Gold refined in fire’ is Christformation in you

‘Gold refined in fire’ is Christformation in you.
(Christformation in you Ministries)

Introduction

Revelation 3:17-20 (New International Version)

You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

The verses above speak of Christformation in us.

“I counsel you to buy gold refined in the fire”, the Lord Jesus Christ himself says to His chosen ones. He says, come and buy it from me.

As it has been said before, salvation is free in Christ when you believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is your Lord,Redeemer, Savior and King of your life. But, Christformation happens in you with a price to be paid by you. You have to buy Christformation in you by paying the price after you have agreed to count the cost of throwing off everything that hinders your faith in Christ and be ready to be refined like gold in the fire of testing and trials with much tribulation.

You may ask; when did I agree to that? Didn’t you say that you will ‘carry your cross daily and follow Him’ from the start of your walk with Him or did some stranger or some strange teaching convince you that you don’t have to suffer anymore and all will be ‘rosy’ for you from now on.

The Lord Jesus Christ paid every price to purchase you and me to redeem us from the grip of the evil right of the Devil over our life that started when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and choose Satan’s (The devil) ways above God’s. It is our turn now as children of the Last Adam (The Lord Jesus Christ) now to pay the price as firstfruits to buy Christformation in us no matter how difficult it is going to be.

That’s what ‘gold refined in fire’ means- Christformation in you through much refining transforming your soul and later your body. Remember, you have to put to death the sinful nature of the devil in you and that is going to be very difficult to do. Did anyone warn you, when you first believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, that you would have to give up that sinful nature of the devil in you?

You will go through much tribulation, suffering, rejection, pain, hurts, insults, ridiculing, humiliation, mocking, jeering, hatred, ostracizing, sometimes even physical harm and death for Christformation in you. This is what you call ‘gold refined in fire’. Are you willing to go through all these as long as the sinful nature of the devil is put to death in you, or, will you opt to run away from all these testing of your faith instead and seek to please your sinful nature which is not put to death yet?

The ‘rich’ that the Lord Jesus Christ said is different from the rich the world talks about twenty-four hours in a day.

You will become rich with Christformation in you

Psalm 19:7-11 (New International Version)

7 The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure
and altogether righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.
11 By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

The devil and the children of the devil will tell you that “you can be rich in this world” but here the Lord Jesus Christ is saying “you can be rich” with full Christformation in you. Choose you this day whose voice you would obey. Look at the rewards; one is eternal and the other temporal.

Are you being tempted of the devil to be rich in this world? It’s not surprising; The Lord Jesus Christ himself was tempted of the devil with this temptation “I will give you all these things only if you will bow down to me and serve me”, the devil tempted Christ with these words.

Christ our Lord said “no” to the devil. What about you? Don’t you know that the riches of this world will corrupt you even more? Satan will hold you in its grip with this greed in you. He will whisper to you that your satisfaction comes from this world and not in Christ. The truth is your true and eternal satisfaction comes from Christ and not this world. The perfect law was fulfilled only in Him; the righteous precepts of the Lord were revealed through him; the commandments of the Lord were obeyed only by Him; and He showed us what the fear of the Lord is. He is purer than gold that is tested in fire.

Just like the devil is calling out to you to be a slave of wickedness to him all your life with greed and more greed, while you’re ignorantly helping the devil destroy you and others around you so that they do not become saved in Christ and have successful Christformation in them.

This is what the devil wants. He wants to see us destroyed eternally without Christ being formed in us. So, he will seek to have control over your life. The yoke to hold you is the sinful nature that was sown in you through Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He seeks to hold you in its grip with that yoke and not let you go that easily. We must trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to lead us to Christ for true deliverance from that destructive sinful nature. Christ will circumcise the sinful nature away from us through his Spirit in us.

It’s not going to be that easy unless you surrender fully to the power of the Holy Spirit in you to bring about full Christformation in you.

The Lord Jesus Christ said the riches of this world have made you proud and arrogant. You say, “I am rich, I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing”. Christ says to you, “you have become blind and naked but you do not know it”. Your pride has brought about your fall.

You have fallen to the deception of the devil that holds you to continue seeking riches of this world above the riches in Christ. The riches in Christ are the riches you have obtain through full Christformation in you. But, before that happens you would have to come humbly to him and buy it from him. Buy what? Yes, buy Christformation in you.

