What happens when we believe that the crucified and risen Christ is the object of our faith?
Such belief makes a person a new creation. God works regeneration and justification within them. This occurs because it is part of the great plan of salvation: Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. Consequently, old things pass away, and all things become new.
Les explains that when we understand and believe that the Christ of the cross, the Christ who had been raised from the dead, is now the object of our faith, then we become a new creation. God works a work of regeneration, a work of justification, and all these things. This is all part and parcel of the tremendous plan of salvation—how Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. The result is that we are a new creation: old things are passed away, and behold, all things are become new. Les also notes that these post-resurrection doctrines and revelations are precious truths revealed through Paul, and this serves as an introduction to what is coming in chapter 6.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.