“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” I Cor. 5:17 (ESV) In I Corinthians 5 Paul has been explaining how our inner self has been transformed even though our outer self, our body, has not. In verse 2 he says that “in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling.” (ESV) We groan because our body drags us down, not only with physical weakness and disease but also with it fleshly lusts. We don’t want to be influenced by our old corruption but we are. All who long for holiness and love and communion with God wish that they did not have to contend with their weak body.
But scripture comforts us by teaching that this is normal. We do not have to be discouraged about our weaknesses; it is just part of life in this age. Instead, we focus on the fact that we have a new inner self, made in the image of Christ. The fact that we groan confirms that we have a new self because we would not groan as we do if we didn’t have a new self that opposes the old. We can rejoice in our new self because it is holy and united with Christ, just as we desire. Our new self is our true self and we have peace knowing that we can live from this new self.
Application: pick some words from the verse that help you and repeat it to yourself throughout the day or week.
