Stepping into the steaming shower felt glorious. Rivulets of brown water poured off my filthy body and circled the drain. It was my first time serving on a mission trip south of the border and I’d never been dirtier in my life. During our lunch break, we got word that a nearby “beauty salon” not far from our building site would allow us to pay for showers in their little shop. It was the only chance I’d have all week to bathe with hot water. The drawback was that I would have to put on the same dirt-encrusted, sweat-saturated clothes I’d been working in all morning. Rubbing off several days’ worth of grime in the shower rejuvenated me, but having to put the filthy clothes back on was unpleasant, to say the least.
It never feels good to cover over something clean and new with something old and dirty, and yet we often default to that mode when it comes to our spiritual lives. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians reminds us, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV). After studying Paul’s teaching for the past two months using Kelly Minter’s Bible study: All Things New: A Study on 2 Corinthians, I want the truth I’ve learned there to stick with me so I don’t put back on the ways of my worldly life without Christ.
Re-reading the thirteen chapters of 2 Corinthians, I’ve chosen some key truths that I want to incorporate into my life for the long haul. Below you’ll see the new perspectives I’m striving to put on in place of the old I want to leave behind. (If you’ve been doing the study along with me, make your own list before you read mine—no cheating!!)
- Hardships create opportunities to learn patient endurance and to receive God’s comfort. Going through hardships allows our capacity for empathy and compassion to grow so that we can share God’s comfort with others who experience similar difficulties. (Chapter 1:3-6)
- We are the aroma of Christ. This will draw some people to us as the scent of life and will repel others from us as the smell of death. (Chapter 2:15-16)
- Our hope in the gospel makes us bold and transforms us into the likeness of Christ through the Holy Spirit. (Chapter 3:12 & 18)
- We are like fragile, ordinary jars of clay that contain the light of knowledge and the glory of God. This reminds us that our power is from God, not from us and causes us to fix our eyes on what is unseen and eternal instead of what is seen and temporary. (Chapter 4:6,7,18)
- We live and walk by faith, not by sight. We are new creations and have become the righteousness of God through Christ. (Chapter 5:7, 17,21)
- We must strive to keep open hearts with those we love and minister to rather than letting negative responses deter us. We must use discernment and not yoke ourselves with unbelievers in our close, consequential relationships. (Chapter 6:11-12, 14-17)
- Godly sorrow recognizes how our sin hurts God. Repentance leads to salvation. (Chapter 7:10)
- Giving to those in need is a privilege, not a burden. We need to take our good intentions about giving and follow through with them. (Chapter 8: 4, 10-12)
- When we sow (give) sparingly, we will reap sparingly. This goes for our finances, our time and our gifts. God loves when we give of ourselves cheerfully. Giving shows that we trust Him and allows us to be conduits for His abundant generosity to others. (Chapter 9:6-11)
- We must demolish anything that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. (Chapter 10:5)
- Paul experienced tremendous hardships for the gospel but persevered to the end of his life. We should not be surprised when we suffer for the gospel but can rejoice knowing it’s evidence He’s using us too. (Chapter 11:23-29 lists some of the major things Paul experienced. The hardships I’ve faced for Christ seem minor in comparison).
- God’s power is made perfect in our weakness. When we are weak, we can find our strength in Him. We need to lean into Him to access His strength. (Chapter 12:9-10)
- As believers, we are called to be of one mind and to live in peace. This requires significant and intentional effort for all who call Jesus their Lord. (Chapter 13:11)
Although we’re new spiritual creations from the moment we receive Christ, practicing these alternate ways of operating is a daily battle. It takes a lifetime of consistent Scripture reading and regular study. It requires a lot of prayer and time spent with others who will spur us on in our faith journey. We’re already new creations through Christ, but we won’t be completely perfect while sin exists in the world. For these truths to stick, we must lean into God daily to renew our minds and take our thoughts captive.
That tension of the “already but not yet” is a constant theme in Scripture. We’re already new, but not yet perfected. We’ve already received salvation, but are not yet at home with Christ. But it’s that tension that keeps me humble and causes me to rely on Him daily. It reminds me to cast aside those filthy clothes and opt for the clean ones given to all who are new creations in Christ.
What truth will stick with you from my list? Is there something impactful you’ve learned that I didn’t mention? Share it in a comment so that others can be inspired too.
Enjoy a worship moment celebrating your new life in Christ with Chris Tomlin’s song “Resurrection Power.”
Kelly Minter, All Things New: A Study of 2 Corinthians, Lifeway Press 2016.