Already, Not Yet!

On this final day to request a copy of Jerry Bridges’ The Transforming Power of the Gospel, we are ending our excerpts the way he ends his book – with motivation to pursue Christlikeness under grace, but also with the realization that we are still hoping for the day when we will be with Christ for sinless eternity.

In his last chapter, Bridges reiterates God’s clear command throughout Scripture, “Be Holy, for I am Holy.” But he also warns us of being preoccupied with ourselves as he writes:

We All Have a Role to Play

“We must guard against looking inward and becoming preoccupied with our own spiritual transformation. On the evening of His resurrection day, Jesus said to His disciples, ‘As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you’ (John 20:21). Though these words were spoken to His disciples, they are applicable to us today, both corporately as the body of Christ and individually… To be conformed to the image of Christ, then, involves not only transformation of our character but also involvement in Christ’s mission to the world. Just as the moral command to be holy as God is holy applies to all believers, so Jesus’ words…apply to all of us without exception.

“…Every believer has a role to play in carrying out Christ’s Great Commission to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20). Obviously, we are not all to go to other nations or cultures, but we can all partner with those who do go, through our prayers, encouragement and financial support… Whether our function in the body and in the fulfillment of the Great Commission is visible or invisible, all of us have a role to fulfill. To be more conformed to Christ means we take our role just as seriously as we do our character transformation.”

Two Words of Encouragement:

Bridges concludes by encouraging his readers in regards to their spiritual transformation.

1. The Holy Spirit does not show us all of our sin at once, but makes us more sensitive to indwelling sin.
2. As long as we live here on earth we always experience the internal fighting of the flesh and Spirit that Paul talks about in Galatians 5:17.

During this time between Christ’s ascension and His second coming, “there is continual tension between who we are in Christ and what we are in our daily experience. Through our union with Christ, we are already seated with Him in the Heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6), yet we still live in a sin-cursed world with all its difficulties and pain.”

 

Don’t be Discouraged

“What will keep us from becoming discouraged as we see further sin in our lives is the realization that in Christ we already stand holy and blameless before God…Finally, we can look forward to the day when at death we enter into the presence of the Lord and be among ‘the spirits of the righteous made perfect’ (Hebrews 12:23). Beyond that, ‘we know that when he appears we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is’ (1 John 3:2). And then John added, ‘And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure’ (verse 3). May this be true of us!”

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