God’s Making, Our Becoming, and the Vision of Holiness

Francis Madojemu

On Sunday, after teaching about holiness, I found myself repeatedly hearing and declaring one word:

Become. Become. Become.

The word remained with me because it seemed to carry more than a general encouragement to improve, grow or change. It sounded like a divine summons—a call to move beyond merely hearing about holiness and to become a people in whom the holiness of God is increasingly made visible.

As I continued to reflect, I realised that this word is closely connected to a teaching I developed many years ago called Make versus Give.

That teaching challenged a common preoccupation in Christian life:

What is God going to give me?

But perhaps the deeper question has always been:

What is God making me?

And now the prophetic word presses the matter even further:

What am I becoming through what God is doing in me?

My earlier Make versus Give presentation contains a section titled “Getting vs. Becoming.” It argues that personal development is lifelong and that what a person becomes is ultimately more significant than what that person gets. The presentation asks us to move from the question, “What am I getting?” to the more important question, “What am I becoming?” 

Make vs Give 2.pdf

It goes further by observing that getting and becoming are inseparably connected: what we become affects what we can attract, receive, carry, manage and sustain. 

Make vs Give 2.pdf

That insight now seems to provide the bridge between three themes:

Make. Become. Holiness.

The central revelation may be expressed this way:

God’s highest purpose is not merely to give us things, but to make us into people who bear His image. What He gives may meet an immediate need; what He makes of us fulfils His eternal purpose. Holiness is the progressive manifestation of the character of our Father in those who are being made like Him.

Or, more simply:

God gives us gifts, but He makes us sons.
God gives provision, but He forms character.
God gives answers, but He uses the journey to make us like Himself.

1. The Bible Begins with God’s Intention to Make

The first significant statement concerning humanity is not:

“Let us give man something.”

It is:

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…”
— Genesis 1:26, KJV

The purpose of humanity is introduced through the word make.

The goal was never merely that human beings should exist. God intended humanity to represent Him—to bear His image, express His likeness and exercise delegated dominion within creation.

The Make versus Give presentation rightly identifies the distinction between the Hebrew words used in Genesis 1:

Make vs Give 2.pdf

Genesis 1:26 uses ʿāśâ:

“Let us make man…”

Genesis 1:27 uses bārāʾ:

“So God created man…”

The distinction should not be made too rigid, because the Hebrew words sometimes overlap. ʿĀśâ is a broad verb meaning to do, make, accomplish, prepare, fashion or perform. It is used hundreds of times in the Old Testament. Bārāʾ is particularly associated with divine creative activity and frequently has God as its subject. 

Nevertheless, the use of both words in Genesis helps us see something important.

Humanity was not merely brought into existence. Humanity was fashioned for a purpose.

God created man, but God also declared His intention to make man according to a pattern:

“In our image, after our likeness.”

This introduces both an accomplished reality and an unfolding vocation.

Human beings were created in God’s image, but they were also called to grow into the faithful expression of His likeness.

After the fall, that image was not entirely erased, but its expression became distorted by sin. The work of redemption therefore includes the restoration of humanity to God’s original intention.

Biblical becoming is not self-invention.

It is not the modern idea that each person may create an identity independently of the Creator.

Biblical becoming is God restoring His image in human beings.

We do not become whatever we decide to imagine. We become what the Father originally intended and what He has revealed perfectly in His Son.

2. God Is More Interested in Making Than Merely Giving

God certainly gives.

He gives life, grace, provision, wisdom, strength, gifts and opportunities.

Scripture declares:

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…”
— James 1:17

Jesus said:

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
— Luke 12:32

Paul asked:

“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”
— Romans 8:32

Therefore, make and give are not enemies.

The problem is not that we desire something from God. The problem arises when we desire what God can give while resisting what God intends to make.

We often want:

A gift can place something in your hand.

Making develops something within you.

And what God places in your hand can exceed what has been formed within your character. This is why gifting alone is never enough. Character must become commensurate with calling.

