CE 1 YEAR: 24 The Truth’s Power

Week 24

The Truth’s Power

God’s promise for a transformed life

God promises us and commands us to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2). This is one of the most powerful promises in God’s word. The Greek word used for “transformed” is metamorphos. It means a RADICAL and PERMANENT CHANGE in the character or appearance of something or someone.

First, the biblical idea of transformation means RADICAL change. God is promising YOU CAN CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER in a revolutionary and lasting way. There is nothing about your moral weaknesses that cannot be changed, no matter how long you have been that way, or how hard you have tried to change it. God wants to help you change it because He loves you and He wants to be glorified through your life.

Secondly, God is promising PERMANENT change. When you are “transformed” the new you is the natural and consistent way you will live. When you are “transformed by the renewing of your mind” you will no longer have to force yourself to be different. You will simply and naturally be different. It is PERMANENT. That is what transformation (metamorphos) means.

A good illustration of metamorphos is the transformation that occurs when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. First, the change is RADICAL. A caterpillar is ugly and crawls on many legs. The butterfly is beautiful and flies with two wings. Secondly, the change is PERMANENT. A butterfly does not need to keep trying not to turn back into a caterpillar. They have been permanently transformed into something else. A butterfly naturally flies because that is what they have been changed into. And notice that a butterfly cannot turn back into a caterpillar. Once changed, always changed. And this is true of the spiritual growth and transformation that the Bible is talking about.

God promises that you will change your life when you change your mind. This is because you will: “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2).

God’s process for a transformed life

How can such amazing and lasting change occur in your character? God says, “Be transformed by the renewing your mind” (Rom 12:2). This promise and command is A KEY TO EVERYTHING IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.

Many Christians are confused about the most important questions in the Christian life: How do you grow spiritually? How do you become more like Christ? How do you become a more loving, joyful, peaceful, and fruitful Christian? The biblical and simple answer is the promise and command of Romans 12:2: “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” There is always and only one way that you spiritually grow in a lasting way. Renew your mind.

What does this mean? Renewing your mind is replacing the LIES you believe about yourself, with God’s TRUTH. The only way any Christian experiences radical and permanent change is to replace the lies that control them with the truth that grows them. You can do all kinds of Christian activities including praying, fasting, and Bible study. Or go through difficult challenges. But if these experiences do not change your mind, they will not change your life.

Why do you change your life when you change your mind? Because the mind is where you believe, and everything you do is controlled by what you truly believe. What we think affects who we are (Prov 23:7). Above all else, you need to guard your heart because everything you do flows from it (Prov 4:23). Your beliefs determine what you will do and who you will be. This is how God created you.

The greatest battle a Christian fights is between God’s Spirit and the sinful nature within them (Gal 5:16-17). The sinful nature is the sinful programming of your mind to believe lies about God and yourself. As you replace the Devil’s lies in your sinful nature with God’s truth about His love, your transformation occurs.

What activates God’s Spirit to control you?

Romans 12:2 answers another vital question raised in the previous week. You were reminded that God, through His Spirit, lives in you. But He does not always control you and you have a sinful nature that is fighting to control you. Therefore, the critical question is this: How do you experience the powers of the Holy Spirit? What determines if Sin or the Spirit will win the war within you? How do you practically obey the NT commands to: “be led by the Holy Spirit,” and “be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Gal 5:18, 25; Rom 8:14; Eph 5:18)?

The answer is simple: TRUST the TRUTH. This is why the Holy Spirit is repeatedly called “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1 John 4:6). Trusting the TRUTH turns on the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. Trusting LIES turns on the power of the sinful nature. It is that simple. Every time you sin it is because you are believing a LIE. Every time you experience the love, joy, peace, power, and holiness of the Holy Spirit, it is because at that moment you are TRUSTING the TRUTH. This is one of the most vital things to understand about the Christian life.

For example, the Bible says that trusting in God’s promises enables us to experience His divine power (2 Pet 1:3-4). God’s divine power is God’s Spirit living in you. When God’s Spirit controls you, then you have everything you need for living a godly life. So, what enables you to experience the Spirit’s divine power? Trusting God’s promises enable you to share God’s divine nature. This is because trusting God’s truth activates God’s Spirit in you.

What happens when you TRUST the TRUTH of God’s constant and almighty love for you? You turn on the Holy Spirit in you and experience love, joy, peace, and power! You can worry or worship, but you cannot do both. The Bible says that God will keep you in perfect peace if you will trust Him and keep your thoughts focused on Him (Isa 26:3). This is why the powers of the Holy Spirit are really the powers of trusting in the power and love of God. Trusting in God’s LOVE for you unleashes the power of God love, joy, and peace within you.

