“For
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails
anything, but a new creation... Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he
is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things
have become new.”
Many
saints misunderstand being “born again” thinking it is an
instantaneous act rather than a process. It is both. By one Spirit we
are baptized into the Body of Christ... baptized into His death, set
apart unto God to be made holy (IE., sanctification). This is an
instantaneous two-fold act act whereby our enslavement to sin is
broken and the nature
of Christ is implanted in our heart awaiting release. We
have become a new creation in the sense that we are no longer
enslaved to sin, no longer under the old ways of the law, but walking
in the newness of grace with the implanted DNA of our Lord in our
heart. Now comes the tedious work of the indwelling Holy Spirit to
conform... mold and
shape, our nature into the nature of our Lord’s. This is a lifelong
transformation process of submission to the Lordship of Christ and
dying to Self, the carnal fleshly nature we were born with, that the
Christlife may reign supreme in us, literally becoming our life. This
is a thorough and dramatic change in our character, virtues, values,
and attitude beyond the normal or physical level, a willful act, and
it won’t happen overnight. You see, His life must replace our life
– Christ living His life through us as our life. This is what the
Apostle Paul meant when he said “It is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me.” As Paul submitted to the lordship of Christ
and progressively died to Self the nature of Christ replaced his
carnal fleshly Self nature. He became Christlike. Christlikeness is
every saint’s destiny, “to
be conformed to the image (nature) of His Son, that He might be the
firstborn among many brethren.”
Frances Frangipane said it
best: “As awesome as being forgiven is, the Son of God did not lay
down His life only to secure our forgiveness; the eternal goal of His
sacrifice was to secure our full transformation. Forgiveness is but
the first stage of transformation.” Our
metamorphosis is to become new creations, to progressively become
beacons of radiant light reflecting the holy nature of Christ to a
world drowning in sin’s darkness. “For
neither is circumcision now of any importance, nor uncircumcision,
but only a new creation, the result of a new birth and a new nature
in Christ Jesus, the Messiah.” (Amplified Bible)
FORGIVENESS
IS BUT THE FIRST STAGE OF TRANSFORMATION
(2
Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15, 2:20;
Rom. 8:29 Amplified Bible)
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