Freedom in Christ: The New Self

I concluded my last post with Paul’s teaching that new Christians are to “put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph. 4:24) The concept of somehow becoming a new person, a “better” person, has always intrigued me but while I was trying to live apart from God, pretending there is no God, I didn’t even have a standard by which to measure whether or not I was becoming “better.” All I could do was observe other people, but different people had different criteria. Some thought “better” meant having more money or more degrees or a more likable personality. Some thought it meant going to church more often or going to the right church, but all seemed to agree that the change for the better could be accomplished by trying harder and getting a little help (or a lot of help) from the establishment. All that was needed was better government, a better education, a better counselor, a better self-improvement manual.

Then I came to realize there really is a Creator and I was created to “be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” He is the standard, and I not only fell short, but I was sinking deep in sin. That conviction was the driving force behind my conversion to Christ’s kingdom of light many years ago. I had come to know I needed a Savior and when I received Jesus Christ into my heart I became a child of God, I had a new identity. But some Christian leaders were saying there is no real change in the basic character of a Christian until we get to heaven. Then we will be changed, but for now we are “just sinners saved by grace.” What a downer! I wanted to be a new person right now, and I was!

I’m so glad I started to read about the life of the apostle Paul, and learned how radically he was changed after his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Saul of Tarsus, persecutor of Christians, became the great Apostle Paul, missionary to the Gentiles, who Christ used to establish his church on earth. Paul knew he was a sinner saved by grace, in fact he thought of himself as “the chief of sinners,” but he also knew he was not just that.  He wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20). This verse is about the life all Christians should be living by faith, as we daily “put on the new self,” experiencing who we really are in Christ, .