Tag: new person

Posted in NEW CREATION, OUR WORDS

LIVING CLEAN IN A DIRTY WORLD

Posted on by Uplifting Christ

The scripture says “anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT). Before you came to Christ, you lived according to the customs of the world. Your thought life, your words, and your actions were based on what you learned through socialisation. This old life died when you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Your life now is a new one. The problem is although you are a new person, your environment hasn’t changed, some people you used to play with in your old life haven’t changed. In summary, the world isn’t getting any better so you are living as a new person in an old dirty world.

And everyone will hate you because you are my followers. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (Mark 13:13 NLT)

Jesus had enemies because he thought differently, acted differently, and taught differently. He didn’t conform himself to the customs of the world. He lived clean in a dirty world. As you are living your life to please Him, the world isn’t going to accept what you think, say, or do. It is going to take offence of everything you do and people will go against you.

Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. (Hebrews 12:3 NLT)

Although parents, brothers, sisters, friends, business environment, society, etc are not going to accept you because of your new nature, Paul encourages that you think of all the hostility Jesus endured from sinful people so that you won’t become weary and give up. Don’t give up because the world hate you. Don’t give up because of the opposition you face in your office, home, church, etc. Look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2 KJV).

Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. (1 Peter 2:11, 12 NLT)

In A STRANGER IN THE LAND, I wrote about how you have to live as stranger on this planet. You are not of the world. Heaven is your home. Therefore let others see Jesus in you. I heard a story about what happened in a Sunday school class. The teacher described the live of Jesus and asked if anyone had seen Jesus before. Surprisingly, one girl stood up and said Jesus lived in a house across her street. Later in the day, the teacher found out that the man the young girl thought was Jesus lived like Jesus. His thoughts, words, and actions made the girl believed He was the Person her teacher was talking about in class. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. (Matthew 5:16 NLT)

CONCLUSION;

With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.

But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

(Ephesians 4:17-24, 28-30 NLT)

God bless you

Posted in HOPE, JESUS, SOUL FOOD

You have no PAST

Posted on by Uplifting Christ

When a person comes to Jesus Christ, he never leaves the same. I know people talk about Judas (that he could not be changed) but as Jesus said, He lost him so that the scriptures might be fulfilled.

Two important characters got their lives transformed when they met Jesus;  Mary and Zachaeus. They found Grace and lived as new persons. I could talk about the Saul who became Paul. From the day you gave your life to Christ, your past ceased to exist. God saw you as a person with no past, and He started a new life in you. I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
Know that this new creation starts from within (with your Spirit) because God communicates to us through our spirits. The body is not you. It is a vessel.

Friends, we belong to Christ and anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

We were therefore buried with him 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. Romans 6:4 NIV84

I have a new life and I don’t see myself as the same person I used to be before I came to Christ. However, human nature is such that they would always remind you of who you were before you accepted Jesus Christ. it is therefore your responsibility to let them know who you are in Christ. The present is what matters, not the past. Don’t let people condemn you of the stuff you did some years ago because Our Father forgives and does not remember again. Let us cultivate such attitude in our relationships with other people because God created us in His image.

If you are in Christ, you have no past. God doesn’t remember them because of Him (Jesus Christ).

Your past is past therefore face the future with hope.

You are a new person.

I will close with this;
Colossians 2:8-14 NLT
Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.