WEDNESDAY June 12, 2024
A True Transformation
...put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:22-24
Paul wrote to the Ephesian believers because, even though they had come to Christ, they were not living according to the moral standards associated with a transformed life. Surely, they needed to understand that if they remained the same way, others would not see any difference in their behavior. A true conversion to Christ will result in a change of a man’s mental and moral habits.
When someone is truly born again, they are not going to be the same person. These changes are the direct results of new life. Paul’s point of argument was that believers in Christ will have their lives transformed by the power of God. They have gone from sinner to saint––one set apart for God. Again, this transformation has caused them to become a new creation: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).
This transformation is also seen in Romans 6:4: Therefore we were buried with Him [Christ] through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Baptism does not save a person. It is merely symbolic. As a person goes under the water, it shows how a person is buried with Christ (the water is as the grave), and then, as they rise from the water, they are resurrected in newness of life. Christians are to live according to the same power that raised Christ from the dead.
The result of a transformed life is holiness. However, we are not perfect; we still sin daily, but we should not make a practice of sin. Read and understand 1 John 1:5-10. Keep short accounts with God, make things right daily. The result of a transformed life is truth, love, righteousness, and victory over sin. These are the keys to a new life in Christ.
The God who made us also can remake us.
~Woodrow Kroll~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!
