Let's go back to 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. I want to focus your attention
this morning on verse 17. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17. Now it wasn't too long ago that
I did an exposition through this chapter. I told Joe, I said,
I believe when I started that I had him read this chapter,
so he ought to be real familiar with this. In fact, you should
have just got up and just quoted it from memory, Joe. Don't ask me to do that. But
it is a powerful passage of scripture that concerns the heart of the
gospel and the blessings of salvation. And I'll deal with other scriptures,
but I want to use verse 17 this morning as my text. The reason
that I went back to this is I want to talk to you about the new
creation. Look at verse 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. And that word could justly be
translated creation. He's a new creation. Probably
better translated that way. So if you're in Christ, you're
a new creation. Then he says, old things are
passed away. And that means old things have
passed. They're not passing. They're
not in a process of passing. Whatever he's talking about,
it's past. And he says, behold, all things are become new. They're
now made new. The title of the message is A
New Creation in Jesus Christ. What is this new creation? Now, every message for the unbeliever
as I preach the gospel is a call and a command for that sinner who's unregenerate to
flee to Christ for salvation. And we know that no sinner of
his or her own will will flee to Christ. That's a sovereign
act of God in the new birth. Those who receive him, John wrote
in John chapter 1 and verse 12, they receive him not because
of blood, not because of physical heritage, and not because of
the works of the flesh. That will of the flesh there,
that means the works of the flesh. And it's not of the will of man.
That refers to the will. Will you of your own will come
to Christ? And the answer is no. You must
be made willing in the day of God's power. That's part of the
new creation, in fact. But it's a command. The gospel
is a commandment. Just as much as thou shalt not
kill, isn't it? Binding upon all who hear it. For the true believer, these
messages should feed your soul, be instruments in growth and
grace and in knowledge of Christ, And they should also be times
of self-examination. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians chapter
13, examine yourselves whether you be in the faith, in the faith. And the question there is not,
do I have enough faith? That's what a lot of people go
to when they go to passages like that. Do I have enough? What
is enough? You see, the issue in salvation is not how much
faith you have. The issue in salvation is in
whom is your faith? Who are you trusting for salvation? And whoever you're trusting,
is he able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him?
I can tell you if you're trusting in yourself, you're trusting
in the wrong person. If you're trusting in mom and
dad or the church or any work you've ever done or plan to do,
you're trusting the wrong thing. Salvation is to trust Christ
and him alone. No additions, no subtractions.
So examine yourselves. And so the question that I really
want to consider, and I'm going to do several messages out of
several passages of scripture concerning this matter of the
new creature, the new creation. Because here's the question,
could it be, could it be that I am one who can rightfully be
called a new creation? Is that possible? If I call myself
a new creature or a new creation, on what basis do I call myself
that? That I take that title to myself? What is it about me? that causes
me to look into the scripture and say, yep, that's me, I'm
one of those. A lot of people do now, you do, if you think
you're saved. Could it be that you're one who
can rightfully, and I stress that word rightfully, and when
I say rightfully, I mean scripturally, be called a new creation? Well,
according to this verse, There are two things that prove whether
or not I or you or anybody is a new creation. Number one it
says, therefore if any man be what? In Christ. He's a new creation. To be a
new creation is to be in Christ. So one thing I need to understand
from God's word, what does it mean to be in Christ? Now I'm
gonna deal with that mainly today. What does it mean to be in Christ?
Now, I'll deal with some things that, of the old creature and
the new creature, what's been old, what is old and what's now
new, just a little bit. But I'm mainly gonna get to that
in the coming messages. But what is it to be in Christ?
What does that mean? And then secondly, to be a new
creation is to be one of whom it can be said, old things are
passed away. Not passing away now, not in
a process of waning away. The tense of the verb there is
past tense. We don't really have an equivalent
tense for it in the English language. But it has to do with a past
act that is a done deal and has continual implications and effects. So something has happened and
the effects of it continue on forever and ever and ever. It's
like the death of Christ. The death of Christ is a past
act. He didn't have to die again. That's why we're here at a worship
service. That's why we're not having a mass today. See, when you have a mass, that
was literally, in the theology of it, they're crucifying him
again. You don't crucify him again. He had to die one time.
