Page 110 - GRACE
P. 110
Expressions of Grace
righteousness, whose end will be according to
their works.”
Change by self is external only. Internally, there is no
change. The change is in appearance and not in nature. It is
intended to deceive the public, to mislead those who
observe and those who follow the person. This change has
no divine stamp of approval on it. No matter how men
embrace or celebrate the one who has this type of change,
he is not accepted in the sight of God. Remember, God
looks beyond the outward appearance. He looks on the
heart. Change by self does not impress God at all. If
anything, it draws the ire and wrath of God, because it seeks
to deceive.
iii. Change by God/Grace (Greek – Metamorphousthe,
which is “to transfigure’, a radical change in the
inner man that starts internally, and is not initiated by
self but by the inner working of the Holy Spirit,
something divinely allowed and is at work in the life
of the believer. Read the text again with this
understanding:
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies
of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your
reasonable ser vice. And do not be
[Suschematizoto] this world, but be
[Metamorphousthe] by the renewing of your
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