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

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (NIV)

Some of my friends met Jesus in college, and everything about them changed in an instant. Death to life. Old to new.

My journey has looked different. The "I was raised in a Christian household" story. Honestly, the knowledge of Him might be my earliest memory. No single dramatic turning point, no date written in my Bible. Just a long road of renewal and surrender—one degree at a time. And along the way, seasons I don’t care to remember, where sin and temptation felt stronger than I knew what to do with. And also time and time again, when I’ve encountered the living God deeper than I ever have before.

If someone asked me when I truly met Jesus, I could tell you more than a handful of moments. And what I know to be true and what I’ve known to be true for a very long time is that I know Him today.

But here’s what I’ve come to know: these stories are actually the same.
Death to life. Old to new.

We were all once far off. We all need the life and grace of Christ—every single day.

Whether you came to Christ at three or thirty, we all battle the same mortal enemy: sin. Even once we are planted, it still waits for us and tempts us. So what’s new? We’re no longer slaves to it (Romans 6:6–14). We don’t live under its rule. When you fall, you don’t fall out of Christ. You fall on your knees at His feet.

Your identity isn’t based on what you do, but what Jesus has done. That’s why conviction—not condemnation—is what God uses to draw us back (Romans 8:1).

So if you still feel the pull toward pride, fear, lust, or anger, it’s not proof that you aren’t new. The desire and ability to resist is proof that you are in Christ, not in sin, and that He is still renewing you (Romans 12:2, Philippians 1:6).

If you truly are in Christ and have been baptized into a death like His, you are now new. 

Truly new.

But not yet fully renewed.

Blake Stanley