This traditional thinking, put off the old and put on the new, really goes along with the advent of a new year. We entertain the new year with the challenge of resolutions by getting rid of the old stuff of the past and incorporating what is new and fresh.

Spiritually, this idea of putting off the old and putting on the new, goes right along with Scripture.

But, there is one very important difference that the born again one needs to recognize.

Those who have confessed Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9), need to realize a very important truth. They are already a new creation in Christ!

II Corinthians 5:17: (ESV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

What is the new that has come? It is the Christ in you; it is the new creation in Christ in you that is now, tomorrow and forever.

First, as born again ones, we want to realize that we are a new creation in Christ. We have Christ in us (Colossians 1:27). We should focus on who we are in Christ all the time, every time.

You do not need a new year to remember who you are in Christ. It is a Bible thought away. Yes, stop your lying, cheating, compromising, being unloving. But more so, accept for now and forever that you are a son of God filled with His spirit that makes you a new creation in Christ. "Now are we the sons of God..." (I John 3:2 KJV).

Now that you have that truthful thought, act like it; believe like it; talk like it; pray like it!

Win the battle in your mind in 2016 by saying, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4:13).

Agape,
Bob