What He is Doing...

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:17-18

English author and pastor John R.W. Stott explains the Spirit-controlled life in his book Basic Christianity:

“The more we make a habit of denying the flesh (because of our co-crucifixion) and obeying the Spirit, the more our ugly works of the flesh will disappear and the lovely fruit of the Spirit will take their place...It is by the Spirit of Christ that we can be transformed into the image of Christ as we look steadfastly towards Him. We, thus, have our part to play in repentance, faith, and discipline; but...holiness is the work of the Holy Spirit.

William Temple used to illustrate the point this way: ‘It is not good giving me a play like Hamlet or King Lear and telling me to write a play like that. Shakespeare could do it; I can’t. And it is not good showing me the life of Jesus and telling me to live a life like that. Jesus could do it; I can’t But if the genius of Shakespeare could come and live in me, then I could write plays like that . And if the Spirit of Jesus could come and live in me, then I could live a life like that. It is not that we should strive to be like Jesus but that He by His Spirit should come and live in us.’”

“For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” Galatians 6:15