Living the New Life

"Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God” (Matthew 3:8). This scripture emphasizes the “turning away” from sins and the “turning to” God. This is repentance—a change of heart, a change of direction. After a person truly accepts Christ’s salvation, there is a definite transformation in that person’s life. Other people can see the difference—the move from the old life to a new one. You have become a different person. This is not something you do; Jesus does it. “The old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

The old way of life, the old way of thinking, is done away with, and there is a new life within you. But after our transformation we are not to have a lazy “let Jesus do it” attitude. After salvation comes living out the new life—allowing the new nature to be in control, and not letting the old nature take over again (see Ephesians 4:22-24). Diligence to intentionally live this new way is important, as our enemy does not give up and our flesh still wants its own way. 

This is an “every moment of every day” endeavor. You may say, “That’s too hard. That takes too much effort. I don’t have the self-discipline for that kind of life.” In ourselves, we don’t. The Word says, “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). This is where we need to lean on the Lord. Our relationship with Him is to be cultivated daily. We humbly ask Him to lead us onto the paths He desires us to walk. 

Remember, the new life within creates a hunger for a close relationship with God. After becoming a believer our desires change and we don’t want to keep living the way we were before. Time previously spent in the pursuit of our own agenda is now devoted to prayer and Bible reading so that we can grow in our relationship with the Lord. He desires to live in a continual relationship with us. One name for Jesus is Immanuel, meaning “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). 

Sometimes people think of all this only as it relates to the future: “I want salvation so I can go to heaven when I die.” But this life of being a believer is a “now” life. We can have peace with God, a “right now” relationship with Him that helps us through each day and changes us into people who care about others and who desire to bring them to the Light of the Gospel. 

My prayer is that God will teach me afresh how to live the new life He has placed within me. I often pray these words from one of my favorite hymns: Let my life be a light shining out through the night. May I help struggling ones to the fold, spreading cheer everywhere to the sad and the lone. Let my life be a light to some soul.*

*Let My Life Be a Light, J. R. Varner, 1942

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You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24)