Job 25 - Transformation in Salvation

Transformation in Salvation

Today Bildad speaks up again. He has listened to Job talk about God – the God of justice. Though the world seems to be spinning out of control, God is the God of justice. His justice will prevail. When Bildad comes back to Job, he looks at the greatness, the purity and the power of God. His big question is this:

Job 25:4

How then can man be righteous before God? Or how can he be pure who is born of a woman?

If everything else in creation pales in comparison to God, how can a mere mortal man or woman made of flesh from the dust of the earth be made right before God? Back in those days Bildad did not yet see our Redeemer come to the earth – Jesus. They had to believe God just like Abraham. That faith would be credited to them as rightlessness. People had to repent back then just like we do today. Sin is a disease of the heart and only God can heal it. And He did that through the atoning blood and sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ over 2,000 years ago. There is no other way for a man or woman to be saved. There is no other name under heaven given unto men…

Acts 4:8-12

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Heavenly Father:

Thank You for Your word, Your power and Your saving grace! Thank You for Jesus – the Way, the Truth and the Life. By Him alone is a man saved and healed from all his infirmities. Father, I ask You to speak to me and speak through me today as You send forth Your word and heal Your people. I ask You to give us wisdom as we study. Help us to receive what each one of us needs to hear. Give me the utterance to say what You want said, unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh Lord. Thank You in advance Father in Jesus name! Amen.

What Bildad asked Job is the biggest question of all. My paraphrase - “How can a man be pure in God’s sight?” And what exactly does salvation mean? Is it just a ticket to heaven? Or is it much more than that? What does it really mean to be saved and live this life as a child of God? And what about all the things in a man’s soul that causes him to sin in the first place? What about that? I believe that today the Lord wants to answer those questions as well as others. He does not want His people to be in the dark. In fact, He said in His word that what we hear in the dark will be spoken in the light…

Matthew 10:27-31

Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

The Lord is light and in Him we see light. We are highly valuable to Him – much more so than the sun, moon and stars. Think about how many hairs are on a typical human head – OK, some more than others, LOL! God knows each and every one of them. He knows everything about every one of us. He knows where we hurt – why we hurt and how to heal it. Bildad may not have yet realized that in his frailty as a human compared to Almighty God, he was considered a precious gem to the Lord. He created us to love us and have a relationship with Him as we love Him back because of His great goodness.

There is a lot more to a man’s life in Christ than just receiving Jesus as Savior to get into heaven. God wants to do things in us and through us that will have great meaning and purpose. The initial salvation is just the first (and very important!) step to becoming all that God wants us to be. He wants to heal us and that means physically and emotionally. Our regenerated spirits are perfected when the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. So what do we have to do next? Let’s look at the following verse…

Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

If our spirits are perfect, what else is there? A lot my friend, a whole lot! Before we get saved we are conformed to this ways of this world. This is what the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says the word conformed means and it describes it very well…

Made to resemble; reduced to a likeness of; made agreeable to; suited.

Before you and I accepted Jesus we resembled the ways of this world. We looked just like the rest of the lost world, dazed and confused and full of sin and sickness. We were ‘reduced’ to the likeness of them that are perishing. That’s a dismal thought, isn’t it? But it is true. We were well suited to the evil ways of the unsaved heathen and it wasn’t pretty. But the good news is that once we asked Jesus to be our Lord and Savior and the Holy Spirit came to live inside of us, then we were at a new beginning point…

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

From that very moment, everything changed for us. We didn’t look at things the same way. There was an instant change in our point of view before we even took a step further into our new walk with Jesus. Suddenly people we used to despise we loved. People who had hurt us we forgave. Problems that once looked so overwhelming suddenly seemed to be not so big. What used to look like a dim future suddenly became much brighter and filled with hope. 

Hallelujah! When we got with our old friends who were still livin’ like the devil, we felt uncomfortable. We were no longer conformed to them like we once were. All of this happened the minute we got born again and filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Praise His name forever!

