The Transformation Journey

Transformation is the process or act of profound and significant change resulting in a new state or form. In a spiritual context, transformation refers to the fundamental and positive shift in a person’s beliefs, behaviors, values, and identity.

There are four stages to our transformation.

• A New Birth
• New Beliefs
• New Behavior
• New Body

Transformation starts with the New Birth.

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NEW BIRTH – REGENERATION

In the new birth, you have been given a new nature.

 

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Isaiah 43:18 (NKJV)

¹⁸“Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old.

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In The New Birth, You Have Been Justified

Justification. The act of bringing sinners into a new covenant relationship with Himself through the forgiveness of sins.  It is a declarative act of God by which He establishes persons as righteous, that is, in right and true relationship to himself.^[1]

It’s not because of anything we’ve done because Jesus did it.

Your transformation happens from the inside – out

Your transformation starts with a new birth – a new nature.

 

 

 

NEW BELIEFS – TRANSFORMATION

My mind must be informed about this NEW CREATION I have become.

Romans 12:2 (NKJV)

²And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Your life is transformed as your beliefs change.

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My Beliefs About God

Who God is

What God has

What God can do

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My Beliefs About Myself

Who God says I am – identity

What God says I have – promises

What God says for me to do – potential

You can’t function with a new belief with an old mindset.

 

NEW BEHAVIOR – SANCTIFICATION

• I must learn to behave in a way that is consistent with the new creation I have become.
• The way I live my life matters.

Ephesians 4:17 (NKJV)

¹⁷This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,

• Some things I must stop doing
• There are some things I must start doing

Ephesians 4:25–32 (NLT)

²⁵So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.

²⁶And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry,

²⁷for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

²⁸If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.

²⁹Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

³⁰And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.

³²Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

“Stop lying to you about you.” – Pastor Billy Johnson

 

 

NEW BODY – GLORIFICATION

“That that started on the inside will eventually manifest itself on the outside.” – Pastor Billy Johnson

• The transformation that has taken place on the inside will one day be seen on the outside.
• You will be given a new body.
• That body will be designed to live eternally.

2 Corinthians 5:1 (NKJV)

¹For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

1 Corinthians 15:42–44 (NKJV)

⁴²So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.

⁴³It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.

⁴⁴It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Transformation does not happen overnight—regeneration is instantaneous, but transformation is not. Christians are transformed to Christ’s image gradually as they spend time beholding him in intimate fellowship. Eventually, they will begin to mirror the one they behold. The apostle John said it well: “We can’t even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is” (1 Jn 3:2, nlt).^[2]

^[1] Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Justification,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 1252.

^[2] Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Tyndale Reference Library (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 1271.