One sacrifice for sins. Put away all the sins of God's
elect. That's all he had to do, one
time. Now that old priesthood under the old covenant, they
had to continually offer sacrifices, didn't they? Because they could
never, the blood of bulls and goats could never take away.
But the blood of Jesus Christ has, that one death has put away
all the sins of all his people forever and ever. That's a past
act. But boy, look at the implications
and the continual blessings that we have from. Well, that's what
this old things passed away is. It's a past act. It's done. but the effects of it, the blessings
of it. And then all things are become
new. So to be a new creation is to be one of whom it can be
said, old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. So what's passed away about me? What are those old things
that are passed away about me or about you? And what's become
new? What's new about me and about
you? That's the only way you can know
if you're a new creation. Let me ask you this question here.
Why do I have to even be a new creation? Why is that even necessary? Well, first of all, the old creation
is fallen, ruined, sinful, and headed for eternal death and
damnation. Now, is that where you want to
stay? The old creation fell in Adam. ruined by the fall. We've talked about that in the
past two messages. By nature, think of it, that's
how we're born. The natural man, that's how man
is born. Born dead in trespasses and sins,
the scripture says. Now I know people argue with
that, and they'll fuss at that, but that's what God's word says,
and that's all I've got to go on. And that's all you have to
go on. By nature and by our works, we
have no righteousness to recommend us unto God. And that's, look,
that includes the best, the most new and improved of the natural
man. He's not a new creation, but
he can improve himself in a lot of ways among men. The drunk
can stop drinking and be sober the rest of his life. Listen,
I'm all for that. I want all the drunks to stop
getting drunk and stop getting out here on the roads and killing
people. But that does not make them righteous. That does not
make them a new creation. You understand that? People get
religion. That doesn't make you righteous.
In fact, there's a startling verse of Scripture in the book
of Matthew, I think it's in chapter 23, I didn't write the reference
down. I think it's Matthew 23, 15. If I'm wrong on that, it's
in there somewhere. Where the Lord looked at the
Pharisees, he's pronouncing the woes upon the Pharisees and the
scribes. And he says, you are adamant
and zealous to go out and get converts to your religion. You
want to get these Gentiles circumcised? You want to get them under the
law of Moses? You want to get them religious in ceremony and
dedication? And he said, all you're doing
is making them twofold more the child of hell than you are. Now
think about that. How does that stand with the
people say, well, just as long as you're going to church somewhere, that fit does it? So that's why
we need to be a new creation. The old creation can't make it.
Listen, the old creation, we have nothing to offer to God
by which to earn or merit His favor or His blessings. The old creation is not qualified.
We're not qualified. We're not fit for the presence
of God. And that's at our best. And then
secondly, the old creation is enmity against God. Enmity. Look
over at Romans chapter 8. I preached on this last week
and I didn't get through all the verses I wanted to get through.
You know what enmity is? That means you're an enemy. It
means hatred. That's what it is. By nature
we hate God. Now you know most people will
not agree with that. But hold on now. Listen to what God's
word says. He says in verse 5 of Romans
8, he says, for they that are after the flesh do mind the things
of the flesh. Now, what is that to be after
the flesh? Well, it's to be in an unregenerate
state. And there's all kinds of people
who are living after the flesh, religious and unreligious, moral
and immoral. But that state of the flesh,
minding the things of the flesh, that's how we're born. The flesh. Christ told Nicodemus you must
be born again. Why? Because you can't see or
understand the kingdom of God. You can't enter the kingdom of
God. He said that which is born of flesh is flesh. That's all
that flesh can produce is flesh. That's how we're born. In that
state of the flesh. Whether we're religious or irreligious.