God gives because He is Father.

God also makes because He is Father.

A loving father does not merely provide for his children. He raises, trains, corrects, disciplines and forms them until the family character becomes recognisable.

3. “Follow Me, and I Will Make You”

The language of making appears clearly in the call of Jesus:

“And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
— Matthew 4:19

Peter and Andrew were already fishermen.

Jesus did not initially offer them a title, a platform or a public ministry. He called them into relationship:

“Follow me.”

Then He promised a process:

“I will make you.”

Finally, that process would produce a new purpose:

“Fishers of men.”

The order matters:

Follow → Make → Become → Do

They would eventually do the work of apostles because Christ would first make them into the kind of men who could carry apostolic responsibility.

Jesus did not simply give Peter a sermon.

He made Peter into a preacher.

He did not merely give John revelation.

He formed John into a man capable of carrying revelation without losing love.

He did not merely give the disciples authority.

He took them through the processes by which their ambition, pride, fear, prejudice and self-reliance could be confronted.

Before Pentecost, the disciples repeatedly revealed what still had to be made in them:

Yet Jesus had said:

“I will make you.”

Their failures did not cancel the process. Their failures revealed why the process was necessary.

4. The Biblical Meaning of “Become”

One of the principal New Testament words translated become is the Greek verb:

γίνομαι — ginomai

The word carries a broad range of meanings:

It is sometimes translated become, but at other times appears in English as:

This is why merely searching for the English word become will not uncover the entire biblical theology of becoming. The idea is distributed across several words and expressions.

The Greek ginomai fundamentally communicates movement into a state or condition that was not previously present in the same way. 

Becoming in Scripture may therefore refer to:

5. Becoming Begins with New Birth

John 1:12 provides one of the clearest uses of the word:

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”

Here, become is ginomai.

The context is essential.

John has declared that Christ came to His own, but His own did not receive Him. Those who did receive Him were granted the right, privilege or authority to become the children of God.

Verse 13 explains the source of this becoming:

“Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Becoming begins with birth.

This first dimension of becoming is not a human achievement. We do not reform ourselves until we qualify to become God’s children.

We receive Christ.

God gives the right.

God produces the birth.

The life of God enters the believer.

Therefore:

We do not become children of God by imitation alone. We become children of God by regeneration.

Christian transformation begins not with behaviour modification but with the impartation of new life.

Yet this introduces an important tension found throughout the New Testament.

We are already children of God by new birth, but we must increasingly become childlike in character.

We have received a new identity, but we must grow into the visible expression of that identity.

6. Become as Little Children

Jesus said:

“Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
— Matthew 18:3

Again, the Greek word is ginomai.

The context begins with the disciples asking:

“Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Jesus responded by placing a child in their midst.

Their question revealed an internal condition. They had begun to think in terms of rank, recognition, comparison and status.

Jesus did not merely answer their question about greatness. He confronted what they were becoming.

They were becoming ambitious in the wrong way.

They were being shaped by the values of earthly kingdoms even while walking with the King.

Jesus therefore said they must be converted—turned—and become like children.

In this context, childlikeness includes:

Becoming therefore requires more than adding new qualities.

It often requires turning away from a trajectory already forming within us.

We are always becoming something.

The real question is not whether we are becoming, but what we are becoming.

Every habit is forming us.

Every repeated response is shaping us.

Every offence we retain is forming us.

Every act of obedience is forming us.

Every environment we remain in is influencing what we become.

Every vision we behold is producing a corresponding direction within us.

7. Becoming Requires Putting Away

Paul writes:

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
— 1 Corinthians 13:11

Becoming requires relinquishment.

Paul identifies three dimensions of childhood:

He then says:

“When I became a man, I put away childish things.”

Some things do not fall away automatically.

They must be put away.

This means that biblical becoming involves both divine activity and human response.

God makes, but we must yield.

God renews, but we must put off the old man.

God reveals, but we must respond to the light.

God supplies grace, but grace must not be received in vain.

