LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

SPIRITUAL FORMATION

A PAPER SUBMITTED TO DR. JON BISHOP IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE COURSE PLED 520

LIBERTY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

BY ELKE SPELIOPOULOS

DOWNINGTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2011

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1 BIBLICAL TEACHING ON SPIRITUAL FORMATION .......................................................... 1 PERSONAL EXPERIENCES IN SPIRITUAL FORMATION ................................................... 3 INSIGHTS INTO SPIRITUAL FORMATION BY WESTERHOFF ........................................... 4 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................... 5 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 6

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INTRODUCTION While the term Spiritual Formation has become quite popular in Evangelical circles, it is one that is somewhat obscure and hard to intellectually grasp at first. What does it mean to be spiritually formed? I decided to ask two people, one a relative and one a friend, for their definitions. Growing in godliness was one answer I received. The development of your soul based on the growth in your relationship with Christ was the other. These are excellent starts to an understanding of the meaning of what spiritual formation is about. At the same time, it is critical to ground this with a solid understanding of what the Bible says about believers being formed, or rather transformed into the image of Christ, their Savior and Lord. The following paragraphs will look at three areas of spiritual formation: what the Bible says about being brought into the likeness of Christ, what my personal experience has been, and what I learned from reading John Westerhoffs book Spiritual Life. BIBLICAL TEACHING ON SPIRITUAL FORMATION There are only four passages in the New Testament that use the terms conform or transform, but they are an excellent foundation for understanding what God requires of His children, as they follow Him. In Romans 8:29, Paul writes, For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (ESV)Paul tells us in Romans 12:2, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul teaches, And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (ESV)Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:14-16, As obedient

children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you alsobe holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." (ESV) It is interesting to note that the Greek word (metamorph ),used in both in

Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18 in the English translation transform,is also the word used when the writers of the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark speak of Christs transfiguration, and it can mean to be transfigured, be changed, be transformed.1 According to BDAG, this can mean to change in a manner visible to others or to change inwardly in fundamental character or condition.2 As to the word conform, in Greek (susch matz ), it is used in a sense of

to form according to a pattern or mold, form/model after3, or to fashion alike, conform to the same pattern outwardly.4 The two times the word conformed is used in the Old Testament are in Ezekiel 5:7 and Ezekiel 11:12, both times pronounced as warnings that the Israelites had been disobedient in their willful rebellion against Gods laws. From this brief excursion, we see that spiritual formation is about changing in a way that becomes obvious to others. At the same time, the change has to first and foremost impact our internal being, changing our character to be more in line with the nature of God.
1. William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 639. 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid., 639. 4. SpirosZodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, electronic ed. (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES IN SPIRITUAL FORMATION Reflecting on the exegetical perspectives of the verses, in my life I have certainly witnessed such a transformation. I came to Christ at the age of 16 through the testimony of an American GI, while at a picnic in the German countryside. He very simply explained to me that every human was guilty of sin before the Creator of the universe, and that this had ruptured our relationship as God was incapable of being in the presence of sin. It was only through the free gift of Jesus, who died, was buried and then resurrected, that we could come in faith to God and be restored to relationship. It was as if scales fell off my eyes. I had been raised in the Catholic Church, but left at the age of 14, right prior to my confirmation, as I considered all of what I saw hypocrisy. In the meantime, I had first considered myself an atheist, then an agnostic, and finally knew that I was spiritually looking. After a short engagement with Mormon missionaries and realizing what they were offering was somehow not right, I was open to Gods bringing truth into my life. As a new believer, I knew nothing about what God requires, and I found myself walking right back into the world just a short while later. It was through an on-again, off-again number of years that I learned little by little about what the Scriptures actually said about Gods nature and how He wants His people to live. The true step to spiritual formation for me personally came when I was both in an accountable relationship with other believers and set my mind on reading through the Scriptures, which I have done every year since then. God teaches me new things every time I read through, and it is truly astounding how there are still passages I could swear were not in the Scriptures the year before. Little by little, I am being transformed to the image of Gods Son, Jesus Christ.

INSIGHTS INTO SPIRITUAL FORMATION BY WESTERHOFF Westerhoff makes a couple of excellent points on spiritual formation in his book Spiritual Life: The Foundation for Preaching and Teaching. Writing about the spiritual life vs. the moral life, he sees a depiction in passages such as Mark 12:30-31, which make it clear that there is a direct relationship. However, he states that we can love the neighbor as God loves us only if first we have experienced that love affair with God.5 As such, spiritual formation is only possible for those who are in relationship with God, something he describes as the one and only end of human life.6 Westerhoff is also quite in line with my personal thoughts when he writes about the lack of a dichotomy between our spiritual life and our daily life. Our life has to be one that moves from a Sunday mode to a weekday mode seamlessly, if we want to truly honor God and form a relationship7, which Westerhoff writes is probably best described with the understanding of a friendship, allowing even for spirited disagreements.8 Westerhoff sets two premises that I believe are foundational for spiritual formation. The first is, Righteousness, a right relationship with God, is dependent on our commitment to abide in Gods reign, that condition in which Gods will is known and done.9 The second one is equally important: Our relationship with God is directly related to the amount and quality of time we spend consciously with God daily.
5. John Westerhoff, Spiritual Life: The Foundation for Preaching and Teaching (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Know Press, 1994), 1. 6. Ibid. 7. Ibid., 3. 8. Ibid., 5. 9. Ibid., 6.

CONCLUSION The brief look at the biblical insights into what spiritual transformation means as well as Westerhoffs thoughts on taking our relationship to God to a much more intimate level confirms what was originally learned, when I asked my relative and a friend to give me their definitions of spiritual formation. To remind the reader, they were: growing in godliness, and the development of your soul based on the growth in your relationship with Christ. It is only through bringing our lives out of the realm of separating the sacred and the worldly and instead offering our lives to God in their entirety that we can expect God to grow us and transform us day by day into the image of His Son. As Westerhoff rightly commented, only daily renewal of the friendship with God can bring us to a point where we have a close and intimate, spiritually formed walk with the Lord, something that has been borne out in my own experience, when I decided to make a daily encounter with my God a reality in my life.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. Westerhoff, John. Spiritual Life: The Foundation for Preaching and Teaching. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Know Press, 1994. Zodhiates, Spiros. The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament. Electronic ed. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000.