New Creation

We’ve heard the phrase, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” It comes up when we see a person stuck in their ways. A person may be able to fake being something their not for a short while, but it’s just a matter of time before their true self comes out. It’s for this very reason that when we address building character, we recognize that Scripture does not call us to change. Scripture does not call us to change, because change is impossible. The calling of Scripture is not to change but to die, and to then experience a new life in Christ. Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Paul did not seek to change his old self, rather, by entrusting his life to Christ his old self was crucified on the cross with Christ, so a new self would be raised with Christ to live a new way. To the Romans Paul wrote, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4). The authentic Christian life is not a life of muscling our way to change our behaviors. Such living is both frustrating and futile. The authentic Christian life is miraculous. It is the life that learns to live out of the new creation. “If anyone is in Christ,” Paul wrote, “he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The enemy knows this reality and combats it with the same strategy he has used for thousands of years. He lies to us about ourselves. Jesus referred to our enemy as “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). We should not be surprised then, that when it comes to new creation living, we must identify deeply embedded lies about ourselves, and replace these lives with Scripture’s truths. Warped thoughts lead to warped living. Understanding and embracing the wondrous work of Christ in our lives leads to a new kind of living that would be impossible if left to our old selves. But we are not left to our old selves. We have been raised with Christ that “we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4).