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ReVision

Inward First

The Christian's strength begins in the soul.

The Christian’s Strength (3)

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man…Ephesians 3.14-16

The power of the Spirit
Believers in Jesus Christ have been redeemed for good works (Eph. 2.10). Jesus taught us to think big, to aspire to greatness, and not to grow weary of doing good works (Jn. 14.12; Matt. 5.17-19; Gal. 6.9, 10).

But to live this way requires a strength we do not naturally possess. The strength that God commands His people to seek takes the form of the power of His Spirit, as He works within us to will and do of God’s good pleasure, exceedingly abundantly above all that we’ve ever dared to ask or think, and according to the riches of God’s glory (Phil. 2.13; Eph. 3.20). God shows us His glory, filling us with joy and transforming might, so that we can live for His glory in all the everyday details of our lives. This means becoming new people across the board in our lives, so that the glory we experience in God’s presence becomes the glory we express in good works of love.

We must emphasize, with the Apostle Paul, that this strength arises from within us. It is not something we can purchase with money, although Simon of Samaria hoped he might (Acts 8.9-24). Nor is it a power we can acquire just by imitating what we see in others – even the Lord Himself. The sons of Sceva learned this the hard way (Acts 19.11-16).

The strength God commands of us, and the power by which that strength comes to light, come only through the long and diligent work of inward transformation. Unless we are truly and continuously transformed within, in our soul, we will not be able to know the strength God requires of His people. We must, therefore, understand the components of our “inner” person, and make sure we are devoted to being transformed there, in whole and in part.

The soul consists of three parts. Paul mentions them in the larger context of our passage.

A pure heart
First in importance is the heart (Prov. 4.23). The goal of transformation here is to make of our heart a dwelling place for Christ (Eph. 3.17), in which the fear of God, and love for God and neighbors are the primary affections, and all other longings, aspirations, hopes, attitudes, and feelings are in submission to these (Ps. 86.11-16). By nature, our hearts are deceitful, and desperately wicked (Jer. 17.9). The law of sin within our soul (Rom. 7.21-23) seeks ever to pollute our affections, leading us to love and desire wrong things, and to nurture self-interest as the commanding prospect for our lives.

By His glory, as He speaks to us from His Word and creation, God illuminates the dark and calloused places of our heart, shows us the virtues and affections He intends to place there instead, makes us willing and able to submit our heart to His Law (Phil. 2.13; Ezek. 36.26, 27), and leads us through repentance and earnest seeking to gain the new heart where Christ feels right at home.

Our affections thus aligned with the heart of God, the power of the Spirit can move us in the direction of pure and holy desires.

A renewed mind
Second in the soul is the mind, and Paul says the strength God wants us to have will entail our being able “to comprehend” all the love of God that surpasses knowledge (vv.18, 19). We grow strong in the Lord as our mind sheds old ways of thinking, and every vain idea of worldly happiness, and as we instead take on the new mind of Christ and the Biblical worldview (1 Cor. 2.16; Eph. 4.17-24).

Paul urges us to think on the kind of things that can renew our mind in the mind of Christ – things true, noble, just, pure, lovely, virtuous, praiseworthy, and of good report (Phil. 4.8). Such intellectual furnishings complement a pure heart, and generate Spirit-driven power to envision new possibilities, make new plans, and work through every obstacle that keeps us from being strong in the might of the Lord.

A resolute conscience
Finally, we grow strong as the Lord changes our priorities, so that knowing and serving Him becomes the driving force of our conscience, the guiding light of our will. The conscience houses the default priorities of the soul, and, under the powerful influence of the Spirit and glory of God, a firm resolve to know the Lord in His glory, and to live in ways that glorify Him becomes increasingly the determining factor in how we live.

The conscience, consistently bathed in the light of Christ and the glory of God, wants nothing more than more of the same (Ps. 37.3-6), and offers a firm and true “set of the saw” for the heart and the mind.

The strength of the Christian begins in the soul, where the heart, mind, and conscience are continually being renewed by the Word and works of God, and the Spirit replaces love of self with love for God and neighbor as the dominate operating motifs. The renewed soul can generate the affections, thoughts, and priorities that allow the might of God to flow by His Spirit into all our words and deeds, so that we are strong to serve the Lord beyond what we’ve ever known.

There are no shortcuts or quick-fixes for achieving this transformation of our inner being. It requires long hours of waiting on the Lord in prayer, meditation, and listening for the prompting of the Spirit. But the strength such an investment can yield makes for experiencing God’s might that is new and expansive every day.

For reflection
1.  How can you see that all three components of the soul work together in our every word or deed? That is, in everything we say or do, thoughts, affections, and values or priorities come into play. Can you give some examples from your own experience?

2.  Can we expect to know renewal in our soul apart from daily time in God’s Word, and in prayer? Explain.

3.  What can happen if we do not guard our thoughts, affections, or priorities as we should? How does the law of sin within, coupled with the warring against our soul by spiritual forces of wickedness in high places, affect the condition of our soul? What must we do to countermand this?

Next steps – Transformation: How diligent are you in paying attention to all the components of your soul? What might you do to improve in this? Share your thoughts with a Christian friend.

The glory of God is always at hand, if we know how to discern, enter, and express it. Our booklet,
Christians on the Front Lines of the Culture Wars, can help you learn to recognize the glory of God, and to glorify Him in even the most everyday details of your life. Order your copy by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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