I’ve been thinking recently about the relationship between our spirit and our body, between our will and our actions, and between our decisions and our habits.
That’s normal, right? Hah — this thought train was inspired by the BibleProject podcast; Tim and Jon have been talking about the theme of the spirit lately. Collective groan, I know; I’m always talking about BibleProject. Yeah, not apologising. Get on it!
Disclaimer: As much as I love BP, I’ve my own reservations occasionally and in any case I will always caution people to humbly and prayerfully assess everything you hear (1 John 4:1): whether from me, BibleProject, your favourite preacher, the Pope, or your mate at the pub, against what the bible actually says.
Note whether the bible’s teaching on that topic is clear, explicit and repeated, and also whether it’s self-reportedly important, ambiguous/conflicted, or unimportant, and adjust your grip strength accordingly.
The Christian life is full of beautiful paradoxes. We are called to act, yet dependent on grace. We are called to die, yet promised life. We surrender our will, only to discover what it was always meant to become.
A Spiritual Body
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul speaks about the resurrection body. When he describes it as a “spiritual body,” he doesn’t mean a non-physical body, as though God’s final answer is to make us less real. Quite the opposite. The contrast is not between physical and non-physical, but between what is perishable and what is imperishable.
“It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.” — 1 Corinthians 15:44
The pneuma/ruakh (spirit) is, in a sense, more real than dusty flesh. Our bodies are temporary and perishable. But the pneuma that animates life comes from God; it pre-existed your fleshly birth, and will outlast your fleshly death. The same Spirit that hovered over the waters at creation, that raised Jesus from the dead, that Jesus breathed out of his lungs into the disciples, that is subsequently breathed out by disciples every time the gospel is shared, that now dwells/rests(!) in believers, will also raise us into the reality for which we were created.
“The last Adam has become a life-giving spirit.” — 1 Corinthians 15:45
Because perhaps that was always the plan… We needed to be changed. We were always meant to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, and be given a new body: changed; whether through death, or otherwise… (insert conjecture about Enoch and Elijah).
“We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” — 1 Corinthians 15:51
God’s creative and life-giving Spirit will resurrect us into a new reality. Yet that future reality has already broken into the present. We have been given the Spirit as a deposit: a down payment guaranteeing what is to come.
“Now the one who is establishing us with you in union with Christ and has anointed us is God, who also marked us with a seal and put the spirit in our hearts as a down payment of what is to come.” — 2 Corinthians 1:21–22
The Will Has to Die
In a similar way, there is a relationship between our will and our actions. One day, our actions will be perfectly aligned with our will, because our will itself will be perfectly aligned with God’s. There will be no divided loyalties, competing desires, or internal contradictions. We will love what is truly Good — naturally, and completely! But before resurrection comes death. Jesus taught that unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24). The same principle applies to the human will. The self-centred will must die so that it may be raised again. It must be surrendered, sacrificed, and placed in service to God. This is not the destruction of the self, but its salvation. As Jesus said:
“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.” — Matthew 16:25
The Christian life is therefore a continual participation in the death and resurrection of Christ. Our old way of willing dies. Our new life grows. And yet even this transformation is not achieved through sheer effort or force of will. It is empowered by the Spirit of God within us. We are called to start living out now the reality that will one day be completed.
Decisions Become a Person
This leads naturally to our everyday decisions. Most of life is not made up of dramatic moments. It is made up of ordinary choices. What we pay attention to. What we think about. What we listen to. What we say. How we forgive. Whether we tell the truth. Whether we choose comfort or obedience.
These moment-by-moment decisions are the testing ground in which habits are formed. And habits matter because they are not merely things we do; they are things that gradually shape who we become. Every repeated choice points us in a direction.
Over time, those choices form habits, habits form character, and character forms the kind of person we are becoming. In that sense, our daily decisions are preparation for eternity.
God is not merely interested in producing correct behaviour. He is shaping people who can responsibly bear His image, exercise His authority, and participate in His kingdom. He is forming people whose wills have become aligned with His own, for their Good, and His Glory.
This is why our choices matter so much. This is also why grace matters so much.
Grace, From Beginning to End
Because while we are responsible for our decisions, our obedience, and our response to God, we are never self-sufficient. We are utterly dependent on Him. Salvation is God’s gift from beginning to end.
“…because it is God who is working in you both to want to do, and to do, his good pleasure.” — Philippians 2:13 (REV)
Notice the completeness of that promise: God works in us both to will and to act!
The transformation of the Christian is therefore neither passive nor self-generated. We work because God works in us. We obey because the Spirit enables us. We participate because grace has first taken hold of us. We sacrifice our will, our body, our ambitions, our comforts, and everything we care about in obedience to Christ.
The ruakh of God inspires us, empowers us, and renews our minds and hearts. And the more we yield to Him, the more we begin to live the life of the coming age in the present one.
“And do not be conformed to the pattern of this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you can test and approve what the will of God is — what is good and pleasing and perfect.” — Romans 12:2
Perhaps that is what it means to become truly “Christian”: little Christs. People who increasingly resemble the One conceived by the Spirit, led by the Spirit, empowered by the Spirit, raised by the Spirit, and now pouring out that same Spirit on His people.
Living now in light of the resurrection life then.
Dying daily, yet becoming more alive.
Surrendering everything, yet gaining everything.
Because the same Spirit who will one day raise us into the ultimate reality of God’s kingdom is already at work within us, transforming us from glory to glory, until faith finally becomes sight!
“And we all, with unveiled faces, reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same appearance from glory into glory, just as one would expect; this is from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” — 2 Corinthians 3:18