Members Message August 2026
Members Message
Be Transformed
Rarely does a conversation so clearly expose the gap between wanting God’s blessings and actually embracing the cost of following Christ. In this Members Message, Bruce Billington pulls no punches as he explores what genuine spiritual transformation looks like in everyday Christian life. Rooted in 2 Corinthians 3:18 and Romans 12:2, he explains that real transformation begins deep within us before it is expressed through our outward behaviour, particularly under pressure. Rather than condemning what is revealed, we are invited to recognise these moments as opportunities for the Holy Spirit to bring transformation.
Bruce explores what it means to renew our minds, develop a biblical worldview, and allow Scripture to shape the way we think, respond and live. Through the story of the rich young ruler, he challenges us to identify whatever quietly consumes our hearts and competes with Christ’s lordship, reminding us that transformation doesn't stop at a spiritual milestone. Drawing on John Wesley and Ephesians 2:10, Bruce shows how grace and personal effort work together—God gives the grace, but we must faithfully cooperate with what He is doing in us.
Key Takeaways
- Spiritual transformation requires both grace AND effort — We don't simply receive God's grace passively; we cooperate with the Holy Spirit through obedience, discipline and daily surrender.
- Inner transformation must precede outer change — What is happening within us will eventually be revealed in how we live, particularly when we come under pressure.
- True discipleship demands radical surrender — Following Christ means allowing Him to confront whatever has taken too high a place in our hearts and bringing every area of life under His lordship.
🎧 Listen now and allow this message to challenge your thinking about transformation, discipleship and the cost of becoming more like Christ.
Introduction
Although the Bible does not tell us much about this, there is good reason to believe that the extent to which we are transformed to be like Christ on earth has a significant effect on how we are for eternity, including the rewards we receive, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3.
If the outer level of our spiritual life with God is impaired in the slightest degree, we must set everything else aside until we make it right. Remember that spiritual vision depends on our character—it is “the pure in heart” who “see God” (Matthew 5:8).
God makes us pure by an act of His sovereign grace, yet we still have a role in the process. It is through our everyday lives, as we encounter other people and other points of view, that we tend to become tarnished. Not only must our “inner sanctuary” be kept right with God, but the “outer courts” must also be brought into perfect harmony with the purity God gives us through His grace.
If we want to maintain personal intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ, we will need to refuse to do or even think certain things. Some things that are acceptable to others will become unacceptable to us.
Martin Luther helps by saying, “Don’t do anything you can’t ask God to bless!”
In real terms, we measure this against the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). If we are in the process of transformation, we should be able to see that these things are not only present in our lives but are also increasing, and that those around us can testify to this.
Our Christ likeness is a reflection, seen in our countenance, revealing who we are within. The mirror we look into reflects what the world sees – which should clearly be the character of Christ.
As the author and finisher of our faith, the Holy Spirit’s chief role is to produce transformation in our lives. We can either cooperate with Him – making the results self-evident – or resist Him and remain a baby Christian. The deciding factor rests with us, because the Holy Spirit will certainly do His part. A major key to this whole process is found in Romans 12.
The Renewing of Our Minds
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.”
The transformation Paul is talking about here takes place in the deep reaches of our character. What is in here will ultimately manifest in our external behaviour – particularly under pressure.
Often, the Lord will allow us to be put under pressure to reveal what we need to work on – it is not to condemn us but to transform us – and He needs our cooperation. We need to understand how real this all is and that we have a huge role to play here, because it is a body-and-soul issue (actually a mind issue). So, the question is: how do we renew our minds?
1. The Word of God
We must have a mind that is constantly focused on God throughout the day. How can we do this amid everything else we have to do each day? The good news is that we can do more than one thing at a time, and that we have the assistance of the Holy Spirit who lives within us.
A great aid to this is memorising Scripture. Nothing is more effective in the quest for a renewed mind than this. Once we have put the Scriptures into our memory banks, we are better able to meditate on them and recall them in any situation we find ourselves in.
2. Develop A Christian Worldview
A worldview is the sum of what a person believes, especially regarding reality, truth, knowledge and value. It is a biblically grounded set of beliefs about all of life, from work, recreation and finances to God, life after death and morality.