And that which is born of the spirit is spirit. In other words,
to be a new creature, you've got to be born of the Spirit
of God. I'm getting ahead of myself on that, but just hold
on to this thought now. He says, they that are after
the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. Now, that's man
by nature. That's the old creation, part of the old creation. But
they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Now,
there are those who are after the flesh, and there are those
who are after the Spirit. Now, which one am I? Which one
are you? If you can truly say that I'm of the Spirit, after
the Spirit, walking after the Spirit, how did I get that way?
Well, I made a decision when I was 14. No, there's nothing
in the Bible that's even close to that kind of stuff. That's
a concoction of man to get people down the aisle so they can count
heads. I know it, I was in it, I studied it. The first thing we used to ask
when we come back on our, what we called, mission trips and
seminary was, how many decisions did you have? That was the first
thing. Nobody even considered what you
preached. I'm telling you, I was there.
They didn't even think, well, everybody preaches the gospel,
it doesn't matter what you preach. How many decisions did you have?
And that's what's promoted this religious myth today, that salvation
is something that happened to you when you were 12, 13, 14
years old, when you made a decision. And because we're good Baptists,
we believe once saved, always saved, so it really doesn't matter
how you lived since then, or what you thought, or what you
believed. And that's sad, isn't it? But
look at verse 6, he says in verse 6 of Romans 8, for to be carnally
minded is death. Now when you think of the carnal
mind, don't just think of the perversions and the immoralities
of life, that's included, but think about Cain. Oh Cain, you
remember Cain? Coming to God, bringing the best
he could offer. That's a product of the carnal
mind. A sinner who's doing his dead
level best to keep the law in order to be saved. That's a carnal
mind, according to this book now. Saul of Tarsus, a Hebrew
of Hebrews, circumcised the eighth day, the tribe of Benjamin, as
touching the law of Pharisee, going beyond the call of duty,
not just a Sunday churchgoer, but one who does it every day
of the week, gives the Pharisee, who gave tithes and offerings
of everything that he had, fasted twice a week. Not just once a
week, not just on the Day of Atonement, but twice a week.
That's the carnal mind. And so to be carnally minded
is death. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Now
what is it to be spiritually minded? The spiritual mind is
the mind, the heart, the regenerated heart that looks to Christ and
rests in Him for all salvation. all righteousness, all forgiveness,
all eternal life. And walks in obedience motivated
not by legalism and not by mercenary promise of earned reward, but
by love and grace and gratitude. That's it. But now look at verse
seven, because the carnal mind is enmity against God. Any person
who comes to God seeking or expecting salvation or blessing apart from
Christ crucified. The blood, the righteousness
of Christ. Remember we just now sang it now. My hope is built
on nothing less than what? Jesus' blood and righteousness.
Now that means nothing more, nothing less. I dare not trust
the sweetest friend. Anybody who comes to God seeking
or expecting any blessedness or any salvation based on anything
but that, but Christ, That's the carnal mind, that's enmity
against God. God looks upon you as an enemy. Somebody might say, well, I never
have been an enemy of God. Well, then you don't need salvation,
friend. Why are you even here? Why are you even with us? This
is a hospital for sinners. And that doesn't fit you if you've
never been an enemy of God. If you've always been his friend,
you don't need salvation. You don't need Christ. That's
right. If righteousness come by the
law, by your works, then Christ died in vain. You see, we were
enemies of God. That means we needed to be reconciled
to God. Look back over at our text, 2
Corinthians. Look down at verse 20, 2 Corinthians
5. He says, now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ. Paul's talking about preachers
of the gospel there. As though God did beseech by
us, we pray you in Christ be ye reconciled to God. Now, why
do I need to be reconciled to God? Because by nature, I'm an
enemy. And that's what salvation is.
That's part of this old things passed away, all things become
new. It's part of it. Now God has always been reconciled
to his people through Christ. We'll see that in just a moment.