Matthew 11:29 (New International Version)

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
“Take my yoke upon you”, which means, “be my slave of righteousness instead”. ‘My yoke’ is the Holy Spirit in you. Its burden is light and Christformation in you will be easy. Before you become a slave of righteousness of Christ, you will have to learn from Him. Learn what?
“Learn from me” Christ said. ‘Learn from me’ is the same as “come, buy from me” as in Revelation chapter 3.

“Learn and buy” what? Yes, buy that “rest for your souls”. Your soul will not come to that true rest in Christ without Christformation in you.
The more the Christformation in you, the more the true rest of God fills and transforms your soul. Your soul will not rest until there is true transformation coming from Christformation in you. We can only come to this state of true rest of God by learning from Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ says that it involves obedience to the Holy Spirit in you just like He is gentle and humble in heart to obey the Holy Spirit and His Father in heaven.

The Holy Spirit will bring into us that nature of Christ. Humility, gentleness are sown into us by the Holy Spirit when we continue obeying Him, no matter how difficult it is. These riches of Christ fill our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit only when we are willing to pay the price for Christformation in us. This is ‘’gold refined in fire’. The fruit of the Holy Spirit will fill us through Christformation in us because the fruit is the divine nature of Christ sown in us through Christformation.

The Holy Spirit is the fire that burns up and removes the chaff and fills us with full Christformation in us when we yield fully to Him.

The divine nature of Christ formed in us with the absence of the sinful nature of the devil is ‘gold refined in fire’. This will be a trying process within us. The battle will be there continuously between the two. Either you will obey the Holy Spirit or the sinful nature that is not put to death in you yet. Full Christformation happens only when the sinful nature is fully put to death in us. This is what it means to be an “overcomer in Christ”. We are more than overcomers in Christ if we willingly obey the Holy Spirit in us. This is what it means to “sow into the Spirit of God in you”.

As long as Christformation is not happening in you, you are poor and wretched in the eyes of God. You may be rich and have enough of everything in this world but you will be pitiful, blind, poor and naked in the eyes of Christ. You will be in want of the things of God.

You cannot have both, just as you cannot have both the divine nature of Christ and the sinful nature of the devil in you living happily together. There is war daily. One of the two has to die in that battle. You must put to death the sinful nature in you if you want full Christformation in you. It must be the love of Christ that makes us want to obey the Holy Spirit. True obedience is out of the love of Christ sown in us. This is the eternal love of God the Father in us. Christ rebukes and disciplines those whom He loves.

With full Christformation in you, you can become rich with the things of God and His Christ. You will have ‘white clothes to wear’. White clothes are full Christformation in you. You will appear “shameful and naked” without full Christformation in you. Full Christformation in you will also put the “salve into your eyes” so that you can face Christ on that Day. You will truly be able to see God as He is.

“If you will open the door of your heart for me to come in then I will come in and eat with you and you with me”. Only if you allow Christformation in you, it will happen. If not, you will stand shameful and naked before Him. Obedience is important when you hear Him “knock on the door of your heart”. If you want to allow Him into you for full Christformation, you must first of all be able to hear His voice. To hear His voice you must listen to the Holy Spirit in you. All the things of Christ we obtain by the Holy Spirit in us through our love, communion and obedience to Him.

That “eating with him and him with you” is the communion we will have through the Holy Spirit in our born again spirit. There is active communion with Christ during Christformation in us through the Holy Spirit. That’s when we realize that we are “seated with him in the heavenlies” though we are on earth.

Christformation must take place in you without any hindrance if you do not want to look “pitiful” like a beggar in God’s eyes. This will be your clothing that you ‘worked out’ diligently with fear and trembling in Christ, while on earth.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (New International Version)

For, our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For, what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Stand the test for full Christformation in you

The Holy Spirit will shield you faithfully when you go through strict disciplining from God to burn away the sinful nature of the devil in you. The Holy Spirit will assist you with full Christformation in you.

The refining process might be ‘painful’, for every form of disciplining will be painful. But, the Holy Spirit will protect and guide you gently. Christ our Lord rebukes and disciplines whom He loves

1 Peter 1:3-7 (New International Version)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Full Christformation in you cannot happen without your faith put into action while on earth. Faith when put into action produces full Christformation in you that will prove the genuineness of your faith in Christ. This pure faith in Christ is ‘purer than gold’ when tested to produce Christformation in you. The end-result of Christ being fully formed in you will be ‘purer than any gold’. But, at the moment this ‘’gold’ has to be tested in you to prove if it is genuine.

