Yes — being a new creation in Christ means God freely creates a new nature in the believer.
When someone believes, God does a work of creation and makes him or her a new creation; old things pass away and all things become new. Les says “creature” in 2 Corinthians 5:17 is better translated “creation,” because salvation is a creative work of God’s power, not a human achievement.
2 Corinthians 5:17 — The key verse that states the person in Christ is a new creature/creation.
Ephesians 2:8-10 — Explains that new creation is God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.
Romans 12:2 — Connects the mental/spiritual transformation to God’s renewing work.
The apostle Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” This verse sets out the central promise of the new creation — something is made new in the person who is in Christ. Paul also connects this new life to God’s creative work in Ephesians 2:8-10: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” The believer is described as created in Christ Jesus, God’s workmanship. Romans 12:2 adds that the believer is to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” — a change that is not conformity to the world but a renewal that comes from God.
Les Feldick teaches that the King James word “creature” in 2 Corinthians 5:17 is better translated “new creation.” Since God is the Creator, salvation itself is a work of creation — the moment a person believes, God does a creative work and makes them a new creation with a new nature. This is not something a person produces by self-effort; only God can do it. As Romans 12:2 says, believers are transformed by the renewing of the mind, but only God can renew the mind, and He moves in when the person believes. Les connects this to the believer’s position “in Christ.” The person in Christ is the one who has been baptized into the body, is hidden in God, and is therefore a new creation. Because of Christ’s work on the cross, the old Adam dies and God imparts a new divine nature that cannot sin. Yet the old flesh remains and can still trip up the believer. The change shows itself in life: the evidence of salvation is a total change in lifestyle, old things have changed, and the believer becomes different in outlook and desires. God makes the believer a new person with a whole new personality — His workmanship, a created thing. The old sin nature becomes a new divine nature, which begins to affect the body and the Christian walk, producing growth in grace and knowledge.
Les explains that the “old things” are tied to the old Adam. When old Adam dies, God imparts a new divine nature. This is why the evidence of salvation is a total change in lifestyle: old things have changed, and the person becomes different in outlook and desires. The new creation is no longer the old person that they used to be.
No. Les says the renewing of the mind is not something we can renew; only God can do it, and He does it after we believe. God creates within us a new nature. Salvation and transformation are not worked for — they come as God acts. In fact, when God saves us, He makes us a new person and gives us a whole new personality.
Les teaches that the new divine nature placed in the believer cannot sin because it is divine. However, he is also clear that the old flesh and the old Adam are still present and are capable of tripping up the believer. The new divine nature is in consort with God and begins to have its effect on the body, leading to growth in grace and knowledge.
Les explains that being “in Christ” is a positional term. The person who has been baptized into the body and hidden in God is the person who is in Christ. That same person is a new creation. Because of Christ’s finished work on the cross, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.
To be a new creation in Christ means that, because of Christ’s work on the cross, a person is no longer to live for self but for the One who died and rose again. Forgiveness, justification, redemption, and reconciliation are not permission to live however one pleases. Instead, they create a loving obligation and a desire to do everything possible to please Him. This newness comes because Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection changed everything. When old Adam dies, God imparts a new divine nature. That new nature is an act of God and cannot sin because it is divine. In that sense, the old things have passed away and all things have become new. Yet becoming new does not mean the old flesh is gone. The old Adam remains and is still able to trip a believer up. There is therefore a distinction between the new man, which cannot sin, and the old flesh, which remains capable of failure. Being a new creation also belongs with reconciliation: God’s purpose is to bring those who have been separated back together into full fellowship.
To be a new creation in Christ is to experience God’s creative power in salvation. It is not merely an outward change or a better version of the old life. The old life, tied to old Adam and its former lifestyle, has died and been left behind. Being identified with Christ in His death means being separated from that old relationship and its way of living. Just as Christ was raised from the dead, the believer comes out of spiritual deadness into a new life. Romans chapter 6 describes this as being raised in the same manner, while Second Corinthians 5, verse 17 calls the person in Christ a new creation. Old things have passed away, and all things have become new. This new life includes a new set of principles and values. It comes from God’s grace, mercy, and love, and it means that everything in life is now related to God, who has reconciled believers to Himself through Jesus Christ. It does not mean life becomes free from trials or testings. Believers still face difficulties much like the world does, but they have a stabilizing power to carry them through. This reconciliation also brings responsibility: those made new are given the ministry of reconciliation, sharing this message with the people around them.
Being a new creation means experiencing a transformation through Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, making believers a whole new creation of God.
Being a new creation in Christ means that old lifestyles, habits, and appetites are gone, and all things become new.
Being a new creation in Christ means that God works a work of regeneration and justification, making old things pass away and all things become new.
Mind Renewal Requires God
Les says the renewing of the mind is not something we do ourselves; only God can renew it, and He moves in after we believe.
New Creation at the Moment of Belief
At the moment of belief, God works as Creator and makes the believer a new creation by creating a new nature within them.
In Christ as a Position
Being a new creation is connected to the positional truth of being in Christ — baptized into His body and hid in God.
New Divine Nature, Old Flesh Remains
Because of Christ’s cross work, God imparts a new divine nature that cannot sin, while the old flesh remains capable of tripping us up.
Salvation’s Change Is Not Earned
When God saves someone out of the slave market of sin, they become a totally different person in outlook and desires without working for it; growth takes time.
Lifestyle Evidence
The evidence of salvation is a total change in lifestyle — old things have changed.
God Makes a New Personality
God saves us and makes us a new person with a new personality; we are His workmanship — a created thing.
From Sin Nature to Divine Nature
The old sin nature becomes a new divine nature that is in consort with God and begins to affect the body and the Christian walk.
2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
The central verse Les uses: being in Christ makes a person a new creation.
Romans 12:2: And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Shows transformation is by the renewing of the mind, which only God can accomplish.
Ephesians 2:8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Lays the foundation that salvation is God’s gift, not human works.
Ephesians 2:9: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Paul explicitly says salvation is not of works so no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Believers are God’s workmanship and are created in Christ Jesus.
The King James reads “new creature” in 2 Corinthians 5:17. Les Feldick says the word is better translated “new creation,” because salvation is a work of creation — it takes the power of God. God creates a new nature within the believer.
No. Romans 12:2 says to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, but Les emphasizes that only God can renew the mind. God moves in and transforms a person after he or she believes; it is not something the believer works for.
Les teaches that the new divine nature God places in the believer cannot sin, because it is divine. But he also says the old flesh or old Adam remains and is still capable of tripping up the believer.
Les says the evidence of salvation is a total change in lifestyle. Old things have changed, and the person becomes different in outlook and desires — although a new believer grows like a babe in Christ.
Watch the Teaching: What Does It Mean to Be Crucified With Christ?