Lesson 2: A New Creation with Old Habits | Bible Studies
Lesson 2: A New Creation with Old Habits
Last week we stopped and asked questions so we could examine what the Holy Spirit is showing us in our studies. We will be doing this throughout the next 11 weeks, so put on your inner ears, listen and share. Remember also we need to keep an eye out in the scripture for prepositions because that is where our new born again life is hidden.
Main passage: Romans 6:1–14.Opening Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Opening prayer and review
Father, thank You for another opportunity to study Your Word together. Help us understand what we read. Where we need to change, help us be willing. Where we have become discouraged, remind us that You are still at work in us. Teach us how to live as people who belong to Jesus. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Last week we looked at Eph 1:3-14., we talked about what it means to be in Christ. We saw that through Jesus, we have been brought into God’s family. We have forgiveness, and we can approach God as our Father.
Before we go any further, when I say we are “in Christ,” I mean that we belong to Jesus through faith. We are trusting Him as our Savior and Lord, and we receive our spiritual life from Him.
Does anyone want to share something from last week that stayed with you?
Today, I want us to consider a question that can trouble both new Christians and people who have followed Jesus for years.
If Jesus has made me new, why do I still struggle with some of the same old things?
Maybe it is our temper. Maybe we worry about what others think. Maybe we hold on to resentment or say things we should have kept to ourselves.
We can find ourselves thinking, “I thought I had dealt with that. Why is it still showing up?”
That is what we are going to look at this morning.
What does it mean to be made new?
Let’s begin by reading 2 Corinthians 5:17.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Paul tells us that a person who is in Christ is a new creation.
That does not mean we wake up with a different face, a different personality, or no memory of our past. It means God has given us new life in Christ. Our relationship with Him has changed. We belong to Jesus now.
And that new life begins to affect the way we think and live.
Think about a baby being born. That child is fully alive on the day of birth. Nobody says, “We will decide whether this baby is alive after we see whether it can walk.”
But being alive and knowing how to walk are two different things.
The child needs nourishment, care, and time to grow. Eventually, there are those first steps. There will also be some falls.
That picture helps us understand something about the Christian life. Receiving new life in Christ is real, even while we still have much to learn. Growth follows.
We should expect change, but we should not confuse growth with instant perfection.
And those of us who have been Christians for years still have things to learn. Length of time in church does not automatically mean every part of our life has matured.
First question to respond to. What is something in the natural we have had to learn through practice rather than getting it right the first time?
Following Jesus involves learning too. But we have more than our own determination to depend on. God has given us His Spirit and His Word, and He helps us obey.
Now let’s turn to Romans 6. We will stay here for the rest of the lesson and take the passage a few verses at a time.
Point one: We have a new life to live
Read Romans 6:1–4.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Paul begins with a question. If God’s grace is so great, should we keep sinning so there will be more grace?
Let’s make sure we understand that word.
Grace is God’s undeserved favor and generosity toward us. We cannot earn our salvation. God receives us through Jesus because He is gracious.
But Paul makes it clear that grace is not permission to keep living any way we please.
Imagine a father helping his son out of serious trouble caused by repeated dishonesty. The father bears a real cost to help him.
Would the right response be, “Now I know I can keep lying because Dad will take care of it”?
Of course not. The father’s kindness is a reason to turn away from dishonesty, not a reason to continue it.
In an even greater way, God’s grace leads us into a changed life.
Paul says we have died to sin. That phrase may sound confusing because we know temptation has not disappeared.
He is not saying that a Christian can no longer be tempted or that we have lost the ability to sin. Later in this same passage, he tells believers not to let sin rule them. Those instructions would make no sense if sin were no longer a possibility.
He is saying that our old relationship with sin has been broken through Christ. Sin no longer has the rightful place of master over us. We belong to Jesus.
In verses 3–4, Paul speaks about baptism and our connection with Jesus’ death and resurrection.
When we see someone go down into the water and come back up, we have a visible picture of burial and rising to life. Baptism points us to what it means to be joined to Christ: our old life under sin’s rule is no longer the life we are to continue living.
Jesus died and rose again. Through Him, we have a new life to live.
So, when I say, “That is just the way I am,” I need to be willing to examine that statement.
There are things about us that are simply differences in personality. Some of us are quiet; others enjoy talking. Some like a detailed plan; others are more spontaneous.
But dishonesty is not just a personality trait. Cruel words are not something we have to accept as permanent. We cannot excuse bitterness by saying everyone in our family has always been that way.
We can bring those things to Jesus and learn a different way.
Why is “That is just the way I am” sometimes easier to say than “Lord, I need You to change this in me”?
Change may require an apology. It may mean giving up something we enjoy. It may mean listening when someone points out a problem.
But we do not have to face that change as people who have no help and no hope.
Point two: The old habits may call, but we belong to Jesus now
Read Romans 6:5–10.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be [a]done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been [b]freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
Paul continues explaining how our new life is connected to Jesus’ death and resurrection.
In verse 6, he refers to our old man being crucified with Christ. By “old man,” he means who we were in our old life under sin’s rule.
He is not talking about our age or saying that our memories have been erased. He is describing a change in who rules our lives.
Let me give us an illustration.
Suppose I worked for a man for twenty years. Every morning, he told me where to go and what to do.
Then I left that job and went to work for someone else.
A week later, my old boss calls and says, “I need you here at seven tomorrow morning.”
After twenty years, I might start to say yes without even thinking. His voice is familiar. I am used to doing what he says.
But then I remember, “I do not work for him anymore.”
He can still call. He can still make demands. But he no longer has the authority to tell me how to spend my working day.
