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Resistance to Our Walk of Faith & What Transformation Looks Like
**Lesson Six, Part Two** from *Growing to Become Like Christ* by Bill Loveless continues the discussion on obstacles to spiritual growth and outlines the transformative outcomes of walking by faith. It focuses on three additional sources of resistance to becoming Christ-like—Satan, the world, and other people’s flesh—and describes the tangible results of spiritual transformation. Here’s a summary in modern American English:
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#### **Key Points**
1. **Resistance from Satan and Demonic Forces**
- **Satan’s Strategy:** Satan targets your thought life by inserting deceptive, tempting, or condemning thoughts that feel like your own (e.g., “I’ll never change”). He aims to keep you from knowing Christ as your life, walking by faith, or transforming into Christ-likeness.
- **Example:** In Matthew 16:21-23, Jesus rebukes Satan for influencing Peter’s thoughts, showing how Satan can plant ideas to derail faith.
- **How to Overcome:** Engage the Holy Spirit’s power to discern and reject Satan’s lies, replacing them with God’s truth (e.g., Ephesians 4:32 on forgiveness). As you grow in faith, your ability to recognize these thoughts improves.
- **Practical Action:** Pray for discernment to identify negative thoughts and seek God’s strength to resist them.
2. **Resistance from the World**
- **Worldly Influence:** The world promotes self-sufficiency, materialism, and pride (1 John 2:16), distracting you from faith through media, culture, or global events. This can stir fear, anger, or anxiety, pulling you away from Christ’s peace.
- **Impact:** Christians can get caught up in worldly values, like chasing success or reacting to politics, which hinders spiritual growth.
- **How to Overcome:** Focus on God’s truth and ask the Holy Spirit to guard your mind against worldly distractions.
- **Practical Action:** Reflect on how culture or news affects your thoughts and pray for freedom from these influences.
3. **Resistance from Other People’s Flesh**
- **Other’s Fleshly Behaviors:** People’s selfish actions (e.g., rejection, judgment) can tempt you to respond in kind, dragging you into fleshly patterns.
- **Key Insight:** You don’t have to own others’ negative behaviors. Christians and non-Christians alike act from their flesh, but you can choose not to let it derail your faith.
- **How to Overcome:** Rely on the Holy Spirit to avoid internalizing others’ actions and stay focused on Christ-likeness.
- **Practical Action:** Identify someone’s fleshly behavior affecting you and pray for strength to let it go.
4. **Consequences of Not Overcoming Resistance**
- Giving up on faith leads to:
- **Self-Reliance:** Trying to fix life on your own.
- **Fleshly Behaviors:** Stronger sinful patterns or strongholds.
- **No Transformation:** Stagnation in spiritual growth.
- **Death:** Misery from living apart from God’s Spirit (Romans 8:6).
- These outcomes reinforce the need to persevere in faith.
5. **Spiritual Growth Equals Spiritual Strength**
- As you grow spiritually, your ability to resist obstacles strengthens. This is like building thicker spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:11), making it easier to withstand Satan’s “flaming arrows.”
- **Encouragement:** Greater dependence on God leads to more victory over resistance.
6. **Final Truths About Transformation**
- **Subtle Changes:** Transformation is often gradual and hard to notice without spiritual awareness. Pray for “spiritual eyes” to see God’s work (2 Kings 6:17).
- **Closing Gap Time:** The time between falling into fleshly behavior and repenting shortens as you grow, meaning you recover faster.
- **Thicker Armor:** Your spiritual armor strengthens, reducing the impact of resistance.
7. **Results of Transformation**
- **Toward Yourself:** You become less self-critical, more grace-filled, and less self-focused, liking the Christ-like person you’re becoming.
- **Toward Others:** You grow selfless, showing Christ’s love, which attracts others to God (1 John 4:12).
- **Toward God:** Transformation fosters:
- A thankful heart for God’s work.
- Christ-confidence, trusting God’s ability to change you (Philippians 1:6).
- A deeper awareness of God’s unconditional love, the driving force behind His desire to transform you (1 John 3:1).
8. **The “Normal” Christian Life**
- It’s normal to fail, doubt, or feel frustrated in your faith journey. God doesn’t condemn you for these struggles but encourages you to keep going, like a parent helping a child learn to walk.
- **Key Mindset:** Persist through setbacks by taking another step of faith, trusting God’s grace.
9. **“But God” Mindset**
- Inspired by Paul (2 Corinthians 4:8-9) and David (Psalm 13), “But God” means trusting God despite pain, confusion, or resistance. It’s a refusal to give up, choosing faith over despair.
- **Example:** Paul faced affliction but trusted God, saying, “We are struck down, but not destroyed.”
- **Application:** When tempted to quit, declare “But God” and take another faith step.
10. **Conclusion: A Transformed Life**
- Transformation makes you a radically different person, reflecting Christ’s love, joy, and forgiveness. Others notice this change, drawing them to God.
- Perseverance in faith leads to a life beyond imagination, fulfilling Ephesians 3:20’s promise of God doing “exceedingly, abundantly” more through His power in you.
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#### **Practical Takeaways**
- **Reflect:** Identify specific thoughts or influences from Satan, the world, or others that resist your faith. Write them down and pray for discernment.
- **Pray:** Ask the Holy Spirit for spiritual awareness to see subtle changes and thicker armor.
- **Act:** When facing resistance, practice the “But God” mindset, choosing to trust and take another faith step.
- **Expect:** Embrace the “normal” struggles of faith, knowing God’s grace covers your failures.
This lesson encourages perseverance through resistance, highlighting the transformative power of faith and God’s unstoppable love, leading to a Christ-like life that impacts you and those around you.
