Source Ministries International

“Can the Leopard change his spots?” Jeremiah 13:23

Q. Dear Brother Lewis, I recently (9/2/1998) read a copy of your SOURCE LIVING magazine from the Summer of 1991. The subject was “How Can I Ever Change?” This article touched on something I have wondered about for a long time: whether it is my responsibility to change or God’s.  In this issue, you made the following statement: “It is not you who does the changing.  Change is God’s responsibility.”  I am writing to ask for your help in understanding this thought in light of verses like Ephesians 4:1 and many others where Paul exhorts us to make a change. Thanks, Wes

A. Dear Wes, you referred to my comment about change being God’s responsibility. Then you asked me about Ephesians 4:1. You mentioned that, according to this verse and others, it appears the Apostle Paul is exhorting us to make a change.

Paul beseeched us to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called in Ephesians 4:1. However, he was not telling us to change, but rather exhorting us to be who we are and live accordingly. If you examine the epistles, you will notice that normally the first half of the book is about our identity in Christ. Paul is focusing on our inward character, while the last half is about our outward conduct. This conduct is based on our inward resources in Christ and the Holy Spirit’s divine enabling.

What is the calling that Paul referred to in Ephesians 4:1? This calling has several aspects. According to Ephesians 1:1 and Romans 1, we are called to be saints. God first calls us to Himself—to Jesus Christ our Lord (Ephesians 1:5). We are called to be to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:12). In Ephesians 1:18, we are told about the “hope of His calling,” which in Colossians 1:27 we find to be “Christ in you.”

The outworking of our calling is described in Ephesians 2:10. We are called to walk in good works. However, Christ told us that there is none good but one–God. Therefore, the source of our works must derive from Christ. This means we should allow Christ to accomplish His good and perfect works in and through us. “For it is God who works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

But He can only begin to work in us when we have ceased from our own human efforts (Hebrews 4:10). When we do, we can walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called (Ephesians 4:1) by manifesting the character of Christ. These Christlike attributes, which are described in Ephesians 4:2, are actually another description for the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23).

That is why we are exhorted to be filled with the Spirit. Then the Holy Spirit can produce the character of Christ in us. Paul concludes in Ephesians 6:10 by exhorting us to be what we are (strong in the Lord) and to utilize what we have (the power of His might) Colossians 2:9.

MORE, READ: https://www.sourceministries.net/go/resources/how-can-i-ever-change/

MORE, LISTEN: https://www.sourceministries.net/go/2010/12/change-or-exchange/

Lewis W. Gregory © 1998