Ordinary gold will perish when tested with fire but not this special ‘gold tested in fire’ which is Christformation in you. Heaven and earth will pass away but this Word that has filled this obedient born again spirit will not perish. It will stand through the final test for all mankind.

Genuine Christformation in you will become your inheritance in Christ that will not perish, spoil or fade. It will be kept at God’s throne that will come and clothe us on that day of Christ.

Let’s keep our eyes and hearts fixed on these things of Christ our Lord that do not perish. Let us not set our hearts and minds away to anything temporary but let us seek the eternal things of Christ that remains forever and ever. We will find the true rest of God for our souls if we do this or else we will be going in circles like a restless wanderer in this world. We rightfully belong to Christ and Christ must be formed in us fully.

Gold refined in fire is full Christformation in you.

Full Christformation in You will be revealed with fire

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (New International Version)

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

If you want to escape the fire, Christ must be formed in you fully. You will have something ‘purer than gold’ that will escape being burnt up.

Christformation in you is purer than gold but if full Christformation is not formed in you than certain parts of you that yielded to the sinful nature will be burnt up. You will be saved but only as one having a narrow escape from a raging fire.
The foundation is Christ our Lord and what you allow to be built on that foundation by the power of the Holy Spirit is Christformation in you.

Full Christformation would mean you have obeyed the Holy Spirit fully even if it meant giving up the pleasures of this world, while everyone is still indulging in it. You might have felt or still feel lonely in your walk with the Lord because not many would want to pay the price for full Christformation, but you persisted on and were found faithful to the Lord. This is what it means to be called, chosen and found faithful by the Lord, in spite of the consequences you have to patiently endure for choosing that narrow path.

The very fact that the apostle Paul mentions that other materials could have been laid on the foundation to build that house like silver, wood and hay means that the choice is still yours. As we know, these materials are inferior in quality than gold and will not stand the heat of that fire. It will be burnt up. If you have chosen to build on that foundation of Christ with hay, that would mean you have wasted all your sowing and your building will be in vain.

Anything short of Christformation in you will be burnt up. Only when Christ is formed in us we will be able to stand that test. What more if. Christ is fully formed in us. We will be fully Christ’s and nothing will be burnt up.

Conclusion

Christ’s counsel for us is to buy gold tried in fire is for full Christformation in us with the prize of giving up our lives fully for Him and the kingdom of God in you. For only that will remain for eternity in us.

We must actively sow into our born again spirit with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Our faith in Christ will be tested with fire and what remains will be proven genuine. We must act out our faith with obedience to the Holy Spirit who guides us to full Christformation in us. We should remain obedient to Him in all of our circumstances of walk in Christ and stand through the test of fire.

No matter what happens we must remain and go through the many tests of our faith in Christ our Lord. Our goal must be full Christformation in us fully assisted by the indispensible help of the Holy Spirit in us. We will be a pleasing sight to our Heavenly Father with Christ fully formed in us. We will become their eternal dwelling!

If we try to save the sinful nature that pleases self above God, then we will lose full Christformation in us.

Written by Ronald K.Pillai

Christformation is the ‘White-Stone Pearl’ in you.

Christformation In You Ministries

Christformation is the ‘White-Stone Pearl’ in you.

Introduction

Matthew 13:44-46 (New International Version)

Parable of the Pearl

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

Wikipedia describes a pearl as such:

“A pearl is a hard, roundish object produced within the soft tissue specifically the mantle of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of mollusks, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes of pearls (baroque pearls) occur.

The finest quality natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries, and because of this, the word pearl became a metaphor for something very rare, very fine, very admirable and very valuable.
Almost any shelled mollusk can, by natural processes, produce some kind of "pearl" when an irritating microscopic object becomes trapped within the mollusk's mantle folds, but virtually none of these pearls are valued as gemstones”.

Christformation is very much like a pearl found in an oyster. An oyster is hidden away deep in the seas. Likewise, Christformation is hidden away in the depths of our born again spirit. The forming of Christ in us is going on secretly within us, while we still have life on this earth, like the pearl. Do you see why we need the Holy Spirit in us so badly? He helps us in Christ being formed within us in the depths of our born again spirit where no one could go or reach.

Wikipedia further explains about the physical properties of the pearls in detail.

“The unique luster of pearls depends upon the reflection, refraction, and diffraction of light from the translucent layers. The thinner and more numerous the layers in the pearl are the finer the luster. The iridescence that pearls display is caused by the overlapping of successive layers, which breaks up light falling on the surface. In addition, pearls (especially cultured freshwater pearls) can be dyed yellow, green, blue, brown, pink, purple, or black”.

