Each Wednesday in April, we’re sharing an article from a special miniseries about how to talk to and answer common questions a new believer might ask you. Each article, written by a contributor to the Alive Bible study, will include helpful tips about how to talk to a new believer in a way that feels welcoming. Now up in the series: “Is Changing My Sinful Behavior Possible?”

“I just don’t know if I can trust myself.” 

When my friend said those words, I knew exactly what she meant—and how she felt. In the early days and years of my walk with the Lord, I struggled with similar feelings of shame and defeat. There were so many gaps between how I was living and how Scripture invited me to live. And even though my heart desired to love the Lord with all my heart and follow His commands fully, my heart’s desire wasn’t always enough to close the gap. I fell short often. 

After so many years of living one way, how could I possibly live anew? 

Is change really possible? 

It’s possible that you’ve asked or are currently asking this question. You look at your life and then at your Bible, only to look back at your life to see all the gaps that need filling. You feel stuck and even, at times, like a hypocrite because you just can’t seem to get it together. If you would raise your hand to any of these questions, thoughts, or feelings, I want to share with you two truths the Bible invites you to embrace. 

Change Takes Time 

In Romans 12:1, the apostle Paul urged believers to live a life of obedient worship to God in light of the mercy they have received through Christ. He then explained the work that needed to take place in their lives to make lives of obedient worship possible. He wrote, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2, CSB).” 

With these words, Paul revealed two helpful truths to believers asking if change is possible: 

1. You Once Lived Conformed to the Ways of the World. 

Before you placed your faith in Jesus and decided to follow Him, you lived a life conformed to the ways of the world. You thought and acted like the world thinks and acts. Many of your decisions and opinions about relationships, money, and success were patterned after the world. 

2. You Now Need to be Transformed to the Ways of Christ. 

Given your former way of life, you need to undergo a process of transformation to live a life of obedient worship to God. Though you have been made new in Christ, you are still actively being made new (Heb. 10:14). And this transformation will not happen passively. It happens intentionally as you faithful effort to bring your past thoughts, actions, decisions, and opinions into alignment with God’s Word. 

This faithful effort of untethering your life from the world’s ways and tethering it to Christ takes time. After years of living a life opposed to Christ, living a life of obedient worship to Him will take time. 

And guess what? God knows this. 

In Titus 2:11-13, commenting more on the process of transformation every Christian is to undertake, Paul wrote: 

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Here, Paul revealed that God’s grace has appeared to save us and change us. The word instructing could also be translated as “training,” and its -ing verb tense lets us know that the change this training brings about is both active and progressive, not passive and immediate. 

However, many of us think that when we come to faith in Christ, life change will be immediate and require little effort. We believe that sanctification is the one-time work of a magic wand, not the daily work of our partnership with Spirit. But God knows our transformation will take time. He supplies us the grace we need to grow into the people He has called us to be. He is daily, as an outpouring of His grace, helping us to close the gap between where we are in our walks with Him and where He is calling us to be. He doesn’t demand our perfection. Instead, He invites us to lean into His grace to change and grow. 

Change Takes Faith 

As believers, we need faith not only for salvation but also faith for change. In Romans 6:1-11, Paul instructed believers to no longer live as slaves to sin because of their newfound union with Christ. He reminds them that they were baptized into Christ’s death and, therefore, dead to the power of sin. He puts before them the truth that they were raised with Christ in His resurrection and, therefore, possess the power to live the Christ life. Then, after rehearsing these truths, Paul offered this command: 

So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Romans 6:11 

Transforming by receiving God’s grace

Before calling them to exhibit faith-filled behavior, Paul commanded them to embody a faith-filled posture. Paul knew faith is the starting point to living a life of obedient worship to Christ. 

