Leaving the Old Life and Walking in the New
Salvation is far more than the forgiveness of sins. Salvation is a complete transformation of identity, authority, and allegiance. When a person comes to Christ, the old self is truly crucified with Christ as an immediate spiritual reality and gift of grace. However, the revelation and lived experience of this truth is progressive. As the Holy Spirit renews, retrains, and reprograms the believer’s mind, He brings understanding and alignment with what God has already accomplished in Christ. The old life has died, but learning to walk in that reality is worked out over time as the Spirit leads us into truth.
This truth sits at the very centre of biblical Christianity, yet it is often resisted because it confronts our attachment to who we once were.
The moment we are born again, we no longer belong to this world system. We now belong to Christ.
Born Into Darkness
Transferred Into a New Kingdom
Scripture does not flatter humanity. It tells us the truth about our condition before Christ.
Ephesians 2:1–2 NASB says,
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air.”
Every human being is born spiritually dead and shaped by a fallen world. That fallen world expresses itself through cultures, traditions, and systems formed apart from God. No culture is morally neutral. All cultures carry the imprint of fallen humanity.
Colossians 1:13 NASB says,
“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”
Salvation is a rescue and a transfer of citizenship. We were removed from one kingdom and placed into another. That means our former identity, loyalties, and cultural frameworks no longer define us.
A New Creation
A New Identity in Christ
2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB declares,
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
This is not metaphorical language. It is a spiritual reality. The old has passed away. That includes our former identity, our former worldview, and the culture-shaped thinking we were raised in.
Galatians 2:20 NASB says,
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
Christianity is not Christ added to an old identity. It is the death of the old identity and the life of Christ expressed through us.
One New People
A Covenant Identity
- Scripture teaches that all who believe the gospel are now part of God’s New Covenant people.
Ephesians 2:15 NASB says Christ made,
“one new man.” - Romans 11 explains that believing Gentiles are grafted into God’s covenant olive tree. Galatians 3:28 NASB says,
- “There is neither Jew nor Greek… for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
- Our primary identity is no longer cultural, ethnic, tribal, or national. It is covenantal. We belong to Christ. Any identity that competes with that must be surrendered.
The Danger of Holding Onto Former Culture
One of the most subtle deceptions facing believers is continuing to believe in and identify with their former culture after Christ has already crucified it.
Romans 12:2 NASB warns,
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Many believers are saved but not renewed. Spiritually they are new, yet mentally they still think, reason, and react according to the old cultural framework they came from. The enemy exploits this gap.
As long as believers continue to believe the narratives, loyalties, and value systems of their former culture, they will remain distracted by earthly issues and weakened in spiritual authority.
Colossians 3:3 NASB says,
“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
What God declares dead, we must stop believing is alive.
A Living Example
The Transformation of Pre-Treaty Māori
There is perhaps no clearer historical example of this gospel transformation than what occurred among pre-Treaty Māori.
Before the gospel came, Māori society, like all fallen societies, was shaped by centuries of darkness. Tribal warfare, utu, cannibalism, slavery, slave rape for breeding, shrunken head trading, and endless cycles of violence dominated life. This was not because Māori were uniquely evil, but because they were human beings living under the same fallen condition as all mankind apart from Christ.
Then the gospel was preached.
When Māori believed the gospel, they did not merely adopt a new religion or retain their old identity with Christian language added.
They encountered the living Christ. They understood that coming to Christ meant surrendering sovereignty. Jesus was King.
Hebrews 4:12 NASB says,
“For the word of God is living and active.”
They did not seek to preserve their former violent culture. They left it. They no longer believed in what they had been. They believed what Christ said about them.
2 Corinthians 5:15 NASB says,
“He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him.”
- They were no longer conformed to their past. They were being transformed into the image of Christ.
- Freedom From Sin and Generational Trauma
- This transformation was not psychological or political. It was spiritual.
John 8:36 NASB says,
“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
The gospel proved itself to be the only power strong enough to heal hearts, break generational trauma, and free people from cultures of death. No human system can do that. Only Christ can.
Māori Missionaries
The Fruit of True Identity Change
It was not British missionaries who carried the gospel across the land. It was Māori believers.
Those who had been set free no longer believed the lies of their former life. They believed the truth about who they were in Christ. That revelation compelled them to go back to their people and call them out of darkness.
2 Corinthians 5:18 NASB says,
“He gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”
That is always the pattern. Those who truly know they are new creations do not defend the old life. They call others out of it.
The Great Commission
Still the Call
Matthew 28:19 NASB says,
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.”
We cannot obey this commission if we continue to cling to old cultural identities Christ has already crucified.
2 Timothy 2:4 NASB says,
“No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life.”
A Call to Believers
Repent and Renew Your Mind
- This is not only a call to unbelievers. It is a call to the church.
- Many believers need to repent, not of gross sin, but of continuing to believe in identities Christ has already put to death.
- Repentance means a change of mind. It means turning away from the belief systems of our former culture and turning fully to what God says is now true of us in Christ.
- Stop believing you are who you once were.
- Stop thinking through the lens of the old world.
- Stop allowing culture to define what only Christ has the right to define.
Believe what God says.
- You have died.
- You have been raised.
- You belong to another Kingdom.
- You are a new creation in Christ.
A Clear Gospel Call
Grace Alone
- For those who are not yet in Christ, the gospel remains the same.
- All have sinned. God is holy. Sin separates us from Him. But God, rich in mercy, sent His Son.
- Jesus lived the sinless life we could not live. He died in our place, bearing the judgment our sins deserved. He rose again, defeating sin and death forever.
2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB says,
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
Ephesians 2:8–9 NASB says,
“For by grace you have been saved through faith… not as a result of works.”
Repent. Change your mind about sin, about God, and about yourself. Believe the gospel. Trust entirely in the finished work of Christ.
2 Corinthians 6:2 NASB says,
“Now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation.”
- Lay down the old life.
- Lay down false identities.
- Believe what God has made you in Christ.
- And then walk in that new identity, free from the past, obedient to Christ, and focused on eternal souls.
- Because the gospel is still the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.
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In Christ’s love,
The Reach NZ Ministry Team
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