I remember that happening to me when I surrendered to the Lord back in 2005. My attitude about a lot of things changed immediately – all of that before I ever stepped into the Bible. I was different and I knew it. I wanted to tell people about Jesus like I never had before. I got saved at 9 years old but I never understood about the things of God and had no teaching of any significance for many, many years after that. But that day in 2005 when I literally fell on my knees and cried out to the Lord, saying, “Oh God, I am a mess, will You fix me?” everything changed. It was like a flash of lightning. The change came suddenly but quietly.

I remember laying down to sleep that night. I really did not know anything had changed in me. But when I got up and just started going about my business, over the next several days I could tell something was different about me. I made a mistake and sinned about a week into it, and I never felt such sorrow over doing something wrong in all my life! I was grieved and wept bitterly. I asked the Lord to forgive me and I made sure I never did that again! It was a defining moment. I was far different than I had ever been.

My conscience was quickened by the power of Holy Spirit and when I did or said something wrong, I could not rest until I did something to make it right. Friends - that is what ‘not being conformed to this world’ means. People who are not saved can sin all day and not think much of it. Their hearts have been darkened and become calloused and hard. A person who closes himself off to the promptings of their conscience long enough can get to a point where they no longer hear it. That is a bad place to be saints. The Holy Spirit speaks to us through our conscience. Many have not been taught this in the world and need to know it.

When we ‘feel’ that sense in our gut about something, it is the Holy Spirit trying to tell us something. I had a lot to learn and still do in my walk with Jesus, but that day when I surrendered I was no longer conformed to the ways of the world. Those old ways instantly became an offense to me. There would be a lot more in the days, months and years to come as we will discuss in a moment that would help me to discontinue to live or look like the rest of the world. It is a process and it does take time for all of us. But a sure sign that one has been saved is that they no longer want to do things like the rest of the lost world.

In our verse in Romans 12:2, there are three components. We have discussed the first part somewhat. I believe we could go on and on about that one piece alone – “be not conformed to the world”, but for the sake of our study today we will move on to the second component. The next phrase in our verse says…

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind

Friends, this is the biggest piece of this scripture because without doing this we can never proceed to the third part. What is “be transformed” to the new Christian? Let’s look at the meaning of the word first…

·     Changed in form or external appearance; metamorphosed; transmuted; renewed.

To be changed can mean on the outside and on the inside. In a new Christian both will happen as they become changed. What is happening on the inside of a person is reflected on the outside. It is like the butterfly that I can’t help but relate to every time I discuss this topic. When they start out in life they are a wormy little caterpillar crawling along the ground and on the branches of trees. They don’t look like much and aren’t all that great to look at unless you are someone who really loves caterpillars. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder – amen.

But when that caterpillar gets wrapped up into his cocoon, changes begin to happen – drastic changes. That little old worm goes into a meltdown and over time it begins to be re-birthed as something that doesn’t resemble its’ old self at all. It is a miracle of God of course! Only He could create such a miraculous thing. Who knows but Him – maybe He created that particular species to be used to teach us what this verse we are looking at today really means! Being wrapped up in God will bring about drastic change in our lives. It is inevitable! It is profound indeed. The first time I heard that story in church after my surrender to Jesus I was in awe of God. 

By taking us from a worldly worm to a beautiful butterfly with colorful wings spread out wide and bringing joy to everyone who encounters it, the Lord shows us that He wants to do the same thing with us as He takes us from infancy in to maturity in our new life in Him. Hallelujah!

How do we get transformed by the renewing of our mind anyway? We have to spend time in the presence of the Lord alone with Him. We need to meet with Him daily to draw close to Him. We should minister to Him and bless His heart for who He is.

We need to love on Him and give Him our unashamed worship and praise from our hearts. After we have spent time loving on Him and glorifying Him, then we need to get quiet and let Him minister to us and speak to our hearts – both through His Spirit and in His word, the Bible.

In doing this the Lord can uncover old ways of thinking and change us to think like He thinks and act like He acts. It is a big job and only He can do that for us. We have no might or power that can cleanse us from old thinking and ways that can compare to the power of the Almighty. Sure – we have our part to play in this process and that is vital to remember. To renew our minds means that we look at things in life through the lens of Holy Spirit and what the Bible says. This is how we learn to approach life in a whole new way.

