You Are a New Creation
In Christ, believers are not improved old men, but new creations, with the old man crucified and put away.
C.H. Spurgeon emphasizes that a man in Christ is not merely an improved version of the old self but is entirely a new creation. The old nature, which is fundamentally flawed and cannot be reformed, must be crucified with Christ and put away. Spurgeon asserts that the believer's transformation is complete and not just superficial, highlighting the necessity of discarding the old self to embrace the new life in Christ.
Text
A man in Christ is not the old man purified, nor the old man improved, nor the old man in a better humor, nor the old man with additions and subtractions, nor the old man dressed in gorgeous robes. No, he is a new creature altogether. As for the old man, what is to be done with him? Can he not be sobered, reformed, and made to do us useful service? No, he is crucified with Christ, and bound to die by a lingering but certain death. The capital sentence is passed upon him, for he cannot be mended and therefore must be ended. "The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."
You cannot change the old nature, it is immutably bad, and the sooner it is put away as a filthy and unclean thing the better for us. The believer, so far as he is in Christ, is a new creation: not the old stuff put into a new fashion, and the old material worked up into an improved form, but absolutely a new creation.
From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Christ The Maker Of All Things New," delivered December 10, 1876.
Sermon Outline
- The Old Man Must Die
- The New Man Is A New Creation
- The believer is a new creation in Christ
- The new creation is not the old stuff in a new form
- The new creation is absolutely new
Key Quotes
“The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” — C.H. Spurgeon
“You cannot change the old nature, it is immutably bad, and the sooner it is put away as a filthy and unclean thing the better for us.” — C.H. Spurgeon
Application Points
- Recognize that the old nature is immutably bad and must be put away.
- Understand that the believer is a new creation in Christ, not the old stuff in a new form.
- Crucify the old man with Christ and seek to live as a new creation.