Fresh water and Salt-water pearls

“Freshwater and saltwater pearls may sometimes look quite similar, but they come from very different sources.
Natural freshwater pearls form in various species of freshwater mussels, family ‘Unionidae’, which live in lakes, rivers, ponds and other bodies of fresh water. These freshwater pearl mussels occur not only in hotter climates, but also in colder more temperate areas such as Scotland: see the freshwater pearl mussel. However, most freshwater cultured pearls sold today come from China. Saltwater pearls grow within pearl oysters, family ‘Pteriidae’, which live in oceans. Saltwater pearl oysters are usually cultivated in protected lagoons or volcanic atolls”.

We see that natural pearls have distinct physical properties as compared to cultured ones. That is why we say that Christformation is distinct and cannot be counterfeited. It will show up with end-results that will be distinct from the counterfeit.

‘Buy’ Christformation with a Price

In the ‘Parable of the Pearl, when we have found that valuable pearl we will have to “sell everything away and buy” that highly valued pearl. What does that mean?
When we have known Christ and are born again now, we must be ready to give up all of the sinful nature, in order for Christ to be formed in us fully. There is a price to pay for full-Christformation in us.

Luke 14:33 (New International Version)

In the same way, any of you who do not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

In order for full-Christformation to happen in us, we must give-up everything that hinders us from gaining Christ fully. There is a price to pay. You will have to count the cost first on what you want to hold-on to or give-up.

If you want to follow Christ to full formation of him in you, you must deny yourself of pleasing your sinful nature in you. You must pick-up the cross or be filled with the suffering nature of Christ to resist sin and Satan’s sinful nature in you. Put it to death on that cross of Christ you carry daily and then follow the Holy Spirit’s leading to full- Christformation in you.

The formation of Christ is like the formation of the pearl in that least attractive shell that hides it. The pearl is formed out of its resistance to the “irritating microscopic object”. Christformation became necessary in the Garden of Eden when Satan deceived Adam and Eve and sowed his evil sinful nature into them. God had to send them out of that Garden to prepare the way for full-Christformation to happen in them by way of revealing who that ‘Tree of Life’ in that Garden was. If we choose to eat the ‘fruit’ of Him, we will have the divine nature of Christ formed in us continuously until Christ is fully formed in us.

This need came about out of Adam and Eve’s disobedience but because of Christ’s obedience to the Heavenly Father, even to the point of death on the Cross of Calvary, this atonement has worked out a way for us to full-Christformation in us. We who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ can now eat from the ‘Tree of Life’ daily and be filled with Him. This will please the Heavenly Father for this is His eternal will for us that everyone who believes in His only begotten Son whom He had sent as our Redeemer and Savior will become fully like Him in His divine nature. We must ‘eat and drink’ of Him to be filled with Him.

“Freshwater and saltwater pearls may sometimes look quite similar, but they come from very different sources”. This is what Wikipedia says of pearls formed from different sources that look almost the same.

Let’s look at the word of God to see what is written about this:

James 3:9-11 (New International Version)

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?

“Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?”

The answer is a “No”. The source where it flows from will decide the outcome of the pearl that is formed inside.

Christformation in us will be decided by the source of that formation in us, and that is Christ himself. The Holy Spirit is that overflowing streams of Living Water in us. He brings full Christformation in us when we fully obey His leading in us.
All counterfeits will be recognized by Christ (even if it is dyed) at the end of that race of Christformation in us. Who is the source of our lives today? Christ or Satan? The same question God had asked Adam and Eve to choose in the Garden of Eden. They willingly out of their own disobedience chose Satan. The choice was about who will rule them. What about you and me today? Whom do we choose to be our source of Life? If you choose Christ you will have eternal life and if you willingly choose Satan you will have eternal death, like him. Choose the One on which you wish to spend all your strength and might on. Which one do you wish to ‘buy’? Which one will you cherish and which one will you give up? The consequence of choosing either one will leave you with eternal results in the end.

Who is your Source, Christ or Satan?

Like the valuable pearl, full-Christformation is rare and valuable. It takes a life time to form to its individual rarity and value. We have to make every effort to enter through that narrow door.

Luke 13:24-30 (New International Version)

He said to them, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.'

"But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'
"Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.'
"But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!'

"There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last." This last feast is for feasting on Christ for what’s lacking in them".

