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The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If any man is in Christ he is a new creation, old things are passed away and all things have become new.” God does not reform the human spirit, He re-creates it! According to 1 Thessalonians 5:23, man is a tri-partite being, spirit, soul, and body. Paul says, “I pray God your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

When one is born again, his spirit is re-created. John 3:6 says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.” Eternal life, the zoe life of God, comes into the spirit of man. He who was spiritually dead now has life.

Ephesians 2:1 says, “You hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins.” Ephesians 2:6 indicates that we have been raised up and made to sit with Jesus. This is our position in Christ. This is our new identity.

The truth of the new creation is the first and greatest of truths for the new convert. If one does not grasp it, he will be hindered in understanding the other redemptive truths. Believers are not sinners; they are children of God. They may sin, but if they do, there is a provision to deal with their sin (1 John 2:1). We need to see ourselves as no longer sinners, but children of God with a new nature – a nature that wants to please God, that wants to fellowship with Him.

If we can understand who we are in Christ, we will overcome intimidation by the world and the devil. We will overcome inferiority, insecurity, feelings of unworthiness, and low self-esteem. We will begin to recognize the greatness of Jesus’ redemption for us and the magnitude of His Kingdom. This truth properly understood creates a holy awe of God.

BLESSED WITH ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS.

Ephesians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Notice that it says “hath.” This is past tense. We are already blessed. It happened at the Cross.

The word “blessed” is the Greek word enlogeo which means to “speak well of or invoke prosperity upon.” When Jesus took your sins and died for you in the Cross, He blessed you with all spiritual blessings. 2 Peter 1:3-4 indicates that we have been “given all things that pertain to life and godliness.” He has given us some great and precious promises that, through them, we become partakers of His divine nature. We have been given what it takes to live this life successfully and do so in godliness. The promises of God’s Word reveal His will for us. As we believe and act upon these promises, we become partakers of what they promise.

THINGS THAT CHANGE GRADUALLY

The new birth is instantaneous. Your sins are forgiven and your spirit re-created at a moment in time. However, the rest of the person- his soul and body- are changed gradually.

Romans 12:2 says, “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The mind is part of the soul. It needs continual renewal. How do we do that? By reading, studying, memorizing, meditating, and declaring the Word of God. James 1:21 tells us to “receive the engrafted (implanted) Word which is able to save your souls.” John 15:3 says, “Now you are clean through the Word that I have spoken.” Ephesians 5:26 mentions the “washing of the water of the Word.” As we apply the Word, our mind is renewed, our emotions channeled, and our will is committed to follow God. 2 Corinthians 4:16 indicates that “though the outward man is perishing, the inward man is renewed day by day.” Pauls in Hebrews 10:39 says, “We are not of them that drawback to perdition; but of them who believe to the saving of the soul?” Also, 1 Peter 1:9 says, “For you are receiving the goal of your, the salvation of your souls.”

The Bible is full of commands that tell us to put off the old and put on the new (Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:5-10). As our soul is renewed in the Word, all of our life will be affected in a good way. 3 John 2 says, “Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.” We are told in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to, “cast down imagination and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.” We do this as our mind is renewed by the Word.

The Body needs to be controlled. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:27, “I buffet my body and keep it under control.” The body must be kept under the control of the re-created spirit. Your body is the same one you used to sin. Its desires are the same. They were not automatically changed at the new birth. Strength to control the body is released to the degree the mind is renewed. Romans 8:5 indicates that to obey the flesh is death, but to obey the spirit is life and peace. The human spirit is instantly re-created at the new birth, but the soul must be daily renewed to the Word and Will of God.

(This is an excerpt from my book BECOMING WHO YOU ARE. It can be purchased from Amazon.com)

Too many of us have very poor and/or limited vision about what is happening around us. While we live in a predominately physical world, that is not all that exists. Consider the following: human beings are composed of three parts – spirit, soul, and body. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Notice these three things are mentioned in order of how they should dominate our life. Yet many of us have gotten them totally out of order and therefore experience things in this life that we should not have to experience.

Since the Fall in the Garden of Eden every person born has been born with a propensity to sin. They are born with a spirit that has no divine life and light in it. Their will & emotions are bent toward doing what they want to do regardless of the fact that it may be contrary to what God wants. Their mind too often thinks along lines that are not best for success or happiness in this life. And the body is subject to death, sickness, and soon wears out after a few decades.

The Apostle Paul tells us that there is a life and reality that cannot be seen with the natural eyes nor comprehended with an unrenewed mind. He said in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “Therefore we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” This was addressed to born-again believers in Jesus Christ.

Those who have made Jesus their Lord have His life within their spirit. Their mind is being renewed by the written word of God – the Bible. Their body can experience divine healing and life-sustaining power to live out their days with overflowing strength.

They now have the ability to see what is happening in the natural realm and the supernatural ability to see and comprehend what is beyond the natural realm. What they see in the spirit realm gives them strength, wisdom, authority, and power to live victoriously in a world that is headed the wrong way and allows them to be light and salt to it!

God has made many promises, provisions, and benefits for us. Yet, there are many of us who do not know how to get them to work in our life. There are several passages of Scripture that we could look at, but I will only share a few with us today.

Three words come to mind to illustrate my point. They are: Know, Believe, and Declare.

KNOW

Before we can activate anything we need to know about it. Suppose someone puts millions of dollars into your bank account. Those dollars would not be beneficial until you found out about them. So it is with the promises of God. How do we find them? Go to a Bible-believing church where the Word of God is preached. Read the Bible for yourself, specifically, the New Testament. There are at least 168 things in the New Testament that tell us what Jesus has provided and promised to us.

BELIEVE

After you discover what those promises are you must believe them enough to depend upon them and Jesus who made them possible. Romans 10:14 says, “How shall they call on Him to whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” You first hear, then you believe. This belief is more than mental assent, it is being convinced of the truthfulness of what is said enough to trust one’s whole life, for time and eternity, to the One who made the promise. Jesus said in John 5:24, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”

DECLARE

Now you need to start declaring what you believe. Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Notice, you are confessing with your mouth what you believe in your heart (the deepest part of your being) that the Gospel message presents. You are declaring openly, publicly that Jesus is your Lord. As you are doing these things, the salvation of God (the new birth) occurs in your human spirit (John 3:6). This same principle works in all areas of life!

Mark 11:23-24 says, “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

These three things are used in every area where Jesus has provided something for us. By doing them, we will be appropriating those provisions into daily life.