Be The New You
[original text in italics]
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We have looked at conquering carnal emotions that are based on fear, sentiments, and the physical senses. All these are from the old self (old nature). We know that, when we are born again, our spirit is reborn and the Spirit of God comes inside of us (see section We Are Born Again). At that moment, we have the mind of Christ, which is the Spirit of God in us, and is everything we need to walk like Jesus did. We can now be transformed in our soul by renewing our mind to what is in our spirit. We can now eliminate all habits and thinking of our past nature (see section Renewing Your Mind).
Repentance means a person is turning away from the sin nature and submitting to the lordship of Christ. The born-again person has a change of heart and desires to please God and act out of love:
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2 JOHN 1:6 And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.
True repentance is revealed in the believer’s desire to change and be like Christ Jesus. He can do so by renewing his mind to the mind or Christ. This means his desires, tastes, and tendencies are transformed and become like those of God, who now lives in him.
The more we renew our mind, the more we gain dominion over our soul, and the more we have dominion over our body and over this world. We become more and more unshakeable and therefore untouchable. We become more effective in advancing the Kingdom of God and establishing the will of God in our life and in the lives of others.
1 JOHN 5:18-20 We know that everyone who is born of God does not continue to sin [miss the mark, fail], but the One who was born of God protects [watches over, guards] him, and the evil one does not touch him.
JAMES 4:7-8 Therefore submit [place or put under rank] to God. Resist [take a strong complete stand against] the devil and he will flee [escape] from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
1 PETER 5:8 Be sober [clear headed, sober from wine], be vigilant [watchful, awake]; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
If a particular sin (addiction, anger, sexual immorality, etc.) pulls on you and tempts you, then your mind has not been renewed to the point of complete transformation to the Word of God in that area. Once you hate the sin, don’t want to think about it, and don’t have a desire or taste for it, then you are fully transformed to the likeness of Christ in that area. We have been set free from sin and must totally eradicate it. Though it is sometimes a sanctification process, the end result is freedom and that freedom is complete:
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1 CORINTHIANS 6:11 But you were washed, you were sanctified [set apart, consecrated, made holy], you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
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ROMANS 6:16-18 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
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ROMANS 6:22-23 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification [process of being set apart, consecration, holiness] and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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JOHN 17:17-19 (Jesus said) “Sanctify [set apart, consecrate, make holy] them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
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Once you are free, it’s possible to have sudden attacks by the enemy that produces a temptation that you have already overcome. But this is a different scenario which requires little effort to defeat. Remember that you are a temple of the Holy Spirit and in God there is no darkness at all:
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1 CORINTHIANS 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have from God? And you are not your own,
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1 JOHN 1:5 God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.