Spiritual Formation—Wrong Name, Wrong Claim
One could wish that the term “spiritual formation,” now commonly but erroneously used in evangelical circles, would be dropped.
Its origin is found in Galatians 4:19 where Paul addresses a group sometimes called the Judaizers. These were Jews who were insisting that converts had to go through the foyer of Judaism to get to the living room of Christianity.
But Paul repudiated this idea with such force that he questioned whether these people were even saved (Galatians 4:20).
He, in fact, claimed they were bewitched (Galatians 3:1), they were fools (Galatians 3:3), they were preaching another gospel which in fact was no gospel; and that by supporting it, they made themselves a can’t-miss target to be cursed (Galatians 1:8).
Paul clearly said he had his doubts about them and that his hope was that Christ be formed in them. The critical question, then, deals with the issue: how long does it take for this formation to happen?
The phrase in Galatians 4:19, “until Christ be formed in you,” if assumed to be addressed to Christians, conveys the idea that this forming is ongoing, progressive, something that transacts in stages—by installments, incrementally. But where is there any support for that in Scripture?
Answer: Nowhere!
Were we to accept the notion that Christ forming in us is progressive, then it might be asked how much forming qualifies for being saved? Just a little bit? And if only a little bit, does that mean someone can be a Christian and have only a little bit of the new nature?
These questions answer themselves. The forming of Christ in a believer is punctiliar, not progressive. It happens in an instant, not incrementally.
W.E. Vine, the Greek scholar, pointed out the difference between two similar Greek words. Morphoo, the word used for “formed” in Galatians 4:19, was a word used in a medical sense for fetal development.
Another commentator added: “The term is particularly revealing and refers to the newly forming embryo in the womb.” Morphoo in this context means until Christ's nature be formed in you.
However, Scripture says: “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.” So if you are not a new creation, you are not in Christ. No one is a Christian until that happens.
The Greek word, Metamorphoo, Vine points out, is the word used in Romans 12:2 for being transformed though the renewing of your mind. That word refers to “an outward change in the character and conduct of the believer.”
These distinctively different etymological meanings of this crucial word “formed” tell us that Galatians 4:19 is talking about conversion, not maturity; an internal reality already accomplished, not an external reality still developing.
Therefore, to interchange these words, as those in the spiritual formation movement do, is to conflate meaning to the point of confusion.
Dr. John Gill, noted Bible teacher and predecessor to Spurgeon, said, “Until Christ be formed in you is the same as to be created in Christ, to be made new creatures, or new men in him.”
The Bible commentator Matthew Henry said of Paul, “… the great thing which he was in so much pain about, and which he was so earnestly desirous of was … that Christ might be formed in them, that they might become Christians indeed.”
This interpretation makes total sense. Taking the view that Christ forms in us gradually, progressively, makes no sense and runs counter to Scripture.
II Corinthians 5:17 declares, “If anyone be in Christ he is a new creation” —notice, not is becoming a new creation, or will one day be a new creation. He is that—instantly! The verse goes on to say, “old things have passed away.”
Notice again, not will pass away, or are gradually passing away—have! —it’s an accomplished fact! Moreover, Ephesians 4:24 makes it clear that the new nature, the new man, “was created”—past tense, it’s a done deal. It is entirely a work of God. We have nothing to do with producing it or improving it. It is already perfect.
John 1:16 says “And of his fullness we have all received ....” Again, have, past tense; fullness, not small proportions; all of us, not some of us; it’s true of every believer.
Ephesians 3:19 speaks of being “filled with all the fullness of God,” not some of his fullness.
Scripture never speaks of gradually getting a new nature. To be born again is to exchange the nature of the old Adam for the nature of the new Adam. That happens instantly, completely, permanently. There’s no half-and-half stuff—part this/part that—a hybrid humanity, a spiritual schizophrenia.
The change made inside us was instant, not gradual; perfect, not incomplete; permanent, not subject to deterioration, depreciation, or declension.
Again, there is no ongoing forming when it comes to our essence, our spirit, our new nature. What should be ongoing is an increase in the way our spirit impacts our soul and thus changes our behavior.
This desired behavioral change, however, is not, in any biblical sense, the same thing as spiritual formation.
Foster and Willard get this all wrong. The very foundation of their spiritual formation teaching is cracked, collapsed, feeble, fractured, deteriorated, disintegrated.
