EXCHANGING IMAGES

So, you got saved. Just how did YOU do that?

Today’s commentary is for converts to understand theological terms that may be misleading. Almost all new Christians rattle off their new situation… “I got saved.” Indeed, hopefully, you did find grace, as Noah did (Gen 8:6).

“Converted” is once in sin, afterward in Christ. “Conversion” is a scientific term, meaning to change from one state in equilibrium too another opposite state in equilibrium.

For instance, in the beginning, God converted his energy into things, which is the basis for E=mc². The universe was at first nothing but Energy but afterward it was massive. God converted one state of Existence to another state.

Now consider the conversion from the worldly to the spiritual. Paul, speaking about reigning said, “as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 5:21). He added, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” (Rom 6:1).

“Reigned” therein is basileuo in the Greek and means to have control, usually over a lengthy time period. “Reign” is a period of control wherein the laws are fixed by someone in authority. Kings reign over “states,” so a reign is in a state of equilibrium and under control of a set of laws.

Laws are not meant to be broken. Basic laws, hence basileuo, are in concrete, or in the case of Jesus, in stone! Therefore, the first Law broken was one of authority. Before original sin, God reigned. His Law was the only Law. Basically, the Law of Eden was simple — See all this? I did that, in reference to the LORD GOD.

Lucifer, using the cunning of a Serpent, converted the goodly state of equilibrium in the Garden. Basically, the “Serpent” said with pomp, I AM King (Isa 14:12-14). Everything was converted from one reign to the next, from one state to another — the opposite.  Before the original “conversion” it was the Law of God, and afterward, it was the law of sin. As Paul thanked God, Jesus Christ, he said, “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Rom 7:25).

There are two laws and two states. The mind of those in Christ serves God even as their flesh serves the law of sin. At one time, Paul’s mind also served the law of sin even while thinking that he was serving the Law of God.

In God is one state and in sin is another state. The mind has one status and the flesh another status. Nobody, at least until now, could change their flesh. It is who they are, and every nuclear cell of the body has the same encoded identification (DNA). Your flesh, until Jesus comes and changes its state (glorify), is fixed. Your flesh will always require the flesh of others because of the “Beast” within you. (That should help even Christians to understand that lust is inborn and can only be extinguished at death.)

The law of sin is genetic: “As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom 5:12). Two things are imperative therein: (1) sin is genetic, and all have sinned, and (2) you will die unless you are out of sin.

Grace is that there is a Way out of sin, and that is to be in Christ: “Through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (Rom 5:11). “Atonement” is an exchange — from the law of sin to the Law of God. In Christ is to be converted from the law of sin as the state of existence to the Law of God as the opposite state of existence.

Noting that the flesh cannot be changed but the mind can, “conversion” is Christ exchanging one mind set to another by persuasion. Paul, the tentmaker, “reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks” (Acts 18:4). Persuaded them of what? To be Christians. Given a choice between to be or not to be, they logically chose to be in Christ, and not out of Christ to remain in sin.

In Christ is not part way in, but fully persuaded to be a Christian; “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Rom 14:5). Of course, the flesh can never be persuaded to change because pleasure and pride are overwhelming and genetic as well. Only the mind can be changed, hence Calvary is the place of, not the skull, but the cranium.

In Christ is fully persuaded. The flesh is weak because it has not been changed, but Christ changes the spirit from unwilling to willing to trust God in all things. Abraham exemplified that with his willingness to obey God by sacrificing his son, Isaac. He was willing to sacrifice his own flesh, just as God would do with His son much later, but his willingness was sufficient because Abraham trusted God. (Jesus used the example of the Israelites trusting God over themselves; John 3:14).

Now consider the following passage:

¹⁷ And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. ¹⁸ Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. (1 Cor 15:17-18)

 The “exchange” in that passage is two: (1) raised from death or (2) perished. The transition between the two states is death (“fallen asleep”). No wonder for Paul, who was in Christ, that death was gain (Phil 1:21)! The states are “in your sin” or “in Christ.” The catalyst is logic and reason. You choose which it is! Illogic is choosing eternal death over eternal life — too very different states, each in equilibrium but not harmonious one with the other.

“In your sin” is the genetic component that cannot be changed. It is a characteristic of the flesh that can only be converted at glorification — a return to the state (the image) in which God generated man. The Resurrection is at the rapture and is when the fleshes of those in Christ are glorified — made perfect by God.

