The Bible doctrine of “The new creation in Christ Jesus” is little known and infrequently taught. To be saved is to be created in Christ Jesus. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
“In Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature” (Galatians 6:15).
This new creation takes the place of the old creation in the first Adam. “If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature: (creation) old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The command for the new creation is …“And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). The new man is the new believer in Christ Jesus. He is the born again one, who has been born of the Spirit, as is distinguished from the old man; the one borne of the flesh. The old man has a corrupt nature, with an inborn tendency to evil. The new man is partaker of a divine nature and life and is to no extent the old man made over or improved. “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin, for he that is dead is freed from sin” (Romans 6: 6-7).
God created Adam “in His own likeness” (Genesis 5:1). And afterward, “Adam begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth” (Genesis 5:3). Herein is the beginning of the generations of the human race. Please note… something happened in the interval between the second and third verses. Adam through deceptive sin had lost the likeness of God. When Seth was begotten in Adam’s “own likeness, after his own image,” it was not in the original likeness of God but was in the likeness of sinful Adam. And as said to Adam “and he dies,” so it was also said of Seth… “and he died.” The following pattern will be found throughout the chapter: “And all the days of…. were …. years: and he died.” There is but one exception, Enoch, of whom it is not said, “And he died,” was “translated that he should not see death” (Hebrews 11:5). Enoch is a type of the saints who are to be translated when Christ comes for His church. And thereafter, this pattern has applied to every human. Every descendant of Adam to Cain and Seth, down to the present day, has been born in the likeness and after the image of Adam, with a sinful nature and subject to death. Please take note: there is absolutely no escape from this condition. Therefore, “Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin; and death passed unto all men, for that all sinned” (Romans 5:12). Therefore, “by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men” (Romans 5:18).
The words which are written in large print over the first creation, wherein Adam is the federal head, are — SIN HATH REIGNED UNTO DEATH.” This condition is unalterable, as God had commanded Adam not to eat of the fruit of the tree of good and evil and had made death the penalty for disobedience. This condition means death in all aspects. Physical death, spiritual death and the second death which is the final and everlasting separation of the body, soul, and spirit from God. God’s commandment has been broken by man and the penalty cannot be avoided. To be lost in this first creation is to be dead in trespasses and sin. When the Son of God became flesh and came into the world, He dwelt among men of the old creation. But He was not of it. He was not from the seed of Adam, but of the seed of the woman. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, He did not possess Adam’s sinful nature. He was full of grace and truth. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). He was in the likeness of sinful flesh, “God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3b), but no sin was found in Him. Then… amazingly through infinite love, He identified Himself with the first creation and took upon Himself all of the guilt and shame. He was the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world. As a result, He tasted death for every man.
“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Hebrews 2:9).
But God raised Him up, “having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be held by it” (Acts 2:24).
He arose victorious over death. Yes, the son of God and also the Son of man. With His resurrection there was a new creation raised by God out of the death of the old. All who are saved are quickened together with Christ in this resurrection. “But God … even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved) and has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-6). The first creation had one man (Adam) as its federal head, so also has the new, the man Jesus Christ. “But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded unto many” (Romans 5:15).
The first creation received its sinful nature from its federal head, Adam. The new creation receives its righteous nature from its federal head, the man Jesus Christ, for “by the obedience of One, many shall be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). In each case the nature of the creation depends upon the act of the federal head. It does not depend upon the acts of those that issue from those heads. The unalterable law of the first creation is that Sin is unto death. The unalterable law of the new creation is Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life. This law of the new creation is even more unalterable than the law of the first creation. “For if by one man’s offense, death reigned by one: much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17).
Since the head of the new creation cannot be condemned, the members of His body also cannot be condemned. “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more; death has no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, he died unto sin once; but in that he lives, he lives unto God” (Romans 6:9,10). To be saved is to be in the new creation under the law of righteousness unto eternal life. To be lost is to be in the first creation under the law of sin unto death. If the individual who has been saved can be lost, it must be possible to bring him back into his original position in the old condemned creation. This is impossible! To teach that this is possible would contradict the infallible words that came from the lips of Jesus: “He that heareth my words and believeth on Him that sent Me, shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).