‘Making every effort’ is the same as “working out your salvation with fear and trembling”. The reason the ‘door will be closed’ on some will be their continual sinning even when warned? Working out our salvation with fear and trembling is obeying God’s word.

If we just sit down to hear God’s word and not obey it, we are not working out our salvation with fear and trembling. Full Christformation in us happens only when we fully obey His word.

Isaiah 66:2 (New International Version)

Has not my hand made all these things,
and so they came into being? declares the LORD.

"This is the one I esteem he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.

WORD became flesh and now is the time for all flesh that obeys Him with fear and trembling to become WORD. This can only happen through full Christformation in us.
Like the pearl formation. Christformation is within our born again spirit and will not be judged by what we did outwardly only but by our motives, desires, intentions and thoughts.

"Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets”. For this, Christ will say, "But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. “Get away from me, all you evildoers!”

‘The Pearl’ will show in the end what was formed in it. If it was formed naturally it will produce a natural pearl. If a cultured pearl, it will produce an imitation pearl that looks the same outwardly but in content formation will not withstand the tests of the deep seas. It will be recognized as something that is just an imitation with not much value in it. The source of the formation was different and therefore the pearl outcome will be different.

The true Source (Christ our Lord) will not recognize the imitation pearl because it never had its source through Him and He will say, “I don’t know you and where you come from”. IF we continually do evil, even though we confess or profess the name of Jesus, then our source has never been Christ. Our source should have come from the divine nature of Christ brought to us by the Holy Spirit in us then we will not continue sinning.

If the source has been the Devil (Satan) through the sinful nature in us then we will continue to do evil on earth even when warned.
Before the gnashing of teeth comes eternally on you, it will be good for you to repent and turn away from that false source (The Devil) now.

Conclusion

The pearl is the rounded white stone that means ‘fullness’ just as ‘full- Christformation’ is the new name for the ‘white stone’ being formed in us now.
Christformation is the process where the ‘pearl’ named as full-Christformation is being formed. The source who is Christ himself will decide Christformation in us with the help of the Holy Spirit here on earth. We are being made valuable in God the Father’s eyes with eternal value through the full formation of Christ His beloved Son in us.

We will become the eternal dwelling of God through Christ being formed in us. Precious stones are used in the book of Revelation to describe the many characters of Christ in us. God the Father desires to see the many characters of Christ formed in us fully. When this is completed we will become their eternal dwelling.

Revelation 21:19-27 (Version New International)

The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

We will become the dwelling of God through Christ His beloved Son. This is the promise we have from Christ our Lord. Full Christformation will happen only in those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Who are those in whom full Christformation will happen?

John 14:23 (New International Version)

Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him".

Those who obey His teaching will have their names written in the Lamb’s book of life. Who are those who will obey His teaching given by the Holy Spirit in us? Those who love Him will obey His teaching. IF you love Him you will keep his commandments and if you don’t love Him you will not keep his commandments no matter how much you are forced to.

The ‘Pearl’ has a love relationship with the Source of Everything on earth, in heaven and beneath the earth. That’s how the pearl becomes a valuable Jewel, where the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit will make their home in forever and ever as in Revelations 21:19- 27.
Written by Ronald K.Pillai

Running the race of Christformation

Christformation In You Ministries

Running the Race of Christformation

Introduction

Hebrews 12:1-4 (New International Version)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

We often hear of the phrase ‘running the race’. Why was this phrase often used. What ‘race’ is this? Why race? Why not a slow jog, brisk walking or slow walk?

The one same answer to all these questions above is that the race has already been ‘marked out’ for us by the Lord, the Author and the Perfecter of our race of faith..

According to Hebrews chapter 12 verses 1-4, we see the requirements of our God in this race marked out for us. We need perseverance on our part to run this race or else we will fail.

Cloud of Witnesses

There is always a crowd invited to watch or witness the running of a race. The crowd is for the cheering, wooing, clapping and encouraging of all participants of that race

In this race marked out for us by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself we have a ‘cloud of witnesses’ too. What is this cloud of witnesses? Rather, who are they? Why are we being surrounded by these witnesses? What are they watching for? Let’s look at the verses below in chapter 11 of Hebrews.

