Absolutes and Alterations

This post is the second in a series titled “Transformation Workbook“.

Everything seems to change so fast these days. Just when we think we have something figured out, like my computer, it changes completely. In this life, God has given us very few things that do not change. Those things or ideas that never change, called absolutes are very important to know. In fact, one of the secrets of life is to discover the absolutes. If we know something that never changes, we can always count on it to be the same. We always know where it will be, what it will do and what it will say. On the other hand, some things are meant to change, like the beliefs we hold and use in our hearts. The content of our beliefs are designed to change as we learn, grow and become more like Christ. It is critical to know what never changes and what is supposed to change and know the difference between them. This workbook will discuss what God wants to change in us and how He has designed these changes to take place.

God does not change and neither does His word. The immutability of His essence and His word gives us two reference points for the changes that He wants to see in us. Again, the heart changes that God desires and the grace methods that He has provided for these changes to occur, is the subject of this study. In this introduction, we will discuss these two absolutes, the issue of change and then as we move into the study will discuss “transformation by the renewing of our minds” as taught in Rom 12:2 and many other passages of scripture.

The first of these two absolutes is the essence of God. The bible tells us that God is immutable and does not change. As an eternally existing Person, God has always existed with His perfect character and status and always will.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.

The Trinity or Godhead as God is called in theology consists of God-Father (GF), God-Son (GS) and God-Holy Spirit (GHS). All three members of the Godhead are co-equal and co-eternal and yet all three have chosen to perform different roles in angelic and human history. GF is in charge of the plan and performs the role of ultimate authority (1Cor 15:24-28). GS executed the plan by incarnating as a man and fulfilling the mission of redeeming fallen man through His sacrificial work on the cross and in His resurrection (Phil 2:6-11). GHS reveals the plan to the lost through evangelism (Jn 16:7-11) and to the saved by leading us into all truth (Jn 16:13). It is the mentoring ministry of GHS, specifically His revealing of truth and His enabling us to change that will be the focus of this study (2Cor 3:17-18).

The fact that GHS is immutable allows us to know that He will always perform His mentoring ministry to church-age believers the same way every time. Every moment of our existence after salvation, we can trust that GHS is doing His job the exact right way. Every time that we look to Him for understanding and wisdom, we know that He will carry out His responsibilities perfectly. His mentoring ministry to us is an absolute that we can count on to be constant and reliable.

The second absolute that we can count on is the word of God. 1Peter 1:24-25 explains that everything in this world will pass away but the word of the Lord remains forever. Every promise and principle that God has given us in His word is true and remains true forever. Jesus explained that even the very letters of the words God used through the human authors are inspired (Mat 5:8). What God has said, we can trust, every time, all the time. His word doesn’t change. Knowing and believing this gives us something stable that we can use as a benchmark.

Finally, those aspects of the human condition that God intends to change are the ideas we hold within our human souls. Our souls and specifically our hearts change everyday and do so by divine design (2Cor 4:16). God made the human heart so that it would grow and so that our ideas would change as we learn and go through all the stages of human development. Simply stated, God designed the human heart to be programmed and to operate on all the ideas that we choose to believe all through our lives. All the ideas that we believe throughout our life are built into a system within our hearts. This belief system is the control mechanism of our thoughts, attitudes, feelings and behaviors. Our belief system is the operating system that controls every inner aspect of our human existence. To control our direction, our values, our attitudes, our feelings and our personal destiny, we must control our beliefs. This is why our enemy, the devil seeks to influence us to believe his lies so that he can control our souls. This also why rejecting his lies and believing God’s truth is what sets us free (Jn 8:32).

This study will discuss how and why the fall of Adam has corrupted our nature and caused the heart of man to be misdirected by false beliefs. We will also study the divine plan and provision for freeing ourselves from the false beliefs of the Old Man that motivate our sinful behavior and for embracing the true beliefs of the New Man in Christ (Eph 4:22-24). These new beliefs are found in the word of God and are the same ideas that Jesus used to live out His perfect 33 years on this earth.

Change, done God’s way is not an easy process. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways are higher than our ways (Isa 55:8-9). The process will expose our weaknesses, our neediness, our helplessness, our flaws/failures, our sinfulness and every other thing we have compulsively repressed and hidden all of our lives. But, with exposure comes awareness, which offers us the opportunity for change and when we choose to change, then GHS creates within us the capacity for life, love and happiness. The process is hard but so worth every tear, every deep sigh, every sleepless night because as it progresses, we become more Like our Hero Jesus and become a blessing to everyone we love and a joy to the Lord Himself. Can’t you just hear Him say, “Well done my good and faithful servant”, “You did good son”, “I am proud to introduce you to my Father”. This is the road so take it and enjoy the Victory.

View all posts in the Transformation Workbook series