But reconciliation, and that's what, you know really, that's
what 2 Corinthians 5 is about. Reconciliation. The ministry
of reconciliation. Reconciliation has to do with
enemies becoming friends on some mutual ground. Here's enemies,
and now they're friends based on something that that is agreeable
to them both. Well, what ground are we talking
about? Well, that's what verse 21 says.
It says, for he, that is, the he there is God the Father. And
it says, hath made him, the him there is God the Son incarnate,
the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father Made Christ. Now, a lot of people make a lot
of hick-hack over that word made. You know, 300, I think it's like
347 times in the New Testament, that word made there, you know
how it's translated? D-O, do. And you know what it's simply
saying? It's simply saying this is something
God did. We get our English word poem
from it. It's a creative act. God did
something miraculous here. What did he do? He made him.
He made his son to be sin. Somebody said, well, it's not
a legal term. Well, not in and of itself, but it can be used
legally. For example, if I make a law, the word make is not a
legal term, but if I make a law, it's used legally, isn't it?
God makes a law. That's a legal thing. God did
it. That's what it's saying. He made
His Son to be sin. Now how did He do that? Well,
I would go to Genesis to Revelation to figure that one out. How about
you? And the Scripture says that He
as our substitute bore our sins. That He paid our debt. How could
He pay my debt? Well, it had to be accounted
to Him. It had to be imputed to Him. It had to be charged
to Him. Or He could not justly do it. paid my sin debt. The Lord hath
laid on him the iniquity of us all, the scripture says. How
do you lay it on him? How do you lay it on him? Well,
he did it by imputation. And then he says he did it for
us, verse 21. He did it as a substitute, as
a surety. And the who knew no sin there
refers to Christ. He knew no sin. And he did it
that we might be made. Now the word made there is the
word we get our, uh, is the word we get our English word generation
from generation. In other words, out of his being
made sin for us generated the righteousness of God in him.
In other words, his children are his generation. Out of the
death of Christ came his generation. He shall see of his seed, his
seed. That's another way of saying
it. That's all for whom Christ died. They are made the righteousness
of God in him. And how are we the righteousness
of God? Well, what does it say? In him.
Now, what's our text say? If any man be in Christ. To be
in Christ is to be made the righteousness of God. Now, how can an old sinner
like me or a sinner like you be said to be the righteousness
of God? Not but one way. And that's by imputation. God
charging it. the merits of his death to us. Now that's why we have to be
reconciled. Reconciliation is closely related to our justification.
If you're in Christ, you're not guilty. Isn't that right? David said, blessed is the man
to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. We're not guilty. If we're in Christ, we're righteous.
Yes, we have been God's enemy. Let me show you one more verse
on that. Turn to Romans chapter five. As I said, somebody may
say, well, I've never been God's enemy. Well, okay, if that's
true, it's not true. But if it were, then you don't
need salvation. Let me show you here. Verse five
of Romans chapter, or is it verse six? Hang on. Verse six of Romans
chapter five. He says, for when we were yet
without strength, that is, no power to save ourselves, no power
to produce righteousness, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. Now, who did he die for? The
ungodly. You say, but I was religious.
Well, without Christ, your religion is ungodly. For scarcely for
a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man
some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And then much more being them
being now justified, how we justified? By his blood, not by, listen,
not by our works. We shall be saved from wrath
through him, for if when we were, what? Enemies. We were reconciled
to God by the death of his son. Much more being reconciled, we
shall be saved by his life. Christ died for his enemies.
And let me tell you something, that's what God's elect were
before God brought them into a saving knowledge of Christ.
Children of wrath, even as others. And understand now, I want to
emphasize this, An enemy of God, biblically, is one who seeks
to approach God upon any other ground than the merits of Christ.
You can see it. Reconciled to God. Well, what
is it to be in Christ? Well, to be in Christ is to be
united with Christ. It's to be one with Christ. It's
to be in union with Christ. To be in Christ does not mean
getting religion or getting religious. It's not making a decision for
Christ. It's not even getting baptized.