Hebrews 11:32-40 (New International Version)

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect

“God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect” Hebrews 11: 40

What is that which ‘God had planned better for us’? As new covenant believers what is better for us than old covenant believers ? The marked difference between the Old and the New Testament believers is that in the Old Testament, all of God’s people then were judged by their physical obedience to God, whereas the New Testament Christians by our spiritual obedience to the Holy Spirit.
To explain it further, in the Old Testament times there were the ceremonial laws, physical laws such as circumcision, bodily cleanliness laws, priesthood laws, physical structure laws for the tabernacle of Moses and the temple building, laws related to the ark of the covenant which they had to strictly follow or face the death penalty by stoning.

In contrast to the New Testament times today, we will not be judged by our physical obedience but by our spiritual obedience to the Holy Spirit our Helper whom the Father has sent through His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Laws of God are written in our new hearts, in our new born again spirit. The Holy Spirit will remind us of these truths and convict us of three important things in our heart and renewed mind. He will convict us of the sins we commit from our sinful nature that will defile us if we yield to that specific temptation.He will urge us to put to death the sinful nature within us. The second important thing He will convict us about is the righteousness of Christ that needs to fill our lives all the time. The third thing that He will convict us about is where we stand in God eyes through Christ and reminds us that Satan stands condemned before God eternally with all his fallen angels. We will suffer the same punishment eternally, if we disobey His constant leading in us.

Noah was given specific measurements for the Ark he was told to build. Disobedience to that would have cost him his own life and the life of the seven others with him in that Ark. Moses was similarly given specific items to build the Tabernacle with. The physical and tiresome journey from out of Egypt into the land of Canaan made the Israelites disobey some of God’s commandments. They were punished with physical death. They were required to obey God physically.

In the New Testament, we are required to obey the Holy Spirit who leads us to full Christformation in us. In the Old Testament, those who strictly obeyed God’s commandments with their physical obedience had Christ formed in them. Those who did not obey died or were destroyed along the way.

You may ask how Christ can be formed in those who did not meet or experience Christ themselves as we have done. The answer to that is, as they obeyed and met the requirements of God with pysical obedience, for example, the circumcision, Christ got formed in them.

All the requirements of the Old Testament pointed to Christ who was to be revealed soon to the world, The Seven feast of the Lord, the articles in the Tabernacle of Moses, the priesthood garments, the Ark of the Covenant, the ceremonial laws, the physical journey from Egypt to Canaan were all Christformation in them whenever or wherever they obeyed.

Peter 1:10-12 (New International Version)

Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

Today, if we obey the Holy Spirit in us alone (who leads us to all truth), Christ gets formed in us.

If that was the case, why is the ‘cloud of witnesses’ watching how we run the race marked out for us?

This is so because we have taken over the ‘baton’ from them and are running towards the finishing line. They are watching and cheering us on so that we will finish our race with much perseverance till the end, a race which they themselves began and would like it completed with full Christformation in all of us. They lived to please the Author of their faith during their times and are waiting eagerly to witness the Perfecter of our faith bring full Christformation in us into completion.

Let’s study these verses carefully that speaks of the physical and spiritual differences.

1 Corinthians 15:40-58 (New International Version)
There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.
I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, for we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:
"Death has been swallowed up in victory."
"Where, O death is your victory?
Where, O death is your sting?"[The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain”.
Perseverance to run the race till the end is required, but first, before we ‘run the race’ we need to do something, without which, we will fail.

Throw off Everything that Hinders

In order for us to run with perseverance and ‘win’ or ‘gain’ the crowns offered to each triumphant and more-than-an-overcomer coveted ‘prize’, we need to throw off everything that hinders full- Christformation in us. First, what are these crowns, if they are not full- Christformation in us?
Aren’t these crowns called crowns of righteousness, eternal life in Christ, salvation, joy or glory found only in Christ? Don’t all these crowns speak of full–Christformation in us? Isn’t the righteousness of Christ supposed to be formed in us fully? Doesn’t the eternal life of Christ form in us? Don’t we have to work out salvation with fear and trembling to gain Christ fully in us? Or else, why do we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, if not for full-Christformation in us.

What exactly is it that we need to ‘throw off’? What is this ‘everything’ that hinders? Hinders What?

‘Everything’ that is in our sinful nature which has been sown in us by Satan through Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we need to throw off. Why do we need to throw off the sinful nature? The sole reason is that, full-Christformation in us will be hindered if it’s not ‘thrown off’. We have to overcome all the power of the enemy in order for full Christformation in us.

How do we throw off the sinful nature from us? Is it possible to throw off the sinful nature from us? Yes, it’s possible. In the Old Testament, there were two kinds of goat offerings, one is to be killed and offered on the Altar of burnt offering and the other to be laid on with hands by the priest laying all the sins of the people of God on it and be freed into the wilderness without return. This will symbolize full salvation for them.

