Transformed Lives

The message that permeates the Bible is that all humans are sinful by their nature and conscious action, and are under the judgment of a holy and righteous Creator-God, who has willing offered His own Son as the substitutionary sacrifice for humanity’s sentence of eternal death. That salvation transforms! The “new birth” is a “new creation.” Such a supernatural event must transform a life, if it is real. Both the Bible and history are replete with such evidence.

• Pagan Abram (later Abraham) believed God (Galatians 6:3) and became the “father of many nations” (Genesis 17:5).
• Banished Jacob (Geneses 27:43) became a “prince” with the name Israel (Genesis 32:28).
• Joseph, despised and hated by his brothers, became the ruler in Egypt “to save much people alive” (Genesis 50:20).
• Moses the murderer became Moses the Deliverer (Exodus 3:10).
• Gideon the fearful became Gideon the mighty man of valor (Judges 6:12).
• Samuel the child became Samuel the Judge (1 Samuel 7:15).
• David the shepherd became David the giant-killer (1 Samuel 17:45) and king (2 Samuel 7:8).
• Zacchaeus the dishonest tax collector became Zacchaeus the generous benefactor (Luke 19:8).
• Peter the rough commercial fisherman became a “fisher of men” (Matthew 4:19).
• Saul the self-righteous Pharisee and persecutor of Christians (Acts 9:1) became Paul the Apostle and teacher of the Gentiles (2 Timothy 1:11).

Every book of the Bible contains records of such transformations, as does every era of history. From the coliseum in Rome and the persecutions during the Middle Ages to the wonderful conversions of the addicts and outcasts of society, as well as the quiet and simple response of the child who seeks to return the love of Jesus, all testify to the transforming power of the Gospel.