The grace of God does not just bring salvation. It changes a believer’s whole life radically. Just like when a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, it changes its entire appearance and being, so it is with us as we yield to the Holy Spirit’s work, putting off our old self and putting on the new life we have in Christ. We are made new for God’s will.
Recently, Brother Joshua Yee shared in FGA KL about the various dimensions of this new life, basing his sermon on the letter the apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesian church, specifically Ephesians 4:17-32. The first of these dimensions is that of a New Mind. Brother Joshua conveyed that our mind is a powerful gift from God. It is so powerful that it can change our perspective, influence our emotions, and impact our decisions, for good or ill. The advancement of ideas from the human mind has even sent men to the moon and come up with vaccines that have overcome diseases time and time again.
However, Paul was not concerned about the brilliance of the human intellect. After his experience with the Living God on the road to Damascus, Paul had a revelation of God. He knew that no matter how brilliant humans can be, a mind that does not know God is lost and ultimately futile. When Paul was writing to the people in Ephesus, he was writing to one of the most learned cities of that era, but he was bold enough to highlight this. A mind not anchored in God can advance humankind for a time but has no perspective for the eternal such as our souls.
In this modern world, we are bombarded with information every day. And much of this information can affect our emotions. We can be affected by them in detrimental ways if we are unmoored. But the new mind that Christ gives us also has the power to transform our thinking. The Holy Spirit teaches us to guard our minds, for life flows from it.
Brother Joshua shared that the renewed mind centers foremost on Christ. As the Holy Spirit helps us grow daily, He transforms our outlook on issues. We gain an understanding of God’s heart, and we grow to be more and more like Christ. The new mind lifts our perspective and sets our focus on things above and the purposes and will of God. It transforms our minds to be like that of Christ, which is stable in its identity.
The New Mind secures us in our identity and purpose in God – that we have a place in God’s family and a purpose in Christ, no matter our age. ‘Start by believing what God says about you,’ Brother Joshua encouraged. ‘That you are the head and not the tail, that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. And one of the ways we can grow towards this is by reading the word of God every day.’
Besides a New Mind, the Holy Spirit also brings a New Lifestyle for the believer. The world has given itself to sensuality and to be governed by its senses. In essence, making them slaves to their senses. The predominant message today is to listen to the individual’s heart and do what the heart tells the individual to do. But this is dangerous as it gives the individual false permission to do whatever they like without considering the implications that will come after. Again, this was nothing new even in Paul’s time, for he wrote about it to the church in Ephesus.
‘God is calling for us, not our hearts,’ Brother Joshua conveyed. ‘God is reaching out to us because He has a plan, a purpose, a destiny for us. We are to listen and follow God. Following God, we will find our identity, purpose, and calling. And as disciples, we are called to live very differently from the world.’
When we follow Jesus, we find out true purpose. We live with a higher calling, not to conform to the world but to transform it for the better and to God’s glory. We are to influence the world through the way we live. ‘How else will the world know that God is calling out to them, who is constantly reaching out to them?’ Brother Joshua pointed out.
And finally, there is New Awareness. When God saves and redeems us, and we accept Jesus into our lives, our old life dies, and we receive a new nature sealed in the Holy Spirit. Not only are we convicted to change, but we are also empowered to change because we have now come under the guiding power of the Holy Spirit.
As we yield to the Holy Spirit, He empowers us to live this new life. The Holy Spirit seals this new life in us. And we begin to live with the constant awareness of His presence. The Holy Spirit enters our lives, and He is a faithful guide, even interceding for us. Only the Holy Spirit can help us navigate this new life God has prepared for us.
Being aware of the Holy Spirit – the counselor, guide, help, and protector – we live a life pleasing to God, for we do not want to grieve the Spirit. The Holy Spirit not only guides us. He fuels us to live this abundant new life. We are renewed in our minds to be like Christ and into a new lifestyle, to be a blessing and good testimony to others, and we have a new awareness of the Holy Spirit’s presence with us.
The Christian life is one that is always progressing toward maturity. Without the Holy Spirit, we have no power, but when we follow God and His Holy Spirit, we find our identity, purpose, and calling.
Note: This is an adaptation of a sermon shared by Brother Joshua Yee at FGA KL on the 25th of June 2023. You may access the full sermon from FGAKL’s YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/live/6xzsf9hQSkU?feature=share
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