The Renewal of our Whole Life

God is concerned with personal transformation. He is not a superficial observer of human experience: ‘Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’ (1 Samuel 16:7). He looks at human life with a view to transforming it.
This transformation is produced by the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not, first of all, a change in the outward appearance of things. It is a change of heart ― ‘outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day’ (2 Corinthians 4:16). There are externally observable aspects of this transformation. It begins, however, with the inner transformation ― receiving the ‘new life’ which comes from ‘his Spirit who lives in you’ (Romans 6:4; 8:11).
We are called ‘to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and godliness’ (Ephesians 4:24). This is not about a tinkering with this or that aspect of human life. It is the reproduction of the divine character within his human creation.
This personal transformation involves the understanding, the emotions, and the will. These are closely connected aspects of our transformation by God. Every tendency to pull them apart must be resisted.
The Understanding
Transformation of human life involves the renewal of the understanding. We look at human experience from the standpoint of divine revelation. We believe that there is a divine revelation, expressed in human words. We believe that the God, who has expressed himself, in Jesus Christ, as the living Word, has also given to us the Bible, his written Word. Turning our attention often to God's written Word, we will learn to understand our human experience, more fully and more truly, in the light of him who is both our Creator and our Redeemer.
With the Psalmist, we testify, ‘The entrance of your words gives light’, and we pray, ‘Give me understanding according to your word’ (Psalm 119:130, 169).With the Apostle, we make it our goal to ‘speak ... in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words’ (1 Corinthians 2:13).
The Emotions
The renewal of the understanding (Romans 12:2) needs to be held in balance with the transforming of the emotions, and they need to be viewed in close connection with the surrender of the will.
The difference between a faith based on divine revelation and a secular outlook which excludes God is much more than a difference in world-view. There is also the matter of where the ‘heart’ is (Matthew 6:21). If God is excluded, the ‘heart’ will remain with the world. Turning to God's Word, we pray that the ‘heart’ will be led to the Lord.
The response of the ‘heart’, where it is real, is always much more than a purely emotional response. It is the response of the whole person. The whole of life is given over to the Lord. There will be a real commitment to seeing every part of life in relation to God: ‘we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ’ (2 Corinthians 10:5). The understanding and the emotions belong together.
We do not receive God's Word with our minds only. There is also an emotional element. There cannot be real undetrstanding without an emotional response. This is not say that faith is all emotion. It's more than that. Our faith is grounded in God - what He has done and what He has said. When, however, we really receive Christ with faith, our emotions will be deeply moved. His love for us leads to our love for Him. This love is more than the response of the mind. It's the response of the whole person.
The Will
As well as the understanding and the emotions, an important part of our response to God involves the act of the will. There may be understanding with the mind and a stirring of the emotions without a full response to God. The message has been understood with the mind. It has stirred the emotions. It must be acted upon.
If our experience of God is to be more than the giving of intellectual assent and more than the stirring of our emotions, there needs to be action. This action is vitally related to the understanding and the emotions. There can be no acting upon a message that is not understood. There will be no acting upon a message that has not stirred the emotions deeply. In the act of the will, we build upon the understanding of the mind and the stirring of the emotions. The act of the will does not stand alone. It is not an act of blind obedience. It is informed by the understanding and it receives vitality from the emotions. The act of the will brings completeness to the human response to God. The understanding can be reduced to mere intellectual assent. The emotions can be no more than pious feelings. The surrender of the will sets God’s transforming power fully into action. We are lifted out of passivity. Building upon breadth of understanding and depth of emotion, we choose to do God’s will, and thus the full process of personal transformation is set in motion. The Bible emphasizes the importance of human choices ― ‘Choose this day whom you will serve’ (Joshua 24:15). The human situation is vividly described in the words of Joel 3:14 ― ‘Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision’. In an age where responsibility is not a very popular idea, the Bible insists that human beings are responsible for the choices they make. They are commanded to do God’s will (Acts 17:30). We will be held responsible if we go our own way rather than God’s way.

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