You cannot fully become the new while insisting on preserving everything associated with the old.

There are relationships, reactions, attitudes, thought patterns and ambitions that belong to an earlier stage of development. Growth eventually requires their abandonment.

8. Grace Does Not Merely Forgive; Grace Forms

Paul declares:

“But by the grace of God I am what I am…”
— 1 Corinthians 15:10

He continues:

“…and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”

Grace did not merely cancel Paul’s past.

Grace made Paul into a different man.

Grace produced a new identity, but it also produced labour, discipline, endurance and fruit.

Paul did not say:

“By the grace of God, I received what I received.”

He said:

“By the grace of God I am what I am.”

Grace is not only what God gives.

Grace is also what God uses to make us.

Grace pardons, but grace also trains.

Grace accepts us, but grace refuses to leave us unchanged.

Grace is not divine permission to remain as we are. It is divine power to become what we could never become by ourselves.

9. Holiness Is the Destination of Becoming

The prophetic word Become came in the context of teaching about holiness.

This is crucial because becoming is not aimless change.

The destination is not merely:

The destination is likeness to God.

Holiness is the direction of Christian becoming.

Derek Prince begins his message A Vision of Holiness by saying that he sees the glory of God summed up in the word holiness. He rejects the reduction of holiness to a list of negative religious rules and insists that holiness is positive in nature. 

This accords with the direction of the word Become.

Holiness is not merely a life organised around avoidance.

It is a life increasingly filled with God.

It is not only what has been removed from us.

It is what is being formed in us.

It is not simply separation from something.

It is separation unto Someone.

10. Holiness Requires a Vision

Derek Prince connects holiness with Proverbs 29:18:

“Where there is no vision, the people perish…”
— Proverbs 29:18, KJV

Other translations render the thought as the people casting off restraint.

Prince’s central argument is that rules alone rarely sustain discipline. A God-given vision gives restraint its meaning. An athlete accepts discipline because the athlete sees the prize. In the same way, believers need a vision of what God intends them to become. 

This is deeply important.

People cannot consistently pursue holiness merely because they have been told what not to do.

They need to see.

They need a vision of:

Where there is no vision of becoming, restraint becomes oppressive.

Where there is a vision, discipline becomes purposeful.

A person training for nothing will soon abandon restraint.

A person who sees what he or she is becoming can endure the process required to arrive there.

The prophetic cry Become may therefore be a call to recover the vision.

See what the Father intended.
See what Christ has made possible.
See what the Spirit is producing.
Then yield to the process.

11. Holiness Is Not Merely What We Avoid

We frequently define holiness negatively:

These commands have biblical legitimacy.

But they are not the whole of holiness.

Derek Prince argues that holiness cannot be produced merely through regulations. He points to Colossians 2:20–23, where Paul warns against a spirituality dominated by “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle.” Such regulations may have an appearance of wisdom, but they cannot conquer the desires of the flesh. 

The destination is positive:

“But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
— 1 Peter 1:15–16

The command is rooted in God’s nature:

“For I am holy.”

God is not holy because He successfully keeps a list of religious rules.

God is holy because holiness is intrinsic to who He is.

Prince describes holiness as the unique and unparalleled aspect of God’s nature. It belongs to God in a way that no created attribute does. Wisdom, strength, justice and even forms of love may be reflected imperfectly in creation, but holiness belongs uniquely to God and to those whom He sets apart for Himself. 

Therefore, holiness is not merely asking:

What must I avoid?

It is also asking:

Whom am I becoming like?

Separation is necessary because what is incompatible with God must be removed.

But resemblance is the objective.

We are separated from what is unlike God so that we may become like God in character.

12. “Be Followers of God”

Paul writes:

“Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children.”
— Ephesians 5:1

The Greek word translated followers is mimētai—imitators.

Children naturally learn through imitation.

They observe manner, speech, response, habit and attitude. Over time, the family resemblance becomes evident.

Paul therefore tells believers:

Imitate your Father.

