A Theology of Transformation

A couple of years ago, an exercise company promoted themselves through the statement, “motivation that moves you.” Their purpose was to “empower people to live fit, strong, long, and happy lives.” Two of their three values were “belief” (“we believe in the power of [this company] to change people’s lives”) and “lift people up” (“we lift each other up, knowing that together we go far”). The difference this company seeks to make is captured in their promise: “an opportunity for people to discover the best versions of themselves.”  

Because of common grace, we agree there are some things that can be done through human self-determination, through grit and grind, through hard work and discipline. And yet, even in the best of those situations, all the changes are transient and of this world. This is a non-Christian understanding of transformation. 

And yet, I wonder how many Christians consider the sanctification process—the biblical truth and experiential reality of transformation—in a similar way? It may not be completely in a self-determining way, but it is still too dependent on self. Christians are not exempt from the idol of expressive individualism. Furthermore, there appears to be little understanding of the truth of spiritual transformation and the God-given means of grace (1 Tim 4:7) through which transformation occurs. 

As believers living between the first and second comings of Jesus, there is both a “now” and a “not-yet” of the kingdom. How many emphasize the “now” so that they expect perfection in this life? How many emphasize the “not-yet” so that they expect little holiness in this life? How many understand the importance of what God has done (the indicative, the statement of fact) and how we as believers are to live the Christian life (the imperative, the command), and how critical it is to get the order right? How many understand the ground of justification and sanctification, and also the differences? 

Practically, what is behind the lack of concern for “holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14)? Why is there little hatred of sin and much pandering after the world? Why does holiness seem legalistic, and worldliness seem common?¹ Why are there so many leaders who know and speak gospel truth but whose lives are lacking the power of the gospel they preach (Titus 1:16)? Might these misunderstandings, and more, be the cause of a lack of holiness, the absence of the Spirit’s transforming power in the lives of Christians? 

Transformation: The biblical story 

A common way of understanding the Bible’s story is through the major movements of redemptive history: creation, fall, redemption and new creation/consummation (glorification is the term used when emphasizing the final act of God in the salvation of those in union with Christ, i.e., believers). As a big-picture overview, tracing the Bible’s story through these four major movements is helpful. However, it appears that, for many, the notion of redemption is too narrowly understood. It serves as a redemptive historical transition from death to life when one is justified, but there is little thought given to the life of believers between redemption and new creation. 

This is, I believe, a weakness. Although the reality of redemption does not include less than justification, it certainly includes more. It includes all the time and lives of believers between redemption and new creation. That requires more careful biblical and theological thought and nuance. 

Here is a way to expand the Bible’s story by adding one important movement between redemption and new creation, which I include in full. God in His Word reveals the story of:  

• Creation (Gen 1:26-28, 31, “very good”),  
• Fall (Gen 2:16-17; Gen 3:1-13; cf. Rom 5:12-21; 1 Cor 15:21),  
• Redemption (Gen 3:15; Rom 3:24; Rom 6:23; 1 Cor 6:9-11; 15:56-57; Col 3:14),  
• Transformation (progressive sanctification) (Rom 12:1-2; 2 Cor 3:18; Phil 3:20-21; cf. Phil 2:12-13; Rev 22:12-16) and  
• New Creation/Consummation (final sanctification) (Rev 21-22; esp. 21:5; cf. Phil 3:20-21).  

Our righteous and just God created a "very good" (Gen 1:31) world that has been spoiled by human sin. All humanity stands under God’s just judgment.

But in His mercy, God has purposed to provide a means of redemption through his Son Jesus Christ, who satisfies God’s justice through His sacrificial death, thereby justifying the unjust (Rom 3:21-26). He was raised to new life as Lord of all through His resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:36; Rom 1:4).In union with Christ (John 3:3, 5; Rom 6:5-11; Gal 2:20-21; Eph 1:3-14), God’s people are to be renewed by the Spirit (Titus 3:5) to be instruments of God’s grace, seeking to reflect the love of Christ in the world. In union with Christ, we have been delivered “from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:13-14). This means everything about us has been changed and is in the process of being transformed through the gospel (1 Cor 1:18-25) so that weakness is strength (2 Cor 12:9), dying is living (Mark 8:34-38) and serving is greatness (Mark 10:45; Phil 2:5-11). 

