Before the believer came to Christ in saving faith, the old man in Adam, under the total dominion of sin’s power was who we really were. After we came to Christ, the new man, the new woman, the new creation in him, having been set free from sin’s reign is now who we have truly become. —Dick Flatten
Learning to live “in Christ” is not a matter of trying—it’s really a matter of thinking, then trusting. According to the New Testament, our problem is that we do not truly realize who we are in Christ, but we still go on thinking we are who we were. Did you get that? The apostle Paul brings up the problem in different ways in his writings:
Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Colossians 3:9-10)
Please note that the “new self” is being “renewed in knowledge.” The more we understand this and act on it, the more we facilitate the new experience of our new self in Christ. No, we are not a hybrid of old and new, sinful and holy. We are new and holy in Christ.
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature. (2 Peter 1:3-4)
Notice again that we are given everything we need “through our knowledge of Him.” Are you being transformed by the renewing of your mind about your true nature in Christ? It all starts with your thinking!
Father, I don’t want to be conformed to the Taoist thinking of the world. Renew my mind, transform me according to what is true about my true identity and my new self. Amen.