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From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Dear Rev. Graham: I’m working on my resolutions for this year and reading a lot about the reformation as it relates to the New Birth. What is the difference between reformation and transformation? – R.T.

 

Dear R.T.: The new birth is far more than reformation. Many people make New Year’s resolutions only to break them because they do not have the capacity to keep them. Man is ever reforming, but reformation at best is only temporary. Man’s nature must be transformed.

A group of barbers at their annual convention decided to exhibit the value of their tonsorial art. They found a derelict on skid row, gave him a haircut, a shave, and a bath; and they dressed him in new clothes of the finest tailoring. They had demonstrated to their satisfaction the worth of tonsorial excellence, but three days later the man was in the gutter again. He had been outwardly transformed into a respectable-looking man, but the impulses and drives of his inner being had not been changed. He had been powdered and perfumed, but not changed.

Through the new birth, the Bible teaches that man enters a new world. There is a new dimension of living. The change that comes over a man is expressed in the Bible in various contrasts: lust and holiness, darkness and light, death and resurrection, a stranger to the kingdom of God and now a citizen. The man who has experienced the new birth is called a member of God’s household. The Bible teaches that his will is changed, his objectives for living are changed, his disposition is changed, his affections are changed, and he now has purpose and meaning in his life.

Jesus Christ is the One who changes us from being useless to useful; sinful to forgiven.

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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)