New Nature
“Put on your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.”
The analogy that God uses in His word that we are pottery and He is the Potter so beautifully represents us. A vessel made by an expert craftsman is in mint condition. But over time, a piece of pottery will break, crack, and lose its luster. If cracked enough, or broken, it loses its purpose and will eventually be thrown out. The average person would look at a broken vessel and discard it. Likewise, we were made by the master Potter, in His image. But we become broken, stained, and unable to fulfill our purpose. And before we knew Christ, our way of life led to death. But Jesus, unlike the average man, looks at us in our brokenness and He accepts us as we are, cracks and all. Jesus loves us just as we are, despite of our sin. I love this worship song by Hillsong UNITED that says “You love me as you find me 1.” Jesus does not see our brokenness and discard us. No, He is moved by compassion to rescue us. But I am so glad that He doesn’t stop there. In that same song, the line that follows always gets me: “…your love is too good to leave me here.”
Jesus doesn’t just forgive us our sins and then leave us as we are. He promises to heal us, to mend us, and to give us abundant life. But, He doesn’t just patch us up. He doesn’t use glue to put the pieces back together. The Bible says He makes us new.
I love language and learning about words. Words—individual words—can carry so much meaning and it is fascinating how one small word can carry a whole idea or concept. In French, there are two words for new: nouveau and neuf. Nouveau simply means new and would be used in most cases. J’achète un nouveau livre. (I’m buying a new book.) But neuf carries a slightly more complex meaning—it means new, as in, of a new kind, brand new, something not seen before. The oldest bridge in Paris is ironically named Pont Neuf, or New Bridge. When I was doing some research on Paris, I learned about the origin of this name. When it was built, which was around the late 1500s, (completed in 1607), it was unlike the other existing bridges. Up until that time, all the bridges were wooden and like large platforms, with houses constructed on them. Pont Neuf is a stone bridge, had a sort of pavement on it, and did not have any houses. It was the first of its kind. It was a completely new idea. And so it was named Pont Neuf.
I think this is what God means when He says He will make us new. He doesn’t want us to be a better version of what we were before Him. He wants to completely transform our hearts and spirit into something new—something more like Him.
This transformation, however, is not instantaneous. Of course, here is where we will note, that we are declared righteous and have right standing with God the moment we confess our sins and proclaim Jesus as Lord. We do not have to work/earn our salvation or our inheritance of eternal life. But what does not happen the moment we are changed is our past behavior, actions, and choices. What can seem confusing to a believer is that we are a new creation, declared so by God, but still dealing with the consequences/results of our old life. And going forward, we see the control our old way of life still has on us. We have to grapple daily with our old nature and new nature. I believe Paul talks about this in many of his letters of the New Testament because it is so hard as a believer to understand how we put on our new nature, but yes it is so important in the life of a believer.
For many years I have wrestled to understand how sanctification actually works. We are saved by grace, but called to live a holy life. We know that we cannot change and live this way on our own (that is why we need Jesus). So how do we put on our new nature without getting trapped into the bondage of legalism ? How do we put on our new nature but not fall into the trap of striving to earn God’s love? How do we put on our new nature without focusing only on our works but allowing our hearts to be transformed so we don’t fall into hypocrisy? I find myself judging my actions wondering where I fall on the scope of sanctification, freedom, license, legalism, grace, works, choices, desires, flesh, spirit. And I feel like I understand these concepts until I don’t.
I desperately want to please Christ and want to live a life that honors His sacrifice. But when we focus on our behavior as the thing that pleases Christ we are missing the mark and need to shift our perspective. The Bible says that faith pleases God and we know that God is more interested in transforming our hearts than just our behavior.
So let’s look at Colossians 3:10 a little closer:
In the New Living Translation, the imperative is used “Put on your new nature.” Jesus saves us but we still have to choose our new nature. We have to allow God to change us by opening our hearts to Him. We have to trust that He is making us new, that he is healing us. I think putting on our new nature is an act of faith—it is trusting and believing God that He is, and will, complete the good work He started in us (Philippians 1:6). The Bible declares in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that “you are a new creation.” Remember, God does not see things on a timeline how we do. When He declares us a new creation, it is because for Him it is already so. Our faith is believing this even when we cannot see it.
So how does true transformation happen? Colossians 3:10 says “be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him.” Another translation says “you are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.”
Notice the passive construction. We do not renew ourselves. There is nothing we can do to make ourselves new. God makes us new. Our actions do not change us. Our works do not make us more like Him. He makes us more like Him. It says be renewed as your learn to know your Creator.” Jesus has always been interested in a relationship with us. How do we learn to know our Creator? We get into His presence—through worship, through His word, and through prayer. And when this is a lifestyle, when you invest in your relationship with Jesus, His Spirit is at work in your heart, making us more like Him. And the more we are made like Him, the more we are led by the Holy Spirit that we make right choices
Consider this passage in 2 Peter 1:
5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. 8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
Peter points out that believers who show no growth have “forgotten that they have been cleansed from their old sins.” Adopting a posture of humility and gratitude keeps us at His feet and in His presence.
So how do we allow God to transform our heart without falling into the of bondage of license? Do we still keep sinning as we wait for God to transform us? No, we still choose right behavior. And we also understand that choosing right behavior does not save us, it does not redeem us, it does not transform us. Only Jesus can do those things. Faith comes into play here. I believe when you respond in obedience to God’s call to be holy, when you choose right behavior, you are acting in faith that He will follow through and transform you.
So as Christians should we be living changed lives? Absolutely. But the shift in perspective is that our behavior changes is a result of a new heart and new nature that God has given us. We are not transformed by doing good works. Jesus transforms our heart and as a result, we do good works—through His strength, through His Spirit.
God made us in His image. And when we became a broken version of that, He made a way to restore us and renew us back to His Image once again. He is renewing us to be like Him—there is no better purpose than that.
1 Hillsong UNITED. “As You Find Me", Hillsong Music, 2019. Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=V0eXYR65Z2w