This does not mean that human beings become divine in essence. Scripture maintains the absolute distinction between the Creator and the creature.

But we are called to participate in and reflect God’s moral character:

Peter speaks of believers becoming:

“…partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
— 2 Peter 1:4

We do not become God.

We become godly.

We do not acquire His infinite attributes.

We increasingly participate in and express the character He communicates to His children.

13. The Clearest Bridge: “Be Like Your Father”

The passage that most clearly connects becoming, sonship and holiness is Matthew 5:43–48.

Jesus says:

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.”

Then He commands:

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”

Why?

“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven…”

Jesus continues:

“…for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Then He concludes:

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” 

This passage is not primarily about religious performance.

It is about family likeness.

Jesus points to the Father’s generosity.

The Father gives sunlight to people who acknowledge Him and people who reject Him.

He sends rain upon the righteous and the unrighteous.

The Father does not restrict every expression of common goodness only to those who deserve it.

Jesus therefore tells His disciples:

Love as your Father loves.

Do good as your Father does good.

Refuse to allow another person’s hatred to determine your character.

Become recognisable as your Father’s children.

The word translated perfect is:

τέλειος — teleios

It carries the ideas of:

It is used of maturity and completeness, not merely abstract faultlessness. 

In the context of Matthew 5, Jesus is describing mature, complete love.

Immature love loves those who love it.

Natural love greets those within its circle.

The Father’s love extends goodness even towards those who resist Him.

Jesus is therefore saying, in effect:

Become complete in love as your Father is complete in love.

This is holiness.

Not simply refraining from bad behaviour, but participating in the character of the Father.

14. The Destination Is Conformity to Christ

Paul states God’s eternal purpose plainly:

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son…”
— Romans 8:29

The destination of salvation is conformity to Christ.

God’s ultimate purpose is not merely:

His purpose is:

that Christ should be reproduced in a people.

Jesus is not merely the means by which we reach the destination.

Christ is the destination.

Every divine process must therefore be evaluated by this question:

Is Christ being formed in me?

Paul writes to the Galatians:

“My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.”
— Galatians 4:19

That is the language of becoming.

Paul was not satisfied that they had attended meetings, received gifts or adopted religious vocabulary.

He wanted Christ to take shape in them.

15. Beholding Produces Becoming

Paul writes:

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
— 2 Corinthians 3:18

The word translated changed is:

μεταμορφόω — metamorphoō

It means to transform or change in form. It is the word from which the English word metamorphosis is derived. 

The transformation in 2 Corinthians 3 occurs through beholding.

We behold the glory of the Lord and are transformed into the same image.

The movement is:

Revelation → Beholding → Transformation → Resemblance

We become like what we continually behold.

This principle operates both positively and negatively.

If we continually behold:

we should not be surprised when those values take form in us.

But as we behold Christ through Scripture, worship, prayer and the ministry of the Spirit, His image is progressively formed within us.

This is why holiness requires vision.

We do not become holy merely by staring continually at sin.

We become holy by beholding the Holy One.

The vision of Christ gives us both the pattern and the power for transformation.

16. The Church’s Destination Is Maturity

Paul describes the purpose of ministry gifts in Ephesians 4:

“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”
— Ephesians 4:13

The Church’s maturity is measured by Christ.

Not by:

The measure is:

“The stature of the fulness of Christ.”

A church may increase in size without becoming mature.

A believer may increase in knowledge without becoming like Christ.

A minister may increase in influence without increasing in holiness.

Growth is not identical to becoming.

The relevant question is not merely:

“How much have we gained?”

It is:

“What kind of people have we become?”

That is why the older Getting versus Becoming material is so significant. What is acquired externally cannot substitute for what must be formed internally.

17. Future Becoming Governs Present Holiness

John writes:

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be…”
— 1 John 3:2

There is both a now and a not yet.

Now:

“We are the sons of God.”

Not yet:

“It doth not yet appear what we shall be.”

Then John declares:

“…but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

Our ultimate destiny is likeness to Christ.