A Biblical worldview is the attempt to view all of life in light of the teachings of the Scriptures, and more specifically, of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no secular/sacred separation in such a mind. We take all the events and components of our lives and bring them into our understanding of who God is and where He is currently working in any given situation.
The Goal (or journey)
Our goal is to make all of life an occasion for discipleship and worship. Nothing is reduced to a random event. To do this effectively, we must regularly read, expose ourselves to excellent teaching, and be willing to engage in conversations with others (believers and non-believers) about important worldview issues.
If we do all these things with humility, the inevitable result will be constant growth in godly wisdom and the development of a godly way of thinking.
No one, including Jesus when He was on this earth – can get there any other way. We cannot reach any place of maturity in Christ without following these disciplines.
Is It Works or Grace?
An important question is, “Do we grow in Christ by works or by grace?” The answer is “yes.”
Our walk with God is a relationship, not a concept. It is a joint venture with the Father. In Christ, we are called into the Trinity and become part of the Biblical story – we interact with the Father to fulfil the purposes of the Kingdom of God.
Example – who gave John Wesley the ability to preach and impact the nation as he did? The answer is obvious – God did. Why, then, did he train and push himself so hard throughout his life? Because he knew that if he didn’t, he would not achieve what God intended for his life.
So, who did it – John or God? – Answer = “yes.”
God gives us some skills – we go into training to develop them – is it God or us? – Yes.
Is a person’s maturity in Christ the result of grace or of works? – Yes.
This grace-or-works question is unanswerable in the Kingdom of God because it does not compute - it is a nonsense question, like asking if you can drink underwater.
Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
We do our part, and God does His, and it happens. Then together we share in the great joy of it.
The New Covenant, like the Old, is grounded in obedience. Jesus warned us that unless we were prepared to die to ourselves and take up the cross, we could not follow Him and be His disciples (Luke 14:27).
We can’t have His blessings without His sufferings. We can’t have His wisdom without reading and studying the Scriptures. We can’t grow without trials and tribulations. They all go together, and together they produce transformation, which we now need to return to.
The Rich Young Ruler
Luke 18:18-25 (read).
We have made such a big deal out of this passage being about money that it has obscured the real message. This message cannot be about getting rid of all our riches or possessions, because that would put Jesus in contradiction with Himself in the parable of the Minas (Luke 19), where the rich get richer, and in many other passages.
Let’s pick up on a few points here.
1. Verse 20 - Jesus Commends Him to the Law
Jesus first assessed him on how well he was keeping the law, i.e., how obedient he was to God’s Word. He didn’t tell him the law was of no benefit. The man claims he was doing okay in that area, and Jesus doesn’t challenge that.
2. Verse 22 - Jesus Offers Him Something More
Jesus does not give Him more laws to keep. Instead, Jesus goes after something deep in the young man’s life to bring him into a full new understanding and reality of the Kingdom of God.
3. Verse 24-25 - Transformation of Character
Herein lies the issue - Jesus calls him to a transformation of character. This man is seeking fulfilment – he knows he is lacking something and wants to be made complete. Jesus goes after his heart by addressing the key issue in this man’s life, namely money, and requires that he undergo a transformation of character if he is to become a disciple.
The man is not up for it and leaves, quite sad. The cost of the Kingdom of God was too great for this God-fearing, seemingly sincere man.
This is the great challenge of the Kingdom of God – it always goes to the heart of who we are and calls for change – even if we are doing quite well – because it is not about going from bad to good – but about moving from one degree of glory to another – which happens from within. Why? Because we always have further potential, despite how great we may consider ourselves to be today.
This foundational stone is the very stumbling block Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians. We cannot be disciples without entering the process of transformation, and at the end of the day, that is the measuring stick for individuals, Biblical communities, and all true New Covenant endeavours.
Is it by grace – yes – does it require works – yes – is there one key point that describes it – yes – pick up your cross daily and follow Me. Obedience and sacrifice are foundational to the New Covenant and common to any true journey of discipleship.
We are all invited, but the doorway into it is the narrow door, not the wide one. Let’s decide to let nothing shut us out of it.
God bless you.
Bruce Billington