What happens when someone becomes a Christian?

One of the ways that the Bible answers that question is to say that a Christian is a New Creation (2 Cor. 5:17). To be a Christian means that a person has undergone a powerful and supernatural transformation whereby God has made them into a new person. Ephesians 4:22-24 builds on this reality, as the Apostle Paul calls Christians to "put off the old self" and "put on the new self."

In other words, when someone becomes a Christian they are so powerfully transformed by God that they now have both the duty and the ability, by God's grace, to put to death their life of sin, and to grow in genuine righteousness and holiness. A Christian is someone with a "new self" which is "created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24)." In Ephesians 4:22-24, Paul calls upon his readers to simply live out this reality.

In this sermon Jackson Hankey draws out 4 points from the text:

#1 - Salvation is a Supernatural and Life-Changing Work of God

#2 - True Transformation Works Inside-Out

#3 - True Transformation Requires Both Putting On and Putting Off

#4 - True Transformation Comes Through New Creation