“My little children, for whom I labor in birth again
until Christ is formed in you.” “Formed” is from the Greek word morphoo, a
Greek philosophical term referring to the outward expression one gives of his
inmost being, an expression which comes from and is representative of one’s
inner spiritual nature. So this passage
speaks of the change in a saint’s character, becoming conformed to the
character and nature of Christ in actuality, not merely in semblance. This
could be translated “Christ be outwardly expressed from within you.” The verb,
“formed”, is in the aorist tense where the progress or completeness of the
action is a process unspecified by time. And “formed” in the passive voice
which tells us the subject of the verb, Christ, is inactive (i.e., passive) and
is acted upon by someone or something else. At salvation the heart of the
believer becomes the temple... holy of holies, of our Lord, who dwells there in
a passive state. This passivity is defined by the meaning of the verb,
“formed”, so Christ is not inactive in His fellowship with the saint or in
ministering on behalf of the saint as the saint’s Advocate with the Father. But
Jesus is passive in this “forming” process, in manifesting Himself – in
expressing His life and His nature in and through the life of the saint -- for
it is the Holy Spirit’s job to manifest Christ in the life of the believer. The
Holy Spirit is the “someone else” who acts upon Christ to release His nature in
the heart of the believer, releasing the Christ-Life. Jesus said in referring
to the work of the Holy Spirit: “He will glorify me, because he will take what
is mine and declare it to you”, He will take the very DNA of My nature and
release it in and through you. The Apostle Paul speaks likewise of predestined
believers conformed to the image of God’s Son, and transformation that renews
one’s mind: “And those who are
Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If
we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
The practical application of this passage: If the Lord
Jesus is to be visibly manifested in the life of the saint, His nature -- The
Fruit of the Spirit -- must be released through the ministry of the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s ministry requires pliable hearts yielded to the
Lordship of Christ, crucified hearts that put Self to death on the cross to
make a place in our cluttered hearts for a new and better way of life to form.
This is the essence of the Apostle Paul’s declaration: “I have been crucified
with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” Christ is
formed in us through transformation, the Spirit progressively releasing the
nature of Christ within as we progressively make room for His life by
crucifying our Self-Life, what scripture calls our “old man”, our fleshly
carnal nature. This process is Walking in the Spirit. Pliable crucified hearts
have made a place within for the Christ-Life to form and come forth, and, with
passionate determination and singularity of focus, they continue down the road
of transformation till Christ is fully formed in them. There is nothing in
Christendom more important than the continued transformation of the saint’s
heart... until Christ is formed in each of us...
WALKING IN THE SPIRIT…
CONFORMANCE INTO CHRISTLIKENESS
(Gal. 4:19; Jn. 16:14; Gal. 5:16, 22-25;
Eph. 5:9; Gal. 2:20; Rom. 8:29, 12:1-2)
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