Then John immediately connects that future hope to present conduct:

“And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”
— 1 John 3:3

Future becoming governs present holiness.

Because we shall ultimately be like Him, we begin to purify ourselves now.

Eschatology becomes ethics.

The revelation of where we are going determines how we live on the way.

The hope of likeness produces the pursuit of purity.

18. Holiness Is Christ in Us

Derek Prince’s teaching is particularly helpful here because it prevents the language of becoming from deteriorating into self-improvement through willpower.

In Holiness the Jesus Way, Prince argues that holiness does not come merely through keeping a set of rules. It comes through union with Christ, yielding to Christ and allowing the resurrected life of Christ to operate within the believer. 

He draws attention to Galatians 2:20:

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…”

And to Romans 6:19:

“…yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.”

The key word is yield.

Biblical becoming is not self-manufacture.

We are not told to create holiness independently.

Christ is our life.

Christ is our righteousness.

Christ is our sanctification.

Paul writes:

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”
— 1 Corinthians 1:30

Prince summarises the principle by saying that Christ is our holiness and that we partake of that holiness as we yield ourselves to Him. Rules may describe appropriate conduct, but rules cannot generate the life that produces that conduct. 

This provides a necessary balance:

Become is not a command to struggle harder in the flesh.

It is a call to surrender more fully to Christ.

Not merely:

“Try to act like Jesus.”

But:

“Yield to the Christ who lives in you.”

The Christian life is not imitation without impartation.

It is imitation made possible by indwelling.

19. Identity, Experience and Ultimate Fulfilment

The prophetic word Become may be understood through three movements.

Become Who You Already Are in Christ

Paul writes:

“But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
— 1 Corinthians 6:11

In Christ, the believer already possesses a new identity.

We have been:

Becoming begins from grace, not towards grace.

We are not trying to earn acceptance.

We are growing because we have been accepted.

Become in Experience What God Has Declared in Identity

Paul writes:

“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
— Ephesians 4:24

The new man has been created.

Yet believers are instructed to put him on.

Grace has established the identity.

Discipleship brings that identity into expression.

We are to become visibly and practically what God has already declared spiritually.

Become Ultimately Like Christ

John declares:

“We shall be like him.”

The process will be completed when we see Christ face to face.

What is partial now will become complete.

What is growing now will reach maturity.

What is contested now will become permanent.

What is hidden now will be revealed in glory.

20. Make Is God’s Side; Become Is Our Response

This may be the clearest way to connect the concepts.

Make Is Viewed from God’s Side

“I will make you…”

God:

Paul expresses confidence:

“He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
— Philippians 1:6

Derek Prince uses this verse at the opening of A Vision of Holiness, emphasising that our confidence rests in the God who began the work and will bring it to completion. 

Become Is Viewed from Our Side

Jesus says:

“Become as little children.”

We:

Holiness Is the Intended Result

“Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

The entire movement may therefore be expressed as:

God makes. We become. His holiness is revealed.

Or:

God’s making and our becoming meet in holiness.

21. Holiness Must Be Pursued

Hebrews says:

“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”
— Hebrews 12:14

Many modern translations use the word pursue.

The language suggests active, deliberate movement.

Derek Prince argues that the New Testament does not present holiness as an optional second stage for unusually committed Christians. Salvation must at least produce a desire and pursuit of holiness. 

We cannot earn holiness by effort.

But neither can we claim to desire holiness while remaining passive towards everything that resists it.

Grace does not eliminate pursuit.

Grace empowers pursuit.

Paul says:

“I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”
— Philippians 3:12

He had been apprehended by Christ.

Therefore, he pursued the purpose for which Christ had apprehended him.

Divine initiative produced human response.

God’s making awakened Paul’s becoming.

22. What God Gives Must Serve What God Is Making

The correct relationship between giving and making may therefore be stated as follows:

God gives in order to support what He is making.

He gives:

Even the things we call blessings are often tools of formation.

Provision tests stewardship.

