Transformation in Christ

Jesus Christ transforms us from the inside out.  No other religious leader has ever made the claim to do this.  It is not that other religions are not true -- all of them represent insight into truth, beauty, and goodness.  And all of them point out ways to approach God.  Yet, like the Old Testament law of purity, none of them convey the power (or energy) of true transformation.  The difference between following Buddha, or Mohammed, or Jim Jones (a cult leader from the 70's) and following Christ is just this: 

In following another way, it is up to us to transform ourselves into good Buddhist, Muslims, or cult followers.  In the ancient pagan religions, there were many ceremonies and sacrifices one had to engage in, in order to be initiated into the 'mysteries."  Plato, Aristotle, all the Greek philosophers, had glimpses into the good, the true, the beautiful -- as indeed, all modern poets, philosophers, writers, artists, etc. 

The difference is that when we come to Jesus, as did Mary Magdalen and the Good Thief, as did Matthew, Peter, and the rest of the disciples, we do not have to be learned or initiated; we do not have to be philosophers or poets or artists; we do not need deep insight into truth.  He IS the truth; He IS the way; He IS  the light --- and, in the Holy Spirit, He enters into our lives to transform us from darkness into light, into truth, into the Image of His beloved Father in heaven.

THAT is the difference.  It does not matter whether we are Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Episcopalian, or whatever, if we have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  The energy, the truth, is in the relationship we have with Him.  It is He Who  turns our mourning into dancing, our sadness into joy, our despair into hope -- and He does this from within us, as we yield every circumstance of our lives to Him.  It is Christ Who works in us to the glory of God. 

We could not ever begin to know how to approach the Father on our own, even if we studied for years all the religions of the world.  I once had a friend, an avowed atheist, who became interested in studying comparative religions.  That is okay as an intellectual exercise, but it does not bring us any closer to the truth, unless the grace of God illumines the study to bring us to His Son.  It is not knowing what the religions teach that saves us; it is the grace of God given to us in His beloved Son.  And what we call "grace" is God's own energy filling our souls, God's own truth illuminating our minds; God's own divine life transforming our cold and hardened hearts into hearts of flesh. 

If we are not being transformed from within, it does not matter what we think about religion.  If we are being transformed by the living Christ, He will make all things clear to us.  Our task is to clear space in our lives for Him, to allow Him to act in us, to remove the barriers to His freedom to change us.  God wants Jesus to become incarnate in our lives, in our bodies.  It begins with "Yes, Lord; do what is right in Your eyes.  I am yours."  St. Ignatius' prayer was Suspice: 

Take, O Lord, and receive, all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will.

All I have and call my own.

Whatever I have or hold, you have given me.

I return it all to you and surrender it wholly,

to be governed by Your will.

Give me only Your love and Your grace,

and I am rich enough, and ask for nothing more.

If we want to walk in Truth, Goodness, and the Image of the Father, we must receive everything from the Source, Who is Christ Jesus, the Son.  There is no other way.