Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
And that is what some of you were.
But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Co 6:9-11
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! 2 Co 5:17
These beautiful promises not only reflect the dramatic reality of our new birth in Christ, but they remind us of God’s ongoing transforming work. They remind us that today you are no longer that old man with his sinful identity living under the dominion of Satan and the power of sin. You are a new man in Christ. You are being supernaturally transformed day by day into the image of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit recently led me to review an old journal of mine from several years back. At this stage of my journey, it can be hard to look back and see how I lived in years past. I often have to squint to even see what my life was like before Christ. So I read the old journal.
I was so sad for the man who wrote those entries. That man was me. I revisited the emotion of that season, my struggles and victories with sin, the lessons learned through walking, falling, and getting up. The scattered entries of failure, repentance, and grace experienced and learned. But then, most of all beautiful, as I kept reading, I also saw an expanding vision and capacity to receive God’s one way love.
I was reminded, we are not that man anymore. Regardless of where you were in the past, you are not that man anymore. You have been changed. Those of you who faithfully struggle with sins that have plagued you since before you came to Christ, be encouraged. You are not that man anymore. You have been changed, even if only slightly. That is who you were. That is not who you are. You were predestined before the foundation of the world to be transformed into the image of Christ (Ro 8:29).
Fortunately, even in our weak attempts to improve and our failed attempts at holiness, God works out everything according to His plan. All things move according to the counsel of His will (Ep 1:11). Whether we see progress or not, whether we think our growth is fast enough or not, God is always at work changing you. He is making you willing and able to do His will (Php 2:13).
He does this because of love.
The Next Question:
- Do you live in past nostalgia of a sinful lifestyle, a future dream that maybe one day you’ll finally get free, or the present moment that through God’s spirit you are free now? You are no longer that man?
- What lies keep you from believing and walking in the reality that you are a new creation in Christ?
- What brother do you run to who reminds you all this is true?