Now, baptism is a symbolic confession of being in Christ. But baptism
doesn't put you in Christ, doesn't keep you in Christ. That's not
how you get in Christ. Baptism is an ordinance of confession. It's a public identification
and confession of Christ. The person who is baptized who
goes down into the water and comes up, he's saying, I'm in
Christ. I'm in Him. I'm united to Him.
I confess Him. So it's not getting baptized.
It's not even moral reformation or turning over a new leaf in
the sense that men see it. That could all be included, but
that's not what it is. And not even joining a church. Joining a church won't put you
in Christ. Being in Christ is salvation. Being in Christ is a vital living
union with Jesus Christ. In fact, the Bible represents
us this way, you in Christ and Christ in you. That's that union. Paul spoke of it. He said in
Galatians chapter one, when it pleased the father to reveal
his son in me, You in Christ, Christ in you.
It's a vital living union with Jesus Christ, the one and only
Savior of sinners, the Redeemer, the Lord your righteousness.
What does the Bible say about a person who's truly in Christ? Well, let me give you several
ways here, what it is to be in Christ. And like I said, now
I'm going to I'm going to mention just a few things about old things
passed away and all things become new, but I'm mainly going to
deal with those incoming messages in various scriptures. But let
me give you this. Number one, to be in Christ is
to be in Him by sovereign electing grace before the foundation of
the world. To be in Christ is to be in Him
by sovereign electing grace. before the foundation of the
world. Now turn to Ephesians chapter one. And now what I'm
gonna give you in these scriptures is just a few examples. And there's many, many more in
the Bible. And this, I'm not gonna read
this whole passage, but sometime when you sit down, read all of
Ephesians chapter one. And how many times it mentions
that in Christ, in Him. Look at verse three. Ephesians
1, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ. A new creation is one who's blessed
with how many spiritual blessings? All spiritual blessings. Now
what does that mean? That means you don't earn them,
you don't deserve them. Whatever blessings God has given me as
a new creation, I didn't deserve it and I didn't earn it, and
still don't. Still don't. It's all by grace,
for by grace are you saved. And then he says in verse four,
according as he hath chosen us in him, that's in Christ, when? before the foundation of the
world. When was that? That was before this world. That
was before God moved upon the face of the waters. That was
before He commanded, let there be light. It was given us, chosen,
we were chosen in Him. That's divine, sovereign, electing
grace, that we should be holy and without blame before Him
in love. There's the goal. Verse five, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ, to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will, his sovereign will,
to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made
us accepted in Christ, in the beloved. There it is. And that's
where, and turn to second Timothy chapter one. Now that's where
we see the blessed gospel doctrine of substitution. God blessed
us in Christ. Christ was set up before the
foundation of the world to be the substitute of his people. He's the representative of God's
chosen people. That's what he is. Just like
the high priest represented the 12 tribes of Israel under the
old covenant. Christ is the great high priest
who represents spiritual Israel, God's chosen people. And not
only does he represent us, but he stands in our place. He takes
our place. How could he do that? Well, he
did so as our surety. He took our debt. God made him
sin. Christ, who knew no sin for us,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And as our surety,
he paid our debt, satisfied the justice of God, all of that. And that was all set up and purposed
and predestinated before time ever began. before this world
ever began. And somebody says, well, I don't
believe that. Well, you just don't believe what I just read.
And that's up to you. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. You say, I don't like the way God did that. That sounds
unfair to me. Well, I just read it to you. I didn't write this. You all
know that, don't you? I didn't write this thing up here. So
your argument's not with me. It's with the one who wrote it.
