A Compelling Testimony: Maintaining a Disciplined Walk, Christlike Character, and Godly Relationships as God's Servant

Ses s i on 7: F l esh i ng Out a Compe l l i ng Tes t imony : Di sc i p l i n i ng Our Di sc i p l i nes 327

III. Discipline and Maturity

2 Cor. 3.17-18 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. [18] And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Regeneration is birth; sanctification is growth. In regeneration, God implants desires that were not there before: desire for God, for holiness, and for the hallowing and glorifying of God’s name in this world; desire to pray, worship, love, serve, honor, and please God; desire to show love and bring benefit to others. In sanctification, the Holy Spirit “works in you to will and to act” according to God’s purpose; what he does is prompt you to “work out your salvation” (i.e., express it in action) by fulfilling these new desires (Phil. 2.12-13). Christians become increasingly Christlike as the moral profile of Jesus (the “fruit of the Spirit”) is progressively formed in them (2 Cor. 3.18; Gal. 4.19; 5.22-25). Paul’s use of glory in 2 Corinthians 3.18 shows that for him sanctification of character is glorification begun. Then the physical transformation that gives us a body like Christ’s, one that will match our totally transformed character and be a perfect means of expressing it, will be glorification completed (Phil. 3.20-21; 1 Cor. 15.49-53). ~ J. I. Packer. Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs . (electronic ed.). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1995.

A. The Call to Christlikeness

1. Christ is our Goal and Source.

a. God’s will is to conform his people into the image of Christ, Rom. 8.28-29 – And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. [29] For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. b. When Christ returns, we will be transformed into his very likeness, 1 John 3.1-2 – See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. [2] Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when