TURNED INTO ANOTHER MAN
“And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.” I Samuel 10:6
Samuel had taken a vial of oil and poured it upon Saul’s head, indicating that the Lord had anointed Saul to serve as the first king of Israel. Samuel then disclosed to Saul several signs that would occur soon after, including telling him that “the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee.” Numerous times in the Old Testament, we read of how the Holy Spirit would come upon individual servants of God and equip them for a particular task or assignment. Such is the case of Saul. In preparing Saul for his being endued with the Holy Spirit’s power, Samuel told Saul that he would “be turned into another man.”
The Holy Spirit’s presence and power in Saul’s life would dramatically alter him. Saul would be a different man when he was under the influence of the Spirit of God. The same could be said about every genuine child of God. When a person sees himself as a guilty sinner, repents to God and trusts Christ to save him, he is born again by the Spirit of God. At the moment of conversion, the Holy Ghost indwells the new believer, and he becomes a new creation in Christ. We, too, are “turned into another man.” Salvation changes us from the inside out. Salvation gives us a new heart. It is the influence of the Spirit of God in our lives that transforms us.
The degree and progress of transformation in the lives of Christians is not all the same, but every one that is born of the Spirit of God will be transformed into a different person. The more the Holy Spirit controls or influences our lives, the more we will see evidence of the inner change we have experienced. Sometimes these changes are external and easily detected. Perhaps our language or vocabulary is changed, or maybe there is a change in friendships or associations, or our activities are different. Other changes may not be as evident. Such things may include a level of inner peace that was not possible before salvation, an attitude of humility, the ability to be longsuffering, or the grace to forgive our offenders.
As we walk in the Spirit and allow the Holy Spirit to fill our lives, He will continually change us and turn us into the children of God He wants us to be. We cannot become what we are to be in our own ability, but the Holy Spirit gives us the power to be “turned into another man.”