Only Jesus can Transform

"Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his foolishness will not depart from him."

Proverbs 27:22 

When I heard shocking and sad news from Israel recently, this verse came to mind.  It was reported that during a Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem a man armed with a knife stabbed several participants.  What made the news more terrible was this same man had been convicted of doing the exact same thing over a decade ago when he stabbed three people during a Gay Pride event.  The man had paid the price the law demanded with 10 years imprisonment, yet all that time in prison was incapable of transforming his heart.  This is an extreme case to be sure, but it affirms the Word of God:  the severest punishments are incapable of separating a fool from his folly.  That is something only God can do.  Imprison a coward who stabbed unarmed people in the back for 30 years if you like, but it won't change his heart.

I knew a co-worker years ago who also spent a fair amount of time in prison.  In his words, it was not guilt over his illegal activities which straightened him out, but the loss of freedom and separation from his family which motivated him.  The perceived positives of his lifestyle began to be drowned out by negative ones.  Basically, his life of sin became increasingly inconvenient.  His heart was the same, but he worked at changing his behaviour.  Incarceration had not rehabilitated the man, though his behaviour might contribute to a statistic which would support the effectiveness of the justice system to reform criminals.  The folly was still there, and the experience of being locked up made him a bit more savvy with chances he was willing to take.  It takes much more than time or a little elbow grease to separate a fool from folly.  All animals act consistently according to their nature with predictable instincts and behaviours, and people are much the same.  Try to teach a dog to be a human being all you like, but he will retain the distinct nature of dog.  Dress him up in clothes, send him to kindergarten, force him to walk on his hind legs, but his nature will remain unchanged.  In the same way, men born of the flesh live for the flesh, and only those born again by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ have new hearts capable of comprehending and walking in God's wisdom.

Foolishness will never willingly depart from a fool.  The biblical definition of a "fool" is one who denies the existence of God or lives without regard to Him or His judgments.  It is written in Psalm 14:1, "The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good."  Conversely, those who are wise in God's eyes are those who hear the words of Jesus Christ and obey them (Matthew 7:24).  Only Jesus Christ has the power to make people new creations through the Gospel.  We who were once foolish, separated from God because of sin, by nature children of wrath, have been brought near to God through the shed blood of Christ applied to our hearts by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:1-10).  Even after we come to Jesus Christ and are given a new nature, the foolishness of our flesh will not willingly depart.  We must be willing and determine with God's ever-present help to put it off and depart from it. 

Galatians 5:19-26 says, "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. ²⁴ And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another."  God does not even attempt to reform men.  He knows the only way to gain the victory over the flesh is to kill it, to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God.  Walking in the Spirit keeps us from fulfilling the lusts of our natural flesh.  When we crucify the flesh in humble contrition and repentance, trusting in Christ, we are benefactors of His life risen in glory.

What evidence does your life present:  the works of the flesh, or the fruit of the Spirit?  Praise God for the power, deliverance, redemption, and the transforming work He does for all those who trust and cooperate with Him.  Sin and foolishness cannot be separated from our original nature, but Jesus is the One who makes all things new.