Paul’s starting point is instructive. Many of us, when we find ourselves stuck in a pattern of sin, merely seek to change our sinful behaviors. Though this is a worthy pursuit, it only addresses our sins on a surface level. But what about the sinful posture of our hearts? What about all the ways our minds need to be renewed to discern God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will? And what about the places in our lives where the transforming truths of the gospel have yet to take root? So, yes, seek to change your sinful behavior. But also, be sure to look under the hood of your heart to consider what sinful motives led you there and to apply your new dead-and-raised-to-live identity in Christ to the places you need to change and grow. But do so by receiving the grace God gives you to transform into the image of His Son—emphasis on receiving. 

Receiving God’s grace

In our culture, we talk a lot about “giving ourselves grace.” While I understand the sentiment, especially as someone who is often too hard on themselves, I have recently come to trade the mantra for another one. Instead of seeking to give myself grace, I am learning to receive the grace God so generously provides. And with this trade, I am finding it easier to embrace the truth that change takes time and faith. In receiving God’s grace, my feelings of shame and defeat with my gaps find patience and hope, and my worries of whether or not I can trust myself are absolved. For I know that I can’t trust myself for change. Only God’s grace and His alone. 

ABOUT YANA CONNER

Yana Conner is a follower of Jesus Christ who seeks to help others live before the face of God in a broken world as they await His return (Titus 2:11-13). She is a writer and Bible teacher who currently serves as adult ministry director at Vertical Church, where she creates discipleship communities and develops leaders. You can learn more about her at yanajenay.com or follow her on IG @yanajenay. 

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Have you ever watched a movie without actually watching the movie? I have. You may know what I mean. It is when you’ve watched several different scenes of the movie in short reels embedded in your internet scrolling. Even though you haven’t watched the entire movie in one sitting, you can still piece together the bits you’ve seen and get a general idea of the storyline. 

It is much like this when archaeologists try to understand how past cultures lived and functioned.  A complete picture of an ancient setting is rarely uncovered, so archaeologists have the daunting task of meticulously excavating. This process involves painstakingly removing layers of soil, taking numerous snippets of information, and understanding how all the data fits together to develop a more complete picture of the ancient site’s history.     

The quest to understand ancient people and their setting is why many people love archaeology.   Behind every discovery of an artifact, coin, text, and ruins, there is a connection to an ancient person. This connection to the past is what fuels my love for archaeology. Connected to every ancient person is a culture and setting, and when multiplied, it produces civilizations. Archaeology is about connecting the discoveries to a broader setting to gain knowledge about the historical context of a given people or event. In a nutshell, archaeology is the study of ancient man by modern man.  

What is biblical archaeology? 

As we study the times of the Bible, we depend on biblical archaeology to refine our understanding of the cultures and people recorded in our Bible. To best understand the definition of biblical archaeology, let’s look at the two words separately. As already stated, archaeology is the science of studying ancient mankind through excavations. By adding a filter of biblical settings to archaeology, we limit the focus to only include the Bible’s land, people, and time periods. Also, biblical archaeologists include the information in the Bible as a primary resource. The field of biblical archaeology focuses on the settings and periods depicted in the Bible. The geographical area of study called the Holy Land encompasses significant portions of the Ancient Near East and spans the time period of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Overall, the insights discovered from biblical archaeology are invaluable as a tool for reinforcing the Bible’s validity and enhancing our understanding of its historical context. 

Does biblical archaeology prove the Bible is true? 

Archaeologists excavate the land to uncover specific data. The material unearthed cannot be manipulated; the type of pottery found in the ground is what it is. A good archaeologist seeks to discover the truth revealed in the soil. Biblical archaeologists apply these principles to excavation sites in the Holy Land.   

A major benefit of biblical archaeologists is their insight into biblical knowledge and literacy. A trained biblical archaeologist recognizes biblical names of locations, people, and artifacts to better understand the truth of what is being uncovered. Ultimately, archaeologists are looking for truth, but they usually find more questions.   

Because archaeology often lacks definitive answers, we should therefore not look to biblical archaeology to prove if the Bible is true or not.  As Christians, our faith is in the Word of God as the source of truth. 2 Timothy 3:16a reminds us that “All Scripture is inspired by God …”  The Bible is truth, and the discipline of archaeology enables us to understand that truth better. 

