Category: Spiritual Theology

The three desires to see Jesus, to be like him and to be united to God are the most prominent desires in the history of Christian spirituality. In fact, these three desires will be fulfilled after Jesus returns. We will experience a threefold progression. We will see Jesus which will instantly detonate an explosion of love in our hearts. Filled with love and fully opened to him, he will give us new bodies and transform us into his image. We see this two-fold progression in 1 John 3:2 which explains that “when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (ESV). Then comes the third and final change. Once we are Christformed then Christ will “present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing” (Eph. 5:27, ESV). We will be a pure bride fit for the groom and Continue Reading →

This is part two on the will; you can find part one here. How do we know when it is time to let go of activating our will in a particular area of our life? We need to learn when we have reached the limits of our character. This is an important principle for understanding how our will cooperates with God’s will. The basic idea is that when we want to correct a fault or when we try to make progress in an area there is a point at which we cannot go further because we do not yet have the character to do so. God has not yet transformed us enough. For example, we may not be patient enough, or a habit is too strong, or we don’t have enough faith. Once we reach the end of our character then we need to wait for more grace from God Continue Reading →

Of all the dimensions of a human it is the will that most hinders our growth. It is not too difficult to grow in our knowledge of God and even fully embrace his truth. We can even develop a powerful desire for God and find our emotions directed towards God.But when it comes to the will we easily avoid making hard decisions. Unfortunately, there is no growth in maturity without developing a robust will. Embracing truth and desiring God do not produce maturity without activating the will. And in cultures where self-control is neglected and people are taught to just go with what they feel then the problem of the will becomes even worse. When God regenerates us in Christ we begin with an infant New Adam will. This will needs to grow through exercise like a muscle. If you had a dramatic conversion then perhaps you will enjoy a Continue Reading →

Last week we looked at the first three of five reasons we should make the effort to purify our lives now and submit to God’s shaping us, even though God will fully purify us after Jesus returns. Today we look at the last two. The purpose is to encourage and motivate us to do whatever we can to cooperate with God’s work even when it is painful. The fourth reason is that we are destined to live as perfected New Adams in an eternal community of love with God and his followers. This overlaps with the previous point about wanting to be our true self. If you “set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:13, ESV) then why would you spend any time avoiding foretastes of your hope even if it involved effort? If I were Continue Reading →

After Jesus returns God will complete our Christformation. “When Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2, NIV). “We shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Cor. 15:49, ESV). Therefore, we will not need more purification because we will be pure as Jesus is pure.   This brings us to a critical question. If God is going to complete our Christformation after Jesus returns, why should we go to all the trouble of letting God transform us now? Why should we “cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body” (2 Cor. 7:1, ESV), “put to death the deeds of the body” (Rom. 8:13, ESV) and try to reach “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13, NIV)? This involves sacrifice and struggle. Why do this now when God is just going to instantly do it after Continue Reading →