The Result: New Persons

KEY VERSE: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” —II Corinthians 5:17

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 4:17-32; 5:2; II Corinthians 5:17

IN ORDER to properly understand the key verse of today’s lesson, we must realize that in the Lord’s plan of salvation there is a heavenly reward and an earthly reward. Our text refers to those who are invited to the heavenly calling. Briefly, the Scriptures indicate the steps necessary to aspire to the heavenly reward. First, the individual must be called by the Lord. In John 6:44,45 we read, “No man can come to me, except the Father which sent me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” Second, there must be a repentant heart, recognizing the fact that we are members of a sin-cursed and dying race, and could have no standing before the Lord in our own righteousness. (Mark 2:17; Acts 26:20) Third, it is necessary that the individual accept Jesus Christ as his personal Redeemer and Savior, realizing that only through the merit of his shed blood can we be acceptable to God. (Acts 13:38,39; 16:31; Rom. 3:22; 5:1) Then upon the basis of confidence in the merit of the shed blood of the Redeemer, he is invited to present himself in unreserved consecration, including all that he possesses, to do the will of God. (Rom. 12:1,2) The Scriptures are very explicit as to what this consecration will mean in our lives. Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matt. 16:24) To deny oneself does not mean merely the giving up of some petty pleasure or satisfaction for a short period of time. It means, rather, the complete renouncement of one’s own will and the acceptance instead of the will of the Heavenly Father. It is spoken of in Revelation 20:4 as a “beheading,” picturing the complete lack of self-will.

Those who accept the invitation of Christ to take up their cross and follow him, likewise lay down their lives in sacrificial service. They are not all literally crucified, but the will to serve and suffer, regardless of the consequences, must be present. Another expression used by the Apostle Paul is found in Romans 6:3-5, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? … For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” The baptism that is referred to here is not water baptism, but baptism into Christ, and into his death, which is the real baptism.

Paul elaborates further on these points, saying, “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body … and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member but many.” (I Cor. 12:13,14) It is by the influence of the Holy Spirit, through the Word of truth, that we are drawn to the Lord, and led by his love to present ourselves in full consecration to him. Since this consecration means the renouncing of our own wills and accepting the will of God in Christ, he thus becomes our head and we become members of the church which is his body.

Thus we see how the Lord, by the power of his Holy Spirit, accepts those who aspire to the heavenly calling. Our part in this arrangement is to yield to the influences of the Holy Spirit, and take the steps which the divine Word indicates; that is: to answer the call, to repent, to accept Christ, and then to present ourselves in full consecration to do the Lord’s will. To those who have entered into this arrangement, the apostle states, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [creation]: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (II Cor. 5:17) The old things belonging to past times in our lives should have passed away, in the sense that they no longer hold any real attraction for us. Our greatest joys should be in the new things of the Lord, with new hopes, new ambitions, and new aims. Those who are faithful in walking in the footsteps of Jesus will receive the heavenly reward, which is to live and reign with Christ in the kingdom.—Rev. 3:21

The salvation of the world will be discussed in the next Bible Study.

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