Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Alister McGrath
His Spirit
Jesus told His disciples before He was going to the cross, that He would not leave them orphans (John 14:8), but will send the Helper, or as Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17) and the Spirit convicts us of sin, so we’ll sin less, hopefully.
His Word
God’s Word has real power. For example it has the power to wash us or cleanse us (Eph 5:26), and it has the power to save (Rom 1:16; 1st Cor 1:18), but it also has the power to sanctify, which is why Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). Jesus would have never prayed such a prayer if He knew God’s Word didn’t have sanctifying power.
His Son
Jesus came to give His life as a ransom for me and for you, and for many others too (Mark 10:45), but when Jesus has His way with us, we find that we are becoming more like Him, and that our minds are renewed by the Spirit, the Word, and also by Christ, Who also lives in us, so the God-Man Who lived a sinless life, also died for us, so we that should live for Him and die to ourselves.
Conclusion
I do think that within each of us exists the image of God, however disfigured and corrupted by sin it may presently be, but it can be brought out by the Spirit of God, the Word of God, and by the Son of God. Being a new creation in Christ (2nd Cor 5:21), we should resemble the Savior, at least in some ways. If not, it’s time to get back into the Spirit, the Word, and into Christ Jesus.