When you are trusting in God’s love for you, you “turn on” His supernatural LOVE for others. When you are focused on all the blessings of God, your heart experiences His JOY. When you are believing in the promises of God, the Spirit’s PEACE will control you, no matter what else is happening to you or around you.

More specifically, the central issue is what you are believing about YOURSELF. When you are believing LIES about YOURSELF, you “turn on” your sinful nature. When you are trusting God’s TRUTH about YOURSELF, you “turn on” God’s Spirit in you.

For example, when you are believing you are unloved, worthless, alone, shameful, unprotected, and a failure, then you will feel the anger, worry, lust, loneliness, shame, and discouragement of your sinful nature. Likewise, when you are believing you are loved, valuable, and forgiven by God, you will feel the love, joy, and peace of God’s Spirit controlling you.

Paul made this simple when he wrote: “Christ’s love compels us” (2 Cor 5:14). Believing in Christ’s love for you, empowers you to love and serve God. YOU WILL NEVER LOVE GOD MORE THAN YOU BELIEVE HE LOVES YOU. You will never trust and obey God more than you believe He loves you.

No one and nothing makes you mad, afraid, or discouraged

How many times have you heard someone say something like: “You make me feel [so mad, upset, frustrated, etc.]”? It’s not true. NO ONE EVER MAKES YOU MAD. The reason you get mad, afraid, or discouraged is because of what you are believing, not because of what is happening to you. We get mad because something that someone says or does makes us feel insignificant, insecure, or rejected. But these are lies. Because of God’s love for us, no one can ever make us these things.

Persecution is potentially one of the most painful experiences in life. In the face of such cruelty, what does your Lord expect? “Be happy about it! Be very glad!” (Matt 5:11-12). How can this be possible? Because your feelings are always controlled by what you are believing. Jesus knows this is how you were created. Therefore, Jesus said if you will believe in your eternal reward while you are suffering, you will experience happiness!

Jesus would tell you that it is not really the difficult circumstances in your life that cause you the most pain. It is the lies that you believe about yourself that are the most painful.

The Apostle Paul was teaching the same when he wrote: “Always be full of joy in the Lord” (Phil 4:4). How can you always experience happiness and thankfulness no matter what is happening? By focusing on and believing in all the wonderful things you have “in the Lord.” A few verses later the Apostle described in more detail how to do this (Phil 4:8). Paul knew this from experience. He wrote Philippians while being in chains in a prison cell that was not fit to live in!

Isaiah 26:3 is an amazing promise. Can you imagine experiencing “perfect peace” no matter what is happening in your life? How is that possible? It will happen when your “thoughts are fixed on” God and you are trusting Him. Why is this? Because your feelings are always controlled by what you are believing. It is never your circumstances that dictate whether you will be discouraged in your sinful nature or happy through God’s Spirit. What truly controls your life and feelings is what you are trusting and believing (Ps 112:6-8).

Listen carefully. YOUR BAD EMOTIONS ARE USUALLY A BAD GUIDE TO WHAT IS TRUE. BUT YOUR FEELINGS REVEAL WHAT YOU BELIEVE. Do you see the difference? Bad and painful emotions do not simply descend on you from nowhere. They come from lies that you are believing. One exception may be sadness. There are times we should be sad. But bad and even sinful emotions like anger, worry, and discouragement are always caused by believing a lie about yourself.

For example, one day Jesus and His disciples were caught in a fierce storm. Jesus was sleeping but the disciples were panicking. Both Jesus and the disciples were experiencing the same storm. But why was Jesus so calm? Because of what He believed. Why were the disciples so afraid? Because of what they believed. They had, “so little faith” (Matt 8:23-26). Your feelings reveal your faith.

There is a very practical application to the biblical truth shared in this section: Stop blaming others for your anger, worry, and discouragement. Your emotions are controlled by what you believe, not what you are experiencing. People or difficulties do not make you sin, but you choose to sin. So often we believe the source and solution for our troubles is “horizontal” and a matter of changing people or circumstances around us. But in fact, our real problem is “vertical” and is a matter of connecting with God, so we experience His love, joy, peace, and self-control no matter what is happening.

Practical Application: Is there someone you are blaming for being mad? Pray to God about this and confess that it is because of what you are believing, not what they are doing, that is making you mad. Take responsibility for being controlled by God’s Spirit of love, joy, and peace no matter what is happening to you.

In your small group meeting this week, share praises and prayer requests and then discuss these questions:

1. What does “transformation” mean?
2. How do you radically and permanently change your character and life?
3. What makes the difference between you being controlled by the Holy Spirit or your sinful nature?
4. Why is it so important for your whole heart to trust in God’s love?
5. What was especially meaningful to you in this chapter? Why?