What makes a person a believer, and can someone be a believer without experiencing the new creation?
Scripture teaches that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. That new creative work of the Holy Spirit in a person's life is what makes a believer a believer. Therefore, no one can be a believer without experiencing this new creation; unless it has happened, the person is not a believer.
Les teaches that even though all sins were paid for, salvation remains conditional. The decisive mark is being in Christ, which makes a person a new creation. He notes that in the Greek, "creation" and "creature" are the same word, but "creation" fits English better because believers are not merely made a new creature; they are a whole new creation of God. That new creative work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is what makes a believer a believer, and unless a person has experienced it, he is not a believer. Les then points to I Corinthians 12:13, where by one Spirit all believers—not just the best, the most spiritual, or those who have had a particular experience—are baptized into one body.
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.