What counts is whether we really have been changed into new and different people.                                                                                Galatians 6:15 NLT

 

Dear Friends and Members of IBC,

Something that secular historians have always struggled to explain is the rapid spread of Christianity, which grew from only 120 believers to become the official state religion of the entire Roman Empire within just 350 years. The early Christians were certainly committed and passionate for Jesus. They knew that following ‘The Way’ might mean persecution, torture and death, as it did for most of the apostles. But they had the power of the Holy Spirit and they weren’t afraid. Acts 2:42-47 tells us that the early church wholeheartedly obeyed Jesus’ commands and submitted out of love to one another, meeting regularly, sharing everything they had and giving to those in need. Their values and way of life were different to the culture around them and observers started to become attracted to how these early Christians were living. They were counter-cultural, they were radical. They were new and different people.

I have often imagined what the reaction of non-Christians would be if somehow everything I said and did during the course of an average week was secretly recorded and then shown to them. Would they be attracted by how differently I acted in certain tough situations? Would they see real evidence of love, peace and joy in my life that might make them curious as to the source of such virtues? How is my life different to non-Christians? Am I really a new and different person? These are hard but necessary questions.

 

In the final verses of Paul’s letter to the Christian community in Galatia, he vividly reminds them that what really counts is whether they have been changed into new and different people. It is particularly noteworthy that Paul uses the passive tense of the verb ‘to change’, as this means that instead of the Galatian church having to work really hard to try and change themselves into new people, what matters is whether their lives have ‘been changed’, if God has done it to them.

This is something that essentially God has to bring about. Yes, we still have a part in the changing. We must surrender our own self-centred desires, ask for forgiveness when the Holy Spirit convicts us and seek to obey Biblical commands, applying them to our daily lives. But I can’t grit my teeth and will myself to become more loving. This is a fruit of the Holy Spirit’s transformative work. Our role is to abide in Him, to allow Him to get into the driving seat of our lives instead of being cramped up somewhere in the back.

 

One demonstrable way that we are visibly new and different people, that does make non-Christians scratch their heads and curiously ask why we are like that, is when we obey Jesus’ command in Matthew 5:44 to love our enemies. My NLT commentary insightfully remarks on this verse that we must “trust the Holy Spirit to help us show love to those for whom we may not feel love”. This could start small, maybe by making a commitment to pray for those who we have a hard time feeling love towards. In these prayers we might genuinely lift up the person, praying for God’s provision and blessing for them. In fact, everything that we pray for ourselves, we can pray for them. If done with a sincere heart, this small act of praying for our ‘enemies’ tends to have the habit of changing our hearts towards them and allowing the Holy Spirit to help us show love to them. Such acts of love are a good sign we have been changed by Him.

God bless you

James