This means that 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)
New-ish Creation
I vividly remember the first time I was asked to give my testimony after getting saved. We were preparing for what would be my first mission trip to India. I was told to share who I was before I met Jesus and how my life had changed since accepting Him as my Savior. Oh, and I had 10 minutes… and I had to speak through an interpreter.
My first thought was, “Wow, that’s a lot of sin to pack into 10 minutes.”
Does anyone else do that – always look at themselves and see the worst? I mean, when I read Scripture, I always seem to gravitate toward the verses about how sinful I am. Take Luke 7, for instance, where the heading reads: “Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman.” I read that and think, “This story must be about me!” In verse 47, Jesus says, “I tell you, her sins—and they are many…” and I stop right there, raise my hand to a holy God, and say, “Me, Lord. This is ME!”
Many of us know we’ve accepted Christ as our Savior and are confident we’ll go to heaven when we die. Even if we don’t remember the exact date, we likely recall the season, the circumstances, where we were, and what led us to make that decision. And ever since that day, we’ve broken all our bad habits and experienced victory over every stronghold, right?
Ahhhh, so I’m not the only one for whom this struggle is real.
From Fire Insurance to Heart Transformation
When I came to know Christ, I was really just looking for “fire insurance”. I was neck-deep in the party scene, taking more drugs than a 100-pound girl should’ve been able to do and still be alive to tell about it. My friends and I used to joke about driving the bus to hell. Lord, forgive us – we knew not what we did. When we’d go out, someone would ask for another pill or two, and someone would invariably say, “We’re going to hell.” And whoever could say it fastest would chime in, “I’m driving the bus!”
I know – don’t sit too close to me or you might get caught in the lightning strike.
Through it all, I had a friend – all it takes is just one friend – who kept inviting me to church. I finally agreed to go just to get her to stop asking. That Sunday, the pastor was preaching on heaven and hell. When he gave the altar call, I knew I needed Jesus if I had any hope of staying out of hell. I had been brought up in church, so I knew about Jesus – but I had never had a personal relationship with Him. That day, I prayed and invited Him into my heart. I really only wanted to give Him a corner of it… but we know that’s not how our God works.
The next weekend, I went out and partied just like normal. However, when Monday rolled around a strange thing occurred. I actually had guilt about how I had spent the weekend. I now know that was the Holy Spirit at work in me. However, at the time, it was more annoying than anything. The following weekend, I partied again. Monday rolled around, and the guilt was stronger, more intense. By the third week, the conviction had stolen any enjoyment I once felt. That was the last time I went out to party.
2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun.” It’s in the Bible, so we know it’s true. But honestly? I didn’t always feel like a new person. Especially not in the early days after coming to Christ.
I often feel like Paul did in Romans 7:
“I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead I do what I hate… and I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway…. I have discovered this principle in life – that when I want to do what is right I inevitably do what is wrong.”
Embracing the “Grayce” Area
So how do we reconcile that gap between who God says we are – a new person, forgiven and free – and how we feel on the inside or experience ourselves in daily life?
While God’s Word is full of absolutes – black and white – our living them out, the sanctification process, is anything but. It’s a gray area that needs to be filled with grace—for ourselves and others. What I call the “grayce” area.
God first planted this idea of the “grayce” area in my heart when I was on a mission trip to Thailand. We were doing bar outreach – sharing the Gospel with girls who were being prostituted and introducing them to women who ran a safe house there where they could go if they wanted to leave that life. We would share with these girls how much God loved them and invite them to ask Jesus into their life. And, to God be the glory, many did. We gave them bracelets that said “New Creation” to remind them of their new identity. But then… we would leave, and they would stay. Life seemed to go on as before.
A new creation, living a seemingly unchanged life.
After one of these encounters I found myself asking God, “Now what?” As much as I would like to say I became the Pied Piper of prostituted young women and every girl came walking out of the bars after me, that just didn’t happen. That’s when God began schooling me on the concept of the “grayce” area. He reminded me that the Holy Spirit does the changing and I needed to allow time for the Holy Spirit to work change in each person’s heart. It would happen in His ways and His timing. And I need to allow the time and space for that to happen.
You see we love a good “after” story – the drug addict or alcoholic come clean; the adulterer who repented and restored their marriage; the prostitute turned small group leader. But we’re not always as comfortable with the before or during story. Too often we steer clear of the “sinner” or unbeliever and are all too quick to want to point out things someone else needs to change or judge the actions or lives of other believers and unbelievers. We’re quick to cast judgment and slow to trust God with the process.
The good news is: while we may be uncomfortable with the “before” or “during” stories, God isn’t. He specializes in taking us by the hand and walking us out of our before, through the during, and into a glorious after. He does it through love and grace and seeing us through the eyes of Jesus.
Remember our familiar verse above? If we back up one verse we get some great insight into how we live, and allow others to live, in the “grayce” area.
Forgiven and Free
Remember our anchor verse from 2 Corinthians 5? One verse earlier, in verse 16, it says:
“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view…”
And if we go back to Luke 7:47 and continue reading about that sinful “Cyndi” (woman), we can find relief for our “many sins”. Thankfully Jesus doesn’t stop with, “Her sins – and they are many.” He continues:
“I tell you, her sins – and they are many, have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love.”
Friends, our sins are many. But we are forgiven. Even though sometimes it doesn’t seem like it, we are new creations in Christ. Let’s not keep rehashing our mistakes or reminding ourselves of how wretched we were. Let’s not keep rehashing our past in guilt or shame. As I told a friend recently – something I now tell myself daily:
We don’t rehash in guilt or shame—we rehash to the glory of Jesus’ name.
So let’s stop evaluating from a human point of view. Let’s see ourselves—and others—through the eyes of Christ: new, forgiven, and free.
Pray
Gracious Father, thank You for loving me both as a sinner in need of a Savior and as a believer walking the road to my “after” story. Your love and grace know no limits and flow freely and abundantly to us. Let us immerse ourselves in all You pour out to us, letting it wash away sin, guilt, and shame to the glory of Jesus’ name. And it’s in His name we pray, Amen.