Influence tests humility.

Delay tests trust.

Opposition tests love.

Success tests motive.

Failure tests identity.

Correction tests teachability.

Power tests character.

God is not only working around us to change circumstances.

He is working within us to change us.

23. A Prophetic Interpretation of “Become”

Any prophetic word should be tested by Scripture and handled with humility.

Yet the repeated word heard on Sunday appears consistent with the biblical witness.

It may be understood as a summons beyond hearing about holiness into embodying holiness.

God was not merely revealing His holiness to us. He was calling us to yield to His making until what we have seen in Him becomes visible in us.

The repetition may emphasise urgency, process and continuation.

Become What Grace Has Declared

Do not live below the identity received in Christ.

Become What the Spirit Is Forming

Yield to His correction, conviction and transformation.

Become What the Father Intended

Recover the purpose announced in Genesis:

“In our image, after our likeness.”

Become Like the Son

Allow Christ to be formed in thought, speech, character and conduct.

Become Holy

Not merely externally separate, but internally possessed by God and increasingly expressive of His nature.

The word is not an invitation to manufacture a new identity through self-effort.

It is a call to:

Become visibly, practically and maturely what grace has already made possible in Christ.

24. Questions the Word “Become” Places Before Us

The prophetic word moves us from asking only:

What is God going to give me?

to asking:

What is God making me?

And finally:

What am I becoming?

What am I becoming through this delay?

What am I becoming through this responsibility?

What am I becoming through this conflict?

What am I becoming through this success?

What am I becoming through this disappointment?

What am I becoming through this season of waiting?

Am I becoming more loving or more cynical?

More generous or more self-protective?

More humble or more conscious of rank?

More forgiving or more easily offended?

More like Christ or merely more religious?

More holy or merely more informed about holiness?

The ultimate measure of a season is not only what happened to us.

It is what happened within us.

Conclusion: Become Like Him

The gospel is not merely about what God gives us.

It is about what God makes of us.

God’s purpose from creation has been to form a people in His image and after His likeness.

Sin distorted that purpose.

Christ restored it.

The Holy Spirit now works within believers to reproduce the character of the Son.

Holiness is therefore not merely separation from sin.

It is the progressive manifestation of the character of God in human lives.

It is not merely the absence of wrong.

It is the presence of Christ.

It is not merely what we refuse to do.

It is the kind of people we are becoming.

God gives because He loves us.

God makes because He loves us too much to leave us unchanged.

The Father’s goal is not merely that His children receive from His hand.

It is that they bear His likeness.

The prophetic word therefore stands:

Become what you have beheld.

Become what grace has declared.

Become what the Spirit is forming.

Become what the Father intended.

Become like Christ.

Become holy.

Become. Become. Become.

Working Thesis

The gospel is not merely about what God gives us; it is about what God makes of us. God’s purpose from creation has been to form a people in His image and after His likeness. Through Christ, the Spirit and the processes of discipleship, He is making us into sons and daughters who resemble their Father. Holiness is therefore not merely separation from sin; it is the progressive manifestation of God’s character in human lives. We are not only called to receive—we are called to become.

Principal References

Scripture: Genesis 1:26–27; Matthew 4:19; Matthew 5:43–48; Matthew 18:1–4; John 1:10–13; Romans 6:19; Romans 8:29; Romans 12:1–2; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Corinthians 13:11; 1 Corinthians 15:10; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 2:20; Galatians 4:19; Ephesians 4:13, 22–24; Ephesians 5:1–2; Philippians 1:6; Philippians 3:12–14; Colossians 1:26–28; Hebrews 12:10–14; 1 Peter 1:15–16; 2 Peter 1:3–4; 1 John 3:1–3.

Francis Madojemu, Make versus Give, especially the sections on Genesis 1, created and made, and “Getting vs. Becoming.” 

Derek Prince, A Vision of Holiness, Holiness Outworked, Holiness the Jesus Way, and Set Apart for God: The Beautiful Secret of Holiness.