Glen blamed himself for his parent’s divorce despite the fact he was a pre-teen at the time. He thought he should have fixed their problems. In his hurt, he turned to drugs, alcohol, and the occult. In his mid-twenties, he came to our church. Knowing he was beyond our counseling abilities, I convinced him to go to a Christian Rehab Center. After a year, he returned and seemed like a different person and even enrolled in a local Bible College. He enjoyed his studies for a few weeks, but then would show up at my office or house almost every day telling me about doing things he had never done, as speaking in public, helping people, caring about others, etc.—the normal changes that take place in a new Christian’s life. Problem, it terrified him. He didn’t like the person God was making him. He had thought God was just going to give him a tune up, make a few adjustments, and tweak weak areas of his life. No matter how much I explained that God made him a new man and a new creation for which he didn’t have to fear, he refused to accept this. He soon dropped out of Bible College and disappeared. I lost contact with Glen and never saw him again. Someone later told me his Dad said he went back to his old life.
Salvation does not merely make a few adjustments. God doesn’t tune up the old engine, but installs a new one. Paul wrote, Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Co 5:17). However, take note this does not mean the old things or old self is eradicated. Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin (Rom 6:6). The word used for done away with does not mean eradicate or destroy as KJV translated it. Rather it means rendered powerless, rendered inoperative, or made inactive. The grammar of the phrase in order that indicates an intended action that is uncertain yet probable. In other words, it is possible to live as a new creation, but we must allow it to happen. It’s like driving our car with a new engine but still have the old engine in the trunk. Although it is inoperative, temptations can pressure people to power it up again. As we mature in Christ and live as a new creature, we strengthen the new self and make it less likely, that we will activate the old man. Glen fearing the new person that he was becoming, allowed the old self to take over and move him back to where his flesh felt safe.
I have taught discipleship for almost forty years and I realized while writing this I have never seen any material that addresses people who fear the new man (woman) they are becoming to the point they run away. Most people enjoy and embrace their new self although it can be intimidating as they move into new areas out of their comfort zones. No one could have ever convinced me that I would one day preach and teach to groups numbering in the thousands. I could barely engage in a conversion with one individual because of my shyness and fear of people. Thankfully, I had a pastor who mentored me and slowly stretched me beyond my comfort zones. This brought growth in Christ and I continually embraced the new person God was making me.
Several important lessons come out of this. Everyone who receives Christ as Savior instantly becomes a new person. New Christians should understand they are going to do things they have never done. We all begin like an infant needing food for growth. The food is God’s Word. Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation (1Pe 2:2). As babies grow, they become stronger; they do new things—crawl, walk, talk, eat solid food, etc. Spiritual growth follows the same pattern. Christians should also know they must mature beyond milk and begin feeding on solid food. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food (Heb 5:12).
Another important lesson for those of us who have been believers for decades is that the growth of our new man never stops as long as we live. Our goal is not becoming the best Christian in our church. We are becoming like Jesus. We should always be moving into new areas, broadening our new self, developing in our attitudes and character, and even doing things we have never done. There is no retirement as a Christian. New believers should know as a new man/woman they should expect they will be doing things they have ever done before. It is nothing to fear. Through the years, I’ve come to understand Glen was like the seed sown in rocky ground having no root in himself. He needed far more professional help and guidance. I can only pray that he eventually found it.
Sustaining Word for the Week: Embrace your new self, feed the new self, grow in Christ, and never fear the person God is making you. You will be doing things and saying things you have not done before