Video Message • 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)
Being made new in Christ is a supernatural do-over. God does the work, and the sinner receives it.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)
Primary Text
2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV), read in the context of 2 Corinthians 5:14-21.
Supporting Scriptures
1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 1 Peter 3:18; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 1:13; Ezekiel 36:26; Galatians 6:15; Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:21-22; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:10
Central Truth
2 Corinthians 5:17 is not a call to try harder and become a better person. Because Jesus Christ died and rose again, God makes a new creature of everyone who is in Christ by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
About This Message
2 Corinthians 5:17 does not stand alone. In this full-length King James Bible teaching, I walk through 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 and show what God does for sinners because Jesus Christ died and rose again. The word therefore ties verse 17 to the cross. The new life Paul describes is the saving work of God, not self-improvement.
The teaching follows the flow of the passage in five points.
- Jesus Christ died and rose in our place (5:14-15, 21).
- Believing on Jesus Christ places us in Christ (5:17).
- God makes us new creatures (5:17).
- God reconciles sinners to Himself (5:18-20).
- We now live unto Jesus Christ (5:15, 20).
Verse 17 describes a changed relationship with God, not merely changed behavior. God gives the new heart, and the sinner does not build it. A changed life follows salvation; it never produces it.
What I Believe
Salvation is only through a personal relationship with God the Father by grace through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. At the moment of faith in Jesus Christ, the believer is instantly and permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit regenerates, seals, leads, guides, empowers, and sanctifies the believer in their walk with God.
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (KJV)
I have also taught this verse from another angle. Watch The Extreme Life Do-Over: A New Creature in Christ, or read the Extreme Life Do-Over study outline and Made New in Christ: The Second Chance of Romans 6:4 and 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Also on videoThis study is taught on video as well. Watch it on YouTube, and subscribe there for the next study.