "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." This looks like a direct challenge to my assumptions.

I suspect that in an attempt to refute a doctrine of perfectionism, we may have overstated our case. We have ignored the tension and paradox of Romans 6 alongside Romans 7, basically explaining away one chapter in favor of the other (which is what the perfectionists do, except in reverse!). However, we should never create a theology of non-perfectionism that makes sin in a believer 'normal.' We should never create such a theology that gets a response like "...then why try?" We should never articulate a theology of the sinfulness of the believer that makes us so comfortable with sin that we shrug at it and refer to it as "only human, after all."

Grace Empowered Freedom

I have yet to meet a genuine believer that actually was comfortable with his/her sin. Some have given up fighting against it, others fight but have little hope, many carry tremendous guilt for failing yet again. I have been all of those people. But if there is any way to find victory over sin, I and other believers wanted it, and still do!

I find something helpful in Titus that I'd like to reflect on for the rest of this blog entry:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, (Titus 2:11–12)  

The first thing to notice about this passage is that God's grace is here to bring not only salvation, but also to bring us some training. That word "teach" (Greek: paideuo), means to train someone (often a child) in the art of living well. The nature of the word already suggests that this is a process, not an event (like being born again). I'll get back to the tension of training as a process, and dying/rising with Christ as event below.

I'm going to assume that what Paul is talking about is that the Holy Spirit within us by an act of God's grace, is the One doing the training (cf. John 16:13). Abstract concepts are not always good trainers! So, we have available to us, God's Spirit living in us training us, to do what?

First mention is that this grace (the Holy Spirit) trains us to say "No" (literally to refuse, disdain, deny, repudiate, disown, disregard, renounce). I want us to notice two things about this: first, we are being trained in radical refusal of sin; second, we're the ones who are to do the refusing!

What we are to "say No" to is specifically ungodliness and worldly passions. Briefly, ungodliness is a casual, disdainful, or otherwise sinful attitude toward God, and worldly passions are those temptations that come to us from those around us, tempting us to join in all other forms of human sinfulness. Basically it's about saying "No" to all forms of sinfulness.

So let's just set aside any notion of accepting a bit of sin in one's life as "normal." The norm for a grace-filled, Spirit-filled believer is "learning to say 'No'."

But what a gift! I can't do it on my own, I can't win over sin by myself, but I can be trained by the best teacher I could have, and One Who lives within me besides!

The Teacher/Trainer not only teaches me what not to do, but also what I'm supposed to do: live a self-controlled, upright and godly [life] in this present age. I'm being trained for that by the best!

Cooperation Required!

Notice that I'm being trained, but I'm the one who still has to say "No." I'm the one who in being trained now needs to live the new life. It doesn't just happen. The Holy Spirit doesn't just zap me and make me holy. He trains me to be holy.

This means that the Holy Spirit does not have a pessimistic attitude about the will of a born-again believer. If our will can be trained to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age, then it must be possible for us. If we think that even our best are nothing more than filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), then it's not possible. But that verse is about apostate Israel (see Isaiah 64:7), not about faithful Israel, nor about God's faithful New Testament believers.

The only question that remains is this one: is the Holy Spirit able to train me? I trust that the answer to this question doesn't rest on the Holy Spirit's ability but on my willingness.

I can watch all the weight training videos in the world, but if I don't lift weights, I won't get any stronger. I can read all the books there are on running, but if I don't run I won't get faster. I can read all the advice on the internet about losing weight, but if I don't implement any plan, I won't get thinner. If I don't put into practice what I'm being trained to do, I won't get trained, and I'll be weak, and slow and fat.

For me to learn to say "No" I'll need to start saying "No." When I stumble, I'll need to ask for help. It's a clever demonic lie that I first have to get my act together, before asking God to help me get my act together. What if our Trainer is ready to help us even when the temptation's pull is strong, even when we've begun to slide into yielding to it, and even when we have yielded? Guess what? Our sin doesn't push Him out. If we want help, He's always available. And He's not afraid of our sin.

Let me ask you this question: Is the sin in you stronger than the Holy Spirit in you? Is your sin just too much for Him? I hope you know Who is stronger. And I hope you know that He is always available to help train you.

A Process that Assures Progress

If we cooperate with the Spirit, if we allow ourselves to be trained in the art of living well (by Kingdom standards), we can be assured that we will make progress. That there will be improvement. Unless we believe that the Spirit is a poor trainer, or that sin is always able to trump His training, we can know that we can make progress that we can see and that others will (eventually?) notice.

We are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 6:6). Which means that we are no longer under the control of sin, nor required by our nature or anything else to yield to it.

As we progress our will is transformed into something more pleasing to God each day.

Then Do Believers Still Sin? Why?

Yes, sadly, believers still sometimes sin. Why? I think there are two reasons: deception and habit. Sometimes we sin because we don't believe we're free from sin, or we don't believe we have help in resisting it, or because we simply believe that this thing we're doing isn't really that bad and isn't worth fighting, or... supply your own favorite lie about why we sin. After the Civil War, the slaves were freed, but some slaves remained slaves because no one told them they were free.