Further, for everyone who is in the new creation, the old has passed away and there can be no return to it. “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation); old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation” (Romans 5:17,18). To convey the lie, and misconception, that a saved individual, who has been quickened together with Christ, can be lost is to reject completely God’s clear teachings concerning His new creation. When God declares that He shall conform those who are saved into the image of His own Son, it is wise and logical to simply rest on His words of truth and not on the wavering doubts of man. God’s calling is unto “the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:14).
It is according to His own purpose and does not depend, to any degree, upon the believers own works as it is He: “Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Timothy 1:9). The primary purpose of the calling of God is to make known the riches of His glory, through those called, who are “vessels of mercy which He had before prepared unto glory” (Romans 9:23,24). “Unto them which are called, Christ the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).
The faithfulness of God sustains the calling (1 Corinthians 1:9). The calling is sure as it depends on God and not on man. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance (a change of mind). The calling of God assures the execution of His own purposes, independent of the believers own works. His calling is to make known the riches of His glory through the vessels of mercy. Christ and not any outside source is the power of all that are called. The calling is based upon God’s faithfulness and is without possible amendment. You may be assured that all who are saved are called by a God of clarity, purpose, and dependence.
Therefore, in order for the saved one to be lost, God must of necessity, by something in the life of the believer, be circumvented in His purpose to eternally save. If it is possible for this to occur, and it is not, then God will fail to make known the riches of His glory through His vessel of mercy. If such an unthinkable thing can be done, Christ is an insufficient power in the helpless and dependent individual and God is not faithful and does repent or change His mind. To say that one who has been saved is not eternally secure is to bring these kinds of inscrutable and ill-founded charges against God Himself. Thanks be to God as He wants the believer in Christ to know that he is safe and secure eternally because he is in His hands and is not sustained by his human performances and vacillating behaviors. Eternal security is not a process that is being perfected on the basis of the believers continuing belief. It is accomplished by a single act of God the instant an individual exercises true and total faith in Jesus Christ. It is repeatedly referred to as finished and complete in Christ Jesus. “That as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:21).
“Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified” (Romans 8:30).
“And such were some of you: but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).
“That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope (confident expectation) of eternal life” (Titus 2:7).
All who are saved ARE JUSTIFIED. In order for the saved one to be lost, he must lose his standing before God as a justified member of God’s Royal family. (impossible) To be lost some deficiency in the redemption of Christ and His death as a propitiation must be discovered. Justification is based on the fact that God’s righteousness has satisfied his justice, and this magnificent accomplishment is separate and apart of all that man has done or can ever do. The justice of God demanded righteousness, and the righteousness of God satisfied his justice by the finished work of Christ on the Cross. When Jesus screamed “It is Finished” all that was required to purchase our redemption was paid in full with his precious atoning blood. And then came his unique, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension into heaven to make intercession for all that come to Him by means of saving faith in His person.
In closing, those who believe that one who has been saved can be lost will, without exception, agree that when all believers have entered into eternity there is no more danger of being lost. These doubters overlook the fact that believers are already glorified and are awaiting the manifestation of the reality that is a future certainty. There are things which God has already accomplished, but the manifestation has been delayed until a later date. Christ is the Lamb of God, “Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (1 Peter 1:20). In like manner, the believer is already glorified. “Whom He justified, them He also glorified.” But the manifestation is in the future. “Your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:3,4). The glorification has already taken place, though the actual appearance in glory is in the future. In the interim, the believer is now to,
“Set your affections above, and not on things on the earth, for you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:2,3).
If any saved individual can be lost, it will require the removal of his eternal and secure place in glory into a lost and condemned state. Please note, the believer in Christ is already glorified! He is not only in Heaven but is hidden with Christ in God. How can he ever, ever, ever be more secure? It is utterly impossible! “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:31, 32).
As a believer IN CHRIST, you have the greatest inheritance, from the greatest source, to the greatest end. In Christ you are safe, and your inheritance of eternal life will never fade, diminish, or be removed.
This is not complicated, and if there is any doubt, please carefully meditate on this infallible scripture… “To an Inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, RESERVED IN HEAVEN FOR YOU, who are kept by the power of God (and not yourself) through faith unto Salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (Vs 9), Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:4-5, 9).
“Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).
And every member of the Royal Family of God said “AMEN”