Take, for example, the artifact known as the Tel Dan Stele (a stele is a type of stone plaque).  Before its discovery, there was no physical evidence outside of the Bible of the existence of King David. Biblical critics questioned how a key figure in Israel’s history would not be mentioned in any of the surrounding people groups’s ancient texts. The Tel Dan stele “proved that King David from the Bible was a genuine historical figure and not simply the fantastic literary creation of later Biblical writers and editors.”¹ 

Biblical archaeology is a tool that helps validate the Bible, but it is not needed to prove the truth of God’s Word. There may be instances where the findings of archaeology and the Bible differ. In those instances, we choose to believe the Bible and trust God to reveal how the data should be best understood. Ultimately, the Bible stands alone as true. 

Why does historical context matter? 

Biblical archaeology is a crucial tool for enhancing our understanding of the historical context or setting. This understanding is necessary because we may misinterpret the Bible by projecting our setting and time period onto the text. Biblical archaeology corrects this by allowing us to see the Bible through the eyes of its original audience rather than our modern eyes. Take, for example, the parable of the virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. Jesus tells of ten women with lamps, but only five women brought extra oil to refill their lamps. The lamp and oil are key features in the parable. Being a woman of the 21st century, the idea of needing a lamp for light and extra oil to keep it burning is so foreign to how we live today. If we were to imagine an oil lamp needing to last all night, we might think about the kerosene lanterns used for camping. We would mistakenly attach a lamp from our context to the parable.  

According to the archaeological excavations from the setting and time of Jesus’s ministry, the lamp He described would be a small lamp that would fit in a person’s hand. The original audience would all know what lamp Jesus was referring to, and they would all understand how foolish the five women who forgot extra oil were because, of course, the small lamp would not last all night.   Through biblical archaeology, we can understand the lamp’s size and even the vessel used for bringing extra oil, which then helps the modern reader better grasp the message of Jesus’s teaching. Something as simple as seeing a visual image of the lamp and container for oil helps the reader understand the parable in a clearer way. 

Biblical archaeology illuminates the parable by providing modern context with an ancient oil lamp. Thousands of examples of material objects have been excavated, which gives perspective to the biblical text. Biblical archaeology becomes an object lesson! 

Biblical archaeology sifts through the lands of ancient times in search of objects that reveal the setting and activity of people in biblical times. The process of putting pieces together through biblical archaeology helps the audience to gain perspective of historical context and reinforces the Bible’s validity.  

Where can you learn more about biblical archaeology? 

Thankfully, today, more biblical archaeology resources are available beyond the academic setting.  

One of my favorite resources for reading about excavations in the Holy Land is the Biblical Archaeology Review. This is a quarterly magazine that educates the public about important excavations happening in the lands of the Bible.   

Another resource is the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology, which produces a free magazine, Let The Stones Speak. 

If you would like to experience an archaeological excavation for yourself, both of the above publications offer a list of digs with which to volunteer.   

For formal training in archaeology, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary offers a Master of Arts in Biblical Archaeology.  

NOBTS also needs volunteers for their summer dig season at Tel Hadid, Israel. 

Visit the Museum of the Bible and Archaeology in New Orleans at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary campus for a direct experience viewing the text and artifacts that bring our Bible to life. 

To hear Amy teach, check out the Lifeway Women Academy course: The World of the Bible: Historical and Cultural Context 101.

Work Cited

1. “Ten Top Discoveries,” Biblical Archaeology Review 35.4 (2009): https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/the-tel-dan-inscription-the-first-historical-evidence-of-the-king-david-bible-story/.

ABOUT AMY WILLIAMS

Amy Williams is the Director of the Museum of the Bible and Archaeology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and an Adjunct Instructor for the Thrive Program at Leavell College. She loves to speak about the history of the Bible and the context and background of the Biblical world so women can more deeply experience the joy of God’s Word. She serves alongside her husband, Dr. Tim Williams, at Williams Boulevard Baptist Church. They have served in ministry for over two decades in Canada, South Africa, and Louisiana.  

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