We also sin out of habit. I have a friend whose foot was healed. He still limped after it was healed and it took conscious effort to not limp. It's said that when an elephant is tied to a stake when young, will not pull out the stake when it's grown up, even though it can--it just doesn't know it can because it has been habituated to the power of a stake that no longer has actual power over it!

But lies can be exposed and habits can be changed: both by training.

When believers sin, we're acting out of character. This is why Paul says "it is no longer I who do it, but sin living in me that does it." That's not a cop-out, that's a realization from Paul that when he sins, that's not the real Paul--it's a left-over habit that doesn't belong (at least that's how I take it).

God Oriented Living

The key to all of this, in both experience and in my reading of the New Testament, is to turn one's attention away from one's own sin and sinfulness and just keep them on Father, Son & Holy Spirit. We are to consider ourselves dead to sin (Romans 6:11), so stop staring at what's already dead! A sin oriented life quickly fills with despair, even if one is combating that sin (we always have to look at what we're fighting!), because sin is often bigger than us! But it's not bigger than God.

When we're driving our in a car, we need to pay attention to where we're going, not what's going on in the back seat, or keep our eyes exclusively on the rear-view mirror, or on anything else but on the road ahead. Anything else can quickly lead to disaster. (BTW, don't text and drive!)

So to, in the Christian life, as we keep our focus ahead, on where we're going, on the One in whose likeness we are predestined to be conformed to (Rom 8:29), we can stay on track.

Perhaps a key to understanding Romans 7 in light of Romans 6 is to see Romans 7 as what happens when one is "law oriented" versus "Jesus oriented" (Romans 7:25) or "Spirit oriented" (see Romans 8).

This simple key (stay God focused) has been extremely helpful to me. Don't pay sin much, if any attention at all--not even negative attention. Keep your eye on the prize, keep looking to Jesus. Set your minds on things above (Colossians 3:2).

What is Our Scope of Belief

Today I'm going to write a response to a quote from the book Dreaming with God, by Bill Johnson -found here on Amazon, and here on Vyrso (Vyrso resources also works in Logos).

Here's the quote:

"...one of my greatest concerns for the church in the Western world [is] the prevalence of unbelief. It has masqueraded long enough as wisdom and must be exposed for being the great sin that it is. Unbelief has the outward appearance of a conservative approach to life, but works to subject God Himself to the mind and control of people. It feeds off the opinion of others, all the while stroking itself for not falling into extremes that others have stumbled into. What is seldom realized by those who live in such a religious trap is that the unbelieving mind-set is completely unable to represent Jesus in His power and glory.
     "It is troubling to me that so many Christians need me to prove that God actually does what I say I've seen Him do--as though the Scriptures were not enough proof. What is even more astonishing is that when the miracles happen before their eyes, they still want doctor's reports, x-rays, etc. before they will give God any praise." (pp.68-69).

I know these people. I was one of these people! At the time I wouldn't have called it "unbelief," I would have called it "being careful." Taken out of context, this quote might lead someone to conclude that Bill is saying that if you don't believe in miracles today, you aren't saved. He's not saying that. What he is saying is that when the scope of our belief excludes belief in the miraculous today, we are not believing the entire scope of Who God is and what He is doing in our world. To believe in a God who saves us from hell, but not from tonsillitis, is belief in a God that is too small, or too distant, or too unconcerned about us, or too powerless, or too uncaring, or ... [fill in the blank].

The Pull of the Scientific/Emperical Worldview

Part of the Western church's context for unbelief is our scientific, or empirical worldview (mindset). An empirical mindset trusts only what is observable and verifiable through testing. Such a view deals with the material (physical) world only, considering any other reality as either non-existent, irrelevant, or secondary. Such a worldview has no grid for anything affecting the material world that is not material. Any material effect must have a material cause. The idea that there is a spiritual world that can have a direct effect on the material world seems nonsensical to such folks. This mindset is so pervasive, and so insidious in our culture, it has penetrated the church too, mostly unnoticed. 

I know of a case where a healing happened during a church service, where afterward in responding to the miracle someone said, "So pastor, what do you think really happened?" What was going on here is that someone with a scientific/empirical mindset wanted to understand the material cause of the material effect. That person's concept of reality had no grid for a spiritual cause for a material effect.

The television documentaries that attempt to find a "natural" (that is material) explanation for the 10 plagues in Egypt, for example, is born out of this fundamental and unexamined assumption that a material effect must have a material cause. I'm not suggesting that such explanations cannot be how God did what He did in Egypt, I'm saying that our need for such an explanation betrays a worldview that is not satisfied with the simpler explanation of Scripture: God did it.

As one who grew up in this culture, I also feel the pull of the scientific/emperical worldview. There is in me an innate skepticism about the miraculous, that tends to lean me more toward slight-of-hand, or the power of persuasion, or self-deception, or almost any other explanation, than that a miracle is an act of God. Even when they happen in front of my eyes, I sometimes have to consciously resist the pull of finding another explanation.

Such a mindset is based on a lie.

The Pull of Deism

What is Deism? Deism is the belief that God exists, but does not interact directly with His creation. He just lets things run their course. The analogy often used is that of a cosmic clock that God created and wound up: now it's running (until the alarm goes off!). 