And the scripture says God wrote it. So that's your issue. Listen, and I've been there,
too. I mean, I used to sit right back here just about where Paul
Kuhn's sitting and say the same thing. I don't like that. That's
unfair. You know, all that stuff. And the one person in the world
that I didn't like was Henry Mahan, because he was up here
preaching it. But I didn't really. See, my
argument wasn't with him. It was with what the Word said. But look at 2 Timothy chapter
one, verse eight. He says, be not thou therefore
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor me his prisoner, but
be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the
power of God, who hath saved us and called us with an holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, when? Before the world began. It was given to his people in
Christ as our representative, our substitute, our surety before
the world began. So that's what it is to be in
Christ. But now here's the thing about it. How do I know when
it talks about, listen here, it says here in verse nine, it
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now,
who are the us there? Could that, that's a plural,
isn't it? That means there's more than one. Could that include
me? Could that include you? Now I
know this, you don't deserve it, I don't deserve it, we don't
earn it. It's not based on us doing our
part. It's not God looking down through a telescope of time and
foreseeing what you would do or not do. Incidentally, there's
nothing like that in the scriptures either. That's a concoction of
man to try to explain something, that he wants to rebel against. Who is that us? Well, let's go
on, we'll get to that. Number two, to be in Christ is
to be in Christ by effectual redeeming grace at the cross
of Calvary. Now look back at our text, 2
Corinthians chapter five. Now what does that mean? That
when Christ died on that cross, he died not for himself, but
for a people. He called him his sheep. He said,
I laid down my life for the sheep. He said, there's goats and there's
sheep. He said, I laid down my life for the sheep. He called
him his church. The Bible says in Acts chapter
20, I think it's verse 28, it says, he redeemed his church
which he purchased with his own blood. His church. Well, look at 2 Corinthians 5,
look at verse 14. Paul writes here, for the love
of Christ constraineth us. In other words, what motivates
me in the preaching of the gospel of reconciliation is not that
I'm trying to earn my salvation or earn my blessings. It's the
love of Christ that motivates me. It's the love of Christ that
constrains me, inspires me. Because we thus judge, here's
our judgment, that if one died for all, then we're all dead. What does
that mean? You see that little colon after
that sentence there? That means he's getting ready
to explain what he means. If one died for all, then we're
all dead. Well, what does he mean? Look at verse 15. And that
he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto
themselves, but unto them which died for them and rose again.
What does that verse mean? That's, you know, you look at
that verse 14, if one died for all, who's he talking about?
That's not all without exception. He says, then we're all dead.
Now, some people say, well, that means that the ones that Christ
died for, they were dead in trespasses and sins. That's true, but that's
not what that's saying. What that's saying is that if
one died for all, all for whom Christ died, when he died, they
all died too in him. How do you know that? That he
died for all, that they which live. Huh? Not those who stay
dead. In fact, if he died for you,
you cannot stay dead. You're born dead spiritually,
but you won't stay that way. That they which live should not
henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them.
Incidentally, there's one of those old things that passed
away and all things become new. We did live for ourselves. Now
we live unto Him which died for us. But we'll talk about that
later. But look here. Look over at Romans 6. Here's
what it's saying. Verse 3. He says, No ye not. Romans 6
and verse 3. No ye not that so many of us
as were baptized literally placed into Jesus Christ. In Christ. were baptized placed into his
death. Therefore, we are buried with
him by baptism being placed into his death. In other words, when
he died, I died. When he was buried, I was buried.
And look at that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness
of life. There's that new life. For if
we've been planted together in the likeness of his death, we
shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Now
basically what it's saying is this, when Christ died, he died
for his people. He was the substitute, the representative,
the surety of a people. When he died, they died. When
he was buried, they were buried. When he arose again, they arose
again. That's what it is to be in Christ. He died for me. Look back at 2 Corinthians 5.
Now I'm gonna say more about all of that in later messages. I don't have time to get to all
of it today. You see, that's what Christ did
when he died on the cross. He established in time the new
covenant. It's a new covenant. And there's
all kinds of things that are new with that covenant. We can
talk about the new heart, the new spirit, the new life, all
of that. We'll talk about that. In Hebrews
10 and 19, you don't have to turn there, he talks about a
new and living way which he hath consecrated through the veil.
