TUESDAY June 29, 2021

True Transformation

But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you 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 4:20-24

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, if a person remained the same way, then other people would notice something was wrong with their lives. They would not see any difference from the person they were before.

Paul’s point of argument was one of transformation by the power of God. A Christian has become a new creation in Christ Jesus: 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). When someone is really born again, they are not going to be the same person. A true conversion to Christ will result in a change of a man’s mental and moral habits. These changes are the direct results of new life.

This transformation is 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 symbolic. As a person goes under the water, it shows a person is buried with Christ (the water is as the grave), and then, as they rise from the water, it is like they are resurrected from the grave. Christians are to walk according to the same power that raised Christ from the dead.

The result of a transformed life is holiness. We are not perfect; we sin daily, but we should not make a practice of sin (1John 3:9). The Holy Spirit teaches us what to do. The result of a transformed life is truth, love, righteousness, and victory over sin (1 John 2:29; 3 John 2:4).These are the keys to a new life in Christ. Are they evident in your life?

The God who made us also can remake us.
~Woodrow Kroll~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!