We can overcome addictions, family battles, difficulties in our work and other relationships. We can overcome financial poverty and be healed of sickness and disease. All of this comes as we spend time with God and in His word. In just the past year alone I stand amazed at the Lord and how He has changed my thinking about so many things. Where religion had taught me falsely about many things, the Holy Spirit has shown me those erroneous ways and what the right way is.

For example, I used to think that to be a Christian meant to be poor. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is much in God’s word that can prove it if a person will take the time to study it. I thought that sickness was something I just had to tolerate while here on the planet. That’s another lie from the pit of hell. I thought it was wrong to have a nice home or drive a nice car or have nice equipment. The devil had me in a lot of bondage. But God is greater than the devil – oh hallelujah!

He has opened my eyes to so many wonderful things so that I can walk into all that He has for me to do for Him while I am here. And that it what He wants to do for you too. He is so good. He wants us to be like Jesus. Yes, that’s right. He wants us to live like our Master. He wants us to talk like the Master and do what the Master did. That’s why He gave us the documentation in the New Testament so we can see what Jesus did and model it by obeying His commands.

Every time we go to church and read the Bible and get in God’s wonderful presence, we are changed more and more. Look at this…

2 Corinthians 4:16

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

Each day in His presence we are getting renewed. That is if we are paying attention to the things of the Spirit and not the things of the flesh. You see, even though we are born again, we still have our flesh to contend with. In reality that is a bigger enemy to us than any devil in hell. Why? Because it is the thing that we face every moment we are alive. The devil isn’t hounding us in our thoughts every minute of every day – but the flesh is always present and it wants to have its own way. That is why we need to renew our thinking so we do not do this…

Romans 13:14

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

Born again on the inside does not mean our flesh won’t still want to have its way. Why do you think so many Christians are still struggling with old habits? It is because they are paying more attention to their flesh than to the Holy Spirit. It is a day by day choice and yes, it is a battle. But it is a battle we can win. How do I know? I have seen great victory over the flesh in my walk with Jesus in many areas. He gives us the victory…

1 Corinthians 15:57

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So to wrap up this section of renewing our mind, we have to get into the presence of the Lord alone with Him and we need to read our Bible every day. Without those two things, we will remain in ‘stinkin’ thinkin’ and our walk with Him will be weak and ineffective. We don’t want that, do we? No way! The last part of this verse is the best. God saves the best for last – hallelujah! Here is the last part of the verse…

Romans 12:2b

that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Let’s look for a moment at the entire verse in the Amplified Classic Bible…

Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

This can be helpful to see it put another way and expounded upon. How can anyone truly know the good, acceptable and perfect will of God? When we spend time with Him and listen to Him in our spirit and in His word, we won’t miss it. He speaks in that still small voice. That’s why it is so important to get alone with Him and get quiet. We cannot hear around all the noise like we discussed earlier this week. God won’t fight for our attention. He will speak in the quiet time when others are not bothering us or vying for our attention. That does not mean He won’t speak to us when we are out and about in the course of our day. He most certainly can and will speak to us at any time throughout our day. But that alone time is where the heart of the matter is revealed. It is where He can disclose His plans for our lives and help us to know exactly what He wants us to be doing. 

When our ears are open and attentive to His voice, we will know exactly what we are supposed to be doing. Any Christian who makes up their mind to be led by Holy Spirit in every single thing they do throughout the day will be smack dab in the middle of God’s perfect will for them. And friends, that is the best and safest place to be. In His perfect will we avoid the devils harm, we avoid sickness and trouble in our finances and in our other affairs. But when we are outside of His perfect will there are no guarantees. Why? Because like the legal system we live by on the earth, there is a legal system in heaven. God set everything in place to be perfectly legal and binding.

When we live by His rules, we reap the benefits. It’s just like here on earth. We obey the authorities and live by the rules set in our lands, then we stay out of jail and get do many wonderful things. But if we disobey the rules we can end up in jail. It’s the same way with kingdom rules. The Bible is full of God’s commands telling us that if we will obey His commands we will live and prosper…

Deuteronomy 28:1-14

“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:

“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

“Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

“Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

“Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

“The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.

