THE WILL OF GOD

For the saint God’s will can be more easily understood as two wills: First there is God’s primary will common for all His children, the conformation – transformation -- of their nature into the nature of Christ, that  Christ  “might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Second, there is the unique will of God for each saint pertaining to their individual ministry, and the “good works” which God foreordained for them, their Kingdom works. We can see this most clearly in Romans 12:2, (John’s translation): “Brethren, stop assuming a lifestyle that is not representative of your inner spiritual nature, but is patterned after this world.  Change your way of living to express and reflect your inner spiritual nature by the continual renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve in practice God’s will, His good, well-pleasing and complete will.”

Blood bought saints, indwelt by God’s Spirit, have the nature of Christ, His character, virtues, values, and attitudes, deposited within. The Holy Spirit reveals Christ in us -- manifesting His nature from the inside out. Notice Paul is speaking to “brethren”... saints... you and me, in this passage which gives a command followed by a promise. The promise of knowing and experiencing God’s will follows the command to stop conforming to the world’s ways. Mental renewal is the product of our submission to the Lordship of Christ and death to Self... our old carnal nature.  As we crucify our Self-centered life and submit to our Savior as Lord the Holy Spirit begins to release the implanted nature of Christ, replacing Self with His nature – renewing our mind in the process. This is the first and primary will of God, our Christlikeness. 

In mental renewal our mind is progressively transformed into His mind, as we become more and more Christlike: Having the “mind of Christ” is the progressive culmination of God’s transformation process. It is in the process of mental renewal that the Holy Spirit begins to reveal to us our ministry and the works He has predetermined for us – His second will. To be equipped with the nature of Christ and the mind of Christ is what the Apostle Paul meant by his command to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”, to literally clothe one’s Self in Christ. Then we can walk in the will of God as an ongoing revelation. We are enabled to test and approve in practice the will of God -- His good, well-pleasing and complete will for each of us -- as our heart is progressively transformed into His heart, and our mind is progressively transformed into His mind.

CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART AND MIND

“FOR WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP”

(Rom. 12; 1-2, 8:29, 13:14; Eph. 2:10; 1 Cor. 2:16; Gal. 3; 27)