Old & New
Testament Spiritual Transformation
At the heart of spiritual formation is transformation into
Christ-likeness or as the Apostle Paul coined it “becoming mature, attaining to
the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13b). This process is
not to be achieved by human effort, rather it is “what God does to and for us,
along with all he makes available to make this transformation possible”[1].
Using New Testament language, spiritual formation is defined as “an inside job”[2].
The result of the Holy Spirit empowerment is a people transformed to live out “God-honoring
lives within the context of community and healthy relationships”[3].
The above-mentioned statements describe the reality of a New Testament model of
achieving transformation. But what of the Old Testament?
I believe that before the world ever existed, God had in
mind what I will call “the experiment of spiritual transformation” (Titus 1:2).
This experiment needed a test group (a nation), a community if you will, that
would be the standard against all other groups (nations). God desired a people
who loved Him and to whom He could show His love, and it was important that
they choose (willingly) to love and obey Him. In other words, He desired to be
glorified. The plan was enacted in creation of the world and of mankind and
would be executed in two phases – An Old Testament Community and a New
Testament Community. Many would choose to serve, others would reject Him, but at
the center of the plan is His Son, Jesus the Christ (Hebrews 2:10).
After the Fall of Man (Genesis 3), God unfolds His plan
through a series of covenants[4]
– Noahic (Genesis 9), Abrahamic (Genesis 12), Mosaic (Exodus 19-24), Davidic (2
Samuel 7), and the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31). This last covenant in Jeremiah
31, is a prophetic declaration of the next stage of the experiment which
involved the Incarnation and the Church. The focus group of the experiment were
the Israelites, the patriarch of this group was Abraham. But the execution of
Old Testament Community and spiritual transformation rested upon an identity in
God as the only hope. As every nation needs a constitution, so too would this
people of God. This kingdom government and plan was enacted in the Mosaic
covenant:
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My
covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all
the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
– Exodus 19:5-6
Old Testament spiritual formation rested upon obedience to
God’s law, and over time became a series of laws, rituals and ceremonies. Admittedly,
mankind added to their own burdens with excessive and unnecessary laws within community,
but nevertheless, between “Genesis 1-3 and Revelation 21-22, the people of the
world would experience formation through redeemed communities”[5].
In the Old Testament “God transformed the descendants of Abraham into a
covenant community to be characterized first and foremost by moral righteousness.
The community was to center around the presence of the holy God, expressing
moral holiness in response to God’s divine presence”[6].
This people of God who were now appointed “priests and a
holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6), were to have a two-fold job, according to Christopher
Wright[7]
- (1) Bring God to the people and (2) Bring the people to God. Through the Old
Testament community of believers, the people of God would make God known to the
nations around them and God redemptively would draw the nations to Himself
through their witness. But at the center of transformation within this Old
Testament community was obedience to God’s law.
Contrasting the New Testament community, God unfolds part
two of His grand experiment with the coming of Messiah and the enacting of the New
Covenant. This would unfold in a community called “The Church”, where the
primary focus would be heart transformation from within, only achieved with the
indwelling Holy Spirit. This time, God’s inside job of Holy Spirit governing
would create a community of priests through whom the world would know of Him
and come to worship Him (2 Timothy 1:8-9; 1 Peter 2:9). In the Old Testament
community, identity with Christ was adherence to laws and rituals, rites and ceremonies.
In the New Testament community, God writes His laws upon men’s hearts and in
their minds, forgives their sins through Spirit and water baptism and “emphasizes
that the basis for community is the common salvic work if Christ in the life of
all believers”[8]
(Hebrews 10:11-24).
Bibliography
Written by Kevin A. Hall (06.14.18)
[1] Darrell,
L. Bock, “New Testament Community And Spiritual Formation,” in Foundations of
Spiritual Formation, ed. Paul Petit, {Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications,
2008), 105.
[3]
Ibid., 108.
[4]
Clayton Kraby, “5 Covenants of The Old Testament,” accessed June 14, 2018, https://reasonabletheology.org/5covenants/
[5]
Ibid., 75.
[6] Ibid.,
76.
[7] Christopher
J. H. Wright, The Mission of God’s People, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010),
120-121.
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