IN CHRIST WE BECOME A NEW CREATURE

PROCLAMATION

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old has gone, the new is here.”  2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)  The King James Version (KJV) of The Bible for this verse reads: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the church at Corinth.  Paul begins this chapter with a discussion of believers waiting for their new heavenly body. (2 Corinthians 5:1-5) He says that while they are present in the body, they are absent from The Lord, but he would rather be absent from the body and present with The Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8)  He also tells them that we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and receive that which is due us based upon what we did while we were in the body, whether what we did was good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10)  Then he states that if any man has accepted Christ, he is a new creature; the old things he used to be and do have passed away, and all things are now new.  This is because God has reconciled us onto Himself through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)  He ends the chapter by saying that we are ambassadors for Christ, who had no sin but became sin for us, so that we might become righteous in the sight of God. (2 Corinthians 5:20-21)

 

APPLICATION

We were totally sinful before we accepted Christ into our life.  We knew nothing but sin.  After we accepted Christ, we received The Holy Spirit of God which pushed our sinful nature aside and changed our life.  When we became a new creation, we identified our self with Christ and not with the world.  However, we did not lose our sinful worldly nature, and from time to time we struggle with letting it regain control of us. (Romans 7:19-21)  We do not lose our salvation when we sin, but we break our fellowship with Christ. (Psalm 51:12)  We have the capacity to do that which is right, but we have to choose to follow the right path. (Joshua 24:15)  He said whosoever will, let him come. (Revelation 22:17)  We must choose to live by new principles, exhibit new behavior, and speak different words.  We have been given a new heart and there should be some outward display of this. (Ezekiel 36:26)  We are new, and we should have new affections, new appetites, new behavior, new desires, new ideas, and a new outlook on life.

IN CHRIST WE BECOME A NEW CREATURE

Proclamation:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old has gone, the new is here.”  2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)  The King James Version (KJV) of The Bible for this verse reads: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Explanation:

These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the church at Corinth.  Paul begins this chapter with a discussion of believers waiting for their new heavenly body. (2 Corinthians 5:1-5) He says that while they are present in the body they are absent from The Lord, but he would rather be absent from the body and present with The Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8)  He also tells them that we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and receive that which is due us based upon what we did while we were in the body, whether what we did was good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10)  Then he states that if any man has accepted Christ, he is a new creature; the old things he used to be and do have passed away, and all things are now new.  This is because God has reconciled us onto Himself through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)  He ends the chapter by saying that we are ambassadors for Christ, who had no sin but became sin for us, so that we might become righteous in the sight of God. (2 Corinthians 5:20-21)

Application:

We were totally sinful before we accepted Christ into our life.  We knew nothing but sin.  After we accepted Christ, we received The Holy Spirit of God which dwells within us, pushed our sinful nature aside, and changed our life.  When we became a new creation, we identified our self with Christ and not with the world.  However, we did not completely lose our sinful worldly nature, and from time to time we struggle with letting it regain control of us. (Romans 7:19-21)  We will not lose our salvation when we sin but we break the fellowship with Christ. (Psalm 51:12)  We have within us the capacity to do that which is right, but we have to choose to follow the right path because God gave us the ability to choose. (Joshua 24:15)  He said whosoever will, let him come. (Revelation 22:17)  We must choose to live by new principles, exhibit new behavior, and speak different words.  We have been given a new heart and there should be some outward display of this. (Ezekiel 36:26)  We should have new affections, new appetites, new behavior, new desires, new ideas, and a new outlook on life.  If you are still doing all of the same old things, you should question yourself and change.

Get The Right New You In The New Year

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come."  2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

In his letter to the Christians in Corinth, the Apostle Paul wrote that if anyone believed in Christ, they were changed.  They would act, speak, and think differently.  They would no longer behave as they used to do because their "old" self was gone and a "new" person had taken its place.

Most of us want a change in our lives in the new year.  Most of us will make a "new year's resolution" to change one small area of our life, and most of us will have given up on it by the end of January.  What we really need to do is make a major change in our lives.  Lost non-believing sinners need to accept Christ, and back-sliding believers need to pray for forgiveness, a clean heart, and a right spirit. (Psalms 51:9-11)  Once we accept Christ as our personal savior, we receive the indwelling of The Holy Spirit, and we are changed.  We develop a Christian conscience, and our lives will never be the same.   Unfortunately, we still choose to sin, on occasion, due to our yielding to our sinful nature.  However, we will enjoy our sins less because we know that every sin is a sin against God, and we feel guilty afterwards. (Psalms 51:4)  It is only possible to really enjoy the joy in our life and the joy of our salvation when we have a right relationship and right fellowship with God.  So, get it right in the new year and start now.

