IN CHRIST 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) In Christ - These two words comprise a brief but most profound statement of the inexhaustible significance of the believer’s redemption, which includes the following: 1) the believer’s security in Christ, who bore in His body God’s judgment against sin; 2) the believer’s acceptance in Him with whom God alone is well pleased; 3) the believer’s future assurance in Him who is the resurrection to eternal life and the sole guarantor of the believer’s inheritance in heaven; and 4) the believer’s participation in the divine nature of Christ, the everlasting Word ( 2 Peter 1:4). New creature - This describes something that is created at a qualitatively new level of excellence. It refers to regeneration or the new birth (John 3:3; Ephesians 2:1–3; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 5:4). This expression encompasses the Christian’s forgiveness of sins paid for in Christ’s substitutionary death (Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 4:24). Old things passed away. After a person is regenerate, old value systems, priorities, beliefs, loves, and plans are gone. Evil and sin are still present, but the believer sees them in a new perspective (2 Corinthians 5:16), and they no longer control him. New things have come - The Greek grammar indicates that this newness is a continuing condition of fact. The believer’s new spiritual perception of everything is a constant reality for him, and he now lives for eternity, not temporal things. James identifies this transformation as the faith that produces works (Ephesians 2:10; James 2:14–25).
Posted on: Tue, 06 May 2014 14:16:19 +0000
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