Poor Paul! Many of his new Christians were having trouble with the transition from their old life to the new. Paul had a tough job on his hands explaining the new and transformative shift that had occurred in their lives. Paul is the only one to use the term “new creation” in the Bible. What exactly did Paul mean by “a new creation”? How does one become a new creation in Christ?
If anyone should know about being remade into an entirely new creation through Jesus, it should be Paul, right? You can read his dramatic conversion story in Acts 9:1-31.
Here’s the short story- this son of a Pharisee, raised in orthodox Judaism, studied under the famous Rabbi Gamaliel when he was 13. He grew up to be a Pharisee in the Jewish religion and was a leader in the active opposition to Christianity.
His persecution of Christians was obsessive; doing all he could to oppose them through all kinds of punishment, including imprisonment, and even voting for their death.
His furious obsession led him to travel from town to town to persecute Christians. Until one day….
Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus and his conversion experience led him to become a completely new person, a new creation in Christ Jesus.
Fast forward, and Paul poured his new life into spreading the Good News throughout the world. He established new churches wherever he went.
Unfortunately, false teachers snuck into these churches and undermined Paul’s teachings and authority.
2 Corinthians is a letter that proclaims Paul’s ministry to be true and to fight back against the false teachings that were being spread. It is there we find his teaching on being made new in Christ.
New Creation Bible Verse
Paul begins his teaching with the word “therefore,” which means we must first back up to previous verses to put things into context.
Paul explained to the Corinthians in vv14-16 that Jesus had died for all sinners so that those who believe in Him no longer live for themselves, but for Him. Our lives have a completely new purpose.
And, because Jesus died for us, our old lives die too. All the old things of our life are gone; replaced with a completely new life. We don’t live to please ourselves, but for Jesus, who died and rose from the grave.
2 Corinthians 5:17
He continues:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come!” v17.
Did you notice this promise is for anyone? Jesus sees each person as His created and loved child. Anyone can come to Him for forgiveness and be a new creation of God!
A great illustration of becoming a new creation is the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a butterfly. What they start off as is completely different from what they become.
Butterfly’s emerge as an entirely new creature! Not only do they look different, they have new abilities and have a completely new purpose.
The changes that take place in us are similar, but inwardly. We are talking about an unprecedented, unheard of transformation. So what does being a new creation really mean?
In Christ We Are a New Creation
I’ll tell you what the world says- I just read an Instagram post that said we can completely recreate ourselves. All that matters is that you decide to do it today and never look back.
Well, we can decide to make new choices and habits and think new thoughts. But unless we ask Jesus in to make us new, our sinful nature will win out- every single time- and our eternal future remains bleak.
Jesus creates an entirely new you- a creative work only He can do. It’s why we sometimes hear the saying “being born again” to mark our spiritual rebirth and the beginning of our new life.
Paul gives this explanation to Titus: “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Titus 3:5b.
What are the Old Things from the Past?
Paul says when our transformation takes place the old things passed away. What did Paul mean?
The old is anything from our life that is a part of our old sin nature. Any habits, agendas, ways of thinking, pride, reliance on self and viewpoints that we held in our old sin nature are “put to death.”
They died with Jesus when He took the punishment for our sin.
Old Made New
Accepting Jesus’ sacrifice allows the Holy Spirit to dwell in us- to guide and lead us into our new life. He empowers us to produce His fruit and live this new life for Christ.
We literally have a new lease on life with Jesus that starts immediately. We become aware of Jesus’ personal love in a new way and have a new confidence in His support, comfort, protection, and peace.
New social and moral standards now color our world. Do we still sin? Of course! But now we hate the sins that we fall into. Each day is a new day to become more like Him.
The old has passed away; we are free in Christ! This freedom is not to sin but to love and serve Him.
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Bible Verses about Being Made New
There are many other Scriptures on becoming a new creation that help explain what our new life looks like.
Galatians 6:15
“Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.” Galatians 6:15.
Paul encountered a lot of controversy in the early church. One group, called the Judaizers (some Jewish Christians) insisted that the old laws be followed to be saved, including circumcision.
Paul had to confront them many times. The entire book of Galatians was to refute their teachings and to encourage Christians in their new faith and freedom in Christ.
The only thing that counts is the work Jesus has done in us- making us a new creation. Nothing we do plays any part in becoming new.
Isaiah 43:18-19
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”
In this Isaiah passage, God wanted the Israelites to look forward to the new thing He was planning for them. He didn’t want them to remain stuck in their discouraging memories of captivity and exile.
We shouldn’t get stuck in the discouragement from our past- those former things God speaks of. It can derail His work and keep us from the new things He wants to do in our lives.
Are you lugging around past mistakes, abuses, anger, worry, fears, etc.? God wants His peace to cover us completely and heal our hurts and regrets. Leave your old baggage in the past!
2 Corinthians 4:16-17
“Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
Paul suffered through many trials, but with the help of the Holy Spirit, he persevered and learned how to be a more effective minister to others.
We might feel like giving up sometimes, but don’t let outside circumstances wear you down. We have the same power as Paul did to strengthen and renew us day by day. What a beautiful promise to cling to!
Ephesians 4:22-24
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Paul is again telling us to make a clean break with our past. The old life is dead and gone, and Jesus becomes our new life. He made us in His image and our new self should look more and more like Him.
Characteristics of a New Creation
When God transformed us into His new creation, it was just the beginning. Our Christian life is a path- the “narrow way”– that we walk until the day He calls us home.
Satan won’t stop trying to call you back to him, enticing you with old habits and choices. The writer of Hebrews tells us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1.
●The new you is no longer a slave to sin; it has no power over you! The grace of Jesus covers every sin you have or will commit.
“For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14.
●Paul also gives us a look at what living free in the Spirit as a new creation looks like in his letter to the Galatians. The Spirit empowers us to live for God, becoming more and more like Him daily.
“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” Galatians 5:16.
●To live by the Spirit means listening to His promptings and obeying His Word. He will help us learn to discern between our feelings and His guidance.
●How will we know if we are living as a new creation? When our lives produce the character traits of the Holy Spirit that Paul lays out for us.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23.
● Paul reminds us that over all of these characteristics, it is our love for others that expresses our faith and new lives. “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Galatians 5:6b.
Overflowing love is the natural response to our forgiveness.
I Am a New Creation!
Living as a new creation gives your life a new purpose, identity, and power through the Holy Spirit. Your home is now in heaven for eternity.
Jesus told His disciples, “Remain in me, I also remain in you.” John 15:4. Our relationship with Him is interactive, lasting, and meant to be held close. The Greek says, “to remain as one.”
It is also a choice. We must choose those things that keep us close- prayer, study of His Word, and worship are just a few ways.
There are some days you may not look or feel like a “new you.” But once you have accepted Jesus and made Him the Lord of your life, He forever cements our inward change.
I love Paul’s invitation to every Christian into a transforming and glorious closeness with Jesus in 2 Corinthians 3:18-
“But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
When we decide to make Jesus the Lord of our life, He removes the “veil”- opening our eyes and hearts to partially see His magnificent glory (as in a mirror) that we could never see before.
As we see Him in His glory, we become transformed from the inside out, into His image. Even though our sin marred that image, Jesus repaired it so that we could be together forever.
You have the very nature of God in you through the Holy Spirit. Let Him lead you as you walk in faith on the path He has set for you!
Blessings!
AnnMarie
All Scripture is taken from the NIV unless specified otherwise.
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