Do we still have the old flesh after becoming a new creation?
Yes, the old flesh remains. When a person is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things pass away, and God imparts a new divine nature that cannot sin. Yet the old flesh and old Adam are still present and still capable of tripping the believer up.
Les explains that verse 17 says if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away, and all things are become new. When old Adam dies, God imparts a new divine nature, and that new nature cannot sin because it is divine and placed there by an act of God. But Les stresses that we still have the old flesh and the old Adam, which is still capable of tripping us up. So the new man cannot sin, yet the old flesh remains. Verse 18 adds that all things are of God, who has reconciled us; Les compares reconciliation to redemption and to bringing broken homes back into full fellowship.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
More Questions
Why does a person in Christ become a new creation?
Anyone in Christ is a new creation; old things pass away and all things become new because of the salvation experience and what God has done for us.
Why is 'new creation' better than 'new creature' in 2 Corinthians 5:17?
The word 'creation' in 'new creation' is a better translation than 'creature' because our salvation is a work of creation—a work of the power of God.