Trial By Fire

The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to transform us into Christ’s image by sanctifying us, changing our carnal natures into spiritual ones: “But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). This transformation doesn’t happen “in the twinkling of an eye,” but comes through trial by fire: “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (I Peter 1:7). We have the spirit man, where the Holy Spirit dwells, which desires this, but for those who’ve not allowed their faith to be tried by fire the carnal man, with all its wants and desires, is still predominantly active. The flesh, with all its cravings, demands satisfaction, convincing the mind that one cannot be happy unless it is satisfied: “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that you would” (Galatians 5:17). The truth is that catering to the flesh will never bring happiness: “For he that sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption” (Galatians 6:8). True happiness comes only when one allows the person that God created him to be in His image to develop. “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24). The affections and lusts of the flesh only lead to shallowness and despair, once the flesh finds out it still isn’t satisfied.

What does God have for his children? A person will never be happy until he finds that out. He can keep Jesus at a distance, even with spiritual gifts, deceived by the false assumption that operating in spiritual gifts is the same thing as “abiding in the vine”. Spiritual gifts don’t transform a person into the image of Jesus; they are given to us for the purpose of edifying the Body of Christ. Further, if a person uses spiritual gifts in the flesh, not allowing himself to be refined by fire, not giving his will over to the Lord but clinging to it, not being changed into the image of Jesus at the same time, Jesus will have nothing to do with him later on: “Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:19-23).

God wants all of you. He doesn’t want us to work for Him; He wants to work through us: “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (II Corinthians 9:8). He wants us to reflect His character and represent Him for what He really is. The only way this can be accomplished, since we are not of the same nature, is by dying to our nature and coming alive to His. That’s the death Paul talks of when he says “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20a).

Jesus deserves the death of our flesh. He bought us: “For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20), and He alone knows how to live His life in us: “...not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9). If we rebel at that and cling to our own life with all its passions, needs, interests, weaknesses etc., and consider Jesus to be an intrusion with His demands of us, we are ultimately rejecting the life He wants to live in and through us. He must become Lord of our lives. We must yield our flesh over to Him. He only wants to live in the house that’s cleansed of the flesh. He can’t reside in a house that’s already filled with carnality. What we sometimes label “need” He may call “carnal flesh” that needs to be mortified by the work of the cross, which makes the power of the resurrection effective in our lives: “For the preaching of the cross is...unto us which are saved the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power” (1 Corinthians 4:20).

Mortification is the price we must pay in order to advance in spiritual growth and not stay babes: “For if you live after the flesh, you shall die: but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live” (Romans 8:13). If we’re not willing to step out and lose our “selves” in Christ we will be like a child who doesn’t want to grow up. This child doesn’t want to assume any responsibilities. The pain of growth makes it seem undesirable, but this perspective is short-sighted, far beneath the level of any mature Christian who’s on the “meat” rather than the “milk.”

I thank God for the Holy Spirit who “works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure.” He is perfecting us, and causes us to go from one growth phase to another. We find ourselves willing to go through growth pains out of anticipation of His grace operating in us: “For though He was crucified through weakness, yet He lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you. Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith; prove your own selves.” (II Corinthians 13:4, 5). “Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God” (Colossians 2:12). What a tremendous privilege! To resist this privilege is to be like the rest of the world, void of true meaning in life and refusing the depth of the “living waters” that result from growth and keep us alive with the life of Jesus flowing through us. To what extent will we allow God to transform us? To the point of “death”?

“I am crucified with Christ” is by faith. By faith the Holy Spirit releases us from the power of the flesh. Ignorance of this will prevent the operation of God’s processes in our lives. The work of the cross is an intense, intimate daily work in which Christ uses the circumstances which present themselves to mold us. By trusting in Him He will change our reactions to these circumstances and set us free from the hindrances to faith which keep us bound in weakness and immaturity. Many adults have never progressed in their salvation and have consequently become stale by remaining at certain “no growth” stages in their lives in which they are still bound by the flesh and are spiritually dull and ineffective. They cling to the former ways to which they are so accustomed and remain bitter, cynical, critical, hurt, callous, unable to see beyond themselves, sinful and selfish. This is the state of the flesh we’re born into, but certainly not characteristic of the kingdom we’ve been transferred to. We’ve been transferred from the kingdom of darkness, but if we refuse to “work out our salvation” we are not allowing ourselves to “live in the light” and be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” Our position bought by the death of our Savior is in heavenly places, but we have our eyes fixed on the fallen condition our souls were in before He saved us. It goes back again to relationship with our Creator. He said that He would be our God and we would be His people. We acknowledge Him as our God when we yield to the Spirit and allow our flesh to be crucified. Only then will His life resurrect our spirits (the “real” us) and nurture the “new creation” brought about by our spiritual rebirth. This life process continues to separate us “from glory to glory” from the bondages of our former life which still fights to stay alive and gradually but surely raises us above our weaknesses. We can’t really “live” until this happens. True happiness is having Jesus reigning on the throne of our heart--His life freely operating through us because of the victory over the flesh. Until this happens we walk in the flesh by sight instead of in the Spirit by faith.

Spiritual life comes from spiritual knowledge, and this is not in the mind but in real experience. Scripture says that Jesus learned obedience by the things He suffered. If He needed to learn obedience, how much more do we need to. This requires going the way of the cross--trusting Him every step of the way--through every trial in your life. We’re not trying to escape our trials, but to go through them victoriously. Escaping is fear. Conquering them is faith. Then we truly experience His power: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (II Corinthians 4:7). Don’t be afraid of anything that comes your way, but “by faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12). By His word go through the trials, learn from them, grow from them, and He will establish you and make you strong: “But the God of all grace, who has called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you” (I Peter 5:10). You will reach a point where nothing will be able to get you down, because when you go to Him you’ll have the confidence that He’s there waiting for you, ready to answer you: “And if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him” (I John 5:15). “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (I John 3:22).

If your spiritual experiences remain only in what you know in your mind, without experience, you’ll be deceived into a false spirituality, a puffed-up mind. But if, through faith, you allow yourself to be molded by trials that come your way, you will find the life of Christ rising up within you, and you will truly experience His power in your life, proving your faith. For faith is not faith until it’s been put to the test. Then, when the heat is turned up, the fire burns away the dross in the soul until the beauty of the nature of Jesus emerges pure and clean out of a heart that knows how to suffer successfully for a higher purpose.