A biblical-theological analysis of transformation 

With the Bible’s five-part story as a foundation, it is important we understand the specifics of what sanctification or transformation consists, where it fits, and the other aspects of the whole of salvation. Often encompassed in the term sanctification are other important themes like renewal, growth, transformation and glorification.   

There are times when it is important to know not just that something works, but how and/or why it works. This is true for all Christians as they consider the work of God in their lives and their response to this work. What follows is that detailed look at the biblical-theological truth undergirding the believers’ spiritual lives. What it reflects is that we have already been changed, we are being changed, and we will be changed. 

Union with Christ: This focuses on the Holy Spirit’s work of joining all believers to Christ so that all His saving benefits become ours (Eph 4:30). Through union with Christ, believers are identified/united with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection and ascension (Rom 6:1-11; Eph.2:6), and God communicates all His blessings of salvation: regeneration, justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance, resurrection and glorification. Christ dwells in those with whom He is united and they, in turn, dwell in Him (John 15:1-5; Gal 2:20).  

Regeneration: The supernatural work of God the Holy Spirit by which unbelievers are given a new nature; the heart of stone is removed and replaced with a heart of flesh (Jer 31:31-33; Ezek 36:25-27; John 3:3-8; 6:63), through the gospel of Jesus Christ (Jas 1:18; 1 Pet 1:23-25). It consists of the removal of the old sinful, spiritually dead nature (Eph 2:1), a spiritual circumcision (Rom 2:29), and the imparting of a new nature, that is spiritually alive to God (Eph 2:4-5). This truth emphasizes a decisiveness, a transformation from death to life (Rom 6:3-11; 2 Cor 5:17; Col 3:9-11), and that this is a whole new act of creation (2 Cor 5:17) in which one’s life is now lived by and for God (Mark 8:34-38; Gal 2:20; 2 Cor 5:14-15). 

Faith and repentance (conversion): Turning from sin to Christ (Acts 20:21), with the turning from sin being repentance and a turning to Christ in faith. Conversion is the term used for these two realities. Though this may be seen to be a human response, it is prompted by regeneration (Rom 10:17) and stirred by grace (Acts 18:27). It could be said that conversion is the evidence, though not the condition, of our justification. It is both an event, in which we are born again (John 3:3, 5), and also a process, in that it consists of the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives (cf. Ps 51:10-12; Luke 17:3-4; 22;32; Rom 13:14; Eph 4:22-24; Rev 2:4-5, 16; 3:19). 

Justification: This is an act of God based on the work of Christ in which He declares a sinner not guilty, imputing/crediting the perfect righteousness of Christ (2 Cor 5:21), thus declaring (not infusing) the sinner righteous. This is a forensic term, denoting a judicial act of administering the law, which has been broken and for which we are accountable and guilty (Rom 3:21-26; Gal 3-4; 2 Cor 5:14-21; Eph 2:1-18; Phil 3:4-11). This is not because we are actually made righteous, but because of the righteousness of Christ, an alien righteousness. Sins are removed and forgiven, which is expiation (Heb 9:26), and God’s wrath is removed through propitiation (Rom 3:25-26), through Christ’s substitutionary death (Rom 3:25; 5:9). Christ’s righteousness is imputed (Rom 5:18-19), based on Christ’s perfect obedience on our behalf. It is by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Rom 3:25-26), and faith is the instrumental means by which we are justified (Rom 3:25, 28, 30). Believers are simul jusus et peccator, as Luther noted, at one and the same time righteous in Christ but (and) sinners in themselves (Rom 3:10-12; 4:1-8; 5:18-19; Gal 2:16).  

Adoption: Before being adopted spiritually (Rom 8:15, 23; 9:4; Gal 4:4-7; Eph 1:5), we were slaves to sin (Rom 6:16-22), doing Satan’s will (Gal 4:3; 1 John 3:10), enemies of God (Rom 5:10) and children of God’s wrath (Eph 2:3). God’s eternal love is the source of adoption (Eph 1:3-6); Christ’s death is the basis of adoption (Gal 3:13; 4:4-5), and faith in Christ is how we receive adoption (John 1:12; Gal 3:26). We are God’s children (John 1:12), we have a family of brothers and sisters (Gal 3:26-28), we are fellow heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17), and we have a future inheritance (cf. Col 3:24).² J. I. Packer notes, adoption “is the highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher even than justification...To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is greater.”  

