“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
2 Corinthians 5:17
Everyone loves a good transformation story. Whether it is a troubled celebrity getting their life together, a fictional character moving from greed to generosity, or someone in your everyday circle who beats the odds against addiction, these stories intrigue us and leave us feeling hopeful about change in our own lives. Often, what draws us into a narrative like this is not only the admirable grit and tenacity these people exhibit, but also that unique, powerful outside influence that seems to serve as the critical turning point in their journey.
Could this be the narrative being written in your life right now? If you have recognized that you are inherently sinful, acknowledged that Jesus is the only One who can save you at judgment, and have experienced a change of mind concerning sin (this is called repentance), you are indeed on an incredible transformational journey! Salvation not only changes our eternal address from hell to heaven, but it also provides us with an entirely transformed heart, even here on earth. Today’s verse states that if we have genuinely received Christ, then we are a new creation – not an improved version of our old self, but we are completely transformed from death to life.
The Power Source
The first step in understanding the transformation process is to acquaint ourselves with the power source responsible for such change within us – the Holy Spirit. He is the third person in the Trinity, equal to God, and is fully God. The Holy Spirit holds specific purposes and functions within the Godhead. When we receive Christ, we not only receive the gift of eternal life but also the gift of the Holy Spirit. God Himself comes to dwell within us – shaping us, counseling us, and advocating for us from within. The Holy Spirit is the power source for change in our lives, making us a new creation at the point of salvation, and He is the power source for the ongoing change that occurs throughout the entire life of a believer. (See the upcoming blog post titled “God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit” for more details about the Holy Spirit and a comprehensive look at how the three in the Trinity function together.)
Biblical Evidence
For those of us who desire real-life examples of a new creation, the Bible offers vivid accounts of transformed lives. I love to look at Jesus’ disciples as a picture of what this transformation looks like for each of us. If you study the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), you see a common occurrence with these close followers of Jesus. While under Jesus’ earthly leadership, His disciples sought to understand the many heavenly realities Jesus was trying to teach them; however, their questions repeatedly revealed they had a mental roadblock to being completely unhindered in their faith. They used logic (not faith) and sought to understand (not trust) what this new faith would mean for them. Even up to the point of Jesus’ death, they were confused and running scared, not knowing what was coming for them. Even though Jesus had plainly told them that he would be crucified, buried, and return after three days (Luke 24:6-8), they remained confused and hid in fear for their lives. It wasn’t until after Jesus’ resurrection that Truth seemed to break through the disciples’ doubts. Jesus spent 40 days with them and solidified all He had taught them when He was alive. Their eyes were being opened by God, and they were getting a more comprehensive picture of His broader plan, which was much bigger than just themselves.
Then, when Jesus finally ascended to heaven, He told the disciples that God would send the Holy Spirit to empower them to do all that He had taught them (John 14:26). Once the Holy Spirit came upon them, they each became a completely new creation. They became bold representatives for Christ from that point on, setting aside their own desires and seeking their new purpose – sharing the Gospel to the ends of the earth (Matt 28:19). The disciples were distinctly different after the Holy Spirit came upon them. The once-frightened disciples became the fearless apostles who launched the first churches of the New Testament, solely as a result of being transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is clear that the Holy Spirit is the agent of change in each of us (2 Cor 3:18), and we receive this incredible gift the moment we surrender to Christ (Romans 8:9).
Buried with Christ, Raised to New Life
In Romans 6:4, the apostle Paul gives us another picture of what transformation looks like by using the burial and resurrection of Jesus as an analogy of what takes place in us, as well. The verse proclaims, “We were therefore buried with [Christ] through Baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Paul is likening the “death” of our old self to the burial of Jesus. Our old habits and ways of thinking before we surrendered to Christ have not been placed on a shelf for us to pick back up one day. Our old self has been buried, just as Christ was buried. Then, in a similar manner to when Jesus was resurrected in his newness, our faith in Christ has also resulted in our “new self” being raised to life. Notice this verse identifies the power source for Christ being raised from the dead as “through the glory of the Father.” God was responsible for the supernatural event we know as Jesus’ resurrection. In the same way, our new life is not something we acquired by mustering up self-determined discipline and new habits. (That didn’t work for the disciples, and it won’t work for us, either.) The only way we can be made into a new creation is if our Creator makes us so. God is the source of life for our physical birth, and He is the source of life for our spiritual rebirth – salvation – where we are made new. We don’t have the power to do this on our own. It is a gift from God, rooted in the power of the Holy Spirit. In addition to the incredible change we experience, I also love the permanence that permeates these biblical descriptions of our transformation in Christ. We are not changed temporarily during our euphoric initial conversion days; we are forever a new creation, never to return to the old self, which is dead and buried. The Holy Spirit’s presence within us serves as an irrevocable seal that marks us as a Christ follower for life (Ephesians 1:13).
In our own transformation stories, we wandered through life aimlessly and without hope. Yet, our turning point occurred when God graciously extended his plan of salvation to us, changing not only our eternal fate but also our current reality. At the time we received Christ, we became fully aware that our eternal destination was completely and permanently changed from hell to heaven. The unexpected added blessing is God gifting us the Holy Spirit to transform us into a new creation here, affecting our earthly life as well. Everything the Lord does is about moving us closer to Him. I hope this content has helped you vividly identify how God transformed you at salvation, giving you a new lens with which you view everything, and that you are eager to experience even more transformation as you continually press in and grow closer to the Lord every day until you depart from this earth.
Square One 