I know it may sound crazy to suggest that Deism has any following in our day, but when one looks at how folks talk and act, it seems Deism is alive and well in the church. Folks believe in God, but in a God who is "the Man upstairs" who never comes downstairs. He watches, He observes humans, but He doesn't really do anything to intervene. He left us a book; if we want to know anything about Him or what we're supposed to do, look at His book. He remains distant. Occasionally such a God answers prayers, but not very often. Mostly we're on our own. Oh, we should pray, God tells us to, but don't expect much. 

The belief in an absent God fosters an orphan mindset that is interested in self-sufficiency and mere survival. It's a mindset that produces either selfishness, or stoic resolve. Such folks either are consumed with getting their needs met, or in living noble lives in a cruel world in which they will always be ultimately alone.

Such folks reinterpret Jesus promise "Surely I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:20) to mean that either this promise was limited to those present to hear it, or to be a promise that means only He is always around somewhere, though actually unavailable to us. With such a mindset the Holy Spirit may indeed live in us, but He always does His work in utter silence never drawing attention to Himself. Somehow, for these folks, the Holy Spirit is at work in us, though we rarely see any actual evidence that He is.

Such a mindset is based on a lie.

The Pull of the Religious Mindset

The so-called "religious" mindset, comes from a worldview that assumes that what God wants are that certain things are done in a certain way, and that only if they are done such a way, will God be pleased (or at least less angry with us). So we need to say certain things in certain ways when we pray, we need to sing certain songs, and follow a certain liturgy, or order of service. Anything that deviates from our understanding of how God is to be approached is considered "strange fire" even if our practices have little direct precedent in Scripture, or if the 'other' practice does have some.

This is the mindset Bill most directly addresses in the quote above.

Ultimately the religious mindset wants to stay in control of our relationship with God by following the rules and proper procedure. It can be seen in every stream (Catholic, Reformed, Lutheran, Arminian, Baptist, Pentecostal, Liberal, Fundamentalist, etc.). It's mostly based on the fear that if we don't do things "just right" God will not be happy with us, if not actually punish us.

Sometimes this mindset pushes people into mere traditionalism, where God isn't even as important as doing the "churchy" things that make me feel like we did "church," where "church" is a synonym for spiritual nostalgia. 

In the New Testament, it was the highly religious Pharisees that doubted the miracles of Jesus, or else attributed them to the demonic. One of the main reasons the Pharisees didn't believe in Jesus' miracles, was that He didn't agree with their theology or their religious practices. In our day, religious conservatives do the same. 

Such a mindset is based on a lie.

Toward Adopting a Biblical Worldview

Without question, the worldview we find in the Bible has no trouble finding a non-material cause for a material effect. Just the first few chapters of Genesis establishes that: "God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light." God speaks and the world comes into being. From the beginning and throughout the pages of Scripture the spiritual world of God, angels and demons frequently have a direct impact with physical effects on the material world. There is no question about this. There is no hesitation on the part of the Biblical writers to explain the Sodom & Gomorrah stories as something other than God's direct judgment (no mention of volcanic eruption or a meteor shower), nor the star in the east, which settled over the place where Jesus was as a comet, a convergence of planets, or some other known astronomical phenomenon--it was God guiding them. When Jesus heals the sick, there's no indication that "what really happened" was something explainable and repeatable by modern medicine.

Throughout Scripture, from beginning to end, God intervenes, protecting His people and moving history toward it's ultimate destiny. The promises in Matthew 28:20 is not something true only theologically or mystically, but also practically true. Jesus is with us and available to us (through His Holy Spirit, Who lives in us--His temple). God is continuously and directly involved with His people.

When a miracle happens and God is praised for it (by others), which way do we lean, and which way should we lean? Should we lean toward doubt or belief? Skepticism or praise?

Let me suggest that a believing believer defaults to belief, rather than doubt or skepticism. As long as God is getting the praise (not the human instrument through which God is doing things), why not join in? Why not praise God along with the one getting healed and the one(s) through whom the healing comes (e.g.)?

I heard Eric Johnson (Bill Johnson's son) say that he would rather be gullible, and attribute a work to God that wasn't and praise Him for it, than be skeptical and miss it when it is. I think that's a healthy attitude and default. Besides, if God gets praised for the devils work, God still gets praised! That's a no-lose situation!

If we believe in a God who not only can, but actually does the miraculous in our day, then we need to confront our own hesitation, skepticism and unbelief as improper. There isn't some middle ground on this one. Either God is healing people of cancer, broken bones, mental illness, chronic back pain, etc. and must be praised for it, or it's all a sham, if not demonic. The scope of our belief must grow beyond trusting in Jesus for our ultimate destiny, while denying the rest of His work in our day!

Believe or don't. Pick one.

If the message of God is supposed to rest on demonstrations of the Spirit's power, and not on human wisdom or eloquence (1Corinthians 2:1-5), then not only will our belief system have to change, but so will the way we do ministry, and what we "allow" to be done! If we don't change something we won't be able to fully "represent Jesus in His power and glory."