How spiritual transformation happens
Monday, April 13, 2009 at 11:29AM What are the mechanics behind how we change; particularly how the new heart within us is strengthened, nourished and released? How do we end up doing the things our restored hearts really want to do, while not yielding to false substitutes?
Invitation to the Jesus Life - Experiments in Christ-likeness, by Jan Johnson, is refreshing, gracious and full of well-textured thinking on the spiritual life. The author suggests that God "loves [us] into goodness, drawing [us] with irresistable grace." Loves us into goodness.
Isn't it true that when we feel most loved, pursued or valued, we are least likely to fall for lesser things? So how do we access this loving-into-goodness life?
The means is through new habits of the heart, mind and body (spiritual disciplines), but the goal is not to become better Christians, the author surprisingly points out. The goal is connecting with God. When we connect, we receive love, and the Spirit does the transforming. We, as Dallas Willard suggests, are then becoming the kinds of persons who naturally do and say the things Jesus did and said. It is an outflow of experiencing love, not conjuring up good religious behavior.
Though the author of Invitation to the Jesus Life doesn't necessarily frame the process in the following way, I would suggest that as we connect with God (through redemptive habits) we experience his affection, and the Spirit nourishes and releases the goodness he seeded within our new hearts at conversion. The point is connecting with God, not trying to become a better Christian.
Reader Comments (2)
Absolutely right. I would assume that when the author writes "The goal is connecting with God" we could also say to form a relationship with God. It is only our spirit that that can have that relationship because it is 100% pure before our Papa. The church has taught that we need to change our behaviour, but God want the INNER change to manifest through our mind to our bodies. It is ONLY this change that can become permanent. God does not want behaviour change, He want HEART (spirit) change.
Lovely thoughts Jim.
Hi Lennart. Thanks for sharing your insight here. In 43 years, I'd only heard one "sermon" about the heart, and it barely did justice to the issues.
P.S. I moderate a Group on Facebook called, THE GOOD & NOBLE HEART. I think you would enjoy the discussions there, and have something valuable to contribute to them. (Click the link on my sidebar.)