5 Verses About Newess in Christ

Being a Christian is being a new creation, a new person, a new and more spiritual being. We are guided by the Spirit, walking towards freedom and faith. That freedom is growing in wonderful new traits, becoming more like Jesus Christ, and living a full life. We also have a new future - eternity with God in Heaven. As we prepare for the New Year, understanding your new character if you are newly saved, and a good reminder that you are not of this world.

Here are five verses about newness in Christ for the New Year.

1. Hebrew 9:15

"Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant."

When examining new things for the New Year, a good starting point is the new covenant we have in Christ. In the Bible, it is famously separated into two sections, the Old Testament and the New Testament. This can also be seen as the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. God makes several covenants in the Old Testament. He promises to send a redeemer for mankind, He makes a covenant with Abraham. He provides the law, giving the framework for how to have a relationship with God before the redeemer comes. The new covenant is the blood of Jesus Christ. In Him, there is a new promise. If we put our faith in Him, He will sustain the covenant, redeeming us from our sins.

2. 2 Corinthians 3:6

"who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

This verse emphasizes our inability as sinful people to uphold the weight of the New Covenant. The letter kills because it convicts. It gives the clear rules, and man cannot plead ignorance. It highlights what we do wrong, but offers no way out. We cannot rise to the occasion and fulfill the law. That fact is why we need Jesus, and we need that new covenant. After we accept Jesus, and engage with the new covenant, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gently guides and convicts, shaping us into reflections of Jesus Christ. Joy and better character are the result of seeking a relationship with God through the new covenant, rather than living in restriction and fear, never measuring up to a standard of holiness that our sin prevents us from achieving.

3. Romans 6:4

"We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."

How wonderful that once we have entered the new covenant, we have a new life! Not only do we have a glorious eternity with our God to which we can look forward, but this life has a new freedom. We are free to grow in the Fruits of the Spirit, in love and joy. We are free to overthrow our vices. The world looks different when you're saved, because you are seeing the world with a fresh perspective. Part of why Christians follow Christ in obedience in baptism is because it represents Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. Coming out of that water to new life is an amazing experience, but is a symbol the bigger, internal transformation.

4. John 13: 34-35

"'A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.'"

This commandment from Jesus Christ takes the Old Testament rules and laws and shows their roots. Yes, we should love God with all we have! That is a wonderful and fulfilling aspect of the Christian life. Here, Jesus shows that the commandments of the Old Testament are a verbalization of a bigger, more important love and law. We should love people as God loves them. If we are becoming more like the Lord, then we will love one another just like God loves us. This new idea is radical compared to the religious ritual of love and forgiveness in other faiths.

5. Isaiah 43:19

"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

Sometimes we forget how radically new God can make things, especially us. The new covenant, the new character of the believer, and the new eternal life to come is the polar opposite of who we are as sinful and corrupted beings. In the Bible, the Spirit inspired Isaiah to compare it to an oasis in the desert, or a road in the middle of nowhere. We were lost in the wilderness, and Jesus came to that wilderness to build a road to God. We were spiritually in the desert, lost and dead in our sins. Jesus came and became and oasis, a stream in the desert. What a radical new shift!

New things are always fun and fascinating. Take these verses into the new year. Meditate on the wonderful work Jesus has done, and the Spirit is currently doing in you. The wonderful possibilities of what Jesus can do and will do if you submit to Him are limitless.