Transformation

     To be saved, sinners "must be born again" (John 3:7). Jesus said that. Since Jesus is the Way and only Way to be saved (Acts 4:12), the change referred to as born again (regeneration) is the first step toward salvation. Salvation comes at the end for those whose faith is steadfast: "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Mark 13:13), since by faith sinners are saved (Ephes 2:8). In other words, faith is not a moment of contrition but trusting Jesus continually until the end.

     Let that soak in for a moment. Those who are born again profess to be saved.  However, salvation comes if and when Christians endure to the end. When is the end? That time occurs when it becomes impossible to exercise faith. "The end" is the end of life in this world - when the flesh dies. Those who are certain that they will endure unto death have the assurance of salvation. The assurance is if one is truly transformed at regeneration. 

  The test for regeneration is change. The regenerated person's attitude changes from what it was to a new one. Those who are born again have a metamorphosis: they change into another form. Baptism is a testimony to that change and is called an "ordinance" which is obedience to God's authority. Testimony is important because no one can be a secret Christian:

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Rom 10:9-10)

     Baptism, then, is that public confession that Jesus Christ is Lord of the Christians' lives. Baptism proclaims the transformation: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor 3:18).
     Regeneration is the death of the old creature and the birth of the new just as the flood of Noah was the death of the creation and the birth of a new world. With the flood, the world was transformed by the washing away of unrighteous people! Regeneration is the change and baptism is the flood. Of course, it is not the water which transforms, but the Power behind the water. Water always represents the Holy Spirit and Power. 
     Noah's family was born again when they chose God over the world. As they entered the door (gate) to salvation, they left the world behind. They transformed from the world to a haven of safety. Could the ark have sunk? If they had reveled in sin, yes it could have. 
    At that time, sin was removed by the flood. Regeneration is a one-time event but salvation is a long process. Baptism is the initiation of a changed life; a covenant with God much like the Abrahamic Covenant. Unlike Christian denominations who say that salvation is a process ending in baptism, salvation is really a longer journey ending in physical death. Baptism is the pledge to take the journey and signifies transformation which should have occurred at regeneration. Let's look at the change which should take place commencing with regeneration:

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed (metamorphoo) by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think... (Rom 12:2-3)

     Christians are not to be in conformance to the world. We all struggle with the area where we are most conformed. It is in entertainment. Some would prefer the evil doctrine of Hollywood rather than the truth and purity of Christianity. Possibly, for those who favor the entertainment of the world to  contentment with Christ, transformation has not yet occurred.  Psychologically speaking people are what they consume. The same applies in Christianity. Our desires indicate who or what it is we love!
    Sinners are like the world, or to be blunt, as their father the devil (John 8:44). Those who conform to the world look to God like Satan because they do his will rather than God's. Those who routinely sin without remorse will look more like the Devil every day. Perhaps, for those who are still in conformance to the world, they still belong to the Devil.
     On the other hand, salvation is a process. For those who have truly transfigured, they look to the prize as if it is in hand (Phil 3:14). In the journey to the end, Satan tries to remove that vision. He tempts the Christians at every chance, and even the righteous will sin. (We saw that with both Noah and Ham after the world was cleansed from sin). But God kept Noah and his household safe. Satan could still tempt them but only God could remove them from the earth. They were kept safe by God as Satan shot his fiery darts. Drunkenness and disrespect soon contaminated the world. That's the same for Christians, and they must endure temptation to the end by keeping the faith which God ahs so graciously given them!
     At regeneration Christians undergo a metamorphosis. They are transformed or changed into a new creature from the old one who has conformed to the world. Regeneration is seeing the Light (truth) that only Jesus can save and the person is regenerated when they accept that. The transformation, then, is regeneration. It's when the sinner sees themselves in a true light: they are sinners unable to save themselves but Jesus can. They diminish themselves as they lift Jesus up!
    With that, the  mind has been renewed: thinking that one cannot be saved or can save himself to realizing that salvation is available and it is only by Jesus's Name!
     Baptism is proving to the world that the transformation is good, acceptable, and perfect. The trip to the prize (salvation) is living as good, acceptable, and perfect as one can. That commitment is called "sanctification". It makes enduring to the end much easier. Sanctification is being set apart from conformity to the world.
    Is sanctification a second act of grace? Every help by God is by grace. Each day that I am alive is an act of grace on God's part. Each moment I do not sin is an act of grace. What I'm saying is that grace doesn't end at regeneration. God's grace helps us endure to the end because God's Holy Ghost is Comforter (John 14:16).
     Regeneration is the time when Jesus comes into peoples lives. The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Jesus (Mark 15:37). When Jesus gave up his flesh, his "Ghost" was released from the bounds of the world.  When Christians give up their flesh - conformance to the world - Jesus's Ghost enters them. That is the transformation. Christians are transfigured from mere sinners into new creatures. Yes, Christians, as was Jesus, are transfigured:

And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured (metamorphoo) before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. (Mark 9:2-3)

     The Greek word metamorphoo is the original Greek for transformed, transfigured, and changed.
     Are you truly a Christian? To answer that, ask, "Have I changed?" Have you climbed your mountain? If a person changes from conformity to the world to conformity with God, that is transformation and the sinner has been transformed into a Christian.
     Jesus, although never a sinner, had worldly flesh. However, God morphed that flesh on the mountain into glorified flesh. Jesus's flesh no longer conformed to the conditions of the world but was made able to withstand death. Our own transformation - standing in the presence of God - allows us to withstand the sting of death and live forever! Paul spoke of that change:

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed (metamorphoo) into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Cor 3:18)

     The metamorphosis should be as looking into a mirror at ourselves and seeing the glory of the Lord. That is seeing Jesus in our own lives, and that vision is of one sanctified. Sanctification is being as much like Jesus as human beings can live. Sure, we will fail; even faithful Noah did! Sanctification is the willingness to be like Jesus, and that willingness is by grace.
     Jesus changes hearts. The transformation is from the world (unwillingness) to holiness (willingness). Are you willing to be like God or do you still want to be like the world. Lot's wife preferred the world although she was safe from harm by God's grace. She turned back and looked at what she once loved and turned into a pillar of salt. She relinquished her salvation for a peek back at sin. She preferred conformity to the world to the promise of God.
    As an afterthought, one might ask, "How can I see Jesus in the mirror?" God's throne in Heaven is on a "sea of glass" (Rev 4:6). How can we see Jesus? Through that transparent sea of glass. We can see God through His Word Jesus.
     Study of Holy Scripture allows Christians to see God. Holy Scripture is where the events of life can be tested. If eyes are open to truth, God can be seen through that sea of glass. Truth is revealed and becomes transparent through scripture. True Christians have bright eyes - they can see Jesus through the Word. Transformed people have bright eyes. The veil is removed, and the truth is known and will set them free (John 8:32).