Who Are You Connected To?

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to My Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples." John 15:1-8 (NIV)

Just before the passover feast, Jesus was with His disciples, telling them of things to come. After He had washed their feet, predicted His betrayal, and predicted Peter's denial, He sought to comfort them. He encouraged them to remain in Him, to be true to His word, and He would remain in them.

The analogy of a fruit bearing branch is so clear. If a branch is not connected to the main vine and its roots, it cannot receive the sustenance it needs to remain alive and bear fruit. Likewise, we can do nothing if we are not connected to Jesus. He is the source of our strength and our life. We cannot bear fruit or continue to exist without Him. If we are not connected to Jesus, then we are like dead branches, good for nothing but to be cast into the fire.

We Are No Longer Condemned

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after The Spirit." Romans 8:1

Because justification is by faith alone on the basis of God's grace, no sin that a believer commit can be held against him. The penalty for the believer's sins was paid by Christ and righteousness was imputed to the believer.

This does not mean that believers loose their sinful nature and will not sin. It means that believers are no longer slaves to sin. Those who are in The Spirit are led by The Spirit and choose to yield to The Spirit.

When Jesus Comes Back

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but as long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of The Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." ... "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless." 2 Peter 3:9-10 & 14

Jesus is coming back. He is not late. He is always right on time. He has only been gone for two days, 2 Peter 3:8, a thousand years equals one day.

He is being patient with us so that all who will believe can be saved. 'The day of The Lord' is the biblical term which refers to the future time of judgment when God will judge the wicked and end this world system in its present form. All matter will be incinerated, annihilated, or according to some Bible scholars, transformed.

There is a debate among Bible scholars whether or not this verse refers to the "new heaven" and "new earth" after "the first heaven and the first earth were passed away..."that John referred to in Revelation 21:1 after His thousand year reign or before it.

But, either way, all of us who are in Christ will have nothing to worry about as we will be saved from this annihilation for we will already be with Him when this happens.

A New You In The New Year

As we move closer to the new year and change from 2010 to 2011, why not make a significant change in yourself and move from darkness into the marvelous light. Begin the new year as a new you.

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17

All of us have some bad habits and sinful ways that we need to let go of and leave behind. All of us also have room for improvement with respect to behaving, speaking, and thinking in a Christ-like manner.

Let's not just make a 'New Year's resolution', let's make a life-changing commitment to be more Christ-like.

May The Good Lord grant you a blessed, healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year.

Don't Hate Your Borther

"He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes." 1 John 9-11

Jesus said "... I am the light of the world ..." John 8:12 and John 9:5. To be in the light is to be in Jesus and He in you. Being in darkness is to be lost in a sinful state without Jesus.

We cannot claim to be in Jesus and have hate in our heart for our fellow man. Christians should not have hate in their heart for anyone.

When we pray, we should also pray for "... a clean heart ... and ... a right spirit ..." Psalms 51:10

There is a currently popular phrase that says, "Don't be a hater" and another one that says, Don't hate the player, hate the game." Well to paraphrase that saying, "Don't hate the person, hate the sin."

We may not like what someone has said or done, but we should not hate them because of it. As Christians, His light should be in us and we should let it shine so that the world can see it.

Walk The Walk

Many of us say that we love The Lord, but our inconsistent actions speak louder than our words.

"... We do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

"But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; hereby we know that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also to walk, even as He walked." 1 John 2:3-6

Talk is cheap without the walk to back it up. We need to walk the Christian walk and not just talk the talk.

When we believe God's word, and when we desire to keep God's word, and we make an effort to keep His word, then we know that we are children of God.

The Fruit Of The Holy Spirit

"But the fruit of The Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance ... they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh ... If we live in The Spirit, let us also walk in The Spirit." Galatians 5:22-25

The English Standard version puts it this way, "... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control ..."

Trees bear fruit based upon their nature. The fruit that we produce should be the same as the fruit of The Spirit, if The Spirit is within us. The previous verses, 19-21, list the things of the flesh that we should be dead to and no longer part of us.

If The Spirit of God is in us, then we should walk, talk, think, and behave in such a manner that the world can see the fruit of The Spirit in our lives. We should not have to tell people that we by are Christians, they should be able to detect that by observing us.