These two goats symbolized the forgiveness and the removal of the sinful nature from us through Christ’s death on the Cross. Goats symbolize sins in us. The Lord Jesus Christ had no sin in himself. He came to take upon himself our sins. Just as the first goat was offered on the altar with all its blood, Christ the perfect Lamb of God also shed his blood and died on the cross at Calvary. All the remaining flesh of the goat was then burnt on the altar to be the burnt offering. Christ died on the cross and his flesh was buried for three days in his grave. This Altar of Burnt -Offering symbolized the forgiveness of our sins through the atonement work of Christ on the cross of Calvary. The other goat will now be laid with all the sins of God’s chosen people when the priest lays his hands on the head of the goat. The goat will become the ‘scape-goat’ and be released into the wilderness without return. This will be the second part of our salvation.

Our sinful nature will be removed far away with no return only if we choose to ‘throw it off’ from us. If we don’t resent it with all our might but cherish even some part of the sinful nature to remain in us, the sinful nature will not be removed from us. With the remaining of some part of the sinful nature, full Christformation will be hindered in us. The choice or decision is still yours but the consequences of retaining the sinful nature will be eternal embarrassment, shame and disgrace because you might have the life in you but the righteousness of Christ will be conspicuously lacking because you did not want to let go off the sinful nature of Satan when the opportunity was given to you. You may appear poorly dressed for eternity revealing some of your ‘nakedness’.

Obedience to the Holy Spirit in us is very important to the running of the race of Christformation. If we do not listen or obey Him at this point of time, we will be deceived easily. We must be led by the Holy Spirit and not by any flesh, let alone our own flesh. Don’t ‘gamble’ your life away. It may cost you your eternity in Christ and only you would have to suffer the consequences by yourself.
The apostle Paul says it this way in his epistle to the Ephesians. “Put off you old self”. It’s the same as saying “throw off everything that hinders”.

Ephesians 4:22-24 (New International Version)

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

To “Put off your old self” is to let your sinful nature go from you with no return and not hold it back, like the scapegoat as in the Old Testament times. The sinful nature will corrupt you if it continues to remain in you. Corruption of the sinful nature in you will give no place for full-Christformation in you. It will hinder full Christformation in you.

Remember always, the race we are called to run is the race of full Christformation in us. Anything that hinders full Christformation, you are required to throw it off from you. The other corresponding exhortation Paul gives to this body of believers is, “put on the new self”. The new self is the new creation in us. The new creation is full-Christformation in us. Without Christ being formed in us, how can we be like God in true righteousness and holiness? There is no other way. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man goes to the Heavenly Father except by Christ being formed in him.

Just how do we ‘throw off everything that hinders’ or ‘put off the old self’ which refers to the same thing?
Yes, the apostle Paul once again touches on this subject in his epistles to the Colossians. Here it is.

Colossians 3:5-10 (New International Version)

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry? Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

This time the apostle Paul tells them to “Put to death” He urged them to ‘put to death everything that belongs to their earthly nature’. The phrase ‘earthly nature’ is synonym to the phrase ‘sinful nature’. Any reference to ‘earthly’ in the word of God is attached to the Devil (Satan).This earth is Satan’s temporary ‘home’ before his eternal annihilation. He did not rightfully inherit it but was “thrown down to this earth like lightning” because of His sinful pride, the Lord Jesus told us so.
The verses above in Colossians say, “...The wrath of God is coming”. Why is it coming? It is coming on those who cherish this sinful nature of Satan in them. The sins that come from the sinful nature of Satan are found in these verses there specifically. These are the sins that hinder Christformation in us. Let’s remove it from ourselves willingly.

“Being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” is Christformation and it all happens in the new born again spirit in you. That’s your new self in Christ. Christ must be fully formed in your new self.

Run the Race with Perseverance

2 Timothy 2:5 (New International Version)
Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules.

Many of us do not know why we are in a race and are in the dark as to what kind of race we are running. We are in a race because a race involves strict self discipline. It’s when we lack self discipline that God comes into our life with His own disciplining of us. This discipline is necessary to align us back to God’s ways after we had lived the way of sin for a long time. Though we have a born again spirit within us, the sinful nature is still there waiting for us to ‘put it to death’ willingly.