Christ made it. The old things of sin and condemnation
in Adam are passed away and now there's nothing but righteousness
for his people in Christ. So much so that God says, I'll
remember your sins no more. That means He won't hold them
against us. He won't charge them to us. He looks upon His people
as washed in the blood of Christ and clothed in His righteousness.
We're in Him. And then thirdly, To be in Christ
is to be in Him by invincible, regenerating grace in the new
birth. Now here's where it comes, as
it is applied by God to us personally, whereby we know, we know now,
that when He says it was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began, we're part of the us. Or that when He died for
His people, His sheep, I'm one of those sheep. Here's how we
come to know that, and that's when we are put in Christ by
invincible, regenerating grace in the new birth. To be in Christ
is to be born again by the Spirit. Look at Romans chapter 8. See, there's electing grace,
there's redeeming grace, There's regenerating grace, Romans chapter
8 again. And look here, verse 9. Now verse 8, he says, so then
they that are in the flesh cannot please God. That's an unregenerate
unbeliever. Verse 9, but you're not in the
flesh, but in the spirit. If so be that the spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man have not the spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, that
is by his spirit and by his word, the body is dead because of sin,
that's his physical body, but the spirit is life because of
righteousness. But if the spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall quicken your mortal bodies by
his spirit that dwell in you. You see, there's regenerating
grace. You must be born again. That's what Paul means when he
says, be ye reconciled to God. God's always been reconciled
to his people in his purpose and mind in Christ. He chose
us before the foundation of the world. How? In Christ. Looking
forward to that time period when Christ would intervene in human
history and die for our sins on that cross. But you see, we're
not reconciled to God. We're still enemies. in the flesh
until the Holy Spirit comes and imparts life in regenerating
grace. And He puts us in Christ. It's
to be in Him by faith. We believe in Him. We rest in
Him. We follow Him. We're made alive
in Christ. In fact, over there in 2 Corinthians
in our text, look at verse 16. When we're reconciled to God
in regenerating grace by the new birth, when God, the Holy
Spirit brings us under the preaching of the gospel, wherein Christ
is revealed to us, wherein we see our sins and our depravity
and see that we have no hope of salvation, but by God's free
mercy and sovereign grace in Christ. Here's what happened,
here's one of the things that happened. Verse 16, wherefore
henceforth know we no man after the flesh, yea though we have
known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him
no more. What he's talking about there is we have a new view of
Christ now. Think about it this way. You remember Saul of Tarsus,
I mentioned him. What was his view of Christ when
he started out on the journey on the Damascus road? What was
his view of Christ then? Well, he judged Christ after
the flesh. Here's a heretic, he would say. Here's a malefactor. Here's a blasphemer. That's how
he viewed Christ. But when God the Holy Spirit
came down in power and Saul of Tarsus was born again in regenerating
and reconciled unto God, what was his view of Christ then?
Totally new, wasn't it? That old passed away. Now he
said, He said, Lord, Lord God, Jehovah, that's what that is.
Now he saw him as his savior. Now he said, before he would
have seen the cross of Christ as, well, we're just executing
a criminal. Now that he's been regenerated,
he's got a new view. And he says, God forbid that
I should glory save in the cross. You see the difference? That's
a new creation there, buddy. And then lastly, to be in Christ
is to be in Christ by persevering grace in preservation under glory. I'll pick up on that next week
because we're going to begin with a passage on that. But those
who are in Christ by the power and grace of God, They stay in
him because they're kept in him. And we saw that in Ephesians
chapter two, for by grace are you saved through faith that
not of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast for we are his what workmanship. A new creation
is God's workmanship. It's not your own, not mine,
not the churches. It's God's workmanship. How are
you created? The new creation? Created in
Christ Jesus unto good works. And that's the whole life of
a believer. That doesn't mean everything he does is good. But
that means he's in a life of grace, looking to Christ, the
author and finisher of his faith. And he's safe and secure in him.