I’ve written previously about the difference between supernatural faith and human willpower.
As the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
The writer of Hebrews says, “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” (Hebrews 10:38)
So faith is critical if we are to live our lives in harmony with God’s plans and purposes for us and see them come to pass.
Faith begins where the will of God is known, and only comes by the word of God. (Romans 10:17) In scripture, Jesus compares the Word of God to seed. And our hearts to the ground in which that seed is sown (Parable of the Sower, Mark 4). As I’ve shared in my article Faith vs Willpower faith is a supernatural force from God’s word, and willpower is our human resolve.
However, sometimes believers get the idea they are “in faith” because they are trying so hard to receive. They might even know in their mind that God has promised it to them in His word. But they don’t have “that word” in their hearts. And therefore, unsuccessfully spin their wheels trying to believe and make God’s word come to pass. But true Bible Faith is when our hearts are in agreement with what God says and in what He has done for us by His grace. This transformation only comes by continually renewing your mind to the Word of God, and goes beyond mental assent.
So here, I’d like to concentrate on the difference between willpower and transformation by the Word of God. The Christian life isn’t about doing the best you can. If it were, then faith would be nothing more than faith in your own effort, your own works or willpower. Willpower might know what God’s word says, but transformation takes place when what you know, becomes the truth you live by in the core of your being; when what the Word of God says is more real to you than the natural world’s limitations. This is why we must resist being conformed to this world.
Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
This is what Romans 12:2 says in the NLT: Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Transformation is God’s purpose for each of His children. What He has provided through Jesus (grace) is meant to be the source of our life, the authority we submit to, and the power to become like His son, Jesus.
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
This transformation is the power of God within you to change your heart.
Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”
Understanding the relationship between grace and faith opens the door to the power of transformation, and keeping your focus on spiritual reality will create it.
The book of Romans explains the relationship between grace and faith.
Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Willpower or trying to believe and receive in our own strength will always fail; and does not produce the blessing and favor of God in our lives. Faith that comes from transformation takes place when the word we know becomes the truth we live by. Only by transformation will we see the fruit of our salvation manifested in our lives.