Hebrews 12:7-13 (New International Version)

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Running the race of Christformation is an ongoing race and the ‘crowns’ or prize of that race you will ‘win’ or gain is full Christformation in us. It will require a lot of perseverance from us. Each of the crowns is actually a part of Christ’s divine nature and when you have attained all the ‘crowns’, you would have gained Christ fully. Full Christformation would have happened in you. But, only with perseverance you could successfully finish the race and ‘win’ the ‘crowns’ of His divine nature.

Perseverance is the strength you would need to run this race of Christformation. Why perseverance? What is perseverance? How do we get this perseverance? How does this strength come to us?

You will be surprised to note that suffering actually produces perseverance. That would mean perseverance is a product of suffering.

Suffering is a fearsome thing for many. Instead, many choose worldly pleasure because they fear suffering. The cross of Christ is a symbol of suffering. Some preachers, in order to retain membership and loyalty to themselves and their organizations have even gone further to preach and teach against suffering. They have resorted to the standards of this world and would prefer preaching and teaching about how their members could avoid suffering.

The Lord Jesus Christ was a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering while on earth. He had to suffer to bear our iniquities. Well, He could have instead just lived comfortably and taught his disciples on secrets of success on how to live a comfortable life too, on earth. He did not.

Isaiah 53:3 (New International Version)

He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

He taught his disciples that suffering produces perseverance. He persevered till the end and ‘won’. When the disciples could not take the sufferings anymore they left Him and went back to fishing which was the only means of earning an income for them. For most of them, their livelihood was fishing.

The Lord Jesus Christ suffered shame, humiliation, rejection, mockery, poverty, physical lack, oppression, hunger, thirst, pain, injustices, cruelty, physical and emotional abuse, psychological tortures and pressures, unjustified hatred, verbal insults, unjust punishment, false- accusations, unfairness, persecution, threats, opposition, being alone and forsaken, being without a permanent shelter,the death penalty although not guilty and the list goes on.

Isaiah 53:10 (New International Version)

Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

His disciples, except for Judas Iscariot suffered almost similarly for their faith in Christ. The apostle Paul suffered much for his faith in Christ our Lord. Similarly, the Old Testament patriarchs, prophets, priests, judges, leaders, kings, and the people of God in general suffered too. One such person was Job. He was rewarded for his perseverance or should we say the sufferings in Job’s life brought out the perseverance in him? God allows suffering because suffering produces perseverance. But what are we going to do with this perseverance after we have gained it. Well, we can use it to defeat Satan (the Devil). The Devil does not have perseverance.How do we know that? Just take a glimpse at those who do not belong to Christ and you will know that Satan does not have perseverance. Why do Satan’s children fight among themselves and destroy each other? It’s because they lack perseverance. They cannot take the test. They are only accustomed to living comfortable lives which they acquire by ‘hook or by crook’. If they cannot get their way, they fight and quarrel. Remember, the once ‘Lucifer’ became the ‘Deceiver’ because he wanted his way with God. That was how he was thrown to this earth.

Perseverance is keeping your eyes, thoughts, motives, intentions, desires, hope, trust and love on the Author and the Perfecter of our faith, who is, Jesus Christ the Son of God and our Lord and Savior.

Conclusion

We are running the last lap of the race of Christformation. Please do not be mistaken here! We are not running the race for Christformation but we are running the race of Christformation. What is the difference between the two?

When we say we are running the race of Christformation, it speaks about the race we are running now. Whereas when we say the other (for Christformation), it only speaks about the purpose of our running. We don’t run for the purpose of Christformation but we run the Christformation race for full Christformation in us. In this race, we will overcome all the power of the enemy in our life along the way, just like an athlete runs overcoming tiredness,slackness, pain in the legs and muscles, the competing opponent’s heated challenge, personal indiscipline, fears, doubts about his ability, inconsistency, lack of stamina, lack of self confidence and so on.

The race is not our goal. Christformation is the race but full- Christformation in us is the goal. The fullness of Christ’s divine nature formed in us will produce Christ likeness in us for eternity that will please the Heavenly Father, for that was His will from the beginning of everything on earth, in the heavens and underneath or beneath the earth.

Revelation 20:4-6 (New International Version)

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

The suffering life of the Lord Jesus Christ will be formed in us fully if we obey the Holy Spirit fully. We must remember extra eyes,the cloud of witnesses are watching us all the time. We must put to death the sinful nature and run the race of christformation marked out for us with perseverance and gain Christ fully in us with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Article written by Ronald K.Pillai for Christformation In You Ministries.