p. 61 | A New Creature by I. D. Van Horn

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 3, 1874

A New Creature.

By I. D. Van Horn

EVERY individual who has experienced a change of heart, or has been truly converted to God, has become a new creature. Says Paul, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Cor. 5:17. The character has exchanged its old garments stained with sin for the robes of purity made white in the blood of the Lamb.

No greater attainment can be made by mortals than to obtain an interest in Christ. To be in Christ is to be separate from the world. No person can be in friendship with the world and in fellowship with Christ at the same time. “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” James 4:4. Our Lord bears testimony to the same point as follows: “If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” John 15:19.

He that takes the steps necessary to unite himself to Christ will meet with a small loss, but, at the same time, acquire great gain. He will lose the love of the world, but gain in its place the love of God shed abroad in the heart. He will lose what the world calls pleasure, but gain the joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. He may lose his earthly treasure, but he will gain a treasure in the Heavens that will not wax old. He may lose his life even, as did many martyrs of olden time, but finally gain eternal life in the kingdom of glory. Happy exchange! The effort put forth in making it will never be regretted.

“Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ,” are required of every one that obtains this change of character. The first step in repentance is conviction of sin, and this cannot be intelligently taken without a knowledge of the moral law. This is the law of God which every sinner has violated, and therefore it is by this same law that he is convinced of his error. Says Paul of himself, “I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Rom. 7:7.

The part the law acts in the change of an individual from nature to grace is to convince of sin; for, says the apostle, “By the law is the knowledge of sin.” Rom. 3:20. Let this law be applied to the sinner’s mind, and it will expose the defects in his character at once. He will see that he is under condemnation, and must suffer the penalty for transgression, which is death, unless he can find a way of escape.

There is a way open, but it is down through the valley of sorrow and humiliation. This is another step in the sinner’s experience. His sorrow for past transgression must deepen into “godly sorrow” in order to bring about true repentance. Paul says, “Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of.” 2 Cor. 7:10. Godly sorrow will set a person to work. He will feel that a strong effort must be made to break loose from the power of Satan, and get free in the Lord.

But even this is not all there is to true repentance. Let us illustrate: A stranger traveling takes a wrong road and loses his way. On being convinced of his mistake, he feels very sorry. Now if he continues in this wrong road, will his conviction or sorrow help him out of his difficulty? No; he has something to do; he must turn about and find the right road.

So with the sinner. He is in the wrong road, the broad road that leads to destruction. He might become convinced of this, and feel very sorry, yet if he continued in the same downward road, would he not go to destruction? His only hope is to turn about and find the narrow way that leads to life. Christ is the door at the entrance of this narrow way, and no individual can go through that door with his sins upon him; so he must lay them off and receive pardon first.

Here a third step is taken, which is turning from sin. It is ceasing to transgress the law, and commencing to obey it. This is the all-important point in true repentance. The Lord, by the prophet Ezekiel, has made this very plain. “Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” Chap. 18:30, 31. Here lies the true secret of success in finding the favor of God. If there is no turning from sin to obedience, there is no evidence that repentance has taken place.

Said John the Baptist to the Pharisees and Sadducees that came to his baptism, “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruit meet for repentance;” or, as the margin reads, “answerable to amendment of life.” Matt. 3:7, 8. John saw no fruit of a change of life and character in these proud Pharisees, which must accompany true repentance, hence, his severe rebuke was in place.

Fruit is the result of action. Good fruit is the result of good works, and bad fruit, of bad works. A man given to swearing, Sabbath-breaking, thieving, lying, and covetousness, could give no better evidence to the world of true repentance than to forsake his evil ways, turn about, and obey the very commandments he had been violating. All that knew him would be ready to say, Truly, he has experienced a great change, and become a new man.

It will be seen by the above reasoning, that repentance relates directly to the law of God; for it is the transgression of that law that makes repentance necessary. The sinner’s great difficulty is rebellion against the government of God, which is based upon the principles of his holy law; and true repentance brings him back into full obedience to that law.

But this is not all there is to conversion. All the sins of the past life must be forgiven and disposed of, and this can only be done through Christ the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. Faith in the merits of the blood of Christ secures the pardon of sin, and the heart is made clean. The Holy Spirit bears witness to this work, and evidence is given of acceptance with God. At this point it can be said, “Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

What are the old things that have passed away? We would naturally conclude that it was the “old man of sin,” with all the corruptions of the natural heart. The apostle Paul bears witness to this as follows: “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing ye have put off the old man with his deeds.” Col. 3:8, 9. The fact is, the deeds of the “old man” are all transgressions of the moral law.

But the “new man” is put on, and in this we shall see a great change. Paul testifies concerning this also: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfection.” Col. 3:12–14. Such a character as this is in perfect harmony with the divine law. Charity, the bond of perfection, is supreme love to God, and equal love to your neighbor. “Love is the fulfilling of the law.”

“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” No one should go along doubting his Christian experience, or hoping to be saved when there is no evidence of a change. It is possible for every one to have clear evidence of acceptance with God. True heart work will effect a change that God will acknowledge, and he will give his blessing in return. I. D. VAN HORN.