Recently I have been reading and then studying a booklet that explains, using scripture, what happens to anyone when we become born again. My first response was, "I am finally getting all the answers I had when I first gave my heart to Christ". That was followed by great excitement. My eyes were opened to where I was before Christ and where I am after I was born again. The details of what took place in my life. I had no more reason to doubt and wonder over certain things.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says:
'If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things have passed away; behold all things are become new'
Three main things to point out regarding our life with Christ.
1. New Creatures/Creations
2. Old things passed away
3. All things are become new
The first one I always knew. I am a new creation, I am brand new. However, I wasn't completely sure what all that meant. How does that play out in my life? And, unfortunately, I didn't received any specific information on the topic. The years passed, and I began to feel stupid for even thinking about my questions, much less ask them.
"I am supposed to be a mature Christian by now", I told myself. I can't entertain these questions. And so the years passed.....
Reading this booklet explained all that for me, and although it wasn't completely new information, I realized that had I known this, it would have affected my life differently, and the things that I struggled with would have been eliminated.
Being in Christ means the life I use to live before is gone, done. No matter how good it seemed in my eyes and the eyes of others, I live that life no more.
I CANNOT be in Christ and still live how I use to live before I was born again. The two CANNOT be mixed. I MUST now live the life Christ calls me to. I MUST learn from Christ how I am to live now. I CANNOT rely on my way, my thinking, my reasoning. I MUST follow Christ and learn from Him, and obey always and in everything.
Has the old life you used to live before you gave your heart to Christ passed away? Fully?
If you are still struggling with living your old life, you are not doomed, there is hope. You must, however, truly repent of that life before God who knows your heart, and ask Him to teach you how to live as a new creation.
