Be A New Creation

[original text in italics]

Maturing in God and living as he requires takes more than just being born again. We must also take responsibility to walk in our new life the way the scriptures tell us. From earlier topics, we have seen the following truths:

We are fully accepted by God and seated with Christ next to the Father
It is our responsibility to reconcile the world to God by preaching and demonstrating the gospel
We are to live without sin and in the power of water baptism
We are to become mature disciples by being hearers and doers of the Word
We are to enforce the sovereignty (will) of God
Communion heals us and brings to our awareness our righteousness in God
We should be baptized by the Holy Spirit to walk in His power to preach the good news and set people free
It is the will of God that we walk in divine health and release healing to all who are sick and oppressed

To be disciples of Christ, we must go beyond just knowing the things of God and actually do them. We must demonstrate that we are truly how the scriptures describe us; sons of God, ambassadors of Christ, light of the world, and new creations. We must bring to our consciousness that we are like Christ Jesus and that we have, not his earthly power, but his resurrected power.

JOHN 9:5 “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

MATTHEW 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:20 therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.

JOHN 14:12-17 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth [Holy Spirit],

1 JOHN 4:17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

Once we truly realize this, we must activate our will to do what we ought to do. Desiring to do the will of God is not enough; we must decide to actually do it. We were recreated and made complete in God to be, look and act just like Christ Jesus. Consider the following:

We do not need more power from heaven because God is already in us and our spirit is in perfect alignment with God’s Spirit.
We do not need someone else's anointing because we have been anointed by the Holy Spirit.
We are no longer under the dominion of sin since God has empowered us to resist it.

All this power (ability, strength) that God gives us is called grace. Grace is received by faith and faith is made complete by our actions. There is nothing that we can’t overcome:

2 CORINTHIANS 1:21-22 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

ROMANS 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin

ROMANS 8:13-14 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

2 CORINTHIANS 2:14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ

Obstacles that can stand in the way are the cares, deceitfulness, and riches of the world. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit helps us do the right thing, which is the reason believers feels conviction to do what is right. However, if believers refuse to change and follow the Holy Spirit, then they fall under condemnation:

MARK 4:18-19 ...those who hear the word, but the cares [worries, anxieties] of the world and the deceitfulness [deceptions, delusions] of riches and the desires [passions, lusts] for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

ROMANS 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Other obstacle that can get in the way is when someone believes that walking in the Spirit means they do not know what is going to happen next and they wait for God to tell them what to do. That is not how Jesus lived, as he knew his purpose, all truths and what was going to happen. The scriptures tell our mind what our spirit already has and is capable of. Also, our recreated spirit bears witness with the Holy Spirit in us and makes known the things of God to our conscious mind:

1 JOHN 2:20 You have an unction [anointing] from the holy one and you know [perceive] all things.

1 CORINTHIANS 2:12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

1 CORINTHIANS 2:16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Our spirit is one with the Holy Spirit, who is called the Spirit of truth. When our mind is completely renewed to the truth that is within our spirit, that’s when our spirit and soul (mind, will, emotions) work together and God’s power flows more freely. In addition, by the Spirit and with the activation of our will and faith, we can eradicate the desires of the flesh in our lives. This puts our spirit, soul and body in alignment.

JOHN 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come

ROMANS 8:13 by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,

When we walk fully as a new creation (A.K.A. a new man), we enforce Christ’s authority through faith in the name of Jesus. We act in his stead, his name, and his authority. Jesus is faithful with his covenant promises, yet our faithfulness [trust, obedience] to him is required to receive these covenant blessings. Our faithfulness requires unwavering faith and action. Again, God's covenant promises [grace] require our covenant response [faith].

Next, we will see the practical application of renewing your mind so that you break off any lingering sin in your life, fully align your will to do God’s will, and walk in unwavering faith.