Sanctification: There are three aspects to sanctification: definitive (positional, a status conferred), progressive (process pursued) and final (glorification, eschatological perfection). God sets us apart from sin to Himself. He also produces holiness in believers, which is progressive. Finally, sanctification will culminate in glorification at Christ’s return. Sanctification is past (definitive), when we trusted in Christ and were regenerated and experienced union with Christ (Rom 6:1-4; 1 Cor 1:2; 6:11), present (progressive), as the Spirit works in us enabling us to grow in holiness (2 Cor 3:18; 1 Thess 4:3; Heb 12:14),³ and future (final), which is the Spirit’s work of conforming us into the image of the Son in glorified holiness at His return (Eph 5:27; 1 John 3:2). Each Person of the Trinity is active in our sanctification, and although God is the author of our sanctification, we are active participants (Phil 2:12-13; Col 1:28-29).⁴ 

Grace and godliness: God’s justifying grace and His sanctifying power and purpose 

In the EFCA, we affirm that God’s justifying grace is the ground of His sanctifying grace in the lives of believers (Article 8, Christian Living). There is sanctification—that is, being set apart by and to God through justification—and, by the Holy Spirit, there is ongoing transformation (progressive sanctification) into the image of the Son: “We believe that God's justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose.” Here is a portion of the “theological exposition”⁵ of Article 8 in our Statement of Faith: 

Grace and godliness are ultimately inseparable. Consider the words of the nineteenth-century Anglican bishop J. C. Ryle: 

“He who supposes that Jesus Christ only lived and died and rose again in order to provide justification and forgiveness of sins for His people, has yet much to learn. Whether he knows it or not, he is dishonouring our blessed Lord, and making Him only a half Saviour. The Lord Jesus has undertaken everything that His people’s souls require; not only to deliver them from the guilt of their sins by His atoning death, but from the dominion of their sin, by placing in their hearts the Holy Spirit; not only to justify them, but also to sanctify them.”⁶ 

The Christian life entails growth, for we are to “continue to work out [our] salvation” (Phil 2:12). But we live in the assurance that “it is God who works in [us] to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Phil 2:13), confident “that he who began a good work in [us] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:6).  

One of the most beautiful sights in the picturesque city of Cambridge, England, is King’s College Chapel, a magnificent Gothic building completed during the reign of Henry VIII. One of the great attractions of the chapel is a painting by one of the Old Masters, Peter Paul Reubens, entitled, “The Adoration of the Magi.” But in 1974, in an act of political protest, a vandal entered the chapel and defaced this magnificent painting by scratching the letters “IRA” deeply into the canvas. It was thought then that this irreplaceable work of art was ruined forever, but soon there appeared a notice alongside it that announced, “It is believed that this masterpiece can be restored to its original condition.” And it was—in all its glory. 

That is the message of the gospel: this masterpiece of the human person, created to glorify God as His image but defaced by the ravages of sin, can be restored to a glory even beyond its original condition. This is God’s sanctifying purpose, and by His gracious power we are to grow in godliness and so display the glory of God. As Paul writes: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:8-10). 

Conclusion 

As we ponder this both individually and corporately, where do we see transforming growth and conformity into the likeness of the Son? Give thanks to God. Where do we see sins stunting our sanctification/transformation—arrogance, self-righteousness, pride, judgementalism, apathy, entitlement, exceptionalism, derision and disdain for others, disunity, a lack of meditating on or a desire for the Word, knowing better than God, etc.? As Peter preached in the early Church, we now hear again: “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19-20). We long for times of refreshing, renewal, holiness, with nothing in our lives exempt (1 Thess 5:23).⁷ 

As believers in Christ, may we rest in our definitive sanctification. May we submit to the Spirit-enabled fight in progressive sanctification as we are transformed and conformed into the image of the Son. And, as we await our final sanctification, may we sense and say with John Newton: 

“I am not what I ought to be. Ah! How imperfect and deficient! Not what I might be, considering my privileges and opportunities. Not what I wish to be. God, who knows my heart, knows I wish to be like him. I am not what I hope to be; ere long to drop this clay tabernacle, to be like him and see him as he is, I think I can truly say with the apostle, ‘By the grace of God I am what I am’ (1 Cor 15:10).”⁸