Total Transformation

Matthew 16 : 13 -18, When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. NKJV

I have been a pastor for eleven years and during this time, God has had me to preach consistently on one topic. Can you imagine what subject would be so important to us as believers that God would have a church camp out on it for this long? Give up? The subject is obedience. I have never known why God wanted me to teach obedience, in some fashion, week after week, and year after year; nevertheless, I obeyed.

Graciously, this week the Holy Spirit revealed the reason to me. In Romans 1:17, Paul instructs us that the just shall live by faith. It is impossible to please God without faith. However, how do we live by faith? Faith comes from hearing and hearing comes from God's Word. We live by faith when we keep God's Word and obey the voice of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We live by faith when we seek to know and fulfill God's purpose and plan for our lives after we are born again.

In Ephesians 2: 8, Paul tells us that we receive the gift of salvation by our faith and through God's grace. Let's take a moment to break that verse down. According to Romans 12:3, you have a measure of faith in your heart. When you place your faith in Jesus as the Son of God, God will, at that moment, grant you the grace (power) to become His child. Therefore, power is released when Christians exercise their faith and obey God, which will cause them to inherit the promises of God. This power called God's grace also empowers us to be transformed into a new creature in Christ.

Nevertheless, what happens when believers decide that they don't want to listen to the voice of God or live according to the Bible or God's purpose? Why wouldn't a believer desire to please God? Well, that's a subject for another day. If we don't obey God, then we're not walking by faith. Consequently, we won't receive the grace of God to inherit the promises of God; and we will remain unchanged spiritually. James 4: 7 says that God opposes the proud (those who strive to be friends with the world); even so, He will give more grace to the humble (those who choose to be a friend of God). Jesus said we're His friends when we keep His commandments.

To establish further what I'm teaching, I want to conclude today's word with an example of someone who is called the "father of the faith." God appeared to Abram and told him to leave his father's country and to separate himself from his kinfolks. Abram stepped out in faith, but he didn't fully obey God's voice because he took his nephew, Lot with him. For twenty-five years, Abraham walked with Lot; and for the same amount of time Sarah didn't give him the son he had been promised. However, shortly after Abraham parted ways with Lot, Sarah became pregnant with Isaac, who is called the son of promise.

We can plainly see that Abraham's partial obedience prevented the grace of God from empowering Sarah to bear a son in her old age. When believers partially obey God and then try to justify their disobedience, it will prevent the grace of God from releasing the power in us to receive the promises of God in our lives as well. Don't take my word for it. Study the Word of God for yourselves, and you'll come to the same conclusion. Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Salvation isn't just about receiving promises of natural blessings in this life; more importantly, it's about being transformed into the image of Christ. When Simon spoke in agreement with what the Father had revealed about Jesus being the Christ, God released His grace, and it transformed Simon into Peter. Christ is first revealed "to" us by the Holy Spirit, and then He is revealed "through" us as we choose to live by faith. 

By Faith through Grace,
Pastor Asa Dockery