It's good to be reminded that Jesus' life, death and resurrection also give us the power and ability through the Holy Spirit to now live completely different lives from before.
We hear testimonies of praise and reports of salvations, and in almost all circumstances, salvation also means a certain level of freedom from sin and transgression. When drug addicts, alcoholics, sex victims, criminals, and all sorts of worn out or broken people come to the presence of the Almighty Father, they are changed forever.
The world 'transformation' used mostly in the context of the Bible means complete renewal of a person, object or being that brings a permanently different state than before. When the Bible talks about our transformation, God promises that He will carry out the work of changing us completely and helping us to stay that way.
That's not to say that God changes us overnight or completely erases every sinful pattern right away, but God does work in us progressively to get us to become as Christ-like as possible in this lifetime. Here are some scriptures that speak about God's power to transform people.
Psalm 51:10. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me."
Ezekiel 36:26. "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."
Romans 12:2. "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."
2 Corinthians 5:17. "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
Galatians 2:20. "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Philippians 1:6. "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
Colossians 1:21-22. "And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach."
Titus 3:5. "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit."
