By Mike Chaffin
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “like putting lipstick on a pig.” It is a rhetorical comment about the futility of putting on outward adornment to change the core appearance. It just doesn’t do much.
However, the change a person experiences when they accept Christ as savior and live in Him, and He in them, is an internal change. We aren’t just cleaned up on the outside, our inner desires and sinfulness are washed away and replaced with a love and desire to honor and serve Christ.
That’s not to say sin doesn’t still crouch at our door tempting us to go back to the old way. It does. However, we don’t desire to go back to the old way. We have become new.
Jesus told Nicodemus,
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ John 3:3-7
Being born again, in the Spirit, gives us new life. A fresh start. The old is forgiven and forgotten. The new life is alive in Christ.
Thankfully, the new life comes with a relationship with the creator God. We are his children now. We can talk to him, run to him, rely on him, and trust him for He is good, and His mercies endure forever.
Prayer: Dear Lord thank you for your Holy Spirit that indwells us when we accept you as our Savior. Thank you that through the Holy Spirit I can live a new life, in your righteousness. Help me when I stumble. Help me to avoid temptation and turn from those old desires. In Jesus’ name, amen.
* There is a website that conducted a search for Bible verses. They compiled a list of the verses in order of the magnitude of hits they got in their search. Some of these verses probably qualify as ‘people’s favorites’, while others might be on the list because they are some of the most important and most teachable words of God.
