2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being, the old is gone, the new has come - GNT
If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation ( the new creation has arrived; or that person has become a new creation ). The old things have gone; ( look, behold ) everything is made new ( the new has come ) - EXB
Therefore if anyone is in Christ ( that is, grafted in, joined to him by faith in him as Savior ) he/she is a new creature ( reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit ) ; the old things ( the previous moral and spiritual condition ) have passed away. Behold, new things have come ( because spiritual awakening brings a new life ) - AMP
The book of John 3:6 says to us:
For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
It all begins with a re-birth, and to have a re - birth we are to fully accept Jesus Christ into our lives as our personal Lord and Savior and by doing this we are joined to Christ and when we are joined to Christ we are now called children of God and this is what been born again means.
Jesus said this to Nicodemus in John 3:1-3
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Jesus has paid the price for our salvation
Jesus came to set us free from the kingdom of Satan
The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus has given us eternal life
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life - John 14:6
Therefore, if we want the promise of 2 Corinthians 5:17 to be true in our lives we are to be BORN AGAIN! And as long as we are in Christ we are:
- Joined to Christ
- Belong to Christ
- Grafted in Christ
And through this we are called a NEW CREATION
What does this mean?
This means that
1. Everything we have done is forgiven through the blood of Jesus that was shed for us
2. In Christ everything in us becomes new
3. In Christ we are accepted into the kingdom of God
4. In Christ we are his beloved
5. In Christ we have his Spirit - Romans 8:9
6. In Christ we are joint - heirs with him
7. In Christ we have a new life
We are new creations and because of this truth we are able to bear fruits to his glory has we remain in him according to John 15:5 and also in Christ we have now become members of his flesh and of his bones and this is awesome to know that we have Him in us as new creations.
Looking at Galatians 2:20 it says this
I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
In Christ we are one spirit with him - 1 Corinthians 6:19
Because of our position as new creations in Christ nothing can separate us from the love of Christ - Romans 8:35-39
As a new creation we have the mind of Christ - Philippians 2:5
Jesus comes to live in us because we are new creations - 2 Corinthians 13:5
The book of Romans 8:1 records this as new creations, that there is no condemnation in our lives and In Christ if God is for us no one can be against us!
There is a lot of benefits we receive as new creations in Christ.
Romans 8:2
We are free from the law of sin and death
1 Corinthians 1:30
Christ becomes our wisdom from God - that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption
1 John 3:14
in Him we have passed from death to life as new creation
Ephesians 2:10
A new creation in Christ becomes his workmanship and created in him for good works
Ephesians 2:13
As a new creation we are brought near the throne room of grace because of his blood
As a new creation in Christ
THE OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY!!!
When we are in Christ the way we used to think is now gone because he lives in us, we are to submit our being to him and with the help of his spirit we can now focus on his will for our lives. the book of Colossians chapter 2 verses 13 -15 says that all the record of our sin has been nailed to the cross and we has a new creation are free from any form of accusation by the enemy - Satan
The old things that held us in bondage is gone which is sin, pride, selfishness, old habits and not walking in love is gone and with the help of the Holy Spirit we can do all things through Him who strengthens us.
Our old nature is gone gradually with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 6:1-7
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.
And in Romans 6:15-18
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
In our new creation life we have to pray for the help of the Holy Spirit because our old nature and the new nature will struggle a lot before we totally surrender to the new created being.
Paul had such a struggle and this is why he wrote in:
Romans 7:14-25
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
Thank God through his Son Jesus Christ that the old things in our lives has passed away and all things are now new in our lives.
We are new creations and the old as passed away!!!