“The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

“The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 

The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 

And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Friends, the above verses are God’s perfect will for every one of His children. But how do we know what our specific call is supposed to be? It doesn’t say anything about that in these verses. That’s why we have to spend time with Him – so He can tell us. God has a wonderful plan for each person alive and He won’t keep it a secret, I can assure you! When I first came to Florida and began to get settled in a bit, the Lord began speaking to me all over the place about what my calling was to be. It was so awesome! He would speak through people without them even realizing they were being used by God to say something to me – but I heard it loud and clear! He would show me something in His word that would jump off the page at me. He would speak to my heart - that still small voice.

He sent prophets along my path who prophesied exactly the things I had already heard from the Lord as if to confirm it. The Bible says by the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established. I was in awe of what He was saying to me. The funny thing is that when I started hearing all these things I thought, “OK Lord! Sounds great! Let’s go – I’m ready.” Laugh out loud on that one friends because I was far from ready to step into my calling at that point. I needed a whole lot of training and prep work. I needed healing. He had to ‘tear me down’ and rebuild me as I stayed focused on Him.

I had to be transformed by the renewing of my mind so I could know His perfect will more fully over time as I matured in Him. It is that way for all of us. Look at Moses. He didn’t get to step into his calling until the age of 80. And Joshua and Caleb had to sit around with a bunch of fear filled unbelieving people for 40 years before they could go in and take the land the Lord had told them to go in and possess so long ago. But they never wavered in unbelief. They maintained their faith and they knew God had called them to go possess a new land filled with great things. But they had to wait it out while the unbelievers died off in the desert.

Walking into His perfect will is a daily journey. One that takes a lot of faith, a lot of patience and a great deal of endurance. Like running in a race. We have to stick it out until we reach that finish line. We are not looking to be in His perfect will someday – we want that today, right now. We want to be there every day. It is all part of our individual journey that gets us to the full potential of what He has for us. So we get saved and then He starts changing our thinking from the stinkin’ thinkin’ to the victorious Christ like thinking until finally one day we realize this…

1 Corinthians 2:16

For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Saints, the Lord has such wonderful things in store for us all, but we must be two things – willing and obedient. If we do that we will eat from the best of the land…

Isaiah 1:18-20

“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

To answer Bildad’s question, “How then can a man be justified with God?” That is the answer we all need to know in order to obtain the beginning of our eternal salvation – through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. His sacrifice paid it all and His blood has washed us clean; white as snow. But that is just the beginning. The rest of our time counts very much. Once we are in the family of God we have work to do. We have to ‘clean up our act’ with God’s help so that the new person God is forming doesn’t look at all like the old man or woman we once were. After that we stay in line with what He tells us and we step right into the best of the best that our new lives in Christ has to offer. Isn’t that good news?

Questions:

What was Bildad’s main question to Job?

How does a person get clean in God’s eyes?

Once we get saved, list the three steps that need to take place?

Are you taking the steps necessary to put away stinkin’ thinkin’ and be transformed so you can know God’s perfect will for your life? If not, what is stopping you?

                                        

2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.   

There are three main points to consider from today’s study… 

Saved people need to stop looking like the rest of the world

Christians need to be transformed from old thinking to having the mind of Christ

Listening to God helps us to know His perfect will for our lives

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for taking me from old stinkin’ thinkin’ to a person who has the mind of Christ. Lord, I need to be washed in the water of Your word each day to remove the dirt I pick up along the way – like Jesus showed us when He washed the disciples feet. I ask You to transform my thinking as I bask in Your presence and in Your word with the help of Holy Spirit. Father, if I have any thinking that is not right about anything, I ask You to reveal it to me. Thank You in advance for all that You want to do in and through me as You continue to make me into the beautiful creation that You see me as – the finished product! Glory to Your name forever! In Jesus name! Amen.

What old thinking do you need to throw out of your mind? 

And God Said… You fill in the blanks.

     Revelation 21:5

Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me,

“Write, for these words are true and faithful.”