That helps us picture the difference between an old demand and a present obligation.
An old temptation may still feel familiar. We may have responded to it for years. But in Christ, we are no longer required to obey it.
Let’s make this practical.
Someone criticizes me, and immediately I want to hurt them back. I know exactly what I could say. The words are ready.
That familiar response has appeared, but I do not have to carry it out.
I can stop. I can ask the Lord for help. I can listen, speak calmly, or step away long enough to settle down.
The temptation being present does not mean that nothing has changed in me. There is a difference between being tempted and choosing to follow that temptation.
We can keep our examples general.
Can we think of a situation where an old response comes almost automatically?
Sometimes we see growth in the moment when we recognize what is happening.
At one time, we might have said the hurtful thing and never given it another thought. Now we recognize it, regret it, and want to respond differently.
That does not excuse what we said. But it gives us an opportunity to listen to the Lord and change.
Verses 9–10 bring our attention back to Jesus. He rose from the dead, and death no longer rules over Him. His victory is the foundation of the new life Paul is describing.
We are not trying to create that victory through willpower. We are learning to live as people who belong to the risen Lord.
Point three: We can put ourselves at God’s disposal today
Read Romans 6:11–14.
11 Likewise you also, [c]reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as [d]instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Now Paul tells us how to respond.
In verse 11, he tells us to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ.
“Reckon” means to count something as true and act on that truth.
I do not have to pretend I am never tempted. I need to remember that I belong to Jesus, and sin is no longer my master.
Then verse 12 tells us not to let sin reign in our bodies. “Reign” means to rule, as a king rules.
We may feel a sinful desire without giving it the right to direct our actions.
In verse 13, Paul gets very practical. He speaks about what we do with the parts of our body, our hands, our mouths, our eyes, and the rest of us.
We can give ourselves over to doing wrong, or we can offer ourselves to God to do what is right.
Think about a set of keys lying on the kitchen counter.
Those keys can represent a real choice about where I am going and what I am about to do.
My phone can be used to spread rumors or encourage someone. My mouth can humiliate a person or speak truth with kindness. My hands can serve someone or strike out in anger.
Paul is bringing the Christian life down to what we do with ourselves.
We can begin the day by praying, “Lord, I belong to You. Help me use my words, my time, and my actions in ways that please You.”
Then we act on that prayer in the situations we meet.
Let’s take a simple example.
I receive a message that upsets me. I read it twice, and each time I become angrier. I start typing a response.
What could offering myself to God look like right there?
It might mean putting the phone down before I send anything.
It might mean praying, “Lord, help me understand what was actually said instead of assuming the worst.”
I may need to ask a question. I may need to speak firmly about something that is wrong. A godly response is not always silence, but it should not be driven by the desire to wound someone.
Sometimes we need practical help as well. We may need to change a routine, avoid a situation that repeatedly leads us into sin, or ask a trusted believer to walk with us.
Depending on God does not mean we sit still and wait for every desire to disappear. We respond to Him with the help He provides.
Verse 14 reminds us that we live under grace rather than under law. God’s commands show us what is right, but knowing a command is not the same as having freedom from sin. In Christ, we receive forgiveness and a new life in which to obey God.
Grace does not make obedience unnecessary. It gives us a reason for hope as we learn to obey.
Let’s work through an ordinary day
Imagine someone leaves Bible study thinking, “I am going to be more patient this week.”
By Monday morning, they are running late. They cannot find something they need. A family member asks a simple question, and they snap, “Can you not see I am busy?”
A few minutes later, they realize what they have done.
What should happen next?
First, what would it look like to excuse it?
We might say, “They should know not to bother me when I am rushed,” or “That is just how I am in the mornings.”
What would it look like to give up?
We might think, “Nothing ever changes. I might as well stop trying.”
Now, what would it look like to respond as someone who belongs to Christ?
We could begin by admitting what happened without blaming the other person.
“Lord, that was wrong. Please forgive me. Help me handle this differently.”
Then we can go back and say, “I am sorry I spoke to you that way. Being late was not an excuse.”
Afterward, we can consider what needs to change. Maybe we need to get up earlier. Maybe we need to prepare a few things the night before. Maybe we need to recognize that being inconvenienced is not a reason to treat someone badly.
Those practical choices are part of learning to obey.
One failure does not mean we should quit. But we also do not want to become comfortable repeating the same harm and offering the same apology without taking steps to change.
God’s grace gives us the confidence to come back to Him and the encouragement to keep responding to His correction.
Our response and closing prayer
Let’s each think about one old response we need to bring before the Lord.
We do not need to announce it to the room.
It may be something we say, something we watch, a resentment we feed, or a habit of being dishonest when the truth is uncomfortable.
Pause for quiet reflection.
This week, let’s read Romans 6:11–14 again and choose one practical response connected to what we have identified.
If my struggle is speaking in anger, I can decide to pause before answering.
If I keep joining in gossip, I can decide not to repeat the story and change the direction of the conversation.
If I have been hiding a problem, I can ask a trustworthy, mature believer for help.
We are not trying to earn our place in God’s family by having a perfect week. We are learning to live as people who already belong to Jesus.
When the old habit makes its demand, we can remember, “I belong to Christ. I can ask for His help and obey Him in this moment.”
Let’s pray.
Father, thank You for giving us new life through Jesus. You know the places where we still struggle. Help us stop making excuses and keep us from giving up in discouragement. Teach us to recognize temptation and turn to You before we act on it. Give us the humility to apologize when we are wrong and the willingness to make practical changes. We offer ourselves to You—our words, our thoughts, our hands, and our time. Help us honor You in the ordinary moments of this coming week. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Comments