God Wills for His People to be Christlike

12 Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, 13 and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. 14 But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 (NASB) Read verses 15-18 on the site.

The Holy Spirit and Christ actually indwell each genuine believer. They work within their hearts to transform them into Christ’s likeness. What is involved in this?…

Christ and His Spirit empower Christians to put to death sinful habits replacing them with Christlike behavior patterns that Paul described as the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-26) None of us are capable of walking perfectly this way…not in this fleshly body, but godly patterns of behavior will become more and more predominant flowing from our maturing character.

The fact that our Lord does this for us is momentous. Genuine Christians are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17), however, it also takes the work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to turn us into different people from what we were before God saved us. What is our part? We are to live out what God has wrought in us by expressing in our actions the new life in Christ. This “new life” is made up of a new vision, motivation, devotion, and a sense of direction that conforms unto our Lord’s character. We can do this because His character is actually becoming more and more manifest in those who live a life worthy of their calling they have received. View article →