I know I've Been Changed

What does it truly mean to be changed? Not just on the surface, but at the core of who we are? This message digs deep into Romans chapter six, where the apostle Paul lays out one of the most powerful arguments in all of scripture: that genuine faith in Jesus Christ does not simply adjust our behavior, it transforms our very identity. We explore how baptism is not merely a ritual but a three-part declaration of death, burial, and resurrection. The old self is crucified, buried, and a new life rises in its place. Paul was writing to a divided church in Rome, a congregation wrestling with cultural and ethnic differences, and his answer to their conflict was not a social program or a political solution. It was the gospel. Because when everyone has truly encountered Jesus, everyone has had to change. This message challenges us to ask ourselves whether we have truly buried the old man, or whether we have simply put a bench and an umbrella underneath a dead tree and called it a shade tree. There is a profound difference between behavior modification and genuine transformation, and this sermon draws that line with clarity and conviction.