The New You
I am sure we have all seen the ads showing the before and after photos of people who have lost a lot of weight. These people look and feel so much differently after the changes that they talk about the "new me." The ads are designed to get others to do the same thing, so they can look and feel like a new person, too. When we become Christians, there is an even greater change that takes place on the inside of us, so that we are truly new people. The old person has died, and we are no longer slaves to sin.(Romans 6:5,6) Many people can't grasp this reality, but let's try.
We come to Christ by repenting of our sins and placing our faith in Him as Lord and Savior of our lives. Then, He does the saving and changing. We turn from our ways and surrender to Him, the only One who can save us and change us. At that moment the Holy Spirit comes to live in our dead spirit, so that we are no longer spiritually dead, but alive. The sinful nature or the "old man" is dead, crucified with Christ. We are alive through the power of the Spirit in us, and we no longer are slaves of sin, because we have the power to reject sin and choose to do the right things, to become holy.
Yes, we still live in the flesh, so we have a human nature. However, the Spirit of God gives us the ability to say no to the flesh and do the will of God. Therefore, we can and will become like Jesus, when we allow the Spirit to fill us and guide us. That is God's will for every believer, so it is totally possible. That is the "new you." It does not happen automatically, though. Much like a person who desires to loose a lot of weight, we have to make choices to do the right things. We have the desire from the Spirit, but He will not take over, unless we yield to Him, and begin to do the will of God. Once we choose the right things and act on them, He empowers us to do them.
Have you experienced this drastic change and become a new person? (John 3:3; II Corinthians 5:17) That is being a Christian. It is not just going to heaven when we die. It is being a new person here, and then going there as the new person we have become.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Romans 8-10.
We come to Christ by repenting of our sins and placing our faith in Him as Lord and Savior of our lives. Then, He does the saving and changing. We turn from our ways and surrender to Him, the only One who can save us and change us. At that moment the Holy Spirit comes to live in our dead spirit, so that we are no longer spiritually dead, but alive. The sinful nature or the "old man" is dead, crucified with Christ. We are alive through the power of the Spirit in us, and we no longer are slaves of sin, because we have the power to reject sin and choose to do the right things, to become holy.
Yes, we still live in the flesh, so we have a human nature. However, the Spirit of God gives us the ability to say no to the flesh and do the will of God. Therefore, we can and will become like Jesus, when we allow the Spirit to fill us and guide us. That is God's will for every believer, so it is totally possible. That is the "new you." It does not happen automatically, though. Much like a person who desires to loose a lot of weight, we have to make choices to do the right things. We have the desire from the Spirit, but He will not take over, unless we yield to Him, and begin to do the will of God. Once we choose the right things and act on them, He empowers us to do them.
Have you experienced this drastic change and become a new person? (John 3:3; II Corinthians 5:17) That is being a Christian. It is not just going to heaven when we die. It is being a new person here, and then going there as the new person we have become.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Romans 8-10.