Which other scriptures emphasize transformation through Christ's power? \A New Creation in Focus\ 2 Corinthians 5:17 sets the foundation. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!” Key truth: salvation brings an entirely new nature, not a mere adjustment of behavior. --- \Mind Renewal and Lifestyle Shift\ • Romans 12:2 – “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” • Ephesians 4:22-24 – “to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be renewed in the spirit of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” • Colossians 3:9-10 – “you have taken off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” • Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.” God reshapes thoughts, desires, and conduct to match the new nature. --- \The Old Self Crucified, New Life Released\ • Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” • Romans 6:4 – “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.” • 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 – “one died for all, therefore all died. And He died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again.” Because the old self truly died with Christ, believers walk in resurrection life now. --- \Birth from Above, Re-Created by the Spirit\ • John 3:3, 5-6 – “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again… Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit.” • John 1:12-13 – “to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—children born not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” • Titus 3:5-6 – “He saved us, not by deeds of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” Literal regeneration by the Spirit plants divine life within, making genuine holiness possible. --- \Sustained and Completed by God\ • Philippians 1:6 – “being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” • Philippians 2:13 – “For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.” • 2 Corinthians 3:18 – “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” The same power that saved keeps molding believers day by day. --- \Looking Ahead to Complete Transformation\ • Romans 8:29 – “For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.” • 1 John 3:2 – “Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.” Transformation through Christ’s power covers the past in new birth, the present in ongoing sanctification, and the future in glorification when believers will mirror the Lord perfectly. |
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