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NASB | Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew [and loved and chose beforehand], He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son [and ultimately share in His complete sanctification], so that He would be the firstborn [the most beloved and honored] among many believers. |
Bible Question: Conformed to scripture or conformed to Christ? Is it the same thing or different? |
Bible Answer: This question is similar to one (ID# 153548) that asked whether there is any difference between loving God and loving his word. That thread has been temporarily restricted from appearing on the homepage, and I am not sure why. I trust that the same offense and result are not repeated here, because I think that these topics are very important. I wonder what causes us to think that relating to God is equivalent to, the same things as, responding to the Bible. Now someone is also thinking that conforming to the image of Christ is the same as conforming to his word. We should not minimize the importance of the Scriptures. Jesus said, “(You) search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me“ (John 5:39). But we err, I think, in deciding that having the Bible is the same as having God, that loving the Bible is the same as loving God, and now, that conforming to the image of Christ is the same as conforming to his word. Each item is closely related to the other in its pair, but they cannot be the same. Jesus invited those who were searching the Scriptures to come to him, but he lamented; “Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life“ (John 5:40). They were going to the Scriptures but not to him. How then can those two things be the same? And there are many of us today who love his word and we may even want to conform our lives to it. We should consider that a personal relationship with the Lord, while related to his word, is not identical to it. The word of God was of extreme and paramount importance to Jesus. “It is written”. “Man shall live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”. Jesus would do what he did sometimes, “that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (as in John 13:18). But it would happen without his volition sometimes for the simple reason that the Scriptures are always fulfilled (as in John 19:24). And there were some things that he did that are either unclear to us or found nowhere in Scripture. I came to the scripture in Romans 8 because of what Paul had said in Philippians 1 and 3: “To me to live is Christ” and “that I may know him”. I find that God wants us to be like Christ. That includes paying to attention to his word, like Christ did, but it must include more than that. For one thing it includes more that the commandments that Christ gave; it includes his example. It involves more than reading about him; it involves fellowship with him. Jesus is not only a historical figure; he is the living Christ. He lives, not only in the Bible, but also in me. We should treasure the Bible, because it tells us about God. But the Bible is not God. We should not worship the Bible; we should worship God. We do not pray to the Bible; we pray to God. We should seek to be conformed to the image of Christ, and that includes conforming to Scripture, as he did. But it also includes a looking at him, a personal walk with him, a following him, a fellowship with him. That is what the Lord calls us to, not to conform legalistically, impersonally, to the Scriptures. And now, please do not spend time saying “I did not say that” and “nobody said that”. There are some believers now who look at the Christian life as an intellectual exercise. They take delight in knowing facts. In the best cases, they realize that the Scriptures are all about Jesus, and they seek to learn as much as they can about him. There are other believers who spend little time studying the Scriptures and more time worshipping and fellowshipping with the Lord, and serving him. Each of these groups needs to learn from the other, to love both the Lord and his word, and to conform to the image of Christ as found in Scripture. But those are two things, though intimately related, and they are not the same. I must hurry away from this post, realizing that I might have not made myself perfectly clear. We need both head knowledge and a personal walk with him. I trust that those who read this will understand and be able to contribute to that thought. Otherwise, just think about it, whether the word is all we have. It would be good to have a discussion of the actual image of Christ, and practical ways in which we can conform to that image. We may find, through personal experience that, that “we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord“. |