You cannot change who you are but only what you think. Thusly, conversion is when theretofore sinners think differently; they think like Christ. Because your genetics are in a state of equilibrium, for preservation of those in Christ, a coat of glorious “skin” is placed upon the convert — the Holy Ghost of Jesus — the bodily shape of the Son of God whose flesh is now glorified since the Resurrection (John 7:29).

“In your sin” is depraved. In scripture, depravity is called “iniquity.” Rather than thoughtful, depravity is entire apathy and even rebellious.

The flesh is instinctual. The biogenetic definition of instinct is “a largely inheritable and unalterable tendency of an organism to make a complex and specific response to environmental stimuli without involving reason (Merriam-Webster 2021). In sin is acting without reason; doing what is right in your own eyes in about any situation.

The expression, “follow my heart” means to be instinctual. For animals, it is the will to survive in this world and to engage the flesh with impunity. Your “heart” is the faculty of your will; and it contrasts with the Will of God because you are not God. Beasts follow their hearts without logic or reason. They pursue what seems best for them, and often it is pleasure over longevity. Following your heart leads to death; just look at all those who us drugs! Following your heart rather than reason is in sin, “and the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).

In Christ is following God’s “Heart” — His Will for you. God stated the inheritance in His “Last Will and Testament,” to wit: “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Love, therein, in the Greek is agape; God has “goodwill” toward all mankind. His goodwill is that “none should perish” but live forever.

If Satan were king that would be written, For the false god so detested God’s creatures, he snatches them away, that whosoever trusts in sin, should perish, and have everlasting death.

Since living in a state of sin is genetic, the genes must be changed to upset the equilibrium. Conversion is the “upset” by God. It is the Divine Impulse to change who you are!

Jesus warned, “Verily I say unto you, ‘Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 18:3).

Many say, “I got saved” and others may even say, “I was born again.” However, technically rebirth (regeneration) and salvation are outcomes of conversion. You have not been saved nor regenerated because your genes are the same as before. That is why the flesh remains weak; it is in the genes.

If you are in Christ, your mind has been converted, if it was truly conversion; no longer do you follow your own heart or even those who you admire, you have decided to follow Jesus because you understand that you cannot save yourself. That is because you are your worst enemy since Lucifer got into your mitochondrial genes through Eve, the mother of all living.

“Conversion” therefore is of the mind, and “born again” genetic. Hence born again is not conversion but regeneration — literally engendered from above. Engendering occurs at “glorification” when the old flesh is changed for the new.

Sinners are converted to become Christians by persuasion, and the role of Satan is to change back to the state of unbelief — unpersuaded. Paul’s Great Commission was not only to persuade, but “persuaded them to continue in the grace of God” (Acts 13:43).

Satan somehow exchanged the genes from God to his genes. God was the image of Adam and Eve, but the “Serpent,” literally the changed image. The two were more like the “old creature” Lucifer than the ”new creature” Adam. Hence, in Christ is engendering as a new creature in Christ.

So long as the creature resides on Earth, earthly flesh is imperative for this environment. God changes the flesh from corruptible to incorruptible in another realm away from the world. An exchange of a state of corruptibility to a new state of incorruptible necessitates re-gendering. Engendering from above is required because in this world, even those in Christ still have flesh that was corrupted by Satan.

How did he do that? The fruit offered by Lucifer as the cunning “Serpent” was regenning. The “nature” of man went from the twelve fruits of the spirit to the many rotten fruits of Lucifer, both recounted in Galatians chapter five.

To exist on Earth until regenned in heaven, the nature of the person is changed. They think and act like Jesus even though they wear the degenerate flesh that Lucifer made depraved. It is true, the flesh is totally depraved because it is of the Wicked One. However, because of grace, the mind still has free will, although it is inclined so often toward self-will. Following the heart leads to destruction because it is away from the Will of God. 

The mind can be converted but beware of those who would cunningly convert the genes. “Gene conversion is the process by which one DNA sequence replaces a homologous sequence such that the sequences become identical after the conversion event” (Wikipedia 2001-2022). Gene conversion is by the cutting and splicing by human hands, ostensibly for the common good. Gene conversion by Christ is glorification and by Divine Impulse. Choose wisely and avoid gene tampering. 

Hopefully this commentary delineates between the states of the flesh and the mind. Although, “conversion” is persuaded to choose Christ, “salvation” and “rebirth” are the outcome for those who choose rightly. 

(picture credit: YouTube)