A new ID

 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

—2 Corinthians 5:17-18 (ESV)

There are now two ways to look at our experience as disciples of Christ. There is flesh, and there is Spirit. These two are incompatible. Jesus told Nicodemus, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit" John 3:6. Paul writes in I Corinthians 2:14, "But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. " 

The flesh, then, is the natural way of thinking. This is what we men are born with, this is how we make sense of our world. When we encounter others, we naturally make judgments as to what sort of people they are. We don't really stop to think about it. If I appear to others a certain way, they believe that is what I am. Not only do we so judge others, we thus judge ourselves to be the sum of our natural experiences. Thus, we are often trapped. We don't believe that we are REALLY a new Creation, for there is always a voice in our ear telling us that we are far from perfect. How then to reconcile our experience with the promise that if any man be in Christ, he has become a new creation? 

Well, two opposite things cannot be true. There is another way to look at life, now that we are born again. This is the way of the Spirit of Truth, which is now in us by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Our enemy agrees with our flesh, and quite perniciously reminds us of how far short we are of perfection. There is a story about a little girl named Sally. Sally loved Jesus with all her heart, and tried all her best to live a Christian life, but of course she failed. Maybe she sassed her mom, or didn't clean up her room. Of course, the devil was right there on her shoulder. "Sally, Sally, what kind of Christian are you? I don't think you are like Jesus at all. You must try harder". Well, what could she say? Could she deny that she had failed? She soon fell into despair. But then she read today's verse. So in her prayer time, she asked Jesus if it is true that she is indeed a new creation. "Yes, Sally, it is true". Well then, she asked Him, what to do when the devil stands at the door of my heart accusing me? "Sally, next time he knocks at your door, let me answer it!". I can imagine Satan's reaction when Jesus is standing there. Yes, he runs away as fast as he can. James 4:7. 

So therefore there is flesh and there is Spirit. These are two different realms. We must stop listening to flesh by trusting instead what the Word tells us about others, and about ourselves. This is the ministry of reconciliation. We may experience ourselves, and others, as far less than perfect - but that is not how we see in the Spirit. If we are challenged, we simply say, "Christ in me is the hope of glory". Amen.